(Author's Notes:
1: The story will be updated 1 chapter per day until completion.
2: This story is rated "T" for homosexuality, partial nudity, sexual content, and some language. Reader discretion is advised.)
Amy and Rose
Chapter 01: Two Stars Are Born
"This is going to be absolutely amazing!" Abby grinned and hugged herself, nearly giggling in glee outside of the massive theater in the center of town. She could barely believe a major company had decided to bring a play into their city, or that they were looking for locals to fill out the cast list. Well, that was what the massive banner hanging off the side of the building told her, anyway. "Forget school plays, this is a REAL PLAY put on by REAL PRODUCERS! Starring kids our age! EEEEEEEE!"
Ty laughed, though he shared her excited grin. "Don't get too caught up in this Abby, we still have to audition, remember? We might not even make it. I'm sure the competition will be fierce."
"Oh, trust me, it will be." The girl in front of them turned around, fluffing her short blonde hair out to the sides with a cocky smile on her lips. "In fact, you'd might as well go home right now, because one of the lead roles is mine, and once they see me, they'll know you're just a second rate version." With a haughty laugh Paige turned to face forward again, resting her hand on one of her hips.
Abby growled and crossed her arms over her chest. "I can't believe that little-"
"Relax, Abby. You know you're a better actress than her. Go in there and show them that." Ty nudged her.
"Yeah, you're right." Abby smirked. " I WILL show them."
One by one the hopeful actors filed into the auditorium. One after another, each emerged shedding more tears than the last. The ones who left right when Paige, Abby, and Ty reached the building actually collapsed on the ground as if their very dreams had been crushed underfoot. One funny thing Abby noticed was that the people were being called into the building in groups, and she realized suddenly that she was standing right behind Paige. She thought to switch with Ty, but a broad-shouldered man grabbed her should before she could suggest it.
"Good luck, sis!" She heard Ty call from outside right before the door closed between them.
"You two are next." The man told her with a broad smile. Before she knew what was happening she was pushed shoulder-to-shoulder with Paige inside the building, where they saw crewmembers hustling around the backstage area, while just through some curtains beside a massive stage they could see a tall, well-dressed man seated in the front row of the empty auditorium, watching with light interest as the sound of someone speaking came from the stage itself.
"Here." A man shoved scripts into their hands. "Memorize these, you're up next."
"Right!" Paige nodded quickly and looked down at her page, her eyes skimming it rapidly.
"Er, right! Yeah!" Abby looked down at her page as well, her eyes scanning across the words. It was just a short scene, but she didn't have long to memorize them. She was surprised to see that it was a romantic scene written in a strange sort of Shakespearean style she recognized from history class. Her stomach grumbled in nervousness. She'd never tried anything like this before. She felt like she was way out of her league… but there was nothing to be gained by running away now.
"Wait a second…" Paige narrowed her eyes. "This scene is between two girls… what kind of play is this?"
"A very important one." The broad-shouldered man told them. Abby blinked in surprise and looked at the names of the two characters. Rose and Amy… it was between two girls. But the dialogue was so soft and romantic… now that she looked though, there was a hint of sadness about it. She kind of liked the feel of it.
"You can pull out if you don't think you can do it." Abby smirked.
"Not a chance, Archer." Paige said with a smirk as she tossed her script over her shoulder and pulled out a tube of red lipstick, applying it and giving her lips a wet smack. "I'll see you onstage, Rose." She winked and walked out onto the stage once the stagehand gestured to them.
Not willing to let Paige upstage her, Abby marched out right alongside her, seeing the director watching them from his seat in the front row.
"You may begin when you're ready." The director told them.
Abby nodded and turned away from Paige, crossing her arms over her stomach. She waited while the other girl walked up behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Think not about what they told you, dear Rose." Paige spoke in a powerful accent that sounded a bit silly, but still seemed to almost radiate authority through the entire empty theater.
"They called me a monster." Abby spoke in as powerful a voice as she could muster, though she made her voice crack in mid-sentence, as if she was on the verge of breaking down. "And I begin to think perhaps they were right… perhaps a monster dwells deep inside."
"There is no monster but the ones outside of us, the ones who cast those stones upon one so innocent." Paige gripped her shoulder and spun her around with a forceful yank. Abby was stunned by the fierce look in her eyes, shining with fire and determination. This was a look she'd seen a lot from Paige over the years, but never like this. It was like the role was crafted for her. "Inside of you is no monster, inside of you dwells a being to make angels weep… do not dare doubt that."
Abby didn't remember that line from the script. Did Paige forget, or was she improvising? Man, now Abby couldn't remember her lines either… she had to come up with something. "It is difficult to remain firm when the world comes crashing down."
"And that is why we cannot let them win." Paige moved closer to her, gripping both of her shoulders now. "To separate is to allow the world to crush us… to separate is to die."
"Yet to remain together is to remain alone." Abby choked back a fake sob. "Can we really do this?"
"We can…" Paige moved even closer, slipping her arm around her back as her other arm encircled her waist, pulling her closer. Abby's eyes widened when she felt her side pulled up against Paige's in something like a firm embrace, her eyes staring into hers with that same fiery passion they'd held earlier. "Together, anything is possible."
Abby gulped. For a few moments Abby wasn't sure what to do. Should she return the embrace, take it even further? Thankfully, she didn't have to. The scene was interrupted by the sound of clapping from the seats in front of the stage. The two girls turned to look to see the director on his feet clapping his hands in front of him in a slow, powerful rhythm as he moved towards the stage.
"Such creativity, such energy, such passion." The man climbed the steps up to the stage to approach them, his eyes locked on Paige. "I can't see anyone putting as much into a performance as you just did. If you can put that energy into every performance, you have the role of Amy right now."
Paige squealed and jumped up and down. "Oh you bet I can! I can do it anytime, anywhere!" Abby looked at her, a bit disappointed that Paige had been chosen instead… but honestly, she deserved it. That had been an amazing performance.
"Congratulations." Abby held out her hand to Paige. Paige whirled on her in surprise, as if she'd just pulled a knife. "You deserved it."
Paige narrowed her eyes at her for a moment, then huffed and took her hand. "Of course I did, but… thanks."
"And who says you don't have a role?" The director grinned. "What is Amy without Rose?"
Abby's eyes widened. "You mean…?"
"You both have such wonderful chemistry together, it's like you were made for this!"
Abby and Paige exchanged a blank glance, speaking in unison. "We do?"
"Absolutely. The way you came to her aid to offer her comfort was almost natural." The director smiled down at them. "You're both in."
Paige stared at Abby almost in disbelief, with a trace of disgust. For a moment Abby thought the girl was going to attack, but amazingly, she didn't. Instead, she held out her hand and took Abby's in a firm shake. "Congratulations, yourself… looks like we're stuck together."
"How does that always end up happening, anyway?" Abby replied with a smirk.
"I blame the universe, most of the time." Paige returned her smirk and released her hand.
While the director went through the rest of the waiting actors outside, the studio took down their names, phone numbers, and home addresses, and also gave them each a copy of the thick script to read when they got home. Despite knowing she would have to act alongside Paige, Abby couldn't force the smile off of her face. She'd actually done it, she'd gotten into a real theatrical production put on by a real producer, and in the lead role too! She was usually a modest girl, but she had to admit… she was pretty awesome.
"I can't believe you did it, Abby!" Ty grinned as the two Archer siblings made their way home, walking comfortably along the winding, but comfortably familiar sidewalk. "The lead role, mom and dad are going to flip out when they hear."
"Heeee!" Abby grinned. "I know! I can't even believe it myself!" She cooled down a bit as she walked, clutching the thick script to her chest. "The only problem is that I have to work with Paige, and not just a little either. She's my costar, we have to rehearse together."
"It's not like you've never worked with her before." Ty pointed out.
"Yeah, but last time was just hammering out plans for a dance theme, we're going to be spending WEEKS on end rehearsing this thing. And if we really want to stand out, we're going to have to rehearse even when the rest of the cast isn't." Abby retorted. "Can you imagine me and Paige ALONE together? I don't know who's in more danger."
"Relax, Abby. I'm sure it won't be that big a deal. Paige is a pain, but she wants this to go smoothly too. I'm sure you guys can work something out."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Abby grinned as they reached their house in the fiery light of dusk. "I'm sorry you didn't get a role, by the way. It would have been great to have you there, too."
"Oh, don't worry about it. Some of us just aren't cut out for artistic persuits." Ty smirked slightly. "Sometimes I think my brain is completely incapable of comprehending anything artistic."
"We all have our weaknesses." Abby squealed and hugged her script to her chest again. "Oh man, I have got to read my script, I wanna see just what kind of story this is! It sounded like something special from the audition!"
"Yeah, my section sounded pretty weird too, all this Shakespeare stuff thrown in, not too sure about it." Ty said.
"Oh hush, it'll be great! I'm gonna go find out right now! See ya!" Giggling like an eager schoolgirl, Abby charged into the house and bounded up the stairs to her room two at a time. She slammed the door behind her, rushing to her bed and throwing herself down on it face-down to stare at the title. "Amy and Rose".
The script flew open in her hands, in within moments she was lost in the script, reading every line carefully to get the image of her mind of what was supposed to be happening. She read fast, soaking up the story and scenery like an eager sponge. The Shakespeare influence was sprinkled throughout the script at mostly key points, and after a while she realized the whole thing was pretty familiar. It was Romeo and Juliet with different characters. To be more specific, Amy and Rose were the replacements.
She found this interesting and exciting at first, indeed, the script was beautifully written, full of conflict and tragedy like Shakespeare but in a more modern time frame, but then she reached a page that made her recoil somewhat. Amy and Rose had to kiss… but Amy was being played by…
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" Abby screamed at the top of her lungs, falling backward off the bed onto the floor with a heavy thump. Her chest was heaving in terror as the door was flung open, revealing her brother staring down at her in concern.
"Abby!? What's wrong!? Did someone try to attack you!?" He demanded in a panic.
"W-worse!" Abby panted. "I have to kiss Paige…" She cringed at the sound of it.
Ty blinked down at her blankly. "What are you talking about?"
"The script! It's Romeo and Juliet with two girls, and Paige is playing the other girl!" Abby groaned. "Oh man, why did my first real play have to be this!? This is gross on so many levels."
"Good thing you're a Grossologist." Ty smirked.
"This isn't funny Ty, we're talking about Paige here! I'd rather have my blood sucked dry by a million leeches than TOUCH her, let alone kiss her!" Abby sat up with a shudder at the mental image. "I may not survive this…"
Ty chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "Come on Abby, it's not THAT bad. Besides, if it bugs you that much, you can always pull out of the play."
"What!? I'm not running from her!" Abby leapt to her feet. "This is my first chance to do something that the world will stand up and notice! This isn't noodling around in a school play or investigating an outbreak of Athelete's Foot that nobody will know I had a hand in, this play could make me a worldwide name! Everyone would know me!"
"I think you're blowing this a little out of proportion." Ty quipped.
"The point is, this is a big deal for me, and Paige is not going to ruin it!"
"Then fuming about it won't help." Ty gave her a comforting smile. "Talk to her about it, work something out. She's… y'know, Paige… but she's not stupid. She'll want to work it out too."
"Y-yeah…" Abby blinked, his words finally sinking in. "Yeah, we can work something out… some kind of plan on how to deal with it."
"Yeah, and just be glad you got in on this." Ty told her. "Now come on, mom's waiting for us to come down for supper, and she's waiting for your big news."
"Yeah, okay." Abby nodded. "I'm coming." She walked back to her bed, grabbing her script and shoving it under her pillow just in case her mom decided to come snooping. She didn't want her mom seeing it until she had a chance to read the rest of it. There was no telling how she would react if she knew what it was about. Once her script was safely hidden, she turned to join her brother on his way down for dinner.
***
The line in Ringworm Jr. High seemed unusually long the next day as Abby waited patiently for her turn to get some lunch. She tapped one foot on the ground with her arms folded over her stomach. Ty was already seated at one of the nearby tables, sipping on his milk while he waited for her to join him. She hated being late anywhere, lunch least of all. Her parents often asked how she could eat so much and stay so thin… she didn't know, but she was definitely grateful.
She glanced back over her shoulder when she heard a pair of light footsteps move behind her in the line, then promptly faced forward again. It was Paige, whose face looked unusually thoughtful and pensive. Abby glanced back at her again a moment later and flashed her a nervous twitch of her mouth, which was met with one of Paige's own. The tension and nervousness was palpable. Had Paige read the script too?
In another few tense moments she heard Paige huff from behind her. "Okay, enough is enough." Abby gasped when she felt a hand grab her bicep, yanking her out of line and out into the hallway.
"Wha-heeyyyy!" Abby complained, but was too stunned to struggle as Paige pulled her towards one of the janitor's closets and closed the door behind them.
Paige whirled on her once the door was shut, crossing her arms over her chest. "Okay, obviously we both read the script and we both thought the same thing."
"Ewe?"
"Exactly." Paige nodded. "But you know what? I am not going to let that ruin this. We are going to do this like professionals, because this could be the first step, my big break into superstardom, and I won't let YOU or anybody else stop me from doing my best."
Abby was a bit surprised. "Actually, I was going to say the same thing. I don't want this thing we have going to ruin this play any more than you do, I want it to work."
"Good." Paige nodded as if that settled the matter. "Then let's try to get over it by our first rehearsal next week, okay? In the meantime, make sure you study that script VERY CAREFULLY!"
Abby frowned. "I've done this before, Paige, I know how to act. I did play Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, remember?" Abby couldn't help a wry smirk.
Paige huffed at the reminder and yanked the closet door open behind her, giving Abby a death glare. "Just don't suck, Archer. There WILL be retribution if you ruin this for me." She whirled and stomped out of the closet, slamming the door behind her with a bang.
To Be Continued
