I woke up the next morning and rolled over, not wanting to get out of bed. There's a soft knock at the door before it opens.
"Hey Isa, I made waffles if you want some." Chessa says quietly and I sit up.
"I'll be out in a minute, thanks." She nods and closes the door. I roll out of bed and grab some fuzzy socks before walking out of my old room. I sit down next to Chessa and she hands me a plate of waffles.
The phone rings a few hours later and I jump. I get up and walk over to it. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I pick up the phone.
"Is this Isabella Rossi?" I hear Kenny ask.
"Yes, how can I help you?"
"Well I wanted to talk to you about your audition. I think it'll be easier in person if you want to come down to where we held auditions the past two days?"
"Sure, I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Awesome, thank you so much." He says before hanging up.
Wondering what he wanted, I grabbed Amèlie's keys and my bag before walking down to the garage. I drive down to the building and park before walking in.
Kenny was talking to the receptionist but turned when I walked in.
"Oh Isabella! Never mind," he says to the receptionist with a smile. "You can follow me." He says to me. I nod and follow him up to one of the rooms where Peggy and another woman that I didn't recognize were waiting.
"Isabella, this is Elisabeth, she is our casting director, and you already know Peggy the assistant choreographer. We needed to talk to you like I said before, you can take a seat." He says, pointing at a chair. I nod and pull it over as he sits down.
"So we absolutely loved your audition. You were obviously the outlier from the rest of the girls who auditioned. We're just worried about the songs. We would need you to sing lower than you're probably used to and we don't want you to hurt yourself." Elisabeth starts and I nod.
"If we were just looking at your dance and acting auditions, you would definitely get the role. Not only that but one of the dance captains. You were one of the most eye-catching dancers, we can tell you love it and you're really good." Peggy continues Elisabeth's thought.
"But like Elisabeth said, we don't want you to hurt your vocal cords with the singing. Originally we hadn't planned on letting any girls audition for a newsie role simply because of the songs and having to keep the notes low. Not only that, but you'd pretty much be surrounded by boys during rehearsal and on set. We are planning on only having two or three other women on set, excluding extras. It is completely your choice if you want to take the role, don't feel like you have to, but keep in mind that you'll have to have some low notes." Kenny says and I nod.
"We'll have a vocal coach on set for the lead, she can work with you on the notes as well if you want." He finishes and sits back slightly. "So, do you want the role?" He asks and I pause.
"Sure." I smile at them as Peggy cheers quietly.
"Awesome! I already have some spots in mind of where you'll be in the front, and you'll definitely be one of the dance captains, assuming you're okay with that." She says, pulling her notes forward.
I laugh and nod as Kenny stands and holds his hand out. I shake his hand and he walks me out.
"I'll send out the rest of the information later this week, okay?" He asks as we get to the lobby.
"Alright. Thank you so much!" I say and he smiles.
"Thank you. I can tell you'll do great." I smile and walk out after thanking him again.
I hold in my excitement until I get to a red light a few blocks away. I squeal in excitement before the light turns.
I get back to the apartment and check the time before calling Amelia to tell her the news as Amèlie and Chessa were at work.
"Did you get it?" She asks instantly.
"Yes! They called me in because they wanted to make sure I would be okay with all of the low notes and stuff but I got it!"
"I fucking knew it! I'm so happy for you!" I laugh and we keep talking as I walk around the apartment, cleaning up.
She has to leave after an hour to go to class and I call the number that Michael gave me.
"Freehand Hotel in L.A. this is Callie speaking how may I help you?"
"Hi,I wanted to get to Michael? I think his last name is Goorjian?"
"Alright, give me a second, I'll transfer you over to him."
"Thank you!"
"Yeah?" I hear his voice after a second.
"Hey Michael, it's Ella."
"Ella! Do you want to come over to our hotel and wait with us? We're not doing anything except waiting around and it's so boring." He drags the last two words out and I laugh.
"Sure, I'll be over in a few minutes." He hangs up and I grab a snapback and my longboard before walking down to the lobby.
I longboard to the hotel before walking in. Michael's waiting in the lobby and looks over as I walk in.
"Ella!" He gives me a hug before we walk into the elevator. "Have you heard yet?"
"Yeah." I say and pretend to be sad, deciding to prank him.
"Oh no. Damn if you didn't get in then none of us have a chance." He says as the doors open. I just nod and follow him out to the hallway. "I think a good few of us are on this floor." He says as we walk down to his room. "I know Dominic, Trey, Noah, and Aaron are at least. They're in my room." He says before opening the door, letting me go in first.
"Hey Ella! Have you heard yet?" Aaron says as I walk in.
"Yeah." I say, deciding to try and keep the joke going as far as possible.
"Did you get in?" Trey asks and I just look down.
"I'm screwed." Noah says, falling back on Michael's bed.
"I wouldn't be too sure." Dominic says just loud enough for me to hear him.
"I'm just joking, I got it." I say, finally giving in and grinning. They all hug me, Dominic being slightly reluctant to hug me.
"You are awful." Aaron says as he sits back on the floor.
"I know," I smile at him. The phone rings and everyone falls quiet. Trey, who was closest, picks it up.
"It's for you." He says, holding it out to Aaron.
"Oh no." Aaron whispers, not taking the phone.
"Take it!" We all urge him and he gives us a look.
"But my moms not here."
"She'll be more mad if you don't answer it. You can always say that you'll call them back." I say and he gets up, taking the phone from Trey.
"Yeah hi, this is Aaron. Mhm. Okay. Um, can I call you back later? Okay thank you!" He says before hanging up and turning to face us.
"So?" Michael asks with an expectant look on his face as he sits down next to me.
"Kenny said I got it but I want to talk to my mom first."
"Congrats!" We say as we hug him.
"Go find your mom." I tell him as soon as everyone lets go. He nods and walks out the door.
"I wonder who's next." Noah says and everyone shrugs.
"Wait did you even audition?" I ask him and he shrugs.
"Maybe I did and maybe I didn't." I just shake my head as everyone laughs.
"Can I make calls going out from the room or do I need to go down to the lobby?" I ask Michael a while later, no one else having gotten a call yet.
"I think you need to go down to the lobby and use their pay phones."
"Anyone have a quarter?" Michael hands me a quarter and I thank him before walking down the hall. Kevin was walking out of his room as I pressed the button for the elevator.
"Ella?" He asks and I smile.
"Hey Kevin!"
"Is everyone else in Michael's room?"
"Yeah. I'll be back in a minute." He nods and walks down the hall as I walk into the elevator and press the lobby button. I find the pay phones and call Amèlie.
"Hey Amèlie, I'm at the Freehand with Michael, Trey, and a few other guys from auditions. I'm going to wait with them until they find out, and before you ask yes I did get the role." I say in one breath as soon as she picks up.
"Really? I'm so proud! Will you call when you're leaving or if you decide to stay there?"
"Of course."
"Alright bye." I laugh as she hangs up before I decide to take the stairs.
I get to Michael's room and knock. Michael opens the door and I walk in.
"Has anyone else been called yet?" Everyone shakes their head and goes back to their card game. "What are you playing?" I ask as Michael rejoins them.
"Bullshit." Trey answers, glancing up at me.
"Can I join the next game?"
"Sure," Michael smiles up at me as I sit next to him. I watch all of them, taking note of their tells before Kevin ends up winning.
He shuffles and deals before Michael starts. "One one."
"Two twos." I say, deciding to start out with a lie.
"Bullshit." Dom says almost instantly and I sigh.
"Is this gonna be like tour again?" He just shrugs as I take the cards.
"Two threes." Trey says as Michael leans closer to me.
"What am I missing here?"
"We played bullshit on tour once. That never happened again cause we know each other too well, we know when the other's lying." I explain quietly before he has to go again.
We keep playing and Trey wins this time as there's a knock on the door. Michael gets up to get it as Trey shuffles.
"I think we should play something else." He says and everyone shrugs. Mark, Ram, and Ivan join us.
Michael nudges Ivan out of sitting next to me and Ivan gives him a look. Michael just smiles as Trey starts to deal.
"Do we all know how to play gin?" Trey asks as he starts to deal.
"Is it the same as rummy 500?" Mark asks and Trey nods. "Then no." Everyone looks over at him before he laughs. "I'm kidding, yes I do know how to play." The phone rings and everyone pauses, looking at it.
"I'm not getting it." Michael whispers and I sigh, getting up to answer it.
"Yes?"
"Oh Ella, we wanted Ram Davis, is he there with you?" Kenny said and I laugh slightly.
"Yeah sure. Let me get him for you. Ram." I hold the phone out and he gets up.
"Mhm? Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Oh. I'll be sure to let everyone know. Yeah of course, thanks again." He turns with a sad look on his face. "He said that I was the last person on their list for today."
"Is that all?" Michael asks and I give him a look, having a feeling about what Ram wasn't telling us. "What?" He asks quietly and I shake my head, resting my head in my hand.
"I, uh, didn't get it." Ram says, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck. No one really says anything before I get up and hug him, everyone following suit.
"Did Kenny at least say why?" Ivan asks kindly and Ram nods.
"Yeah. He said I just need to work on my dancing a bit. I'm gonna go call my parents. I'll see you guys later." He says and walks out.
"Well who wants dinner?" Trey asks after a minute, making everyone laugh.
"I'm down to get dinner." I say and everyone nods. We walk out of the hotel and try to find a place to eat.
Eventually we decide to get pizza and Mark takes us to where he had gotten food the day before.
"Wait a second." I smile as we walk in.
"What?" Michael asks as the hostess shows us to our table.
"My roommate works here." We sit down and start talking, flipping through the menus.
"Hello everyone, I'm Amèlie and I'll be your server tonight. What can I get started for you all tonight?" Amèlie says, having not noticed me yet.
"I'll just have water." I say, causing her to look up.
"Isa." She says as she walks over to stand behind me.
"Hi." I smiled at her.
"Okay, what does everyone else want?" She asks, resting her arms on my shoulders.
Once everyone orders their drinks Amèlie gives me an awkward hug.
"Ugh! Why are you all wet and sticky?" I exclaim, pulling out of the hug and falling into Michael.
"Someone spilled lemonade on me."
"Gross!" She laughs as she walks away.
"Uh, what did I miss?" Trey asks as I sit up, apologizing to Michael.
"That's my roommate." I explain and everyone nods before going back to their menus.
I feel Michael nudge me after a minute and I look up at him.
"What's up?"
"Want to split a pizza?"
"Sure," I smile at him and put my menu down.
I glance around the table and notice Dominic staring at Michael. Amèlie walks back a few minutes later and we order.
We joke around while we eat, throwing our straw wrappers at each other, and almost starting a food fight.
"Do you want to come back with us?" Michael asks as we finish up.
"Yeah. I at least need to grab my board, I might end up staying with you if it's okay. I'm not sure yet."
"You're welcome to stay if you want." He says and I smile in thanks.
"Hey, I'm probably going to end up staying at the hotel with them tonight." I tell Amèlie as we walk out.
"Alright. Have fun, stay safe, see you tomorrow." I nod and we walk out.
A/N: im back for reals now (probably)
- Jazz