Jim Hopper threw his satchel on the table and headed toward the refrigerator. It had been a long day. A theater professor, he had been given the job of directing a new production that the head of the department, Joyce Byers, had written and after knowing the woman for quite some time, he knew she was a perfectionist when it came to her own work and he had a headache just from thinking about how she was going to find everything he did to be wrong. He was also in charge of casting, but he knew she would have the final say in the matter. He had just sat down in his favorite chair when the door flew open.
"Dad! Guess what! I'm now a theater major!" His daughter Jane (or El, as she preferred to be called) ran into the small den where he sat, jumping around giddily.
"You changed again? This is the third time. You're already a junior. And we've talked about this. I want you to be able to support yourself when school is finished. Do you really think this is a good idea?" Jim squeezed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "And I can't play favorites with you. You will have to do all the work. I can't cast you in productions just because you're my kid."
"I know. I don't want you to do me any favors. I want to do it myself." El said sincerely, the resolve evident on her face.
Jim sighed. "Well there's an audition for something Dr. Byers has written that I'm directing so you might as well start now. It's on Thursday at the Fogler auditorium. You need to memorize a monologue so you should get to work on that. Nothing silly. I think it's a drama. I haven't read it yet. She just appointed me today." He shook his head. Thinking of tiny Joyce demanding that he direct her play made him smile. She was so dramatic.
"I will get to work on that. I'm going to go to the bookstore to find something to memorize. I also want to tell Max and she should be working now."
The autumn leaves swirled as the wind blew lazily. El zipped up her jacket and headed to the bookstore, which was a very cool place as it was also a record store. Her friend Max worked in the record store part. El was excited thinking about auditioning. She had never done it before and wanted to prove to herself that this wasn't a bad idea like her father thought. She resisted the urge to skip down the sidewalk but she felt exhilarated by the entire concept of becoming a theater major.
She could hear the sounds of Violent Femmes blasting even before she opened the door to the store. Max is definitely working today. El saw her fiery hair and stepped behind Max as she was alphabetizing the D section of records. She gently tugged on Max's long hair. Max spun around, an angry glare on her face melting away as soon as she saw who was standing behind her.
"Wow, you look happy. Why are you grinning like a loon, El?" Maxed joked, popping the gum she was chewing.
"I changed my major to theater and I'm here to find something to memorize. I have my first audition Thursday!"
"Hell yeah, El! That sounds right up your alley. Hey, Lucas! El is going to be a theater major!" Max yelled across the room to the tall dark skinned boy who was manning the register. "Isn't that cool?"
Lucas stuck his fist in the air like John Bender at the end of The Breakfast Club. "Very cool, El."
"I have to go find some monologues in the book section. I'll talk to you before I leave." El smiled again and moved toward the books.
The book section of the store was much quieter than the music section. There were big chairs where people could sit and read and shelves upon shelves of books, all categorized and alphabetized. It didn't make El's decision easier though. She had no idea where to start to look for any sort of monologues. She considered the titles and thumbed through a few selections. None of them seemed right. She noticed a guy sitting in one of the chairs reading what looked to be something by Kurt Vonnegut. He was obviously tall and had floppy black hair that he kept pushing back from his eyes as he looked down at his book. She noticed him glance at her a couple of times. El went back to looking for something that she could commit to memory.
Exasperated, El was about to give up when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"Do you need help finding something?" The guy from the chair asked. "I don't work here but I come here a lot. I might be able to help."
El told him why she was at the store and what she was searching for. She felt a little embarrassed that she must have looked so lost that another customer stepped to her aid. He seemed nice though, in no way patronizing, and looked like he genuinely wanted to help.
And he's cute. He's very cute. Freckles.
"Do you go to school here?" He asked as they walked along the stacks.
"I do. My dad also teaches here. He's a theater professor. He's directing the play I'm auditioning for but he says he won't cast me unless I deserve it. I need to make a good impression. My name is El, by the way."
"I'm Mike. El is a nice name."
"It's actually Jane but I prefer El. I like nicknames."
They walked to another section of books. Mike took one off the shelf. "You might find something in here. I know lots of people do Shakespeare but I think it would be cool if you did a monologue that was given by a male character. You know, it might make it seem way deeper if a woman did it." Mike put the book in her hand. As he did, their fingers touched and El tried not to notice the tingle that went up her arm or the goosebumps that erupted even though she was wearing a jacket.
"Thanks, Mike. This looks promising." El looked up at him and smiled.
Mike grinned back. "I'm glad I could help. I hope you get the part. What is it they say? Break a leg?"
"Thanks. I'll certainly try. Thanks again for helping me. Maybe I'll see you around?"
"Yeah, maybe so." Mike smiled a lopsided grin at her and went back to his chair. El clutched the book to her chest and went back to talk to Max.
"...All I'm saying is that it's the perfect way to keep people out when you don't want them there." Lucas was saying as El walked back into the music section.
"It's kind of dumb though. We name the house? I don't want to live in a house with a stupid name." Max rolled her eyes at Lucas. El looked between the two of them like watching a tennis match.
"It won't be stupid. If we don't all agree we'll find some other name." Lucas quipped.
"What are you two talking about?" El asked confusedly.
"Lucas says that we should name our house and then when we have parties we just say the house name so only people who know us and know where we live will be able to find it." Max informed her.
"That actually sounds pretty genius to me." El stated. Lucas beamed at Max, an I told you so look on his face.
"We'll have to vote on it. We'll have a meeting tonight. Will Small Brandon be home?"
Max and Lucas lived in a house that had been split into four apartments. They had been dating for a while and it was cheaper for them both to live together. They shared the house with three other guys. There was "Big Brandon," a tall, lovable guy who was a few years older than everyone else. He was definitely an alcoholic but he was always nice, always went to work (though sometimes he still smelled of beer), and always there to listen to everyone else. There was another guy named Brandon whom they called "Small Brandon" as to not confuse the two. Their friend Dustin had the apartment on the first floor with the fireplace. Max and Lucas lived upstairs.
"I think we'll all be home tonight. I have some great names but I'm going to keep them to myself until we're all together." Lucas stated with authority.
"Whatever, nerd." Max laughed at him. "Did you find something, El?"
"Yes. I didn't know what I was looking for but a guy who was reading offered to help." She grabbed Max's arm and pulled her aside so Lucas wouldn't hear. "He was so cute!" El's eyes twinkled as she told her friend what happened.
"You mean Mike? He's here all the time. He's one of Lucas' best friends actually. He's at our place every weekend playing D&D with Lucas and Dustin. Nice guy. Dorky, but nice." Max went back to her collating.
El walked to the register to pay for her book. "So, Lucas, tell me about Mike." She tried to seem quasi-interested but the corners of her mouth kept turning upwards no matter how she tried to fight it.
"He's a great guy. Loves science, reading, other nerdy stuff." Lucas laughed. "He's in his third year here. He wants to be a movie director."
A director? Maybe I'll have some classes with him.
"That's cool." She tried to sound nonchalant. "Okay, thanks for the help guys. I have to go memorize some Shakespeare now. Oh, be sure to let me know what you name your house!"
"It will be awesome, I can promise you that." Lucas huffed his chest. Max's eyes rolled so hard El could almost hear it.
When El got back home she went to her room and started looking through the book Mike had suggested. I should have asked him which one he thought I should do. El decided to go ask her dad. He could always lend his knowledge and expertise.
"I can't decide which of these I should do, dad." El set the book on the coffee table. "There are so many. I want it to be good. Someone said I should do a male character's speech since I'm a woman. They thought it would be an interesting touch."
Hopper rubbed his chin as he picked up the book. "Try something from Hamlet or Macbeth. They're recognizable enough and you can show a wide range of emotions. I'd start there and see if you can find something." He handed her the book. El retreated to her bedroom to look through the two plays.
Thursday came quickly and El was nervous as she stood in the line that was starting to snake its way around the building. Apparently word had gotten out about Dr. Byers' play and more people were interested in it than she had thought. Hopper was surprised himself as he and Joyce sat in the darkened theater listening to the auditions. They would call back the ones they thought were good enough and Joyce had a scene from the play picked out that she would have the most promising read. So far they had a very short list to call back.
When it was El's turn she walked to the center of the stage.
"State your name and what you will be sharing with us." Jim called down to her.
Softly she said, "Jane Hopper."
"I can't hear you, kid. You're going to have to speak up. The people in the back have to be able to hear you as well." Hopper wasn't going to go easy on her.
With clarity and determination, "Jane Hopper. Please call me El."
"And what are you doing for us today, Jane Hopper Please Call Me El?"
Joyce stifled a laugh.
"It's from Macbeth. Act 5, scene 5."
"Whenever you're ready, El." Jim inwardly wished her the best.
El took a deep breath. Her face seemed to drop like she had become saddened.
"She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."
All of her emotion was poured into the soliloquy. She had added inflection to certain words, making it sound like she was actually using her own speech, like a modern day young woman was saying it but without changing any of the dialogue. She didn't think she could have done it any better but she was still unsure of what her father and Dr. Byers thought of it. She bowed and exited the stage.
Jim and Joyce looked at each other. Joyce wrote El's name at the top of the short list. Jim was surprised at how effortless El seemed when performing. Maybe he had been wrong about it being a bad idea. She looked so natural up there.
El called Max from the auditorium. She had to talk to someone and her dad had more people to listen to and Max was her best friend. "I just finished my audition." El stated into the phone.
"How did you do? When will you know if you got it?" Max asked in reply.
"I think I did well, I'm not sure when I'll know. I hope my dad has some news when he comes home tonight. I felt like I was going to throw up but once I started everything felt more normal. It was fun! I'm still nervous though because now I know I want this really badly. I just don't know what they thought. I could barely see them because of the lights and I definitely couldn't see their faces."
"I'm sure you did well. What did you do for them?"
El told Max what she had just performed. El could hear other people at Max's house.
"Ha! You owe him $5, Lucas! He called it!" Max said to someone in the room. El wondered who Lucas owed money to and for what.
"What did Lucas do?" El asked of her friend.
"Oh, Mike's here and he was saying that you were having your audition today and that he figured you'd do something from Macbeth. Lucas said it would be A Midsummer Night's Dream. Lucas lost."
Mike is talking about me and remembered when my audition was?
"Oh, that's cool." El was nonplussed. "Um, I'll let you know when I know something. Tell Mike I said hey. Oh, and Lucas too!" Real smooth, El.
That night when Hopper got home El was waiting for him in his den. He had a poker face as he asked her what he already knew.
"Do you need something? Why are you in my den? Can I help you?" Hopper teased.
"Did I get it?"
"Get what?" Hopper was enjoying this.
"Dad! Come on! Did I get the part?"
Hopper broke into a grin. "You got a callback. I have to call the others. Tomorrow you'll read a scene from the actual play and we'll decide if you get a part. You'll have to read with someone else who is up for a part. It will probably be a boy, just so you know. I've read the scene."
"Is it good?" El asked.
"Objectively, the play is very good. I'm not sure I'm thrilled about my daughter perhaps having the lead role. It's not exactly a play for little kids." Hopper sighed audibly.
El squealed. "I'm so excited! Did you think I was good?"
"I thought you were great! I was surprised. How you made it your own was inspired. I was so proud of you."
El smiled and looked at her feet, her dimpled face making her look younger when she was this happy.
"Oh, there's another development that I was just informed of as we were finishing auditions today. Apparently it's not going to be a play. The broadcasting department is teaming up with the theater department and we're shooting this on film. It will be a movie. Joyce has been trying to get them to do it for years and I guess she finally beat them down enough. So I'll have to work with camera guys and other film people. That will be weird since I'm so used to stage productions. Joyce wants me to direct though so I'll have to learn quickly.
"A movie? That's awesome!" El couldn't believe her luck.
"Yeah so we're going to cast this and then I'll start working with some film people next week. The actors will have to learn their lines and work together on their own as well as in rehearsal. We can't spend tons of money on film so we have to make our takes count. I'm going to have a film student shadow me to help me out with things I might not know. I haven't met him yet but I know his name is Wheeler. I don't remember his first name though. We'll get started next week. If you get the part there will be a meeting for cast and crew where everyone can meet and receive their scripts."
El was reeling from excitement. It was all becoming so real. She couldn't wait to read the scene the next day. She was going to try harder than she'd ever tried for anything.
Max and Lucas were sitting at their table waiting on Dustin to finish showering and join them for their discussion of what to name the house. Both Brandons were already there. They had postponed their meeting and were finally all together to make a decision. Lucas had a list in front of him that he would hide with his arm whenever anyone tried to read it. Finally Dustin emerged in his bathrobe and slippers and they could start the meeting.
"Did everyone think of some name possibilities?" Lucas asked, clearly spearheading the discussion.
"I don't care what we call it." Big Brandon spoke.
"Yeah, I don't either. It's a cool idea but the name isn't important to me." Small Brandon added.
"Guys, it has to be a cool name!" Dustin spoke up. "I like Gilead, like from the Dark Tower books." He smiled with satisfaction.
"That's cool but people will mispronounce it." Lucas said.
"People are stupid." Dustin replied.
"It should be something magical and powerful." Max chimed in, causing Lucas to smile at her finally getting on board with his idea.
"Mordor?" Small Brandon threw out.
Everyone shook their heads. They wanted something more recognizable.
"Here's what I have on my list." Lucas read aloud. "Bespin, Mos Eisley, Hoth, Tatooine, Endor." Max made a gagging gesture with her finger in her mouth.
"No, no, no, no, and no. I don't want to live in Star Wars."
"I like them." Dustin offered Lucas an empathetic smile.
Suddenly a name popped into Max's head and she knew it was the perfect choice. She smiled radiantly and told them, all of the boys immediately thinking it was perfect. Even Lucas couldn't say no to the name. It was everything they were looking for and sounded cool too.
"We have to have a party this weekend to try it out!" Dustin shouted, giving Lucas a high five.
El showed up early to her callback. She was given the scene and read over it. She'd be allowed to read the script while doing it but she wanted to try to memorize it if she could, trying to show how much she wanted the part. She was paired with a sandy haired boy whom she felt absolutely no chemistry with but she pressed on and did her lines. She hoped he didn't get the part because she knew her character would have to kiss him at some point.
You're getting ahead of yourself, El. It's not your character yet.
El did the scene with no problems, even though she didn't like the looks of the guy at all. She had memorized all of her lines and delivered them expertly. Hopper had looked on as he and Joyce watched the pair interact. He could tell that Joyce was impressed with El. After they were finished Joyce told them to excuse themselves from the room and she turned to Hopper.
"I want her. She's my Flora. I don't need to see any more girls for that part. She is excellent, Hop. Why hasn't she been doing this for years?"
"She's really good, isn't she? I can't believe it myself. She will be ecstatic that she got the part. I can't wait to tell her." Jim smiled thinking about how happy El would be. "I think we should keep trying for the boy though. I don't think that guy is what we want."
"You're right. We still need a Miles. We have a few more guys coming in today. Hopefully our Miles is in that group." Joyce pensively mused.
They did not find their Miles amongst the remaining boys who had been called back.. Joyce wanted it to be perfect and the boys were all missing some spark she was looking for. She would have to keep looking.
This time when Hopper got home he didn't mess with El's emotions. He got right to it.
"Well?" El asked, bouncing from one foot to the other.
"You got it. You are Flora."
El squealed in delight. She threw her arms around Hopper's neck and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much, dad." Tears of joy filled her eyes.
"Don't thank me. You earned it yourself. You were amazing today. Joyce was very impressed and didn't want to hear anyone else read for the part. You were so good!"
"I have to call Max and tell her. I'm an actress!" El ran down the hallway to her bedroom to phone her best friend.
Max answered on the second ring. El could hear her talking to people before she got the receiver to her ear to speak.
"Hello?"
"I got the part! Max, I'm in the play! Well, now it's a movie so I'm going to be in a movie!" El proceeded to tell Max about how the play had been changed and what that would entail.
"That's so awesome! I'm so happy for you! Hang on a second, these guys are being too loud."
El could hear as Max scolded the guys. Shhh, I'm on the phone! Yes, she got the part. It's going to be a movie now. What? Why didn't you say something?
El once again wondered who Max was talking to. She could only make out what Max was saying as the others were too far away from the phone.
"Hey, sorry about that. These guys are annoying. Mike says he knew it was going to be a movie. He said he was going to be helping. Isn't that weird?"
Mike is there again? He'll be helping out?
"Ask him how he's going to be helping." El said, adrenaline still pumping through her. She could tell Max had taken the phone away from her mouth again and heard her yell.
"Hey, Wheeler! How are you helping out on this movie?"
Wheeler?
Max came back to the line. "He's helping the director. He's your dad's shadow! Hey, we have to celebrate. We're having a party tomorrow night and you have to come. It will be so fun! We named our house and we're trying it out but you really do have something to celebrate. Will you be here?"
"Sure! That would be great! Who else will be there?" El asked, trying to sound casual.
"All of us, Mike, Will Byers, anyone else who knows where we live. We've been spreading the word today. It's going to be great! El, consider this your invitation to Mount Olympus. That's what we named the house."
"That name is the best! I will be there!" El could hear the boys yelling "party at Olympus!"
Party at Olympus. And Mike will be there. Cool.
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I have other chapters planned out but not written totally. I had to give a little backstory and this will burn slower than my previous work but I'm hoping it will be worth it in the end. Let me know what you think and thanks for reading!