Starring Me (17 page)

“Of course,” Jillian said, her voice sounding strained. “But right now, I really should get ready.”

“Oh yes. You do that. Have a good time now.”

The girls barely made the nine thirty deadline. By the time Kara got to her room, Haley was in the bathroom.
Of course
. Once again, Kara was forced to put her makeup on in her bedroom, opening the blinds to let in more light and holding her compact out at arm’s length to check her hair. Haley waltzed out of their bathroom at 9:25, freshly showered, her hair and makeup perfect.

“You could have let me in the bathroom to fix my hair.” Kara threw her compact in her purse.

Haley looked at Kara. “I could have.”

“I knocked a dozen times.”

“I know.”

“Well?”

“What are you upset about? You look fine.” Haley put her makeup bag in the dresser drawer.

That was the closest her roommate had come to a compliment, so Kara chose to smile and say thanks.

The ride to the studio was silent. The girls were either texting or listening to their iPods. Kara glanced over at Ava’s cell phone. “Agent Kelly” was advising her to befriend the stars on
Morgan’s Road
.

“Stop looking at my phone.” Ava covered the screen with her hand.

Kara sighed.

Sitting next to her, Kylie had her eyes closed. Kara knew from their oh-so-brief conversations that the girl was mentally preparing for the audition.

Kara decided she’d close her eyes too. No one in the van needed to know it was out of sheer boredom.

As soon as the vans pulled up, the girls scrambled over each other to get out and greet the waiting stars. The five teen celebrities hugged each girl as she introduced herself. Kara waited at the end of the line. She noticed Flora pulled into a parking space at the corner of the lot.

“You’re Kara McKormick,” Paige Hanson, Morgan of
Morgan’s Road
, said when Kara reached her.

“I am.” Kara extended her hand.

“I loved you on
The Book of Love
,” she said.

“Wow, thanks.” Kara smiled. “I’m excited to be here.”

“Come on in,” Paige said. “I’ll show you around.”

The other girls, most of them vying for the attention of Zach Stone, the show’s handsome costar, were ahead of Kara and Paige.

“You’ll love it here,” Paige said. “And you’ll be great. You were a natural in
The Book of Love
.”

Paige showed Kara the dressing rooms and the set. She introduced her to their director and stage manager.

Wow, a down-to-earth star
.
What a nice change
.

“And there’s Ashley Win.” Paige pointed to the small woman walking into the building.

“Oh yes.” Kara winced. “I know her.”

“She talks tough, but she’s really a sweetheart once you get to know her. She just has to be like that for auditions. Once you’re in, though, she’s great.”

“Let’s hope I get to see that side of her.” Kara looked across the room as several of the other girls roared in laughter at something Zach said.

Paige looked at Kara and must have guessed what was going on in her mind. “Everything is better once the auditions are over. Trust me. When you’re in a show together, the cast really does become like a little family.”

Paige’s assurance gave Kara hope.

Ashley gathered the girls in the green room as the show’s stars went into their dressing rooms to prepare for their day’s work.

“All right,” Ashley said. “This is a little different from your last audition because you’ll be working with two actors, not just one. We want to see how you interact with the other actors. And
Morgan’s Road
is a drama, so we’ll be looking at how you can perform in that arena.”

“But isn’t our show going to be a comedy-sketch show? ” Haley tossed her perfect curls behind her shoulder.

“
You
don’t have a show.” Ashley walked over to Haley, her stiletto heels clicking with each step. “If you ever hope to have one, you better show that you can perform in any venue, any style, under any circumstances.”

The door opened, and the man Kara recognized as the stage manager brought in a handful of scripts.

“Thanks, Randy.” Ashley smiled and took the scripts from him. “We don’t have as much time as we did with Devlin. The
Morgan’s Road
actors have graciously agreed to give us their morning. I purposefully didn’t give you the scripts until now because I want to see how you do with just a few minutes to memorize your lines.”

The girls gasped.

“There will be monitors on the sides of the stage with your lines on them,” Ashley said. “But you can’t be attached to those. It will be obvious.”

“This isn’t fair,” Gina said. “You’re just rewarding those who can memorize quickly.”

Ashley looked down at Gina. “This is fair, my dear. And this is show business. If it’s too tough, then go home. I can guarantee you there are plenty of other girls who won’t complain.”

Gina opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.

“All right, then,” Ashley said. “I will give you your script ten minutes before your audition. You must stay in here and wait for your turn so no one sees the scenes and comes in with an advantage.”

Flora entered with a tray full of fruits, vegetables, and cheese. “I’ve got snacks so you won’t go hungry.”

“Thank you, Flora,” Ashley said. “We’ll go in reverse alphabetical order today. So, Zoey, you’re up.”

Kara ran through the list of girls in her head.
Zoey, Sophie, Kylie, me. Fourth. Not bad. Enough time to mentally prepare, not so much time that I go crazy. I can handle that
.

Ashley left the room with Zoey and the girls began to gripe.

“This is ridiculous,” Gina said. “None of the
Morgan’s Road
cast is given a script a few minutes before performance.”

“How do you know?” Kara asked. “Maybe they are.”

“That’s not how it works.”

Anna Grace walked up to Gina. “And you’re an expert? ”

“This isn’t my first audition.” Gina pursed her lips.

“Well, it may be your last,” Anna Grace said, “if you keep mouthing off to Ashley like that. Actually, never mind that. Keep it up. You’re digging your own grave. One less competitor for me to have to beat out.”

“This is about our acting abilities.” Gina took a step closer to Anna Grace.

“Strike two.”

Jillian stepped between Gina and Anna Grace, her eyes on Flora. “All right, girls. No need to get upset. We’re all tense. This is nerve wracking. But getting angry at each other won’t make us audition any better.”

Anna Grace walked away. “Whatever. You’re not worth it. None of you are.”

The room grew silent and remained so as the minutes ticked on. Sophie was called out twenty minutes later, then Kylie. The girls didn’t return once they performed.
They could, though
. Kara looked around the room.
If Ashley is worried that they might tell us what the scene is like, she’s crazy. They’d be more likely to make up some stuff just to throw the rest of us off
.

Kara was called next. She read through the script quickly.
This is definitely dramatic
.
Melodramatic, if you ask me. But I just have to prove I can do it
.

Kara spent the next few minutes trying to understand her character and find some qualities in her that could bring her to life on-screen.

Her mind went blank. Normally, a million ideas were zinging through all at the same time. This time, nothing.

Come on, Kara. Think
.

She looked at her phone; two of her ten minutes had passed and she had no plan. Her stomach began to turn, and she worried that she’d spend another two minutes losing what she had eaten for breakfast.

Trying to ignore her churning stomach, Kara began to work on memorizing her lines. When the director called her in, Kara was only partially sure of her lines and not at all sure of her character.

I’m going to blow it right here. I should have stayed in New York, tried out for the Broadway show. I bet they don’t make their actors perform with only ten minutes of prep
.

Paige welcomed her warmly, as did Zach.

“All right, Kara.” The director looked at her. “You’ll be Morgan’s classmate Brittany. I’m sure you’ve guessed from the scene that you aren’t a very nice girl. You’re trying to steal Jake away from her. We want to see nasty from you, all right?”

Oh, I think I have lots of experience watching “nasty
.
”
Kara thought of her housemates.
Now if I can just not think about throwing up for the five minutes it’ll take to play this part
.

“And . . . action.”

Chapter 22

T
hat was great, Kara,” Paige said after the director yelled “cut.”

Along the way, Kara’s nausea had disappeared. But she knew this was far from her best performance. Paige was just very kind. “Thanks.”

“Okay, Kara.” Ashley walked onto the set. “We have a room set up for you right through there. You get to meet some of the other
Morgan’s Road
stars and relax until all the girls are finished.”

Kara replayed the scene in her head as she walked down the hallway.
I looked at the monitor too much. It’s going to look like I was just reading the lines. That was such an amateur audition
.

“Excuse me,” one of the show’s other stars yelled at a caterer. “I specifically requested
diet
raspberry tea. Is this diet raspberry tea? I don’t think so.” She threw the bottle down on the table and walked away. The caterer was forced to rush after the rolling bottle, catching it before it fell on the floor and shattered.

Kara turned to see Sophie poking her head through the door to the girls’ waiting room.

“Did you see that?” Kara said as she walked through the door.

“I sure did.” Sophie’s eyes sparkled. “I can’t wait until I have that kind of power.”