Play the Game (3 page)

My big sister, Jean, used to be the school acting star. I’d joined the class as a
way to hang out with her after she decided she was way too cool to be seen with me.
But as soon as I joined, she dropped out. She’d said it was because she was super
busy with exams, but I still wondered if it was because of me.

The weird bit was, once I’d started drama class, I discovered that I loved it. I
didn’t care that none of my friends did it, or that it was really hard sometimes.
I just wanted to act.

‘Hi guys, I know you’re all keen to find out your parts –’ started Kerry.

‘Yeah!’ interrupted Freddy, making everyone laugh.

‘Well, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to wait until next Monday. A few things have come
up. The list will go up in the corridor straight after school.’

There was a collective groan. I couldn’t believe we weren’t going to find out today.
I’d been hanging for this announcement! And now I had to wait another week.

‘Up on stage please, everyone,’ said Kerry.

I walked up onto the stage to start warming up. Kerry got us all pretending to be
trees. Reaching out my arms like growing branches, I snuck a look at Freddy. He was
hunched down in a sort of squat. Everyone else was stretching up as high as they
could, but Freddy looked more like a tree stump than a tree. He always did something
different to everyone else. Kerry said he was a natural. His parents were both actors,
so I guess it was in his genes.

Freddy leapt up and saw me watching him. He gave me one of his amazing grins. Embarrassed,
I looked away quickly.

We always started drama class with these crazy warm-ups. The first class I came to,
I’d been mortified, until I realised that everyone was really into it, and that it
was actually great fun – if I stopped worrying about how stupid I looked. Pretty
soon I found myself looking forward to it.

Next Kerry asked us to become bears. I tried to make myself look big and imposing.
Freddy was lying on the ground like a hibernating bear when I saw Belle stomp over
and lie down next to him. I was pretty sure Belle liked Freddy too. Belle had also
auditioned for Juliet, so I was
really
hoping I’d get the lead role. I hated the
idea of having to watch Belle and Freddy kiss on stage!

Belle was in Freddy’s year. She looked much more grown up than I did, and wore heaps
of make-up. She was really into fashion and always looked so glamorous. My style
was dictated by whatever was on my bedroom floor. Usually, that meant jeans with
some sort of top. I didn’t actually own a dress. And the only skirt I ever wore was
my netball skirt.

I couldn’t hear what Belle and Freddy were saying, but I heard her giggle. The sound
made me want to stomp over and start a bear fight.

Kerry clapped her hands to signal the end of the warm-up.

‘We’re going to work on voice projection today. If you can all line up across the
back of the stage, I’m going to sit in the very last row. I need to hear you. Say
whatever you like,’ said Kerry.

Freddy was first. Belle was next to him – I was right down the other end of the line.
I didn’t like doing these sorts of exercises. Having to come up with something on
the spot always made me a bit nervous.

‘Feel the force, Luke,’ said Freddy, projecting his voice, and making everyone laugh.
He was always quoting lines from films.

Belle was next. She flicked her hair to one side and then stepped forward. ‘Hi, I’m
Belle. Two Ls. Two Es.’ As she stepped back next to Freddy, I’m sure I saw her look
at him sideways and smile.
Was she flirting with him?
I wondered.

I was so busy thinking about what Belle was up to, I’d totally spaced out, and suddenly
it was my turn.

‘Um, hi, we won our state netball tryout game,’ I said very quietly, down into the
floor.

Kerry called back. ‘Can’t hear you, Edie. Louder.’

‘We won our state netball tryout game,’ I said, a little louder.

‘Still can’t hear you. You have to own what you’re saying.’

I knew I was blushing. But I’d have to keep saying it until she could hear it, so
I took a deep breath, and this time I yelled. ‘We won our state netball tryout game!’

Kerry clapped. ‘Perfect. They could have heard that over in the next suburb. And well
done on the win.’

A boy called Jackson was standing next to me. He elbowed me gently and whispered,‘Congratulations!’

I just nodded. I didn’t know what to say. I sort of knew Jackson from a couple of
my classes, but I’d never really spoken to him before.

‘Pair up with the person next to you and then find some space where you can bounce
sounds back and forth,’ said Kerry, walking towards the stage.

Jackson turned to me again. ‘Hey, partner.’

‘Hi,’ I said, feeling nervous about working with Jackson. He usually paired up with
his friend Tom.

‘Come on, let’s find a spot,’ he said, walking off the stage towards the wings.

I couldn’t help sneaking a glance at Freddy as we walked past. He caught my eye and
whispered, ‘Hey Edie, when do you find out if you made state?’

‘Not sure,’ I whispered back.

Freddy nodded and held up his crossed fingers. I was so busy smiling back at him
that I crashed straight into Jackson.

‘Oops, sorry,’ I said.

‘That’s okay,’ he said. ‘Shall I serve first?’

‘What?’

He started bouncing an imaginary ball and then threw it into the air and hit it with
an imaginary racket. I looked around, wondering if I’d missed an instruction.

‘That one was out. Second serve,’ he said, bouncing another imaginary ball. This
time I was ready, and crouched down.

‘Hi!’ he said loudly, pretending to serve the word to me.

‘Hi!’ I said, lobbing the word back.

He swung again as he said,‘Um.’

‘Yep,’ I replied. He pretended to miss his shot. He chased after it, then bent down
to pick it up.

Kerry must have noticed our pretend game of tennis and wandered over.

Jackson served ‘I’ at me.

I hit it back. ‘Think.’

His shot. ‘You’re.’

I returned,‘Good.’

He sent back,‘At.’

I responded,‘This.’

His turn. ‘Game!’

Kerry and I both laughed. ‘Nice work, you two,’ she said.

Jackson pretended to scoop up the tennis ball and hand it to me. ‘Phew, close game,’
he said, smiling. ‘You almost had me.’

‘What do you mean,
almost
? I won,’ I teased.

Jackson brushed his hair out of his eyes, but it immediately flopped back down. I
was startled to find myself wanting to reach up and push it back.

‘Oh, no, that last shot was out. I definitely won. But I’ll give you a rematch. Next
week?’ he asked playfully.

I didn’t answer straight away because I was distracted by his eyes. They were like
pools of melted chocolate, and they sparkled as he teased me. I shook myself out
of it.

‘Sure,’ I said. ‘I’ll have my racket restrung.’

He laughed, and his face lit up with a broad grin. Huh. He was kind of cute.

At the end of class Kerry clapped loudly to get our attention. ‘We start rehearsing
Romeo and Juliet
next week. I’ll hand out your scripts then. We have a lot to get
through so we’ll be rehearsing twice a week – Mondays and Wednesdays. We might step
it up to three times a week closer to opening night. I hope that’s not going to be
a problem for anyone,’ said Kerry, looking around the group. ‘Basically, I’m going
to own you all until we open in two months,’ she said with a smile.

Kerry gave a little theatrical bow and everyone started filing out of the theatre.
Except for me. As I grabbed my bag, I managed to up-end it and everything tipped
out. I scrabbled around trying to find things. Pens. Pencils. An apple. Chewing gum.
Lip gloss. Basically, I carried my life in my bag, and now it was rolling down the
aisle of the theatre.

‘You might need this, Edie.’

I looked up to see Kerry holding out my sunscreen.

‘Thanks,’ I said, smiling.

I finally managed to shove everything into my bag and stand up.

‘I still can’t believe you’re making us wait until next week to find out which part
we got!’

Kerry laughed. ‘It’s only a few more days – I’m just fiddling with a few of the roles.
But you’ll be very happy, I promise you that. Your audition was amazing, Edie. You
have a big future!’

‘Really?’ I said, feeling all excited and fluttery.

‘Absolutely. I hope you don’t feel too young to carry some of the weight of the play,’
she said with a wink.

I must have looked like an idiot, just standing there grinning. But my head was spinning.
Juliet?
I wondered to myself.
Was she telling me I was Juliet? I couldn’t believe
it. She was telling me I was Juliet, wasn’t she?

I wanted to yell with happiness, but I instead I just nodded like mad. ‘Absolutely
not. I can’t wait.’

‘Great. Then I’ll see you Monday!’

Rushing outside to my bike, I desperately wanted to call Tess and tell her, but I
knew I should wait until next week. Wait, who was I kidding? There was no way I could
hold this in until then. Perhaps I could just
hint
at the news without actually telling
anyone.

I rode home like I was on a cloud. I kept running the whole thing over and over in
my head. Juliet. I was Juliet. In six weeks, I’d be acting in one of the greatest
plays ever written. It was crazy!

My big sister Jean was lying on the floor with both feet in the air when I floated
through the front door. The house stank of nail polish. But I didn’t care, I just
yelled at her,‘I got the part!
The
part!’

‘You what?’ she said, sounding confused. She looked like she had absolutely no idea
what I was talking about, which, given the amount I’d been talking about the play
ever since auditions, was a bit suprising. But today, I was so happy, I was willing
to overlook her total lack of interest in my life. And I secretly hoped she would
be impressed.

‘The part. In the play! In
Romeo and Juliet
!’

Jean checked that her toenails were dry before sitting up and looking at me closely.
I think she actually was a bit impressed.

‘What part?’ she said.

‘
The
part. That’s all I can tell you. Until next week,’ I said, proud that I’d managed
not to spill
all
the beans.

‘Are you playing Juliet?’

I practiced my poker face, giving nothing away. She shrugged, giving up.

Then she totally surprised me by saying, ‘I can do your make-up.’

I’m not usually suspicious, but Jean wasn’t one of those sisters who had your back.
Not lately. She was sixteen and thought she knew everything. She spent most of her
time ignoring me, and if she did talk to me, it was usually just to order me out
of the bathroom, or to make me turn down the music while she was on the phone.

‘Really?’I said slowly, expecting her to say something mean. But she didn’t. She just
nodded.

Wow. Could nothing go wrong today? Even my sister was being nice to me!

‘Yeah, it’ll be fun,’ she said, super sincerely.

‘Awesome! Thanks, Jean.’

She even managed a bit of a smile, then she held her hands out for me to critique.

Her nails were painted red with tiny black spots on them. Jean was always painting
her nails. The smell drove us all mad.

‘They’re great – if you’re a ladybug,’ I said.

She rolled her eyes at me and I immediately felt bad. After all, she’d been so nice
about the play. ‘Sorry. They look cool – very retro.’

‘I’ll do yours too if you like,’ she said, and I started to wonder if something had
happened to her brain. The last time she was this nice to me was when she’d worn my
favourite necklace without telling me – and lost it.

‘Maybe later,’ I said.

‘And we can experiment with your make-up and hair.
Romeo and Juliet
is such a great
play. I can help you with lines.’

I nodded, slightly weirded out by her enthusiasm. ‘Okay, thanks,’ I said, heading for my room. ‘I have to call Tess.’

Leaving Jean sprawled on the lounge room floor, I bounded upstairs. Our house was
one of those narrow, two-storey, old terrace houses. Jean and I both had bedrooms
upstairs, and there was a study and a bathroom up there that we were supposed to
share – though really, the bathroom was 90 per cent Jean’s. Everything else was downstairs.
My room was right at the back of the house, with a view of the rooftops around us.
It was a tiny room, just big enough for a bed, a wardrobe and all my netball posters
and trophies, but I loved it. I used to climb out the window and sit on the roof
until Mum found me one day, and totally freaked out. She wasn’t a big fan of us taking
risks. She worked in a hospital emergency department, so I guess she’d seen the results
of too many accidents.

I shut my door and phoned Tess. The phone had barely even rung when Tess picked it
up.

‘Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!’ I screamed into the phone.

‘Ahhhhh!’ she screamed back. ‘No way!’

‘I know! I mean, I can’t officially say anything until next Monday, because the list
hasn’t been posted yet. But Kerry sort of unofficially told me after rehearsals.’

‘Oh, right,’ Tess sounded surprised for a moment. ‘Wait, so you got Juliet?’

‘Yep! I’m so excited! I’m dying to find out who got the other parts. I wonder if
Freddy will be Romeo? God, I hope Kerry doesn’t cast someone else. I’ll be working
with the male lead practically 24/7. What if it’s not Freddy?’

Tess laughed. ‘Not that you’re doing the play to be with him, of course.’

‘I’m really not, Tess,’ I said, frowning. This was huge news for me. Even though I
knew she was only teasing, I was hurt that she wasn’t taking it seriously.

She must have caught my tone. ‘Sorry, Edie. That’s awesome news. I know you worked
really hard on the audition. And I’m sure you’ll be fantastic. I’ll come to every
performance!’

‘Thanks. I’m nervous already!’