Lauren's POV
Today was the big day. Probably one of the most important days I was going to have at South Miami. Today was the day I finally audition for a show here. I was a mix between freaking the fuck out and so excited I could explode. For the past two weeks I've been working on my audition song, "Fly, Fly Away" from one of my favorite musicals, Catch Me If You Can. It was a big song so I really needed to practice.
I ran it by Camila multiple times and she said I was ready so, hopefully I was. I was a nervous wreck around lunch.
"You guys ready for auditions?" Ally asked excitedly.
"I really hope so," I sighed nervously with my head in my hands.
"You're going to do great, baby," Camila assured me, rubbing my back supportively.
"I just want to at least get a good part. This is my only shot at performing in a musical at this school so I gotta nail it."
"And you will. Diggins loves you and you're probably going to get the lead to be honest."
"I don't know," I shrugged.
"Lauren, you really have nothing to worry about. You can perform circles around me," Shawn complimented.
"Yeah, Lauren, you'll do amazing," Justin smiled.
"I've never seen you perform badly yet," Normani teased.
"Yet?" I smirked with a raised eyebrow.
"No, but really you're gonna do so well," she confirmed.
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I could barely talk once Acting class approached. I was still scared shitless.
"Okay everyone I hope everyone who is auditioning today is well prepared. I can't wait to see you guys. I know you're going to do so well," Mrs. Diggins announced as the hour came to an end.
"Are you ready?" I asked Camila. I've been too worried about my own audition that I haven't really talked about Camila's.
"I think so. 'If I Loved You' is a pretty high song so, let's just hope I'll be able to hit all the notes."
"You will. I've heard you do it and you're amazing on that song," I assured her with a shy smile.
"And you're amazing on 'Fly, Fly Away.'"
I took a deep breath once she reminded me of my audition song.
It was finally 3:00. Everyone who wanted to audition made their way into the theater and took their seats. I walked in holding Camila's hand tightly with Shawn and Justin walking closely behind us.
"Welcome, everyone, to the auditions for the Winter musical, Les Mis!" Mrs. Diggins announced, "I'm sure you all know how the process works but for newcomers, I'll explain it again. Everyone is going to get a number and you will come up here and sing the song you prepared. We have our pianist Steven ready to accompany you. Once everyone is finished, we will group some of you up and run through scenes from the script," she finished her explanation. "Any questions?" No one raised their hand. "Alright, let's get to it!"
We all got up and filled out papers with our personal information. There were about 40 people auditioning this season all together which was a pretty big number so some had to audition either today or tomorrow depending on when you signed up. Only about 20 were allowed to audition today and since Camila, I, Justin, and Shawn were one of the first few to sign up, today was our day.
"I'm number five. What about you?" I asked Camila once we got our number slips and headed toward backstage.
"Four."
"Oh good we're back to back," I smirked and pulled her into my side.
"Hey, guys what number are you?" Shawn asked coming up to us with Justin.
"Five."
"Four."
"Dammit I'm 16," he groaned.
"And I'm 17," Justin rolled his eyes. "Looks like we're gonna have to wait a while."
"Break a leg, guys," I smiled and waved while Camila and I took our seats backstage to wait.
"I love how I'm number one just like last time. As I should always be," a girl named Ariana smirked proudly while walking over to her seat. Ariana Grande is a rich girl in our grade who always stars in the school's productions. She's like the Sharpay Evans of South Miami as she can be a brat sometimes. "Lauren Jauregui, I didn't know you were auditioning. What a...surprise," she said with a sarcastic smile.
"Nice to see you too, Ariana," I shot back a fake grin as well.
"And...sorry I forgot your name," she scowled at Camila.
"Camila...we were just in the play together," my girlfriend said in annoyance.
"Yeah whatever. Well looks like I'm about to take another lead role this season. I'm destined for Cosette and I know I'm going to get it," she smiled with cockiness.
"What makes you so sure you're gonna get it?" I huffed.
"I get everything I want, Jauregui. Duh." she rolled her eyes.
"Maybe Camila will get it," I remarked.
"Yeah right," she scoffed at my girlfriend. "Like Diggins is gonna cast you as one of the leads."
"Well I got one of the leads last time," Camila raised an eyebrow with a smirk while Ariana rolled her eyes again and averted her attention somewhere else. "But it doesn't matter. I'm happy with whatever I get," she smiled turning towards me.
"Humbleness will get you far," I smiled back indirectly aiming my statement toward Ariana.
"Number one!" Mrs. Diggins called from the front of the stage.
"That's me. Prepare to see star quality," Ariana bragged.
I made a grossed out face. "What a bitch. She always thinks she's better than everyone else. How dare she say that to you, Camz. You're so much better than her," I expressed.
"And you are too. Don't worry about her; she's just annoying and trying to mess with our heads. Ignore it," Camila said calmly.
I took a deep breath again. "Okay, you're right."
"You got this, babe."
Ariana finished up her song, "Something's Coming" from West Side Story. She did well but just a little sharp in some places. After her went two and three then Camila.
"Holy shit, Lauren," Camila panicked clutching my hand harshly.
"Camz, you can do this. You're gonna be amazing," I turned her face to look at me and gave her a supportive kiss.
And she was amazing. She sang "If I Loved You" from Carousel and sounded like an angel. I knew Camila was a great singer and heard her rehearse the song for me before but she added a few changes and ad-libs hitting all the high notes. I was left speechless. Almost everyone backstage applauded her because she did that good. Once she came off stage, I instantly pulled her into a hug.
"That was beautiful, Camz. You did outstanding," I praised clinging onto her.
"Thank you, baby," she said trying to catch her breath. "I was so nervous."
"You killed it," I smiled.
"Well you're up next, you're gonna kill it too. Break a leg!" she gave me kiss and I tentatively made my way out on the stage.
Camila's POV
I let go of Lauren's hold and she went off to the stage for her audition. Hopefully I did well enough to get a good part. I was so shaky. But I did what I did and now was ready to give my full attention to my girlfriend. I could tell she was still very nervous about this but she was so talented that I couldn't believe she was worried. She was going to sweep the competition.
And she did just that. Lauren was note perfect in her song "Fly, Fly Away," delivering beautiful falsetto and powerful belts. I knew she had a great part in the bag and practically everyone was applauding once she was done. She came back and I ran over to her wrapping her up into my arms the same way she did to me after my song.
"Oh my God, Lauren! That was incredible!" I squealed happily.
"Was it? I was so fucking nervous. I was shaking all over," she breathed heavily.
"I promise you did amazing," I lifted my pinky for her and we pinky promised.
"Thanks, babe. Wow, thank God that that's over with," she smiled in relief.
"I know right? Now we can just sit back and watch the rest of the auditions."
"Yep."
With that, Lauren and I snuggled up together in our chairs and listened to the rest of our peers sing. Most were good as there were many talented kids here but some didn't appear as threatening to the competition. Justin and Shawn also did very well at their auditions as Shawn sang, "Santa Fe" from Newsies and Justin sang "Proud of Your Boy" from Aladdin.
Another audition actually caught my attention as well. I recognized the boy who was warming up his voice as his turn was approaching. It was Austin. The one who complimented me on my show last weekend. He also complimented me on my audition when I came off the stage. I didn't really know much about him except that he was in Acting 4 with me.
"Hey, Laur?" I asked my girlfriend to the left.
"Yes?"
"Do you know anything about Austin Mahone?"
"Austin Mahone? Um...not much except that he's in our acting class. Why?"
"I don't know but he seems pretty nice. He complimented me a few times on my show and just now on my audition."
"Should I be jealous?" she smirked.
"No," I laughed lightly. "But maybe we can hang out with him? I don't see him with many other people."
"Maybe. He's just kinda low-key and doesn't talk much but still talented. He got one of the leads in last years musical, Mame."
"Then he'll probably do well. Break a leg, Austin!" I cheered as he walked over to the stage.
"Thanks, Camila!" he waved over smiling.
Austin did indeed do well as he sang, "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" from Jersey Boys. One of my personal favorites. He had a nice tone too and good vibrato. I was sure he was going to get another good part.
After the singing auditions were over we all took a break before the acting ones started. I wasn't too nervous for this part though, it was just line reading and some blocking. When we got back, we were grouped together and tried out a few different scenes.
For one scene I was with Lauren, a boy named Jacob, a girl named Bea, Shawn, and Austin coincidentally. We were auditioning the scene where the Thenardiers were trying con Jean Valjean with Eponine and Marius and Cosette meet for the first time. I was playing Cosette, Lauren was playing Eponine, Austin was Marius, Bea was Madame Thenardier, Jacob was Thenardier, and Shawn was Jean Valjean. Although we would originally sing the lines, today we just read through the scene with blocking . It went pretty well although when I had to bump into Austin and we looked into each other's eyes, I could swear he had a certain look in them. He looked at me like I was the only person in the world right then. But I had to brush it off. That's inappropriate; I'm happily taken after all.
"That was really good. You're very talented, Camila," Austin complimented after we were done.
"Thank you, Austin. You are too," I said quietly.
"Alright, now I want to try something just between Austin and Camila," Mrs. Diggins said from her seat below the stage. "Do you guys know 'A Heart Full of Love?' I can give you sheet music too." Shit, she's gonna make us sing it. This was weird though. We would normally do this at a callback or something.
"Of course. Do you know it?" Austin asked me.
"Um yeah." Everything's fine we're just acting.
"Great! I would like for you to sing it together so I can hear your voices on it and see the chemistry between you two," Diggins explained eagerly.
We began to sing the song with the pianist and it was not what I was expecting. Austin sang the beautiful lyrics with such emotion and passion while looking into my eyes. I admit that I kind of got lost in his hazel orbs once I sang my part. He had pretty eyes what could I say? The heartfelt lyrics didn't help either. By the end of the song we stood pretty close to one another and I could have sworn he was staring at my lips. Dammit, we looked like we were in love.
"That was wonderful!" Diggins beamed clapping her hands while everyone else did too.
"Wow, that was awesome," Austin smiled, "I think we'd be perfect for these parts."
"I-I guess," I stuttered nervously. I left the stage as fast as I could without running. I was scared I was too close to that boy. I needed to find Lauren.
Lauren's POV
After I watched Austin and Camila sing "A Heart Full of Love," I wasn't too happy but not angry either. Just a little upset. By the end of it they were standing a little too close and staring at each other a little too long for my liking but I had to shrug it off. I subtly clapped for them as they did a nice job on the song. Camila deserved and needed my support and of course I was more than willing to give that to her.
"Lauren!" Camila shouted making her way over to me.
"Hey, Camz," I smiled putting on the best supportive smile I could. "You sang great on that number."
"Really? You were okay with it?"
"Of course. It'd be silly if I wasn't," I assured her. I didn't want her too worry. They were just acting and she had to do what she had to do for that part.
"Oh good," she expressed relieved, "You're the best," she kissed my cheek. I had nothing to worry about; she was all mine.
That was about it for our auditions until callbacks on Friday. After that, Mrs. Diggins told us we'd know our parts by Monday of next week. Now that the initial auditions were over, I could finally breathe. Hopefully I would get a callback.