Drama at Silver Spires

by Ann Bryant

  “Oh dear…Georgie…” she said softly.

  Mia knows me better than anyone and she was able to see instantly that something was badly wrong.

  “Wh…what…exactly…happened?” Grace asked in the same quiet voice.

  I sat up like a jack-in-the-box and felt my rage bubbling up all over again. “I’ll tell you what happened. What happened was that Cara was always going to get whatever role she went for because Miss Pritchard thinks she’s God’s gift to acting, just like everyone else in her fan club does. And loads of people didn’t speak up or use enough expression or anything. But I was told that I was speaking too loudly because it turns out that the stage in the stupid theatre is amplified and if I’d known that then obviously I wouldn’t have done it so loudly. And when I said that to the big Oscar-winning Cara Ravenscroft afterwards, she just said, ‘It’s not a pantomime, you know!’ And I honestly wish I hadn’t spent so long learning all those lines. The whole thing’s just so totally unfair and I don’t want any more to do with it. The end!”

  There was another silence, except that we could probably all still hear those last two words of mine hanging in the air. They sounded stupid. I wish I hadn’t said them. But I didn’t regret anything else I’d said.

  I flopped back down again and the next minute Mia was sitting beside me. “Oh, poor, poor Georgie! That was really cruel of Cara to say that.”

  I looked at the wall because I didn’t feel like seeing Mia’s sympathetic eyes. I knew it’d make me too sad.

  “But did Miss Pritchard actually say that Cara had definitely got the part?” asked Jess.

  “No, but it’s obvious she has.”

  “Was there anyone else auditioning for Amy apart from you two?” asked Mia.

  “No.”

  “Well then, you might still be in with a chance,” said Jess.

  “Did you do it as well as you did it for me?” asked Mia.

  They just didn’t get it, and it was making me even crosser. “Look, I told you, I never stood a chance against Cara!”

  “But even if you don’t get Amy, you’ll get Aunt March or Hannah, I expect,” said Mia, in her cheeriest voice, and I realized I still had to explain about Pooh-sie Perkins, only I absolutely did not feel like it right then.

  Naomi and Katy came in at that moment and I groaned and buried my head in the pillow.

  “How did you get on?” they shrieked, but I guess Mia or one of the others must have signalled to them that it wasn’t a good question to be asking because the dorm was suddenly embarrassingly silent. Then after a moment it filled up with false-sounding chatter, and Mia gave my shoulder a quick pat before climbing down from my bed, which made me feel like a dog.

  I spent the rest of the evening wishing that this day would hurry up and be over. I just couldn’t stop thinking about the auditions, and every time I pictured Cara’s face sneering at me or heard Miss Pritchard’s voice saying those awful words to me, I filled up with anger, which made it impossible to concentrate on prep or even telly. I think supper was the worst time of all because I had to suffer the sight of Cara, still showing off with all her friends. Even though she was at a table on the other side of the dining hall from where we were all sitting, I could tell she was making sure she was the centre of attention the whole time by the way she talked more than anyone else and kept tossing her head and running her fingers through her hair.

  “Forget about Cara,” said Naomi, following my eyes. “She’s just not worth worrying about.”

  And I tried. I really tried.

  Waking up the following morning was absolutely terrible. I was still as angry as ever. But the anger was heavier because it was mixed with sadness. This was the day when Miss Pritchard was going to put the list up and everyone who’d auditioned would find out how they’d got on. I was just wondering whether there was any chance at all that my friends might forget about the whole subject of the play, when Mia shook my shoulder.

  “Come on, Georgie! Up you get! You should be excited. You’ll find out what part you got today!”

  This time when I thought back to the auditions I just felt flat. There was no way I’d get a part because I hadn’t changed my second choice to Susie Perkins, and Miss Pritchard would have said if she’d thought I’d be good at any other part.

  “I won’t get a part,” I said firmly.

  “Let’s go and look at break time, shall we?” said Naomi, as though I hadn’t spoken.

  I didn’t mean to sound horrible but the last thing I wanted was for my friends to know how useless I was and all feel sorry for me. “What do you mean ‘we’? I’ll go on my own, okay?”

  “Are you sure?” asked Mia gently.

  I nodded, trying to ignore the hurt look on her face, and went off to the bathroom.

  It was English first lesson, which is one of my better subjects because the teacher makes everything really interesting and we sometimes get to act out bits of plays or read a poem or a short story out loud. There was no way I could have read anything out loud this morning, not after what happened yesterday. Anyway, I was too tense about the thought of the cast list going up. But the English lesson was okay because we plotted stories in pairs, and Mia came up with most of the ideas. After English it was maths. I don’t think I took in a single fact in that maths lesson, which wasn’t going to do me any favours when it came to prep that night, and neither would it help my end-of-term report. At the back of my mind I was starting to dread showing Mum and Dad my report, but only at the very back. The rest of my mind was taken up with thoughts of the play.

  When the bell went for morning break, my heart started racing. Mia and the others walked up to the main building with me then waited outside while I went in. Lots of Year Nines were standing in front of the noticeboard, all talking excitedly and prodding the list. I couldn’t bring myself to look with so many people there, so I faked a big interest in the photos on the opposite wall and waited till the Year Nines had started to drift away. Then I turned round just as Cara and her fan club appeared. There was nowhere to escape to, apart from the drama hall, but even that was impossible because I could see from looking through the glass panels at the top of the door that something was going on in there. So I started studying the photos again and hoped that everyone would be so taken up with the list of parts that no one would spot me.

  “Yes, you’ve got it! Well done!” said one of Cara’s friends. And my blood ran cold.

  “Thanks,” said Cara coolly.

  After that they talked about the small parts that Cara’s friends had got. Then there was a sudden flurry of whispers and I realized they must have finally noticed me, so I turned round wearing my most laid-back expression and found them all staring at me.

  “Congratulations, Cara!” I said in a throwaway voice, and then I made for the door, as though my mission at the photograph noticeboard was complete.

  “Your name isn’t on the list at all,” Cara came straight back at me, which felt like a stab in the stomach. “Don’t you wish you’d gone for the part of Susie Perkins?” she added.

  “No I don’t!” I snapped, wishing she’d get off my case. It was like she was still trying to rub it in.

  “But don’t you even want to know who did get the part?” she went on.

  “Why should I be interested in that?” I asked coldly.

  “Because it’s obvious you didn’t come up here to look at photos,” she sneered, which naturally made her friends laugh. “Anyway, it was Jemima Langton.”

  “Jemima Langton,” I repeated. “At least she’s not a show-off like some people.”

  Cara’s eyes flashed with fury. “Huh! I like that! If anyone’s a show-off round here it’s you, Georgie Henderson!” She tossed her head and walked off. “Come on, you lot.”

  By then the whole bottom had dropped out of my world and nothing seemed to matter any more. I wandered towards the list and pretended to be scanning it in a bored kind of way, just in case Cara was still hanging around. Really, though, I w
as scouring it carefully to see if Cara had missed my name by any miracle. It didn’t take a minute to see that she hadn’t. The last tiny little ray of hope had vanished and I was hurting so much that I don’t know how I managed to get out of the building without crying.

  “Oh no!” said Mia when she saw my face. And I could tell she was genuinely shocked.

  “I told you,” I said in a thin voice. But then just when I thought I was about to burst into tears, because all my friends were saying, “Poor Georgie” and “Never mind”, I suddenly felt another wave of anger building up inside me.

  “It’s so unfair!” I practically spat. “And I can’t stand the way Cara is all gloaty because she’s got the part I wanted.”

  “But did you get…Hannah…or anything?” Mia asked gently.

  I looked down and pretended to be absorbed in drawing the wrinkles up out of my tights. “Nah. I told you I wouldn’t.” I had to straighten up eventually and the moment I did, Mia put her arm round me.

  “If only you’d known about the theatre stage being amplified, Georgie…”

  A horrible sadness sunk into me and I stayed as rigid as I could, wishing Mia would take her arm away because it wasn’t helping me to be strong and that seemed like the most important thing at the moment.

  “At least you’ve got…next year and the next,” said Grace. Why were they all speaking in such soft voices?

  “I’m okay about it, honestly,” I managed to say.

  There was another little silence, then Jess spoke. “Why don’t you join art club? We’re starting to paint the set next week.”

  Katy’s eyes lit up. “Or you could join fashion club. I came across Mam’zelle Clemence just now and she says there are lots of costumes in the wardrobe department but they need more, and we’re designing them and choosing the fabrics in fashion club.”

  “I didn’t even know there was a wardrobe department,” I said, making a huge effort to act as normally as possible, even though I could feel my strength draining away. “Where is it?”

  “Upstairs in the main building,” said Katy. “Right at the very top. Apparently there’s a little narrow staircase that leads to a loft and there are rails and rails of clothes tucked away in there.”

  “We should go and see it!” said Naomi, brightly.

  I hated their happiness. It seemed so fake. And I didn’t need their sympathy. It was like they were trying to root out my shame, and I wouldn’t let them. I just wanted everyone to forget about the play and everything to do with it. I shrugged a doesn’t-bother-me-either-way shrug which juddered Mia’s arm off my shoulder, and the moment I’d done it I wanted to take it back because I suddenly felt more alone than I’d ever felt.

  “I’m pretty fed up with the subject of plays to be honest,” I managed to say. “I’m…going to the loo.”

  I walked fast, my head still spinning with thoughts and feelings. I hated knowing that Cara had got the part of Amy and I hadn’t got a part at all. I hated it so much that I felt sick and wished I could wake up and find the whole thing had all been a terrible dream. I didn’t go the loo. I just walked down to the athletics field and on the way I switched on my phone and found two messages. One was from my grandma and the other was from Mum. I read Mum’s first.

  Gr8 news bout play. Did u get a part? If so let us no ASAP cos dad away 4 work from 13th 2 16th Dec. but still time to alter it. luv u. M X

  Oh well, at least Dad wouldn’t have to rearrange his business trip. I read Grandma’s text next…

  So excited about the play, darling. Wild horses would not keep me away! Love Gran

  Grandma’s message must have taken her ages to write. She’s so slow at texting and hasn’t got the hang of shortening words. A rock of despair seemed to drop into the pit of my stomach. She was just assuming I’d get a part. My selfish behaviour was letting everyone down. How was I ever going to explain to poor Grandma that I wasn’t actually in the play, and that it was my own fault? I couldn’t tell my family about turning my nose up at the Susie Perkins part, any more than I could admit it to my friends. There wasn’t one single good thing about the mess I was in. I’d thought I didn’t want anything to do with the play just because I couldn’t get what I wanted, and now I was paying for my stupid hot-headed behaviour. Oh well, Dad would be pleased that the play rehearsals weren’t taking any time away from my schoolwork, so at least I might be able to try and improve my marks before the end of term. I quickly texted the same reply to Mum and Grandma.

  Only tiny parts 4 yr 7s. Lots of hangin bout at rehursals so didn’t aud. Luv G x

  I closed my eyes and slowly opened them again. I felt weighed down with sadness and shame. I stopped walking and stared down at my feet.

  Something had changed. I wasn’t angry with Cara or her friends or Miss Pritchard any more. Well, I was still angry with Cara, but most of all I was angry with myself. I shouldn’t have gone flying off the handle at the auditions. Mum and Dad are always telling me I’m far too impulsive. I should have been sensible and written down Susie Perkins as my second choice. What an idiot I was. And now it was too late. There was nothing I could do.

  Chapter Five

  The maths prep was impossible. I tried to get Jess to help me but she didn’t have any more clue than I did, and in the end she went to the front to tell Miss Fosbrook, who was on duty. Miss Fosbrook is the assistant housemistress and she’s such a nice person that she practically did the whole prep for Jess and me, which meant that I didn’t need to concentrate at all. I knew this wasn’t helping me in the long run and I didn’t like the picture that came into my mind of Dad’s cross face reading my terrible report, but I quickly shook it away.

  And then my mind filled up with thoughts about the play, just like it did all the time now. I’d tried so hard to forget about it, but I simply couldn’t. I was too curious. I’d started wondering exactly how Castles in the Air was going to be different from Little Women. The little mini-scripts hadn’t given me any clues. I only knew what Cara had said about singers linking the action and helping the story to move forward, so now I wanted to know which bits of the story would be shown in song. If only I could get hold of a copy of Little Women I could try and work it out. It was true that so far I hadn’t exactly had much success with finding Little Women, but then I hadn’t tried the massive main school library yet.

  As soon as I’d had that thought I couldn’t let it go. It grew and grew inside my head until it was the most important thing in my life, because that’s what I’m like. I can’t help it. I looked at my watch and willed the time till prep finished to go faster because I planned to whip over to the library on the dot of eight thirty. I’d be breaking the rules because we’re all supposed to be in our houses after eight thirty during the week, but no one would miss me for a few minutes. The book was almost sure to be there. I didn’t want Mia and the others to know that I was reading Little Women though, or they’d realize I was still all wrapped up with the play and start being all sympathetic again, which was the last thing I needed when I was trying to hide my stupid rashness from them.

  “Just going to get some fresh air,” I announced casually, the moment Miss Fosbrook said we could go.

  “What!” laughed Jess. “Are you sure you’re feeling okay, Georgie? You don’t normally notice the difference between fresh air and any other sort of air.”

  “But it’s nearly eight thirty,” said Mia.

  “It’s okay, I’m not going anywhere much. It’s just that I’ve got a headache from the maths.”

  Mia immediately offered to take me to Matron, so I had to say I was fine apart from needing to clear my head after the strenuous maths prep. Of course that made everyone laugh, which felt nice and normal and back to how we always were. But then that good feeling was spoiled because as I was going out I distinctly heard Jess whisper that she thought I was up to something. So now I’d have to move extra fast, especially as the library was right at the other end of school and the premises are so enormous. I also had to
take care not to draw attention to myself, because of the strict rule about Year Sevens being in their own boarding house after eight thirty.

  Even though there are loads of lamps all over the place at Silver Spires, it still felt dark outside, and because of my big imagination I could see plenty of spooky things hidden in trees and lurking round the side of the boarding houses. It would have been nice to flop into one of the squishy beanbags in the common room and watch something funny on telly for half an hour before bed, and yet here I was scaring myself on a long dark trek to the school library just to get a book. If anyone had told me a few days ago that I’d be doing this now, I simply wouldn’t have believed them. Something weird had happened to me because of that stupid play. It had cast a spell on me, that was clinging like sticky cobweb threads that I couldn’t peel off.

  It felt strange switching on the library light. The school feels so different at night-time. Right, quick, Georgie! Find the book. Who wrote Little Women? Louisa M. Alcott. I went straight to the As and ran my finger slowly along until the Bs started. This was unbelievable. It had to be here. So I went back to the start and looked carefully at every single spine until I knew for sure, with big sinking certainty, that there wasn’t a single copy.

  Wandering back to Hazeldean I couldn’t care less whether there was a gang of spooks ready to jump out at me from one of the trees and rip me to pieces. Nothing was going right in my life. Nothing. I went into Hazeldean and saw that the clock said just gone four minutes to nine. Even that didn’t make me speed up. What was a little telling-off? I trudged up the three flights of stairs slowly and heavily with my head down, then paused outside our dorm to look at the notice on the door. I’d put it there myself at the beginning of term…

  Katy the Queen of Style

  Grace the Sportswoman

  Jess the Artist

  Mia the Musician

  Naomi the Wise One

  Georgie the Actress

  Huh! What rubbish. I wasn’t an actress. It ought to say, Georgie the Loser.