Drama at Silver Spires (9 page)

But just as I was bracing myself for someone to bring up the horrible subject, Jess's mobile ringtone broke the silence, and gave me a jump.

“Oh, that's my phone telling me it's time for
The Fast Lane
! I set my reminder.”

A feeling of relief swept through me. This was everyone's favourite TV programme and they'd all go racing off any second now. Good, I didn't have to talk about what had happened in the rehearsal.

Jess was first to get up. “Are you coming, Georgie?” she asked hesitantly.

I shook my head. Even the thought of
The Fast Lane
did nothing to cheer me up.

“Will you be okay?” asked Naomi, getting up with Katy.

“I'm staying here,” said Mia firmly.

So the others went and even though I tried to persuade Mia to go, she wouldn't. “I still want to talk to you, Georgie.”

The moment we were on our own she asked me the question I was dreading answering, but because there was only Mia there now, I didn't feel like getting under the duvet any more.

“What exactly did Cara mean about…offering to stand in for her?”

I heaved a huge sigh and looked down when I spoke. “Cara couldn't do the part properly today because of her throat. No one could hear what she was saying, and I've learned loads of Amy's lines, so I…offered to say them to…you know…to help Miss Pritchard out.”

“And…what did Miss Pritchard say?”

I sighed again. “She looked at me like I was a little kid and said it wasn't as easy as all that. And Cara looked at me like I was a total loser.”

“That is
so
unfair.”

“It made me mad…because
they
don't know what I can and can't do.”

“And anyway you were only trying to help. Miss Pritchard should have been grateful. She should at least have let you have a go at it.”

Mia was being such a good friend, and that made me feel horribly guilty. “Do you hate me for going to all those rehearsals and not telling you, Mia?”

She bit her lip. “I knew that was where you were.”

“What, you mean you saw me go in or something?”

She shook her head. “No, I just knew. I think Katy and Naomi guessed too. We were all just kind of waiting for you to say something.” Mia smiled. “It's obvious if you think about it. I mean, ever since the auditions you've been inside your own little world, you haven't even watched
The Fast Lane
for three weeks, you're reading
Little Women
and you're talking in your sleep.”

“Talking in my sleep? Oh no! What have I been saying?”

“I can't remember because it didn't make sense, but you seemed to be having a conversation with two people called Meg and Jo!”

She smiled, then we both giggled. “Bit of a giveaway, then!” I admitted.

Mia suddenly jumped up and pulled me to my feet, looking excited. “Hey, Georgie, will you say some of Amy's lines for me?”

“What here? Now?”

She nodded.

“I can't. I'm too fed up about everything.”

I knew I'd kind of spoiled our conversation, because Mia looked so disappointed, but there was nothing I could do about it. My emotions had been shaken up. If I'd tried to say the lines at that moment in time, they wouldn't have come out right at all. And that night, after everyone had gone to sleep, I lay there feeling completely fed up, and in the end I got out of bed, found a pencil and went and altered the sign on the door to our dorm. I didn't think anyone else would notice, and I didn't much care whether they did or they didn't. I just wanted to punish myself. It wasn't right that it said Georgie the Actress. Standing in the silent corridor I stared at the new word I'd written beside my name.

Georgie the Loser.

Yes, that was the truth.

The following day it was Saturday morning school. It always seems a bit unfair that we have to have lessons on Saturday mornings as well as during the rest of the week, but at least we're free after that and there are often really good trips and things organized for the rest of the weekend. I was having a horrible time in French because I seemed to be the only person in the class who couldn't tell the time in French (unless it was something o'clock), when in came Miss Pritchard and asked Mam'zelle Clemence if she could have a word with Georgie Henderson.

Everyone was suddenly completely still and I knew they'd be tuning in to what Miss Pritchard was saying to me. She came over and her loud whisper seemed to go pinging off all four walls.

“Cara's lost her voice completely now, Georgie, and I had an idea. I was wondering, as you're so keen to be involved in the play…”

My heart leaped and I sat up a bit straighter.
Yes?

“…if you'd like to stand in for Alice Dunbar, who's got the part of Hannah, the housekeeper. Alice is willing to read Cara's lines. Just until Cara is better.”

I swallowed and felt a rush of disappointment, but it quickly dissolved as I realized at least I'd still be involved in the play. I guessed that Miss Pritchard had chosen Alice Dunbar because she's the brainiest girl in the world and she'd be able to say the lines without hesitation, and wouldn't bury her head in the script because she'd be able to read ahead and remember enough words to look up for quite a while without losing her place. Yes, Alice was definitely a great choice except – and this is a big
except
– that I'd watched her acting the part of Hannah and I didn't think she was a very good actress. She still sounded like Alice Dunbar, no matter what words were coming out of her mouth.

All this whizzed through my mind in a microsecond and I so wanted to tell Miss Pritchard that it would be much easier if she just let me do Cara's part, as then she wouldn't need to take Alice out of her own role. But I stopped myself because, after all, I wasn't going to be acting in the real play, I was just helping out until Cara's voice came back. So I simply said, “Yes, that's fine,” in my most mature voice, which earned me a smile as Miss Pritchard dropped a crisp script on my desk.

“I've highlighted your lines. We're starting punctually after lunch. See you later.”

Then she was gone. Just like that.

“So let us continue with telling the time,” said Mam'zelle Clemence, trying to get the lesson back on course. She looked directly at me. “Georgie,
quelle heure est-il?
”

I looked at the clock. It was exactly half past ten. “
Dix heures et demie
,” I said without hesitation.

“
Oui!
” said Mam'zelle Clemence. “
Très bien!
”

And I smiled with happiness, not because I'd got the time right, but because I suddenly realized I'd actually got myself a part in the play after all, even if it was only for a while. And my day that had seemed so dull and dark was now filled with little dancing lights.

The role of Hannah consisted of quite a few appearances but only about ten lines and I'd got a pretty good idea of nearly half of them by the end of French. I can't say Mam'zelle Clemence had been over the moon when she'd noticed the script on my lap. In fact she'd given me another lecture about my lack of concentration and warned me about the end-of-term report, but I was too excited about the play for anything like a little telling-off to worry me.

Cara wasn't at lunch, thank goodness, and I know it was horrible of me but I hoped her voice would take ages to come back so I'd get the best possible chance to impress Miss Pritchard, just in case someone had to drop out at the last minute, and then I'd be first choice to step in and take the part. I bolted down my fishcakes then raced over to the theatre, only to find I was first to arrive. When Miss Pritchard came into the auditorium a few minutes later to find me learning my lines, she blinked in big surprise.

“That's what I like to see!” Then she started explaining the storyline and showed me where I'd be standing on the stage for the first section we were going to rehearse.

“Yes, I know,” I said.

She paused mid-sentence but then carried on as though I hadn't spoken. “And Jo will appear from just over here…”

“Yes, I know.”

“What do you mean, you
know
?” She sounded a bit exasperated.

“I've seen you rehearsing this bit.”

As soon as I'd spoken I wished I could shove the words straight back in my great big mouth. Now I'd given it away that I'd sat in on more than one rehearsal. The look on Miss Pritchard's face said she didn't like what she was hearing but she was prepared to let it go. “And I know you're only reading the lines but it'll help the others if you try to speak in character,” she carried on, “so do keep in mind that your character is slower and older than anyone else in the household. Only…” Miss Pritchard looked as though she'd just remembered something. “…don't overdo it.”

I wished she hadn't said those last three words because she was obviously thinking back to when I'd done my terrible audition and I'd really been hoping she might have forgotten about that. It was tempting to quickly remind her that I'd not realized the theatre was amplified and everything, but the new sensible mature Georgie just nodded and kept quiet.

It was while Miss Pritchard was explaining to me about another scene that everyone started drifting into the theatre. She was pointing to a particular speech of Amy's on the script. “Don't wait for Alice to finish what she's saying, Georgie. You need to interrupt her about here…”

“Yes, I know.”

Now she really was exasperated. “Georgie, are you sure you're actually taking in what I'm saying?”

“Yes, every word,” I assured her, nodding my head vigorously. Then I quickly changed it to a simple “Yes,” in case she thought I was being cheeky.

“Right.” She nodded then strode off the stage and told everyone to get into their places for Act One, Scene Three.

“What are
you
doing here?” one of the Year Nines asked me, which made me feel like the lowest form of pond life.

“Standing in for Alice Dunbar,” I said, desperately trying to find my place on the script.

“Alice is
here,
though.”

“Yes, but Cara's ill so Alice is reading her part and I'm—”

“Georgie, one thing you'll have to learn is that there isn't time to chatter during rehearsals,” came Miss Pritchard's no-nonsense voice.

“But—”

“Top left wing, Georgie!” she interrupted, pointing to where I had to go.

“Yes, I know.”

Whoops.
Now she looked completely stressed out, and we'd not even started.

My first speech was the longest and also the one that I knew best. Hannah the housekeeper was supposed to be giving Jo a bit of a talking-to, not exactly telling her off, but speaking sternly to make the point that Jo hadn't been pulling her weight. All I had to do was make my entrance at the right moment, remember the words and say them slowly with an old voice, but not
too
slowly and not
too
old. I felt myself tensing up as the cue got nearer and I rolled my shoulders and neck around to make myself relax. A couple of the Year Nines exchanged a look when I did that but I tried to ignore them and walked on with my script by my side and my eyes on Camilla Tomkinson, who was playing the part of Jo.

It was weird but as I spoke the lines to her I saw how the expression in her eyes changed from mild surprise to a kind of frustration and embarrassment, and I felt as though I really was talking to Jo, because it was exactly how I knew Jo would have reacted, and that spurred me on to do my own part even better. I almost got through the whole speech without a slip, but could have kicked myself when I forgot the last few words and had to look at the script.

“Well done!” said Miss Pritchard, but I didn't know if she was talking to me or to Camilla.

“Was my voice too slow?” I whispered to Camilla, when I'd finished my part of the scene and we were both in the wings together.

“No, it was good,” was all she said before she had to go back onstage for her next appearance. I sneaked round the side to slip back into the auditorium, which is what you're supposed to do when you're not needed for a while.

Miss Pritchard was concentrating on the action on the stage when I sat down with all the other waiting people, so she didn't say anything to me. In fact, I don't even think she noticed me. I just had to hope that she thought I'd done okay. Then I got on with learning the lines for my next scene, even though I knew I wouldn't be on for ages. At least Camilla had said I was good, and that made me feel brilliant. I went into a bit of a daydream, going back over our scene together and remembering that look in her eyes. It was funny how my own acting had improved just because of the way Camilla had acted. I think professional actors call it “feeding off” each other. I mean, if you're trying to make your role as realistic as possible but the person opposite you sounds wooden, you've got a much tougher job on your hands. That's what it was like at primary. But it was different here. There were lots of great actors here.