All Alexa wants is to be cast as Cosette…until she meets her very own Marius.

Most of the drama in Drama Club happens long before the curtain opens and far away from center stage. Alexa Grace finds herself right at the heart of that drama—in a whirlwind of gossip and emotions and charades—when she moves to a new school and auditions for Les Misérables. She quickly realizes that the auditions are fixed, that the person who is cast as Cosette has it out for her, and that she is in the middle of a dangerous backstage love triangle.

In a tangle of jealousy, passion, frustration, and ambition, Alexa and her castmates struggle to come together to pull off an amazing production. Join them from cast list to curtain in DRAMA UNSUNG.

5-star praise for Drama Unsung:

“…an amazing author…I love Jennifer’s grasp of emotion in this and her other books…”

“… Feel the tension, the emotion and the pride these kids have in their accomplishments. Oh, I forgot to mention the drama teacher…She, on her own, took me back to my days in school!…”

an excerpt from

Drama Unsung

by Jennifer Jamelli

Copyright © 2014 by Jennifer Jamelli and published here with her permission

Prologue

“I Dreamed a Dream”

Cosette. I’ve wanted to be her since the very first time I saw Les Misérables on Broadway. After the curtain closed that night, I got to work right away. I started to memorize her lines, sing her songs. I was only eight years old, but I had a plan. A hope. A dream.

Now, at eighteen, I’m in the dressing room getting ready for my opening night performance of Les Mis.

But I’m not Cosette.

And I wish I had known ten years ago—or at least during auditions a couple of months ago—that not getting to be her would lead me to my real dream come true…

Chapter 1

“Do You Hear the People Sing?”

It’s my turn. My callback. My only chance to be Cosette. Well, unless I’m somehow offered the role on Broadway someday…but really, like that will ever happen.

So this is it. And I can’t mess up. I know if I do—

“Alexa. Alexa? Do you want me to play the intro again?”

Great. I messed up.

“Oh…yes, please. I’m so sorry.”

Okay. Concentrate, Lexi.

My intro begins…again, apparently. A girl in the front row—the one with all of the shiny blonde hair—is whispering to the less shiny girl beside her. Her perfectly pink lips form the words “new girl.” The guy on the other side of her, the one who looks more like a football player than a member of Drama Club, whispers back. Then the girl snaps her golden head around with a murderous look, saying—

Wait. My opening note. Gotta sing.

I begin the opening verse of “A Heart Full of Love,” singing words and notes I’ve sung at least a thousand times before. And it’s not bad. My voice is a tiny bit shaky from nerves, maybe, but otherwise, not bad.

Nonetheless, there are no more than a few polite claps of applause (from a guy in a bright purple shirt who is sitting in the second row) as I leave the stage and sit back in the auditorium with the other auditioners. Once I get back to my seat, no one really acknowledges me at all.

A tiny little girl, another blonde, from the second row is up next. Same song. She doesn’t miss her intro, though. And she’s not shaky. She’s really good. I don’t know how the director will even dec—

“Hey. Alexa, right?”

Tight jeans. Bright purple shirt with the word DIVA spelled across the chest. The guy from the second row who clapped for me.

“Um, yeah…uh, Lexi.” I give him a small smile.

“Eric,” he says, holding out his hand.

Even though I am a little surprised by his formality, I give him my hand. I don’t want to be rude. He is, after all, the only person who has thought to talk to me.

He doesn’t shake my hand. He flips it over and smacks a kiss right on top.

“Enchanté, Mademoiselle.” He speaks with an exaggerated, thick accent—much like the one Madame Yeux uses in French class.

I can’t help myself. “Enchanté, Monsieur.”

And we smile. Like we get each other. Like maybe I’ve actually found a friend after a few weeks of walking through the hallways of school by myself.

“Eric, you are up.” Mrs. Leonard calls him to go next, and my one and only prospect for a friend smiles, lets go of my hand, and bounces up to the stage.

The opening bars of “Master of the House” ring throughout the auditorium. He must be called back for Thénardier. Not surprising. He doesn’t exactly fit the mold for the romantic lead.

As the song starts, he looks right at me and winks. Then he pulls the microphone off of its stand and begins moving around as he sings. He saunters around, lost in the character…so lost that he even makes some rather vulgar dance movements.

I look back at Mrs. Leonard for her reaction. She’s delighted.

“Lovely, Eric. Well done. Brilliant.”

Eric gives a little curtsy before exiting the stage, and the other students clap and cheer him on. He smiles at the clump of his admirers but then plops down in the seat right next to me.

“Nice choreography.” I smile over at him.

He smiles back. “Oh, I know. I’ve been told it was quite brilliant.”

Next up is the girl from the front row, the shiny blonde. As Mrs. Leonard calls her name, she, um…Addison, leans over and kisses the quarterback-looking guy sitting next to her. Right on the lips. Then she stands up and freezes, her neck bent back and her head looking up (I guess to God or something).

“Come on, Miss Thing. This isn’t the Tony Awards.” This comes from right beside me. Eric.

I scrunch down a little in my seat. Just what I need…to be involved in making fun of—

Unbelievable. She starts to laugh. So does everyone else.

“Just practicing for when it is, Eric.” She smiles and walks up to the stage. Then she sings yet another rendition of “A Heart Full of Love.” And she’s not bad. Her voice is light, airy—pretty fitting for the young Cosette.

Her face is blank, though. No emotion. No acting. She’s just a doll with notes and words slipping through her lips.

I take a second to glance at the boy, the one who looks like he should be at some sort of athletic practice instead of here. He’s focused on Addison, smiling encouragingly as she finishes her song. When she sings her final notes, he joins everyone else in applauding her back down to her seat. Her applause is by far the loudest I’ve heard so far today.

Soon, Eric stops clapping and leans over to whisper to me. “It’s best to stay on her good side.” Then he pauses and leans in even closer. “Want to know her Days of Our Lives storyline?”

“Um…sure.”

“We all have them, of course, but hers is pretty essential to know if you’re gonna be in the show. Plus, hers is one of the more interesting ones around here. Not more interesting than mine, of course, but mine is too racy for Days of Our Lives.” He smiles and does this thing where he licks his tongue over his top teeth.

He then begins his storytelling, nodding his eyes to where Addison and that guy are now cuddling. “Those two are the Drama Club. Every year they try out, get called back for main roles, and then get cast as the leading romantic couple.”

I feel my eyes widening in surprise. “Every year? What?”

Eric nods. “I know. It’s crazy, right?”

I nod my head slowly, still trying to process what he’s saying. “Yeah…but, really? How? Why?”

Another girl is called up to the stage. A redhead with crazy polka-dotted knee high socks and a miniskirt.

Eric yells, “You’ve got this, Sam,” before leaning back, smoothing his shirt down over his flat stomach, and continuing his story.

“Well, this used to be kept a secret, but pretty much everyone knows or suspects now. Mrs. Leonard still tries to pretend that no one is aware of the whole situation, though.”

I just nod and wait to hear the rest.

“We’re all pretty sure that Addison’s father basically funds our show each year. We’ve all heard many times that Drama Club has very little money…so it’s kind of suspicious that we somehow manage to produce pretty huge shows year after year…and it’s never been a secret that Addison’s father is really wealthy…and somehow Addison is cast as a lead every year. It all kind of adds up.”

I nod. Yeah, it does. But that means that I’ve already lost the chance to play Cos—

“But most of us don’t really worry about it all that much.”

I look at him in surprise.

“We get to do pretty awesome shows…and, really, that’s not our only benefit.”

“What else?” I ask in a whisper, trying to wrap my head around the fact that so many people sacrifice the chance to play the romantic leads each year.

“Collin. The boyfriend.” He nods his head in the direction of the first row of auditorium seats. “The hot hetero.” The one who looks like a football player. What about him?

“He only started trying out because she made him three years ago when we did Footloose. And now she makes him do it every year…well, I secretly suspect that he kind of likes doing it now, but I don’t know that he’d try out without her.” He pauses and grabs my hand. “But, Lexi, he can sing. And dance. And act.” He does that tongue on teeth thing again. “And did I mention that he’s freaking adorable?”

“Yes—you did make that pretty clear.” I smile as much as I can manage given the fact that I’m being told I don’t even have a slight chance of playing my dream role. “Okay. But you see all of that as a benefit? Really? He’s competition.”

“We need him,” he says simply. He then looks around the room a little. “As you can see, not many guys go out for Drama Club here. And straight ones are almost unheard of… unfortunately, so are ones that are even remotely cute.”

He has a point. The two other called-back boys are both at least one step out of the closet. They haven’t gotten far enough into being gay to worry about their appearances, though. I think one is even wearing sweatpants.

Eric continues. “And Leonard can get male teachers to play some parts, like Jean Valjean this year, but she can’t put teachers opposite high school girls for the romantic roles…obviously. So Collin’s what we have.” His tongue is on his teeth again. “And he sings like a young Michael Crawford. Minus the charming British accent, of course.”

As though on cue, Mrs. Leonard calls on Collin to sing next. Addison kisses his cheek rather loudly—I can even hear the smack of her lips against his skin, and I’m rows away—and then he heads up to the microphone.

Eric settles back into his chair to listen, closing his eyes and resting his hands on his lap.

I lean back too. And I listen.

And it’s amazing. He’s amazing. His somewhat husky voice paired with the agony in his eyes makes him the perfect Act II grieving Marius.

When the students in the crowd begin their cheering at the end of his song, he smiles and runs his hand through his dark, tousled hair before going back to his seat.

Eric and I clap with the others. Then Eric leans forward in his chair and faces me. “What a waste. That voice, that body, on a heterosexual male.” He shakes his head. “When are Sparkles #1 and Sparkles #2 gonna step it up?” He nods over to the only other two boys who are here.

I don’t know if it’s Sparkles #1 or #2, but one of them gets up as “Justin” is called to go next.

Eric keeps talking. “So, obviously, Collin is perfect for Marius, just like he was perfect for Tony in West Side Story last year and Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music the year before that and—”

“Okay. So he gets a lead every year, and he deserves to every year. I get it. But—”

“But Addison can’t act.” He just says it. Flat out. I would’ve tried to dance around the subject a little, but he just puts it right out there.

I look him in the eye and nod. “Right.”

He shrugs his shoulders slowly as he speaks. “So what is Leonard going to do? Put another girl in the role opposite Collin and let her dance and sing with him and—” He stops to gasp dramatically. “Kiss him right in front of Addison?”

Oh. Got it.

“And then Addison would probably quit and pull Collin out the door behind her, leaving us with, what, a no-name one act show and this guy as our romantic hero.” He nods up to the stage.

I laugh. “This guy,” Justin apparently, is terrible. I think he’s only hit the correct pitch for one note so far. And I’m pretty sure that was an accident.

Still…this is awful. Really. Awful. Cosette is slipping through my fingers. Splattering through.

“So why even have auditions and callbacks for these parts?”

Eric smirks. “Oh, Leonard would never break from the traditional process. You have auditions, then a callback list, then callbacks, and, finally, a cast list. That’s the way she auditioned back when she was in high school. Like in 1930.”

“But—”

“It’s not fair. At all. I know. It’s also not fair that Addison is somehow involved in the show picking process.”

I look up at him, surprise, I’m sure, registering on my face.

“Right after Addison saw the Les Mis movie, she became obsessed, talking about how she was just like Amanda Seyfried.”

“Well, she is really pretty.” And she does have straight, long blonde hair.

“But she can’t act.” Eric sings the words to the opening of Beethoven’s 5th.

This is unbelievable. I can’t believe that this has been going on for four years.

Eric seems to read my mind. “Believe me, you aren’t the only one irritated by this whole setup. But no one is gonna tell Leonard that it’s unfair. And no one is gonna tell Addison that she can’t act. Why rock the boat? When else are we ever gonna get to do a show as big as Les Mis?” He pauses, shrugging again. “And besides that, we all know that we need Collin in the cast.”

“But why couldn’t you do the romantic male lead? You had a great audition today. Brilliant, if I remember correctly.” I nudge him and smile.

“Well, I used to think about that too. Obsess about it, really.” He smiles and raises his eyebrows toward me. “I’d even practice trying to woo the ladies every night with a mirror.”

“You just couldn’t stomach touching a girl without heaving your lunch all over the place?”

“Nah—I could do that. I think it’d be pretty believable too.” He laughs. “Seriously, Lexi, if gay guys couldn’t pretend to be in love with women, Broadway would probably have to block off its streets forever.”

“True. Okay. So what’s the deal, then?”

“I know he’s better than I am. His voice is better. So is his acting. I get that. It took me a long time to accept that, but I do get it now. And besides, if I wasn’t available for the supporting, comic-relief-providing, male roles, who the hell would play them? This guy?”

He again nods up to the stage, where the other Sparkles is now singing “Stars.” He can sing at least. Pretty well even. But he has no expression on his face. Zero. Like he’s singing about sharpening a pencil.

Eric leans over. “I wonder what Leonard is writing in her notes for his acting right now.” He pauses. “Perhaps, this SSSSUUUCCCKKKSS!”

“Why did he get a callback then?”

“Well, he’s probably gonna get a part since he can at least sing. Leonard doesn’t ever really have the luxury of being picky with guys. She has to use them all, the few that try out. So, really, all the boys get a callback each year.”

Oh. Another tradition.

“And why did I get one?”

“Cause you are good. Really good.” Eric smiles. “And there are other leading parts you might get.”

Just not Cosette. Got it…

Mrs. Leonard puts an end to our conversation as she rings a little bell and heads up to the stage. She moves pretty fast. Maybe she’s younger than she looks. I decide to ask Eric.

“Well, that’s tricky.” He responds in a whisper, a pensive look on his face. “She looks ancient, but she’s got a lot of spunk.” He pauses. “Maybe she just doesn’t know about hair dye. Or makeup.”

Mrs. Leonard begins to speak from the center of the stage. “All right. Thanks for coming out today. You are all shining stars.”

“Blech. I think I can taste the pizza I had for lunch coming back up into my mouth,” Eric whispers quickly and then closes his lips tightly as he tries not to laugh. I look away so we don’t both start giggling.

Mrs. Leonard tells us to check the cast list tomorrow morning.

Tomorrow morning? I lean back over to Eric. “At my old school, my teacher always posted the list online the night of auditions. Much less waiting.”

He smiles again. “Maybe Mrs. Leonard doesn’t know about the internet either.”

I smile back and grab my bookbag before we both walk up to get Eric’s stuff. When we get to his old seat, he introduces me to the tiny blonde who auditioned after me. Who auditioned really well.

I guess she already knows that she won’t be getting the part of Cosette, though.

Her name is Sarah. She’s a junior. She seems nice, and I think she’s actually interested when she asks me about my old school and then about my parents’ new law firm.

While we are talking, the redhead with the polka-dotted socks comes up and wraps her arms around Eric from behind. He holds her hands as they rest on his stomach, and she puts her chin on his shoulder, saying, “Think I’ll get to play your wife?”

So she already knows that she also won’t be putting on Cosette’s ringleted wig…

“I hope so, darling,” Eric replies.

She lets go of him and picks up her sparkly bookbag, saying, “I don’t know if I can learn all of your ‘brilliant’ moves, though…”

“I’ll teach you.” Eric smiles. “Hey, Sam, this is Lexi. You know, the new girl.”

Sam throws her arms right around me, squeezing rather tightly for such a small girl. “Welcome to Drama Club, Lex,” she says. “You sounded pretty awesome up there.”

“Thanks.”

She lets go of me, hugs Eric and, um, Sarah, and she is off.

Sarah leaves too. Eric and I start to follow behind, and soon we pass Addison and Collin. Cosette and Marius. The guaranteed leading couple. They are now sitting in the middle of the auditorium, holding hands and talking. Or maybe they’re running their lines already. Who knows.

As Eric does the introductions, Collin puts his Marius eyes on me. My black Mary Janes stop walking.

“You sounded great up there today.” His slightly husky voice. Guess he doesn’t just use it for Marius.

“Um, well, I don’t know about great. But, thanks.” I give him a small smile.

He returns it, his deep brown eyes shining. And I have to disagree with Eric. I’m so glad that such a perfect smile belongs to a straight guy.

“Sweetie, I’m hungry now.” She, Addison, interrupts our smiling and puts her head on Collin’s shoulder.

“Well, okay, um,” I try (unsuccessfully) to find a graceful way to leave.

“Hey, Lex—hop on.” Eric leans down so I can jump up on his back. I climb on, and he bolts up the aisle of the auditorium as my bookbag bounces up and down on my back.

He puts me down when we reach the lobby outside of the auditorium, and he then spins around to face me. “If those two somehow don’t end up married with two kids…if they ever actually break up, he’s mine first. Sorry.” Eric puts his tongue back on his teeth mischievously. “I’ve got a plan to turn him to the other side. The better side.”

“Fine with me. I won’t be interested.”

Eric raises his eyebrows and walks ahead of me.

“I’m not interested.” I talk to his back.

“Sure.” He doesn’t even turn around.

I hit him on the back of his bright purple shoulder. “I’m not.”

He turns around so fast that I step on his shoe. He doesn’t even flinch before he puts his face right next to mine. Almost nose to nose.

“Too bad. I’m pretty sure he’s part of your storyline.”

“My—” Oh, right. The Days of Our Lives thing. I move my face from his and walk ahead toward the parking lot. “I don’t have a storyline.”

“I’ve already told you that everyone has one.” He comes up beside me and grabs my hand, swinging it back and forth as we take our final steps to the parking lot. “You’ll see, Lex. You’ll be on the cover of Soap Opera Digest in no time.”

He stops abruptly, and our hands finish swinging a second later. “This is me.”

The shiniest (or maybe only) purple car I’ve ever seen. I smile over at him. “Of course this is you. What else would you drive when you’re wearing that shirt?”

He smiles too as he clicks open his doors and ditches his bookbag in the back seat. Then he looks back at me. “You’re pretty fabulous, you know.”

“Of course I know.”

“I almost suspect that you’ve done this hag thing before.”

“I hate that word. Can’t you just refer to me as, I don’t know, a friend or something?”

“Nope.” He kisses me on the cheek and opens the driver’s door. “That’s not how it works, Lex.” He smiles and gets into the car. “Meet you by the cast list tomorrow morning?”

I shrug. “What’s the point?”

Pointless or not, I wait anxiously for the school doors to be opened so I can see the list. Eric joins me after I’ve been waiting for only about two minutes. We stand together in nervous silence. I stare into the eyes of the little gummy bear that is pictured in the middle of his orange t-shirt.

Soon, Sarah and Sam join us as well, and the Sparkles duo isn’t far behind them.

Addison and Collin don’t show up until a minute before the doors are supposed to open…and Addison is crying. Collin has one arm around her, and his other arm is full of books—presumably his and hers.

“Addie, you were fine. You didn’t miss a note.”

“But I—” She starts to whine. And she still is whining…but I can’t hear it anymore because he has caught my eyes.

He looks, hmm…well, gorgeous, with his dark brown, eye-matching thermal tee, but he looks more than that. Frustrated. Irritated? Maybe even a little bit embarrassed.

I shrug and give him a tiny smile.

He blinks his eyes softly and smiles back—for like a second—and then Addison turns up her head to look at him. His eyes leave mine in a mega-fast second, and he gives her what he must think is a reassuring look. His mouth looks reassuring. But his eyes are again a bit annoyed.

Doesn’t matter. She buys it.

“Thanks, honey. I’m so lucky to have such a supportive—” She begins.

“Doors are open,” Sarah interrupts, and Addison’s gushy speech is forgotten.

We don’t exactly run to Mrs. Leonard’s room. If we did, some wide awake and ready-to-yell teacher would definitely stop us and lecture us and ultimately slow us down. So we don’t run…but we don’t quite walk either. Something in between.

We make it to the second floor. Room 204. Only a few steps away. And I can already see a blur of typing on the white sheet hanging in the doorway.

Addison runs ahead so she gets to the door first. After shrieking, “I got it,” she turns around and kisses Collin on the cheek before running into Mrs. Leonard’s room to—

I don’t know. Hug her? Thank her for accepting her father’s money in exchange for looking past her mediocre acting skills once again?

Eric nudges me. It’s our turn to look. I nod to tell him to look first. He walks up beside Collin to study the list.

“Monsieur Thénardier.” Eric’s head starts to nod up and down. “It’s clear that my moves really were brilliant.” He smiles back at me and then puts his hand on Collin’s muscular shoulder. “Way to go, man. You’ll make a great Marius.”

Collin mumbles a thank you.

As Eric turns away and walks back to me, I can’t help myself.

I whisper. “Way to go, man. Is that what the straight guys are saying nowadays? Or is that phrase only used by gay guys who are looking for an excuse to initiate physical contact with a—”

“Hey!” He cuts me off and smiles. “Shut up so I can tell you what part you got.”

I shut up and listen.

He takes both of my hands in his, excitedly saying, “You’re my daughter—Éponine!” He spins me around in a little dance.

Éponine. Okay…not bad. Not Cosette, but not bad. Éponine’s song might be a little bit low for me…but at least I have a song.

Eric suddenly stops spinning and leans over to whisper in my ear. “You’re also the girl who secretly wants to come between Cosette and Marius. It’s perfect!”

Yeah. Perfect.
Chapter 2

“At the End of the Day”

The 3:00 bell rings, and it’s time for rehearsal. First practice. Full cast.

Eric meets me by my locker and we head to the auditorium together. It turns out that we actually have two classes together. French and English. I’m kind of shocked I didn’t notice him during the first weeks of school—I must’ve been too busy trying not to do anything stupid during my first classes as “the new girl.”

It’ll be nice to have someone to sit with in class now, though. And someone to walk with in the halls. I’m really glad he’s with me now as we enter the back of the auditorium for our first practice. He opens the door and holds it so I can go in first.

I am not prepared for what awaits me inside.

Addison and Collin are kneeling downstage, holding hands and looking straight ahead. Addison is holding a letter in her non-Collin-occupied hand.

Hmm…the exact location for Cosette and Marius during the traditional finale of LesMis.

Mrs. Leonard is nowhere to be seen, so this clearly isn’t part of rehearsal (it would be odd even then—why would they be rehearsing the final scene of the show during the first night of practice anyway?) Stranger yet, no one is around. Anywhere. The auditorium is silent and dark except for a dim light on the stage.

What is going—

“Oh. I should have warned you,” Eric whispers from right behind me. “I just figured they’d be done by the time we got down here.”

“Done with what, exactly?”I whisper back as he moves to stand beside me against the back auditorium wall. I hope we can’t be seen from the stage.

“Their stupid little first rehearsal ritual.” I can tell from the tone of his voice that he’s probably rolling his eyes. “Addison likes to act out the final scene before she even begins playing a character. She says it helps her to visualize where her character is going to end up before she can think how to best act out her—”

“But she can’t act.” The words just tumble out of my mouth, thankfully in a whisper.

“I know. That’s why this particular routine is really stupid.”

“This particular—” I begin to ask.

“Oh—they have many more obvious traditions. You’ll see.”

I open my mouth to ask about seven million questions, but then I snap it back shut.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Eric begins. “Why doesn’t someone just tell her that her routines are dumb? Or that she doesn’t really even deserve the parts she gets?” He pauses and then answers his own questions. “Well, because then she’d just go whining to Leonard about it, and in no time, the truth-teller would be cut from the show for some Addison-created reason…or just treated so terribly that he or she would want to drop out anyway.”

“Seriously? She has that much power?”

“Seriously, Lex. You don’t even know the start of it. I’ll save all of that for a gossip night down the road. For now, try to swallow this.” He takes a breath and then continues. “One girl tried to tell Addison the truth last year during auditions.” He pauses again. “That girl didn’t get a role—and she sang ‘I Feel Pretty’ better than anyone else.”

“It’s best not to mess with Miss Addison.”

I focus again on the stage where she and Collin are still staring straight ahead in silence. There really isn’t anything else I can do at this point. It would be really odd to walk to the front of the auditorium right now.

So I stare ahead at them and wait. And wait. Eric does the same.

About seven months later, Mrs. Leonard strolls onto the stage behind them. She speaks loudly.

“Hello, my darlings.How are we already beginning your final season? And what am I ever going to do next year?”

Eric leans over to whisper again. “What she means is, what is she ever going to do without Addison’s father and his money next year?” He laughs quietly.

Addison gets up to hug Mrs. Leonard. Collin keeps staring ahead, but he drops back from his kneeling position, now sitting on his feet. He looks uncomfortable. And bored. And…embarrassed? Maybe. It’s hard to tell from back here.

At least he can’t see—

The auditorium doors beside us are opening, and light is starting to stream in as cast members begin to enter.

“Hey—what are you guys doing? Making out back here in the dark?”

I recognize the voice. The redhead. Sam. Madame Thénardier.

She grabs Eric’s hand and looks at me with mock horror. “He’s my husband now. At least until the play is over.” She smiles and continues. “You know he’s gay, right?”

I smile back. “I was starting to suspect…the flashy purple car kind of gave it away.”

Sam pulls Eric closer and rests her pigtailed head on his shoulder. “So you have to settle for being yet another hag.”

“Lexi doesn’t like that word.” Eric looks over at me with gleaming eyes, yet again licking his teeth with his tongue. “Even though it’s what she is.”

I hit him quickly on his non-Sam-resting shoulder.

“And I’ve really been in search of another one. It’s so hard to find a good hag these days.” He pauses and sighs. “I thought Sarah had potential, but she’s just too busy with her over 4.00 GPA and now with being an understudy for the show.” Sam lifts her head and Eric turns to look at her. “I was just kind of hoping that Lexi would step up to the plate.” Then he leans over to me and whispers, “And by step up to the plate, I mean be my hag.”

I shake my head and roll my eyes, and that is really all I have time for because the auditorium lights are slowly fading on. It looks like rehearsal is about to begin. Everyone seems to be congregating in the front of the auditorium. Mrs. Leonard is walking around the stage, yelling out and encouraging cast members to come up and sit in a big circle on the floor.

“Let’s do this.” Eric takes Sam’s hand and mine, and the three of us skip down the aisle to join everyone else. After ditching our bookbags in auditorium seats, we climb onto the stage and sit side by side in Mrs. Leonard’s circle. Eric plops down between Sam and me, and, for now, the space on the other side of me is empty. A bunch of people still haven’t sat down yet. Instead, they are crowded around some girl who is all sad and weeping.

Yep. It looks like this Drama Club is just like the one back at my old school. More drama offstage than on…must be pretty universal.

Based on what I can hear from my spot, these tears seem to simply be leftovers from this morning’s posting of the cast list. Most people get over their disappointment enough after a few hours that they can at least fake being okay during the first practice. But there is always one…

There are about five people surrounding the crying girl, offering their support or whatever, but it seems that the main grief counselor is Addison. She’s holding the girl so close to her chest that I can’t even see the girl’s face. I have no idea who she is…not that I can possibly remember all sixty or so people that I saw for the first time at auditions this week anyway.

Addison has now turned her own head, and I can see her lips moving. “It’s not fair.” She seems to be repeating the phrase over and over again.

“Just another day in Drama Club,” Eric whispers beside me. “But don’t worry about it, Lex. Really. You totally deserve your part.”

What?

I tear my eyes from the little weepy clump of people and ask him what he’s talking about.

“Éponine.” He says it as though I should already understand what he’s going to say. “You earned her.”

“Okay…thanks, I guess.”

“No problem. Casey gets like this at some point every year anyway. About a boy. Or a key change. Always something. For a junior, she’s pretty immat—”

“Wait.” I spin completely around so we are facing each other Indian-style, knees to knees. “All of that crying over there is about Éponine? About me?”

“Sorry, Nancy Drew. It is.” He scrunches up his eyes a little. “I thought you knew that.”

Sam leans over Eric to join in. “Remember on the first day of auditions? She said that she spent her entire summer watching and re-watching the movie to memorize Éponine’s lines, her facial expressions…” Sam drifts off and leans back to her original sitting place.

Hmm…I do vaguely remember now. But that was on the first day of auditions…back when I wanted to be Cosette. Back when I thought that there were actual auditions for Cosette. I wouldn’t have paid much attention at that point if someone wanted to be Éponine.

“So wait,” I begin to verbalize my thoughts. “When Addison keeps saying that it isn’t fair…”

Eric’s hands are all of a sudden on my shoulders, holding me down as though he thinks I’m going to get up and confront Addison or something. Like I’d ever have the nerve to—

“Lex—of course you getting this part was fair. If we are going to talk about fair…” He nods over to where Addison is standing.

“All right, my shining stars. Let’s circle up.” Mrs. Leonard ends our conversation. For now. She is ready to begin, standing in the center of what will be her circle after people sit down and fill it in.

Eric looks me sternly in the eyes and then removes his hands from my shoulders. I keep my eyes away from Addison and Casey and try not to think about what they’re saying about me.

Sam leans over, laughing. “What did he think you were going to do exactly? Punch someone? Cut someone?” She shakes her head at Eric. “You have such a violent view of heteros.”

Eric giggles a little as we all move to face in toward the circle, in toward Mrs. Leonard, who is starting to speak even though people are still slowly coming to sit down.

“Okay, my dear, dear cast members, let’s begin introductions.” She pushes some stray strands of gray hair from her face and then closes her eyes. “Let’s all close our eyes so we can concentrate on each other and our words.”

I look around, and those already sitting begin to close their eyes. When my gaze lands on Eric, he winks, nods, and shuts his eyes—holding his face up like he’s some sort of Greek god…or goddess, rather.

Sam has also already shut her eyes. So have all of the people directly across from me. And there is no one beside me on the other side, so there really isn’t anywhere else to look.

So I close my eyes and wait for the introductions to begin.

Eric’s rather soft hand grabs my left hand and drags it to the stage floor between us. He squeezes my hand. Really hard. Instead of yelping out loud, I flip open my eyes to look at him. He has a smirk on his face. His eyes are still closed, though. I pinch his hand, watch his face scrunch up a little in closed-eyed pain, and then shut my lids once again.

Mrs. Leonard is beginning to introduce herself. As a director, teacher, nurturer to us all.

When she says the word “nurturer,” Eric squeezes my hand just a little. I’m pretty sure he’s trying not to laugh.

Now we are supposed to go around the circle, introducing ourselves, our characters, and our feelings (as Mrs. Leonard puts it anyway…I’m not really sure how we are supposed to “introduce” our feelings. Hopefully, I don’t have to go first). After we speak, we are supposed to squeeze the hand of the person to the right of us. Then it will be that person’s turn. Great. I guess Eric has just been given permission to assault my hand again soon.

The circle introductions begin. Our first speaker is Mr. Fiero. My English teacher. Number 24601 himself. It sounds like he is pretty far away from me. Good. It won’t be my turn for a long time.

“So, as you already know,” Mr. Fiero begins in his slightly scratchy, compassionate (perfect for his role) voice, “Mrs. Leonard has asked me to play Jean Valjean. I love this show, so I’m pretty excited.”

That’s it. I guess by saying that he is “excited,” he has sufficiently introduced his feelings. Not too bad.

The next voice belongs to a journalism teacher. Miss Price. She will be playing Fantine. From what I’ve heard, this is the first time Mrs. Leonard has used a female teacher for a role. Apparently she thought it was necessary for the emotional depth of the part or something. That’s what Eric heard anyway. I guess that makes—

I feel someone sitting down beside me. Please don’t be that Casey girl. Or Addi—

It’s not either of them. I smell cologne. A rich, intoxicating cologne. Not a girl’s scent. Not a gay scent either. Too clean and not-designer smelling.

That leaves only one option.

Until Mrs. Leonard completes her yearly task of badgering extra male students to join her cast, there is only one person not over the age of eighteen who could be wearing that cologne…

I’m sort of surprised that he is allowed to sit by me. Or by any other girl. I hope Addison doesn’t try to dropkick me or something later. It’s not like I chose to sit beside him.

I can’t say that I’m too upset about it, though. It’s been many months since I’ve sat so close to a guy…well, a guy who doesn’t buy cologne for other guys…