A Rising Star

Chapter 7 - Name

December 3

I awoke with the sun that morning. One and only one thought was in my mind: They'll never cast me if I'm this dirty at the audition. Or maybe they would... I look the part of a beggar, don't I?

I used my fingernails to try to scrape the dirt off of my clothes, hair, and face. That only resulted in dirt packed under my nails. 

My blanket, now a little worn, I hung around my shoulders to block the chilly December wind. I wandered a little until I came upon a murky river. 

Without thinking twice, I jumped into it. The sign that clearly said "NO SWIMMING" I paid no attention to. 

The moment I plunged into the frigid water, I regretted it. It was colder than I could've possibly imagined; like daggars of ice piercing every pore of my skin down to the bone. I shivered.

I got out sooner than I would've liked, because the water was cold and the air freezing.

Using my beautifully knitted blanket, I dried myself off, goosebumps pecking at my skin. 

I wrapped the blanket around my body, feeling much more prepared for my audition today, when something occurred to me.

It's a musical. 

I've never even tried to sing before!

I thought. I didn't know any songs. I wasn't sure how many people they'd be casting. Were there any parts for eight-year-old girls that spoke but didn't sing?

My stomach felt weird, like it was bouncing up and down, but not physically. It was a strange unfamiliar feeling. Almost like fear, but not as strong. I couldn't put my finger on it. 

But then again, I knew immediately I wanted to be Cosette, since she was my favorite character. And, at least in the book, it said "the little Lark never sang." So maybe, just maybe, they won't even make me sing!

At the time, that's really what I thought. 

*~*~*

Now clean(er), I approached the theatre and joined the throng of people already lined up. From what I could see, the people at the front, who worked there, were handing out packets of paper. 

My stomach was being jumpy again.

When I got to the front of the line, they handed me a packet with a little sticker that had the number 776 on it. "Put the sticker where other people can easily see it and sit in the corresponding seat." the man who handed me the packet declared to anyone who was within earshot.

I nodded to him, then went inside. 

A girl around my age was behind me with her mother. Her mother was talking to her. 

"Break a leg, Natalee darling! I'll see you at seven!"

What kind of command was "break a leg?" How rude!

I glanced behind me to witness the mother giving who I assumed was Natalee a big, wet kiss while Natalee rolled her eyes. "Yes, ma. See you," she said in monotone.

I walked in to see the biggest theatre I could have ever imagined. The ceiling was easily one hundred feet above me, and the carpet I walked upon silky yet firm. There must have been a million chairs, each one identical to the one next to it. They were the same crimson color as the floor. Each one was numbered with a different number. 

I climbed the stairs and sat in the seat that matched my number, as instructed. The Natalee girl sat in seat 777, on my right. 

She and I looked at each other, each judging the other. 

Natalee had short blonde hair that came to her chin. It was perfectly straight and had a white bow stuck on the left side. She was wearing a pale blue dress with a dazzling white jacket over it. She had shoes that matched her bow, and socks that matched her dress. Her eyes were a dull brown, which stood out against the bright colors she wore.

She glared at me. "You're getting mud on the seat., You know these are $200 seats, right?"

"Um, sorry?" I said, not sure how to respond. 

"You should be. I happen to be perfectly clean and beautiful. I see you didn't even feel the need to shower before you came to the most famous theatre in the world to audition," she smirked.

It took me a second to remember what a shower was. 

"I don't have a shower," I told her honestly. I guessed my swim in the river hadn't helped much. 

"Geez. Some people buy the most drab houses," she scoffed. 

I decided not to tell her I didn't have a house, either.

I turned my attention to the packet the people at the door had passed out. I reached in front of me to get a pencil from a bin attatched to the back of every three chairs. 

"I brought my own pencil. It's my lucky one," Natalee bragged.

I sighed. She definitely thought she was better than me; I secretly agreed. 

I looked at the first thing I was asked to fill out. 

Name. 

Name?

Name. 

I thought. Did I... HAVE a name?

Natalee noticed my hesitation. "Come on. Don't be nervous. Broadway is really easy to get into," she said in an evil sort of way.

Only one name came to mind. So I wrote it down. 

Hailey.

*~*~*

Hailey... what?

The form needed a last name, too, plus a middle initial. 

I put down C for the middle initial because it stood for Cosette. Luckily it didn't ask for the whole thing. 

My last name... I couldn't write Haddow; it'd be too obvious when (I refused to think if) Hailey came back and asked how it went. And what if I made it? (What if..?!!!) She'd think it was weird that her own name was in the program. 

I racked my brain for some common last names. 

One of my favorite books I'd read from Hailey's bookstore was The Invention of Hugo Cabaret. What was Isabelle's last name...? I tried to remember. 

Hmm. Maybe I shouldn't make it so hard on myself. 

Hailey C. Cabaret was my new name. 

I liked that. 

A/N

I stopped the chapter here because it was way too long, and I originally had the little *~*~* thing here to separate the parts of the chapter. So I figured this was a good place to stop ;) Hopefully this long one makes up for all the short chapters recently ;D The next chapter will be up soon, so don't worry!!

Acting_is_mylife