Better Than Revenge [Chapters 1-15 Rewritten]

Chapter 8: The Audition

"Sometime?" I asked in disbelief. And here I went. "Willy Bear, I am tired of hearing 'sometime' and 'maybe!' I want something real. I want to hear some sort of commitment from you!"

He didn't reply.

"Are you even listening to me?" I asked, making my voice even whinier somehow. I wasn't sure it was physically possible to get more annoying, but I managed.

"Listen, Natasha –"

"Natasha?" I cried. "My name is Natalie!"

"Shi – sorry. Sorry, Natalie. Listen. I don't think we should hang out anymore."

"Is that what you think this is?" I let out a loud, angry breath. "'Hanging out?'"

"I thought I was clear with you from the start... Natalie, I just... I need space. Yeah, space. Sorry. Besides, you deserve a real relationship."

"No. I will wait for you, Willy-Bear," I said. It was so hard to take this character seriously. She called him Willy-Bear, for Pete's sake. Willy-Bear. "We could have a real relationship one day! I'll wait as long as I need to."

"I don't think you want to wait that long. Besides, you'll probably be ugly and wrinkled by then, and I wouldn't want you, anyway," he said.

I scowled at him. If this wasn't just a read-through, this would have been the part where Natalie jumps up and heads towards her closet for her softball bat.

His eyes widened and he said, "Uh, this has been fun, but it's over and I'm leaving. Bye."

With that, my potential character's scene was already over.

Rachel smiled at us. "That was really good, guys. Sophia, I felt like you were actually a clingy, psychopathic wannabe girlfriend."

I smiled at the compliment. I guess I did make a pretty good clingy, psychopathic wannabe girlfriend.

"Although..." Nora interjected slowly. "Sophia, could you do another scene?"

"I wasn't aware Natalie was in another scene. Do you want me to do a monologue?"

"No, she's not. A monologue won't be necessary, either. I want you to read Emma van der Bilt's lines. Christian, would you keep reading Will's lines?"

My eyes were the ones that widened this time. She wanted me to read Emma van der Bilt's lines? Emma was the female lead. I was just here to audition for the part of Natalie. The mere thought made butterflies erupt in my stomach, but I tried not to let my nervousness show and just went along with it despite the fact that I had no idea what was happening.

I walked over and Rachel handed me a new sheet of paper. I surveyed the scene as Rachel looked at the folder with my resume and headshots, silently reviewing it.

"Just do the same thing you did for the first video," Rachel said. "Except this time... let's try adding some of the blocking. You don't have to do everything motion for motion, just the basics. Improvise if you want. This is totally casual. We're just seeing what happens. Let's start."

Christian walked towards me, stopping when he was a few feet away. "Is it true?" he began. "Or was Taylor lying?"

I looked away and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

He took a step closer. The second he did, my nose was assaulted by a questionable substance. It smelled like cologne, but it was too strong. Was I imagining things? It was starting to burn. "Yes, you do. Don't lie to me, Emma."

"But I don't. I —"

He closed the distance between us, pressing up against me. "I know you. You can't fool me."