by Ann Bryant
During the next few minutes Miss Pritchard had to stop the action three times to tell Cara to try and speak a teeny bit louder so the other actors could hear her, but it was obvious from the way Cara kept putting her hand on her throat that it was hurting her. It was on the fourth time that I simply couldn’t restrain myself, and blurted out, “I’ll do Cara’s part if you want, Miss Pritchard – just to save her voice… I think I can…”
Miss Pritchard swung round and I saw her expression harden when she spotted me at the back. “How long have you been sitting up there? It’s Georgie, isn’t it?”
“Yes…I was just…watching.”
“So I gather. You know, you’re not supposed to watch rehearsals when you’re not in the play.”
“Sorry…yes, sorry, I mean, no…I didn’t realize… only the thing is, I know some of the lines so I thought…I might be able to help, you see.”
She nodded. “Right…” And for a brilliant moment I thought that was a signal for me to take over, so I jumped up, but she put her hand up like a traffic cop. “Whoa there!”
A few sniggers broke out on the stage but I tried to ignore them.
Miss Pritchard spoke briskly. “Thank you for the offer, Georgie, but I’m afraid it’s not quite as easy as all that.”
I caught Cara smiling to herself as Miss Pritchard turned back to the stage, and there were more sniggers, which made my temper rage because it was like she was sharing a joke with all the actors about the pathetic girl who thought she could step in and take over a main role, just like that. The final straw that made my blood boil was when Cara stared straight at me, tipped her head on one side and gave me a deliberately fake smile with mean eyes. She might as well have just come out and said, You are such a loser.
Miss Pritchard looked at her watch and it was as though I’d never spoken. “I think the best thing would be to skip this scene and move to the next one. Cara, go and see what Matron says you need for your throat. Who is your matron by the way?”
“Mrs. Bradley.”
“Right. I’ll have a word with her. Throat sweets will do you good too. But most importantly, I want you to make a conscious effort to rest your voice at all times. Got that?”
Cara put on her most sugary expression and did a little croaky cough as she left the theatre. Then Miss Pritchard clapped her hands and raised her voice, getting everyone organized as quickly as possible for the next scene, and I crept out of the back door, feeling the disappointment and the sadness start to mix in with my anger and weigh me down, like they had after my audition. There wasn’t any point in anything any more. I’d been so hoping that something might happen to give me a chance to be in the play after all. But now that chance was dead and buried.
I looked at my watch. Mia had probably gone down to Pets’ Place to see her guinea pigs, Porgy and Bess. Katy might have gone with her to see Buddy, her rabbit. They often went at this time of day, after piano practice or clubs or whatever they’d been doing after school. I’m not all that into animals and I’m always joking with them about how mad they are, wanting to keep stinky pets that need feeding and cleaning out all the time. But plodding off to find them right now, I didn’t think they were mad at all. In fact I even wished I had a pet myself. Just something to cuddle.
The door to the shed felt quite stiff, unless it was only me not having the knack of how to open it, but then it suddenly gave way and I kind of catapulted in and practically knocked Naomi over.
“What the…”
“Oh sorry!”
“Georgie!” Mia was just putting one of her guinea pigs back in its hutch. She looked pretty amazed to see me.
“Hi…I…er…thought I’d find you here,” I stammered.
“Wonders will never cease!” smiled Katy. Then she dumped Buddy in my arms. “Here. Have a hold.”
“Do I have to?” I said, wrinkling my nose, because that’s what they expected me to do. But really I loved the feel of the heavy bundle of fur.
“Look at Bess!” said Mia, coming over in a bit of a hurry to show me some new marking on her pet’s fur. “It definitely wasn’t this dark before.”
“It’s what happens in the winter,” Katy said, sounding knowledgeable. Then she spoiled it. “Actually I don’t know what I’m talking about.”
Naomi laughed and so did I, but then I stopped abruptly because the memory of how fed up I was had started to seep back into this new little patch of happiness.
“Supper time,” said Naomi, looking at her watch. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”
Katy grabbed Buddy off me, buried her nose in his fur and said, “Night night, my beautiful Buddy. Sleep tight, and if the bugs bite, bite ’em back!”
Then there was a flurry of stroking and blowing kisses to every single animal in the place and next moment we were out in the cold air, Katy and Naomi jogging on ahead and Mia and me walking behind. The nearer we got to the dining hall, the more I felt the big gloom taking me over. At least Mia hadn’t asked me where I’d been or why I’d suddenly come along to Pets’ Place – we’d just talked about winter and that had led to Christmas and what presents we were hoping to get. Maybe that explained my gloom, because there wasn’t a single thing I wanted that could be wrapped up and put in a stocking.
I had the feeling something bad was going to happen from the moment we walked into the dining hall and saw Cara talking to her friends. There were six of them all leaning forwards in a tight little knot listening with big eyes as Cara held everyone’s attention in her usual way. Part of me felt like marching over there and saying, “Huh! Call that saving your voice, Cara?” but the bigger part of me was afraid of what she might be telling them.
It was when I was on pudding that I found out. Two of Cara’s friends threw me a quick glance as they walked past our table, then sniggered really obviously.
“What’s so funny?” Katy asked them indignantly.
“Nothing!” they told her. Then they went, but not before giving me another sneer.
Katy turned to me, looking horrified. “Why are they looking at you like that?”
My heart was beating faster but I shrugged and tried to sound as though I couldn’t care less. “I dunno…Cara’s probably made some joke about me not being in the play. I tell you, she’s so immature…”
“I’m immature! Yeah right!”
I looked up and felt my face drain. Cara was standing there, hands on hips, giving me a nasty evil stare and I knew there was worse to come.
Her voice was croaky, and even disappeared altogether once, but it was still perfectly clear what she was saying. “Fancy thinking you can interrupt a rehearsal and ask to take over a main role when you’re not even in the play.” She leaned forwards and practically spat at me. “And why aren’t you in the play? I’ll tell you why. Because you went into a pathetic little stress when you found out you weren’t good enough for a main part, and refused to take the part of Susie Perkins, because you thought you were too good for a minor role. You think you’re so special, Georgie Henderson, but you’re not! Fancy asking to stand in for me. Like that would ever happen!”
Then she gave me a final glare and walked off. I had no idea what to do or say so I sat there completely rigid with a hurting throat, and waited to see what happened. And what happened was that Mia’s arm went round me on one side and Naomi’s on the other side, so then my throat hurt even more, but I used all my strength to stop myself from crying.
“She’s horrible,” said Mia.
“And she’s a liar,” said Katy, crossly.
“Yes—” Jess started to join in, but I interrupted her in a flat voice because I’d just kind of given in.
“She’s not actually.”
For once Katy sounded unsure of herself. “Wh… what?”
“I agree she’s horrible,” I carried on in that same dead voice, “but actually…” I sighed. “…she’s not a liar.”
So then everyone was stuck for what to say.
It was Naomi who broke the uncom
fortable silence. “Let’s talk about it somewhere else.”
“Yes, in the dorm after prep,” Mia finished off, patting my shoulder before she took her arm away. “We’ll have a friendship meeting.”
So that’s what we did.
I somehow got through prep, and then as soon as it was over we sat on the rug in the middle of the dorm and I spilled everything out to them, all about how stupid I’d been to turn down the chance to play the role of Susie Perkins, how sad I was not to be involved with the play, and how pathetic I was to care so much. And they looked at me with big sympathetic eyes, which made me so grateful because I didn’t deserve to have these lovely friends supporting me after the way I’d behaved.
“I know you won’t believe me,” I said in a small voice, “but I really am good at acting. I just did a rubbish audition because I tried to do it in the same way I’d always acted at primary, and it’s obviously a much harder play. Also, Miss Pritchard said we had to bear in mind that the theatre is bigger than the hall, and I thought she was trying to get us to really speak up, but now I think about it, I reckon she probably only said that for the people who are shy and naturally much quieter than me. It’s embarrassing to think how loudly I must have yelled out those lines in the audition, actually! And now, I just can’t stop thinking about the play the whole time.”
“I knew you were still interested in it,” said Katy, “because I saw Little Women on your desk.”
“Yeah, me too,” said Jess.
That gave me a bit of a shock. I didn’t think anyone had noticed. “Have you seen me reading the script as well?” I asked, feeling a bit stupid.
“The script? You’ve got a copy of the script?” asked Mia.
I nodded. “I photocopied it from Rebecca’s. Remember when you saw me give hers back to her?”
Katy frowned as though she was trying to work out a difficult maths problem. “So, you mean, you have been going to rehearsals?”
I felt my face getting hot as I nodded. “Mmm.”
“Didn’t Miss Pritchard mind?” was all Mia said.
“She didn’t realize I was there…until today.”
There was another silence and I guessed this was the moment when they were all remembering those words of Cara’s… Fancy asking to stand in for me. Like that would ever happen! It was so embarrassing I felt like getting under my duvet, curling into a tight ball and refusing to come out.
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 a
nd 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.
Chapter Seven
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.