Happy World (15 page)

Kyle was going to be there. If Rory didn’t go, Kyle would think he’d run Rory off or that Rory was too embarrassed to show his face or something. And that wasn’t going to happen.

The auditions were at two p.m. and Rory was going to be there.

***

Sign-ins were promptly at two. Rory scribbled his name on the sheet and retreated to the corner of the room, next to the ballet barre and the big mirror. Several people were already there, using the barre to stretch, or practicing a routine in the mirror.

He knew that it was possible that they would all be taught a short piece of choreography, but he’d heard from other employees that sometimes it didn’t matter if the dance steps were forgotten or done wrong. The interviewers would be looking for animated faces, hand movements, big smiles. Rory had heard plenty of people talking about demonstrating coordination and attitude during their tryouts. He wasn’t too worried about it.

Rory tried to pretend he wasn’t watching the door for Kyle, but as soon as Kyle entered the room, Rory went on alert. He kept his back to the door but used the mirror to track Kyle’s every move, noting that Kyle seemed nervous. It made sense, considering that Rory knew how much Kyle wanted to get out of Groundskeeping, and this could be his ticket.

For a minute -- thirty seconds, maybe -- Rory felt a wave of guilt. Kyle had wanted this for years, and here Rory was, trying to take that away from him. It wasn’t the most fair or chivalrous thing to do, even though the two of them had discussed it at length before their fight.

“I want you to audition, too,” Kyle had said. They had just finished messing around and were sprawled across Kyle’s bed, limbs tangled.

“Nah. Why?” Rory laughed off the idea.

“Because you’d make a great face character!” Kyle sat up and Rory was immediately distracted by his nakedness.

“I’ll give you a face character,” Rory leered, reaching for him.

Kyle laughed and moved away. “Listen, I’m serious. Try out with me. It’s an open call for dancers and character look-alikes, so there are a lot of spots available. We won’t necessarily be competing with each other, and just think, what if we both get it? No more cleaning up little kids’ puke!”

Rory grinned, pleased both with Kyle’s attitude and the fact that he was finally calling “protein spills” by their real name. Off the clock, at least. “I don’t look like any of Happy World’s characters,” he chuckled. “And I can’t dance.”

Kyle had raised an eyebrow and went to retrieve his Happy World handbook. He flipped to the back where there was a list of all the characters that made regular appearances in the Park. “Look.” He pointed at King Oceanus. “You look like him, and you have the body for it.” King Oceanus often appeared shirtless or in something wet. Rory thought Happy World had a weird idea of what constituted appropriate attire.

He tilted his head and studied the picture. “Maybe. Darren plays him, though.”

“You know there are at least three Actors for each face character! Darren can’t be there for every single Oceanus appearance. But okay, look. Here’s another one.” Kyle turned two pages and displayed a picture of a mischievous-looking character in a jester’s hat. “You look like Jester Jax, too.”

“Thanks, asshole.” Rory chuckled and gave Kyle a shove. Jester Jax was funny and always getting into trouble over there in Queen Fantastical’s court in Fairy Tale Land, but who the hell wanted to wear a jester’s costume?

Kyle shut the book. “Okay, the point is, you don’t need to dance or sing to be a character look-alike. And there are plenty of roles available! You and I don’t even have to try out for the same thing!”

In the end, Rory had given in, mostly because Kyle had begged and pleaded and then given him a very nice blow job. It was hard to turn someone down when your dick was in his mouth.

But now, all of his doubts about doing the audition were coming back. He didn’t care about being in Entertainment; at least, not as much as Kyle did. Maybe this was a mistake.

Rory was two seconds away from crossing his name off the audition sheet and leaving when Charlie fucking Taylor, of all people, strolled into the audition room. Rory watched him cross the floor and talk to one of the casting directors. They both nodded and laughed, then Charlie took a seat at one of the long tables with the rest of the casting team.

Oh, for crying out loud. Rory stared at the table and watched Charlie joke and laugh with the other Actors who would be judging the auditions. Was it possible that Charlie was actually part of the casting team? This just went from bad to worse.

However, one look across the room at Kyle made Rory change his mind about leaving. As pissed as he was at the guy, Rory couldn’t bear the thought of leaving Kyle alone to audition. Not with Charlie on the judges’ panel.

His damn protective streak was becoming a problem, Rory realized. He ought to get a handle on that.

Not surprisingly, auditions began at the stroke of two. Happy World lived by the clock. A few instructions were given by a casting director, mostly to separate those who were auditioning for a singing or dancing part, and those who were interested in a face character part. Rory waited to see if Kyle would join the group who was going next door to learn a dance routine, but he stayed put. Interesting.

Next, the casting director introduced himself and his casting team. Rory rolled his eyes when Charlie got a smattering of applause from the applicants. Clearly, everyone knew who he was.

One of the casting team members got up and showed the applicants a very simple, eight count routine. It consisted of two or three dance steps and some hand gestures, ending with a big smile and dramatized facial expressions. It was simple enough to memorize. Rory repeated the steps to himself under his breath while waiting his turn to audition, all the while sneaking glances at Kyle.

Kyle looked even more nervous than before. Rory could see him sending apprehensive looks Charlie’s way, even though Charlie just seemed to ignore Kyle completely. Two groups of people went through their audition routine for the judges, and then Rory heard them call Kyle’s name.

Rory went and sat in one of the folding chairs to watch. Kyle stepped up to the edge of the floor with the two other people in his group, and when the music started, he went through his routine quickly and easily. He’d done well, and if Rory wasn’t still irked over the way he’d been treated by Kyle, he would have gotten up to congratulate him.

The only thing that drew Rory’s attention away from Kyle was Charlie. Rory watched him whisper to one of the other casting team members and shake his head. The other team member nodded slowly and marked something down on the sheet in front of him.

No. Charlie wouldn’t dare screw with Kyle’s audition. Not unless… not unless maybe he and Kyle had really had something going on and now Charlie was pissed about it ending.

All the rage that Rory had managed to push back and suppress was boiling up again. Rage at Charlie, at Kyle, even at goddamn Happy World for being such a corporate machine. This was ridiculous. Rory got up and took a step toward the door, but then his name was called.

“Jenny Cooper, Rory Stafford, Benjamin Tan. Line up on your marks, please!”

Fuck it. He’d do the audition and then get himself the hell out of here, and possibly out of Happy World. He didn’t need the grief this job was bringing him.

The music started and Rory went through the simple choreography by rote. He remembered to smile, he remembered to use his hands for expressiveness, and he remembered to convey personality and attitude. For one split second, he considered ending the routine by flipping Charlie the bird, but his conscience got the better of him and Rory ended his audition like everyone else: on one knee, elbow propped up with his chin in his hand.

He barely heard the rote “thank you” from the judges, and Rory certainly didn’t bother to see if Kyle was still there or if Charlie was watching him. Rory just grabbed his backpack from where he’d left it on a chair and got the hell out.

***

Rory called in sick for his next shift and spent all day at the lake with friends. He’d hoped that maybe a day away from the theme park would help soothe his troubled thoughts, but it was only a temporary balm. That night in bed, sunburned and still a little drunk, Rory couldn’t help thinking of Kyle. Thoughts of Kyle led to thoughts of Charlie, and then Rory found himself right back in the same place he’d been for days.

Messed up.

As much as he would have liked to avoid his next shift too, Rory did what he considered to be the honorable thing and reported for duty. On time, even. Kind of. Two minutes late wasn’t really a punishable offense, right? Especially not if Rory was thinking about quitting this job. He’d find something else to satisfy his father, another kind of job that wasn’t quite so demeaning.

He sighed and pushed open the door that led to Fantasy Street. According to the calendar, Happy Hamster was scheduled to be signing autographs under the awning of the Sweet Confections candy store. That meant a crowd, which meant trash. Some people just couldn’t understand the concept of placing their litter in the proper receptacle.

Rory dutifully headed that way, scooping up kernels of popcorn or crumpled napkins as he went. Someone had spilled what looked like a whole box of shredded wheat cereal right next to the Three Little Pigs’ Carousel, so that took Rory several minutes to sweep up. When he finally finished, he looked up to discover that Happy Hamster had indeed drawn a crowd, and dropping all of their garbage on the ground seemed to be their main goal. Other than procuring a treasured autograph, of course.

He lingered around the edge of the mob, using his claw to grab candy wrappers and napkins almost before they hit the ground. Rory consoled himself with the fact that there was one way this could be worse: he could be picking up trash for Daniel the Dragon Slayer’s crowd instead.

After exactly thirty minutes had passed, Happy waved to the crowd and did his signature little jig before his handler led him safely away. The crowd quickly dissipated and Rory was left with a clear path to sweep up the rest of the trash on the ground.

A lovely combination of popcorn, churro sugar, and melted ice cream kept Rory busy for a while, and when he finally looked up again, he was met by a very familiar brown gaze.

“Uh. Hi?” Rory blinked at Kyle standing in front of him. Rory hadn’t bothered to check when Kyle’s next shift was. What would it matter? Their messing-around days were clearly over. A closer look, though, revealed that Kyle was in street clothes. Today wasn’t a regular shift for him at all.

“You got it.”

Rory furrowed his brow. “Got what?” Kyle’s expression was almost completely blank. Rory didn’t like it.

“The part. They gave you a look-alike part.”

“What? Who?” Rory asked, still confused. The auditions? Was that what Kyle was talking about? Rory had shoved the tryouts from his mind and had nearly forgotten them. There had been no phone call or email within the time limit, so Rory had assumed that he hadn’t gotten chosen. His next step was to figure out when he was quitting.

Kyle spoke with a flat tone. “Pierre. You got hired for Pierre. The list is up, backstage in all the break rooms.”

“It is? But… but they didn’t call me!” Rory pulled his cell phone from his pocket -- whoops, that was a no-no, having your cell phone in your costume -- and checked the display. There was a tiny blinking envelope on the screen, signaling a voicemail was waiting. Oops. “Okay, maybe they did. My phone’s on silent.” He put the phone away without bothering to listen to the message. “Wait a second… Pierre? You said I got Pierre?”

“Yes. Congratulations.” He turned and strode away from Rory, down Fantasy Street.

Rory watched him go, dumbfounded. He thought about calling after Kyle, but knew Kyle wouldn’t turn around. There was no way this could be true. Getting the part of Pierre meant only one thing.

Charlie had fixed it.

Pierre was the only other face character in the Park that worked closely with Daniel, aside from Daniel’s costumed dragon. Pierre and Daniel were mortal enemies, but they were often seen together in parades and appearances. They had rehearsals together and practiced their scripted conversations. Granted, Charlie wasn’t the only actor who played Daniel, but Rory knew he was the favorite.

Not caring about the rules he was breaking, Rory broke into a run for the nearest stage door. He pushed open a wooden gate and then the metal door behind it, tearing down the stairs into one of the break rooms. Sure enough, there was the list on one of the cork boards for announcements.

Three other people were crowded around it. Allison Combs, another Groundskeeper that Rory had spent a shift or two with, was beaming. “I got it,” she said with awe. “They gave me the part of Joy!” Joy and Bliss were Queen Fantastical’s two daughters. “Hey, Rory. I see your name up there.”

And indeed, Rory’s name was on the list. Rory Stafford - Pierre was fourth from the bottom. “Holy shit,” he whispered.

Allison laughed. “I know, I said the same thing. Hey, you’re lucky, Rory.” She grinned at him and wrinkled her nose. “You know who Pierre works with, right?”

Oh, Rory knew. “Yeah. Daniel.”

“Uh-huh.” She giggled. “And you know who plays Daniel.”

“Sam Hogan.” He was one of Daniel’s understudies.

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like once a month. But mostly you get to work with Charlie Taylor.”

“I heard that guy’s a prick,” Rory said calmly. “Treats people like shit and thinks he’s the next Messiah.”

Allison blinked. The other two people who were standing there with her were unfamiliar faces, but Rory didn’t care. Both of them snorted and made a show of covering it up with a cough. “I don’t know him,” Allison said. “I just like to look at him.”

“Take it from me,” Rory advised. “You don’t want to know him. He’s a douchebag. Pretty face or not.”

The other two Actors had begun edging for the door. Rory sincerely hoped they were the gossipy type. This was exactly the kind of thing he wanted spread like wildfire throughout backstage.

Allison shrugged one shoulder. “Okay,” she said. “I guess it doesn’t matter. Joy and Bliss don’t have that much contact with Daniel, except when he has to report another dragon slaying to the queen. Then we just get to sit there on princess thrones and smile at him.” She laughed. “I have to call my parents. God, this is so great!” She pulled her phone from her purse and retreated to the other side of the break room to presumably call her family.