"After much persistent debating, we've reached a decision," Frank began. "We would like to offer the part of Eponine to…"
"...Cora!"
Olivia's heart sank all the way down to her boots.
Cora looked at her smugly. "Better luck next time, Olga."
"However," Frank continued, "we would like Olivia to understudy the role."
"What?!" Cora shrieked.
Olivia raised her head hopefully.
"You have an amazing voice, my dear," Frank told her. "Cora just has a little more experience in the field of Broadway showmanship. If you agree to understudy her role, you'll get the experience you need. And maybe later on, when we recast a few characters, you'll get to be our primary Eponine."
Olivia nodded. "Yes, I'd love to be Cora's understudy!"
He smiled. "Lovely. Cheryl, will you please bring in the actors who will be auditioning for Javert?"
Cheryl left the room, her mouth pressed into a thin line.
Cora glared at Olivia. "This isn't over!" she hissed before stepping off the stage to follow her mother.
Olivia smiled gratefully at Frank before walking back into the wings where Aaron was waiting for her. She let out a breath.
"Well… that could have gone worse," she conceded.
"I was really mad at first until Frank explained their decision," Aaron replied. "It makes sense."
"Yeah. On the bright side… I'm part of the cast!" she said with a grin. "I get to rehearse Eponine's lines and maybe get to be in the ensemble as well!"
"Which is amazing," Aaron agreed with a smile. "As far as I know, I'm the only remaining candidate for Enjolras, so my part is in the bag."
"Awesome! We get to rehearse together then, huh?"
"Yup," he replied, popping the p. "Now that your audition is over, you don't have to stay any longer. You can go home if you want."
"Are you kidding me? I wanna hear you sing. I'm staying." She sat down on the floor, criss-crossing her legs.
Aaron chuckled, sitting down next to her and mimicking her posture. The next few weeks were going to be a lot of fun, he could tell.
ooOOoo
After his audition (which Olivia described as, quote, 'spectacular'), Aaron found himself chatting with several other cast members while Olivia gathered her things.
The real-life Javert had gotten the part he wished for, to Aaron's chagrin. The large group of rowdy boys had gotten the parts they wanted as well. He found that most of them knew each other already from previous theatrical exploits. A few had even gone to the same high school. They were a close-knit group, but they were also very opening and welcome.
They had all begun to call themselves by their characters names, which resulted in quite a bit of confusion. Eventually, Aaron asked them all to introduce themselves with their first name and then their character name.
The tallest one in the group spoke first. "Name's Garfield," he slurred slightly. His breath smelled slightly of beer. "I play Grantaire."
"Sorry about him," a blonde boy apologized. "He has a bit of a drinking problem. I'm Caleb. I play Combeferre."
"I'm Carl," another one piped up. "I play Courfeyrac."
One by one, each boy introduced himself. A boy named James was playing the part of Joly, Feuilly was played by a boy named Forrest, and Jehan was played by a boy named Jefferson.
The youngest boy in the group pushed to the front and puffed his chest out proudly. "I'm Oliver," he said. "I play Gavroche."
"Nice to meet you all," Aaron replied. He noticed Olivia out of the corner of his eye, hanging back away from the group. "My friend Olivia is back there. She's kinda shy."
It felt odd calling her his friend. He'd had friends before, but he'd never had a real, true, best friend. Olivia felt like a best friend, he supposed. Even though they had known each other for only a few hours.
Olivia perked up when she heard her name. She nervously made her way toward the group. "Umm… Hi," she started. "I'm Olivia. I'm understudying the role of Eponine even though I tried out for Eponine but I didn't have enough experience for the role apparently so Cora got it and she's the actual Eponine but I might get it in a year or so when the show is recast and I think I might be rambling again." She facepalmed.
Caleb laughed. "It's okay. We all get nervous. Some people just get more nervous than others." He shot James a pointed look.
James looked rather offended. "I do not get nervous. I have Mysophobia. There is a difference. It's a fear of germs," he added after seeing Olivia's confused expression.
"You don't have to worry around us, Olivia," Jefferson said kindly. "None of us bite. The guy playing Javert, on the other hand…"
"I know, right?" Aaron joined in. "He was watching me before my audition. He gave me the creepiest feeling."
"Guys, you'll never guess what I just heard," another boy said, panting after running toward the group.
"That's Ben," James said. "He's playing Bahorel."
"The guy who's playing Marius, Sam Gordon? He's dating the girl who plays Cosette!"
"Seriously?" Forrest said, dumbfounded.
"Great," Garfield said. "Now we'll have to deal with all their PDA, in addition to Cora Brady's nastiness."
"You guys know her?" Olivia asked.
"Garfield, James, and Caleb did. They've worked with her before. The rest of us have only heard stories until now," Carl said with a shudder.
"Cora is awful," Caleb told her. "She constantly puts everyone down and makes fun of them. The theatre is supposed to be fun, in my opinion. She makes it the opposite. I was in Rent with her. I couldn't wait for my contract to be up so I could get the heck out of there. It was toxic."
Seeing Olivia's panicked look, Jefferson put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Livvy. Can we call you Livvy?"
She nodded. He continued. "Just stick with us. We'll protect you from the Wicked Witch of the West."
Olivia giggled. She liked these guys already. Her stomach made a loud growling noise, causing several of them to turn and look at her curiously.
"Hungry, are we?" Ben asked with a smile.
She looked sheepish. "I skipped breakfast. Too anxious to eat. And all I could force myself to eat for lunch was a bag of animal crackers I keep in my purse."
"Animal crackers?" Aaron smirked.
"Yes. Animal crackers. They're the only thing my parents could get me to eat when I was anxious. So I always keep some with me. That way, I won't starve to death in the event of an anxiety attack."
"How are you still on your feet?" Garfield asked incredulously. "If I went that long without food I would have crashed a long time ago."
She just shrugged. "I'm used to it."
"Regardless of how 'used to it' you are, you really should eat something," James pointed out. "You don't want your blood sugar to get too low."
"That's James for you," Forrest said, clapping the man on his shoulder. "Always worrying about our health."
"I really do need to eat, though. I wonder if there's a Wendy's or something near here…" she pulled out her phone and started typing her request into the Google search bar.
While Olivia was preoccupied, Caleb pulled Aaron closer to the group. "Does Livvy have some sort of anxiety disorder? Do you know?"
Aaron shrugged. "I think she might. I don't know for sure."
"Hmm…." James hummed, tapping his chin. "She has all the signs. Antisocial tendencies, excessive worry, an inability to keep still, stomach trouble…"
"What's the diagnosis, doc?" Carl asked.
"I think she has a social phobia," he concluded. "She doesn't seem to enjoy being in social situations."
"Is there anything we can do to help her feel less worried around us?" Forrest questioned.
"Well, we can start by removing stressors and doing things that will help relieve the stress caused by stressors." At everyone's confused faces, he explained, "Keep her calm and get rid of things that might freak her out."
Everyone murmured in understanding.
Olivia came back over to the group. "There's a Wendy's half a mile from here," she stated. "I'm gonna go. I'll see you all tomorrow, I guess?" she rolled back and forth on the balls of her feet, nervously waiting for their answer. Her shoulders were raised, one hand tapping on the opposite arm.
They all nodded in assent.
"Awesome. Bye." she walked away swiftly. Aaron noticed her shoulders lower the farther she walked away from them.
"You can tell by her body language that talking to other people makes her nervous," he pointed out.
"Poor thing," Jefferson said. "She needs some good friends here, people she knows that she can trust."
"With any luck, we'll be those people," Caleb said decisively. "We just need to earn her trust first."
ooOOoo
Olivia looked at herself in the mirror next morning. She frowned. Was her outfit too nerdy? She wanted to wear her Wicked t-shirt to rehearsals that morning, but she just wasn't sure. She was worried about what everyone might think. She didn't have time to change to her outfit though, so Wicked it was.
On the subway ride over, she kept her head down the entire time, never making eye contact. She swore she could feel people's eyes on her, watching her every move. She hurried as fast as she could off the subway when she got to her stop.
As she walked to the theater, she noticed one of her shoes was untied, but she didn't dare bend down and tie it for fear of people watching her. She resigned to tying it when she got to her destination.
When she arrived at the theater, she breathed a sigh of relief, pulling open the doors that led into the lobby. Most people entered the back way as it led directly to the stage and the rehearsal rooms, but Olivia preferred to take the road less traveled. There were fewer people to run into there. When she got to the rehearsal room, she took a deep breath to calm her nerves before trying to enter without being noticed.
Her attempt was made in vain, however, as Cora noticed her entrance almost immediately. She stomped over toward Olivia, glaring.
"What are you doing here?" she hissed. "This rehearsal is for people with main and supporting roles only! You're an understudy! You shouldn't be here!"
"Frank wanted me to come to this rehearsal even though I'm not actually a lead actor cause he just wanted me to get the experience I need to advance my career and honestly I thought coming might boost my confidence a little and-"
"My gosh, you're annoying!" Cora interrupted. "Do everyone a favor and just keep your mouth shut. No one wants to hear you babble. Do I make myself clear?"
Olivia tried to think of what to say, but her mind had gone blank. Say something, Olivia. Say something! Oh gosh, please say something!
"Hey, Livvy!" Caleb called out, walking over. "How are you?" he turned. "Oh, hey Cora. I didn't see you there."
Cora turned on her heels and stormed off, refusing to speak with him.
"Thanks…" Olivia muttered.
"No problem," he replied. "Come on, everyone else is over here."
He lead her over to the other side of the room, where Aaron and the rest of the "Barricade Boys" (the name they'd given themselves) were. As soon as they saw her, they all smiled and greeted her cheerfully.
"Hey, Livvy!" "You made it!" "Good to see you!" "We were waiting for you!"
Their comments made Olivia smile. Nobody had ever gone to such lengths to make her feel welcome before. She waved a little. "Hi."
The girl who played Cosette came around, handing scripts to everyone.
Frank stood at the front of the room, dishing out instructions.
"Meredith has graciously volunteered to hand out the scripts for your parts," he was saying. "Take a good look through them, then split off into groups and start practicing lines."
Olivia looked down at her script. Eponine's part had been highlighted, as well as a few of the ensemble parts. She wrinkled her nose when she saw that she had also been cast as one of the 'lovely ladies'.
Aaron, noticing her expression, took a peek at her script. He chuckled. "Not a big fan of that role, huh?"
She shook her head, grimacing, and turned the page. She was also part of the 'One Day More' scene and the "Turning, Turning' song. She turned to peek at his script.
He showed her the part where he had to sing 'Red and Black'. "This is the part I'm most worried about," he explained. "It's hard to hit the high notes correctly and loudly enough at the same time."
She patted his shoulder. "You'll do fine," she told him. "You have a great voice, you don't have a thing to worry about."
"I love your shirt, by the way. How many musicals have you seen on Broadway?" he asked.
"Let me see…" She started counting them off on her fingers. "I saw Phantom of the Opera twice, Les Miserables, Newsies, Wicked, Cats, Shrek the Musical, Fiddler on the Roof, Hairspray, Grease, Rent, Mary Poppins, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and the Lion King. And I have tickets to see Dear Evan Hansen next week."
The rest of the group had crowded around her as she listed off the many musicals she'd seen.
Jefferson's mouth was agape. "I've only ever seen Phantom," he replied.
"Same here," said Garfield. "I'm pretty sure you've seen more Broadway shows than all of us combined, Livvy."
She shrugged. "What can I say? I'm a theatre nerd. I try to see a new show every few months. It's my way of escaping the real world."
"What's wrong with the real world?" Forrest asked curiously.
She sighed, playing with her fingers. "Nothing is inherently wrong with the real world, I guess. But it's nice to pretend sometimes."
Aaron, sensing she was uncomfortable with the subject, changed the topic. "Let's see here…" he said, flipping back to where his part began. "Practice lines… do you guys want to start with the scene leading into 'Red and Black'?"
The group murmured in assent and began running through the scene. While they were preoccupied, Olivia crept away and back out the rehearsal room door.
She found herself wandering around the backstage area of the theatre, trying to familiarize herself with the layout when she saw an unmarked door leading underneath the stage. Curious, she tried the handle. Finding it unlocked, she poked her head inside.
It was a storage area, filled with all sorts of things. There were props from past shows, folding chairs, and several instruments as well. Olivia smiled widely when she saw an old piano pushed up against the back wall. She made her way toward the instrument, lifting the lid and brushing her fingers lightly over the keys. She took a seat on the bench and played a few scales, testing to see if the piano was in tune or not. She began playing Fur Elise, humming along softly. She always felt so relaxed when playing the piano. Music had always helped her more than traditional therapy. She wished she could afford a piano of her own.
She closed her eyes, giving herself to the melody, and smiled softly. What she wouldn't give to just stay like this forever, in her own little world…
But life goes on, and nothing lasts forever. She sighed, playing the last few measures of the song. When she had finished, she stood, closing the lid of the piano, and pushed the bench back in. She knew she ought to go back to the rehearsal room, but another part of her wanted to stay, to see if they even noticed that she had left. Nobody ever seemed to.
She turned around and headed for the door, giving the piano one last glance. She would definitely be coming back to this room in the future, she decided. It felt nice, having her own little secret oasis that nobody else knew about, a place to come and decompress when things got too overwhelming. She smiled. Maybe this musical wouldn't be that stressful after all.