Olivia Plays Her Part
Contents
‘Give me back my shoe, you horrible witch!’ Olivia cried.
‘Never!’ Abbey shouted.
Olivia pretended to throw a bucket of Chapter Two water over her and Abbey sank to the stone floor of the clubhouse.
‘I’m melting!’ Abbey shrieked.
Maddie, Emma, Kate and Matilda burst into applause, cheering loudly. Olivia and Abbey took a bow.
‘That was great, guys!’ Maddie said.
‘You’re both going to ace that audition,’ Kate said.
Olivia hoped Kate was right. She was so excited about the school’s production of
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,
and auditions were the next day! The girls had been helping her learn her lines and Olivia was ready.
Olivia flopped down into a beanbag, pulled her jacket around her and shivered.
It was a chilly Sunday afternoon and the friends were trying to keep warm in their clubhouse. Emma and Matilda were snuggled under a blanket, and Maddie and Kate were curled up on the other beanbag. Abbey nestled into her dog, Moby. An icy wind blew through the quarry outside.
The quarry was an old stone mine that had been abandoned a long time ago. Its huge walls were now surrounded by wild flowers, trees and lots of clover. One hot day, Olivia and her friends had found a four-leaf clover at the quarry. A clover with four leaves is rare, and finding one made the girls feel lucky. The friends decided to wear a four-leaf clover charm as a symbol of their friendship. After all, best friends are like a four-leaf clover: hard to find and lucky to have.
The girls often joked about who saw the four-leaf clover first but Olivia was sure it had been her.
Soon after, the girls had found an old miners’ shed hidden in the quarry. Olivia, Maddie, Kate, Emma, Abbey and Matilda were the only people who knew it was there. It became their secret clubhouse.
‘Did you put your name down for backstage, Maddie?’ Abbey asked.
Maddie nodded. ‘I couldn’t imagine going on stage in front of hundreds of people and saying all those lines!’ she said with a shudder.
Olivia and the other girls laughed. Olivia couldn’t believe how different she and her best friend were. Maddie could play soccer on a huge sports field, but the thought of being on stage made her shake at the knees. Olivia loved performing in front of a crowd at her gymnastics competitions.
‘Olivia would make the perfect Dorothy,’ Maddie said proudly.
‘Yeah, Olivia!’ Abbey said. ‘You’re so graceful. I feel like a total klutz beside you!’
‘You didn’t look klutzy,’ said Matilda. ‘Your Wicked Witch is great!’
‘Thanks,’ Abbey said. ‘I hope I get it.’
Olivia agreed that Abbey would make a great Wicked Witch, even though she had never done any performing before. She just hoped her friend wouldn’t be too upset if they picked someone else.
‘I’ve got to go,’ Matilda announced. ‘Mum’s making spag bol tonight and I’m going to help.’
Maddie turned to Olivia and Abbey. ‘And you two should chill out before your big auditions tomorrow,’ she said.
‘Chill out?’ Abbey cried. ‘No way! Moby and I are going to play outside with his new ball, aren’t we, boy?’
‘You’re going outside in this weather?’ Kate said. ‘I’ll be curled up on the couch with my new science magazine.’
‘I’m going to do fifteen somersaults on the trampoline and then finish the book club list for Mrs Mitchell,’ Olivia said. ‘I said I’d help organise it this term.’
‘Ugh,’ said Abbey. ‘That sounds like extra homework to me!’
‘Oh no, it’s fun, actually,’ Olivia said. ‘First I put them into categories depending on what sort of books they are, and then the authors go in alphabetical order, and …’
‘Okay, okay,’ Maddie said with a grin. ‘We get it!’
‘You want to come over and help me, Abbey?’ Olivia asked slyly.
‘No way!’ Abbey said, shaking her head. ‘I’d rather read Kate’s science magazine!’
Olivia laughed along with the others as they all got up to head for home.
The next morning Olivia sat in class without hearing much of what her teacher was saying. She couldn’t stop thinking about the audition. Finally it was almost eleven o’clock. Time to go!
Maddie gave Olivia the thumbs up. ‘You’ll be awesome!’ she whispered.
‘Thanks,’ Olivia said.
The rest of the girls whispered good luck as Olivia excused herself and rushed out of the classroom.
Miss Hibbert, Olivia’s drama teacher, was waiting in the school hall. Miss Hibbert was one of Olivia’s favourite teachers and always wore jangly earrings and pretty necklaces. Olivia was surprised to see three other teachers sitting at the table, too. She hadn’t expected anyone else to be there. Butterflies fluttered about in Olivia’s belly. She hoped she wouldn’t be too nervous to sing!
‘Olivia,’ Miss Hibbert said with a kind smile. ‘Right on time. Who are you auditioning for today?’
‘Dorothy,’ said Olivia.
‘Wonderful!’ said Mrs Mitchell. ‘You can start whenever you’re ready.’
Olivia discreetly kissed the purple lucky clover charm around her neck before moving to stand in front of them. She stuck her left leg out a bit and pointed her toes, the way she did when she was about to begin a gymnastics routine. It made her feel graceful and helped put her into performance mode.
She plastered a big smile on her face, the way she did at competitions, took a deep breath and began.
Olivia felt on top of the world when she left the hall five minutes later. The audition had been scarier than she had imagined, but it had gone well. She had looked graceful and hadn’t mucked up any of her moves, and her voice hadn’t been too wobbly when she sang.
It was recess so Olivia grabbed her snack and met the girls at the monkey bars.
‘How did it go?’ Maddie asked.
‘Did Miss Hibbert give you the part on the spot?’ said Emma.
Olivia laughed. ‘It was great,’ she said. ‘But I have to wait until Thursday afternoon to find out, just like everyone else.’
‘I bet you get it,’ said Kate. ‘And Abbey will do a brilliant audition this afternoon and she’ll get in too!’
‘I put my name down to help out with the costumes,’ Emma said. ‘I’d love to make those sparkly green dresses for the Emerald City.’
‘Miss Hibbert said that maybe I could help look after Toto backstage,’ Matilda said. ‘He’s Rhea’s dog and he’s so cute!’
Olivia felt happy and relieved as her friends kept chatting. Happy that she had done well, and relieved that the waiting would soon be over!
