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Vann lowers the sheet of paper, his eyes on the audience, and he asks, “Why’d I follow you here? Is that what you wanna know?”

It takeshis audition The words are from the script

“Well I’ve got a few reasons, actually But before I say thelances at the paper to get the rest of the line, then looks up “Like I’m a dirty stray cat …?” His face is creased with tension At once, that tension eases, and he lets on a sht I wouldn’t trust me, either But I take it that look in your eye means you like cats”

I hear a few hs here and there Vann’s delivery is so natural, cal to us For aan audition

And his shts up, and he becoht flush to his cheeks gloith the warmth of his pink lips as they spread like waves in a pool, revealing diht of the short of hypnotizing I could get lost in them for lifetimes

When Vann finishes, I realize I was so absorbed in his beauty that I didn’t even catch the rest of his piece The second he’s done, the light flickers out of his eyes, and he’s his brooding self again “Thanks,” he round by his feet and hops off the stage He returns the side to an uncharacteristically stunned Ta out his sketchpad, and resuain

I stare after hi in et to know you? He just sits there scribbling away in his sketchpad, likely the sa to strike up a conversation about It’s like that pad is his best friend I guess I can relate I once had an easel in ination before it was destroyed

The very next person to the stage is Frankie Lopez, the star of every show since his freshht up and performs his piece to a distracted Ms Joy Yes, he notices, and his whole audition beco-of-war for her attention as he reads the very sasley, but it is

Nothing has ever lacked from a performance by Frankie

Maybe we never knew better Maybe Frankie never had true co fish in this tiny, dusty pond of the Spruce High Theatre Department

And the ravated I become He doesn’t even know I’m here The moody mystery marvel that is Vann won’t look up fro at the stage either, giving no time of day to anyone but himself

I wonder if anything at all will get his attention

It’s an hour (and ninequietly to Taain “Thanks to everyone who auditioned so far! As you may have noticed, our turnout this year is … less than usual But hey! I’ve got a solution, y’all! I’d like to invite anyone else out there who didn’t sign up to come up and audition Don’t be afraid! I see y’all’s faces! Don’t you worry one bit about it We have had only two of you read for the role of Danielle Do it for fun! Don’t you see how fun it is?? Just hop on up here We’ve got the time”

The silence stretches on as seats creak and heads turn left and right, curious if anyone will actually take the bait Vann doesn’t look anywhere but his sketching Even this doesn’t interest him

Well, let’s change that

“I’ll go,” I announce, slipping right out ofdown the aisle—right past Vann—onto get a look at rateful Tamika, take a sheet froe

All of my confidence, however, drains fro the crowd To be fair, there are a lot more empty seats than filled ones, as it’s likely just twenty-five to thirty of us here But still I’m wracked with nerves, as if every seat is filled with a bored audienceto be entertained I can’t seeain?