Becoming Anne Again

Chapter Thirty-Two

A/N I am going to try and rework this book to make it more aesthetically pleasing, which means removing all of the author's notes. But as always, don't forget to comment and vote if you liked the story!

As far as anyone could remember, Mr. Phillips had directed the school musicals and plays—for better or for worse. It was his pride and joy, and one of the few duties he enjoyed for its own sake, not simply because he was able to exert power over others.

Which was why it was such a surprise when it was announced that Mr. Phillips was not going to be a part of the musical at all that year, despite the fact that he had already chosen the school musical (in part—he had wanted to produce Streetcar of Desire, but this was deemed completely inappropriate for twelve year olds to act out). In fact, the entire ordeal had come up very quickly, even to his own surprise.

It all started when Anne said she wanted to try out for the musical. The last thing anyone wanted on the school staff was a lawsuit, so the only reasonable thing for Dr. Wood to do was to remove Mr. Phillips from the equation. Unfortunately, the usual assistant director was Mrs. Spell, who was currently pregnant and simply could not take any more responsibility than she already had. This proved all right for everyone except Mr. Phillips, as it just so happened that Ms. Keller was more than someone who had been deemed an eclectic collector of eclectic art. She had, on various occasions, been a part of musicals and dances, and to be able to put on such a spectacle made her heart flutter. The only thing she was nervous about was the auditions, simply because Anne was auditioning and Ms. Keller knew that she wanted to give her any part she wanted. Still, she felt better knowing that the calm and collected Mrs. Speller was going to be sitting beside her at the table in the cafeteria.

Anne could not be so easily calmed, even by Charlie and Diana.

"Anne, you're going to kill it," Charlie grinned, his face practically lighting up. "You're totally going to get the lead."

"Yeah, and besides, we're going to be with you every step of the way, right Charlie?" Diana elbowed Charlie, who responded with a groan.

"Right, so you know, me dying in the middle of the audition is definitely going to take the attention off of you."

"Don't be so melodramatic," Diana rolled her eyes, pushing him once again. Anne, however, burst out into a peal of laughter.

"You guys are the best," she said between giggles, wrapping her arms around both of them. "And thank you, Charlie. You're going to kill it too," she beamed. "We can be Belle, the Beast, and Gaston," she said, laughing again before resting her head on Diana's shoulder.

"Not how it works," Charlie said, poking Anne's side. "One of you isn't a guy."

"So what? I'll be Gaston, Diana will be the Beast, and you'll be Belle," Anne grinned, causing Charlie to lightly slap her arm.

"Seriously?"

"Stop it! It's genius," Diana sniffed, before breaking into her own fit of giggles and resting her cheek on the top of the Anne's head.

But then the nerves came back, and Anne had to get up and do something—anything. So she broke away from Diana and began to pace. "Who usually is in these things anyway?"

"Well, Prissy is in most of them, and Ruby does some of them," Diana said, her nose scrunched up. "Jane and Billy were in it once, weren't they?"

"I guess. I never went to one of these things," Charlie said, shrugging her shoulders.

"I just don't know what to expect." Perhaps that was the part that Anne hated the most, that she had no idea what was coming next. Just the thought was terrifying, and given her long and terrible history, no one could blame her for her lack of excitement when it came to surprises.