I was perhaps a little nervous as I made my way to the front. It’s not like I had a lot of experience auditioning. I had auditioned three times in my life, and gotten two parts out of it. Someone had once told me that a working actor only got ten percent of the parts they auditioned for, so I thought I was doing pretty well. Plus, no matter what part I got in this show, I would have to pretend everything was perfect and happy, while trying to orchestrate the ultimate vampire takedown plot and finish a grad school thesis.#p#分页标题#e#
My father had warned me that grad school would be hard, but I didn’t imagine it would be like this.
When I got up there, however, the first thing I saw was Liam’s smiling face, looking back at me with those warm eyes that had looked deep into mine all morning. I was never able to describe the connection that we shared that first day, as if we were meant to act together, both on and off the stage.
“And what do you have prepared for us, Amy?” he asked, as if he didn’t know me.
My shoulders relaxed as I spoke, “A monologue from Beauty and the Beast.”
He waved his hand. “Let’s hear it then,” he said, gently, and I knew all would be well.
*************
When Thursday came, however, I was a real bundle of nerves. The audition results would be posted at the end of the school day, which was about when I was supposed to be done filming. Even Liam didn’t know the results, having not sat in on the casting meeting. No matter how much I begged him, he declared that it wouldn’t be ethical.
“You wanted to be chosen based on your talent alone, right?” he said, as the makeup artist that Sites TV had sent began to pin back my hair. “Now’s your chance.”
“If I’m a chorus girl, I’m going to cry.”
“Amy.” He reached out to take my hand with a smile. “You’re going to be much more than that.”
“So you say.” I tried to grin, but my hand was shaking with nerves.
Last night, I had gone on Sites TV, only to find out that the show was broadcast every morning and seen by millions of people nationally, never mind the international numbers. If I flubbed up today, it pretty much guaranteed I wouldn’t be cast in anything else ever again. Sites had a huge following. Celebrities often hosted segments on film sets or in their own houses, and the Sites vans were recognized everywhere.
“Take a deep breath,” he said, as foundation was being brushed on face. “The key here is to breathe. You’ve gone over a list of all the things you are going to say?”
“And spoken to everyone I’m going to interview about 6 million times. It’s kind of dumb, because I talk to these people every single day, and yet when it came time to rehearse interviews, I couldn’t come up with a thing to say to them.”
Liam smiled, reaching for a steaming cup of coffee he had brought with him.
“Sounds about right.”
I shook my head, taking the coffee cup right out of his hand. “You’re not helping.”
It took half an hour to get my makeup done, and when she was finished, I barely recognized myself. I looked like a model, some glamazon version of myself with high cheekbones and long eyelashes.
“Wow, thank you.” I turned to the makeup artist, who was putting her stuff away.
“It was easy, you’re beautiful all on your own,” she said, and I blushed.
Liam stood up, holding out his arm. “Ready?”
“Uh-huh.” I took a deep breath. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Liam planted one last kiss on my lips, and then, with practiced ease, wiped away the lipstick that had gotten on him.
The Sites crew had arranged to meet us in front of the school, where the first shots would take place. Liam kept me chatting the whole time, keeping my nerves at bay, and it worked so well that I didn’t notice that there was an insane amount of noise outside. In fact, it wasn’t until we rounded the corner that I clued in to what was happening. We rounded the corner and I was blinded by a sea of camera flashes. I let out a scream, startled as a wall of people that I had never seen before, at least one hundred people, met us.
They weren’t students of the school; the students were trained to behave better than this. I had seen, mostly on YouTube, the paparazzo’s reaction to Liam wherever he went. But this time, it wasn’t just his name they were screaming, it was also mine.
“Amy! AMY!” They shoved cameras in my faces, and autograph pads, and I froze, tightening my grip on Liam’s arm.