Alec was nervous. That horrible, butterflies-in-your-stomach, nausea-inducing nervousness specially reserved for exams and interviews and drama auditions. Definitely drama auditions, considering they were the reason Alec was currently pacing the corridor, biting at his fingernails. This was the part he hated the most. At least on stage in front of hundreds of people he could stay in character and not worry about the audience, but in these auditions? Not likely.

"Stop pacing," Jace, Alec's brother, finally sighed, "You're making me feel ill,"

All the boys auditioning had to pair up and read lines from different characters- two boys called Jake and Michael. Alec had his script in his pocket, although he had learnt his lines so thoroughly that he didn't need it. They had to read from two scenes, each acting as Jake and Michael once each. Alec much preferred acting as Michael- he was the good character, if Alec had to simplify it, quiet and considerate, while Jake was loud and bolshy. Jace suited playing Jake much more than Alec did. Jake also had solo songs in the musical, and while Alec knew his voice was okay, he had much more faith in his acting than his singing.

The doors suddenly opened and two boys walked out. One was Magnus Bane- tall, glittery, gorgeous and Alec's long-term crush. They shared a few classes, and Alec had no doubt at all that Magnus would get a part. He was confident, and could dance like it was the most natural thing in the world. Maybe to him it was. Magnus waved to Alec, shooting him a smile, before disappearing round the corner. Alec's butterflies intensified for a completely different reason. It was the perfect distraction though, as Alec found himself being dragged through the doors by Jace.

A row of people sat in the small drama room, mostly students. The play was entirely written by a team of students, who were also going to direct it. It had taken much convincing the staff for it to be allowed, but they'd won. Somehow, this was more intimidating than a panel of teachers. After a few words with the students, Alec and Jace were told to start their first scene. They hadn't been given whole scripts, just the two scenes and the necessary character profiles, so Alec didn't know his character's personality as much as he would have liked. He'd give it his best shot though.

He nodded to Jace, whose line was first, and focussed on making the world just him as Michael, talking to his friend Jake in the school yard.

Call-backs were a week later. Alec had been short-listed for Michael, much to his delight, and Jace was being considered for the lead role of Jake, or for Jake's older brother Alex. Jace claimed he would be happy with either, but Alec knew how much he wanted to take the lead role. Their sister, Isabelle, had also been called back for the lead female role, which Alec found hilarious because it would mean that his siblings would have to act as if they were dating for at least half of the play. Jace may have been adopted into the family, but they were as close as any other siblings.

Being called back meant that Alec was at least going to be in the chorus, which would honestly be enough for him. The school's drama department was kind of elitist, so just getting into the play was a massive achievement. Still, to act in one of the lead roles alongside his siblings would be amazing, especially in his last year of school. Jace and Izzy, a year younger, had another shot next year. Alec didn't.

For the second audition, Alec had a duet with a female character called Emily. Jace's girlfriend Clary had been called back for that role, and they decided to audition together, organising times to rehearse in advance.

The team writing the musical were clearly punk-rock fans. The song Alec and Clary had to sing was 'Still Into You' by Paramore, and gave them an instant advantage because both Alec and Clary already knew all of the words. The only issue then was allowing each other to sing their own parts, rather than just belting out the whole song. Jace's call-back song was a version of 'Nothing To Do With Love' by Halestorm. It was particularly challenging as the vocals had to be adjusted to fit a more masculine voice, but Alec thought that it was a good song for Jace to be singing. Izzy had two audition songs, much to her dismay. One was 'Zombie' by The Pretty Reckless, and the other 'The Best Thing (That Never Happened)' by We Are The In Crowd. They each required completely different vocal techniques, but both relied on a very strong voice. The writers had taken a risk in choosing both songs for the same character, but Alec knew that Izzy could definitely do it.

They walked home together that afternoon, Izzy humming under her breath while Alec and Clary talked about their duet. They weren't required to dance or act while they sang for the audition (Thank God) but Alec knew the dancing would come later. Hopefully much later.

That evening, the Lightwood siblings and Clary crowded into Isabelle's pink and black room. Together, they congratulated Jace who, despite forgetting some of the lyrics, had almost perfected his song. They helped Izzy with a couple of the notes in her slower song, and Alec and Clary gave their rendition of Still Into You, slapping each other when they sang the wrong lines.

Just a week later, Alec was back outside the drama room, substantially calmer. He was already in the chorus, getting this part would just be a bonus. Clary deserved the part though, he'd decided, and so he'd give it his all for both of them.

They came out of the audition smiling and arm in arm. It felt like it had gone well, but even if it hadn't, they'd had fun singing together.

Jace returned from his audition the next week in true Jace style- completely confident in himself. Izzy's didn't seem to go so well, and she seemed to think she'd lost all chance of getting the main role. Alec comforted her with ice cream and movies, and pointed out that until the cast list was announced, she didn't know what they'd thought.

Weeks and weeks later, a big sheet of paper was posted outside of the drama rooms, and news spread fast that the cast list was out. The Lightwoods had to jostle through a group of students to reach it, but they were let through. The 'main cast' were listed at the top, and sure enough, there was Jace's name written next to the character of Jake. Right underneath, Isabelle was listed as the female lead, Aria. After hugging a very excited, and astonished, Isabelle, Alec turned back to the board. And there was his name too, next to the character Michael, along with Clary as Emily, just like they'd auditioned. After their group hug amid many squeals, Alec peered back at the rest of the main cast. Will Herondale was playing as Jace's brother, and a boy called Simon Lewis playing Isabelle's shy love interest. Alec's heart stopped as he read Magnus was playing Gabriel, the play's own bad boy, then dropped to the floor as he realised that the final role was filled by Magnus's girlfriend Camille.

Oh why did she have to be there?

Oh why indeed, Alec, why indeed.