A Castle of Sand(104)

“Welcome to the auditions for the scholarship fund. Students who have won the scholarship over the years have gone on to do great things including TV, movies and Broadway. Every second year, we award one person, gender and age not being a factor, and fund them for as long as they need to be at this school—kindergarten through graduation, if need be. This student will have the same rights and privileges as any other student here at the Academy. It’s quite the opportunity.” He paused for applause. “So hopefully, it’s in one of you. You’ll each get two minutes to read the script, and then you’ll be asked to move on. If the panel likes you, you’ll be asked for your contact details outside when you exit. So, let’s get started,” he said, indicating that the rest of his entourage should head down to where the panel normally sat, in front of the first row, facing the stage. “Rows one and two, come line up. And please, two minutes, and then exit. Nothing more,” he said, and then walked away from the microphone, oblivious to the applause.#p#分页标题#e#
My heart hammering in my chest, I stood up, forced out of the row by the rest of them. My mind was already turning. Could I pull this off? I could at least try, just for experience. I was never going to get it, not with the likes of girls like Alicia in the crowd…but why not try? Just for fun. I had time, especially if it was only two minutes per girl. My lunch break wasn’t over for another forty five minutes and there were only twenty girls ahead of me. I could make it and then run back. Besides, Adam wouldn’t mind if I was five minutes late. Taking a deep breath, I went to line up against the wall with the rest.
“So,” Liam’s voice boomed as he spoke into the microphone at the panel table. “Two minutes, one of the judges will read opposite you, and then head over to the left exit. If Porsche asks you to give her your contact info, please do.” He waved his hand over to the redhead and I raised an eyebrow at her name, giggling. Porsche?
“I’m guessing that’s his newest thing then, helping out,” Alicia whispered to me. “Lucky.”
“Who’s first?” Liam asked, silencing us. With a gulp, the first girl stepped forward. I closed my eyes, trying to calm down. This was it, I was trapped, and I had to go through with it. I just hoped I wouldn’t make a complete fool of myself.
 

CHAPTER 3: AMY
 I was shaking as I inched closer and closer to the front. Each time a girl read, Alicia would either roll her eyes in disapproval, or shake her head, as if there was no hope left.
“That’s Candice Manther,” she said, as a new girl approached the panel of judges. “Her resume is about three times the size of mine, and she certainly has a salary from her last show. What the hell is she doing here?”
“Maybe she wants a chance, like everyone else?” I said, shrugging. My hands were clenched in fists, as I tried to control my nerves. “Hey, look, I think I changed my mind…”
“What? No!” Alicia turned around, grabbing me like we had known each other for years. “Don’t let the likes of Candice Manther put you off. You deserve a chance just like anyone else.”
“Right,” I replied. My heart was beating fast, and my mouth had gone dry. Of course I wanted a chance, I wanted to act, and it’s all I ever thought of. If Sarah were here now, she’d be bouncing off the walls. But in this crowd, I didn’t stand a chance. Not with girls who looked vaguely familiar, girls who already had tons of training and a resume longer than the line up to this audition. Still, as I looked over the script in my hands, I felt myself drawn to the words. Like many others in the line, I began to whisper the words over and over to myself in my head. It was a short script, only a couple of pages, and I quickly identified that it was more about expression and body language than the actual words.
I became so absorbed in the script that I barely noticed how close I was to the front. However, when I heard somebody say ”Next!” and there was an awkward silence, I realized that it was my turn.
“Um. Me,” I said, moving forward.
The lights were bright, and I could barely see the panel in front of me. Liam looked at me with annoyance and I quickly realized I was standing too far back. Moving forward, onto the masking tape ‘X’ they had put down, I nervously held my ground. He was staring at me. He could probably see right through me and my lack of training.
“I’ll read now,” he said, and that surprised me. There had been twenty girls in front of me, and they all had someone else on the panel read opposite them. Liam had not uttered a word…until me?