SOUTHDALE JUNIOR HIGH – 11:39 AM

In the middle of the hallway, a man is stapling two sheets of paper on a bulletin board. The man walks away from it humming happily as soon as a student walks up. She stops walking and turns her attention to the sheets on the board. Another student joins in, then another, and another, and another. The bell rings; everyone, even the Clarks, gets out of class. A huge crowd develops around the bulletin board. Megan asks,

"What's going on?"

Tony answers, "The theater club made a great idea for this year's school play."

"It's a production of Cleopatra," Mark reveals.

"Cleopatra?" Megan says puzzledly, not knowing who Cleopatra is.

Marc explains to his sister. "It's the name of a woman who ruled Ancient Egypt when she turned 18, along with her 10-year-old brother. She also married Julius Caesar, but that's as far as I'll go."

"Julius Caesar?" Megan says in the same tone.

"I wonder if they got help from the history club." Lee jokes.

"Hey," Mark retorts. "At least the audience will be entertained and educated at the same time."

One-by-one, lots of the students in line take a pen hanging from the side of the board and use it to sign their name on one of the sheets.

"Looks like everybody's signing up to get parts in the play." Lee states.

"Including yours truly," Tony brags as he signs his name on the sheet on the left. He then offers Megan the pen; she declines as she crosses her arms,

"Sounds like a hoot, but no thanks."

Tammy arrives and pushes everyone in the crowd out of the way to get to the bulletin board. She steps on Tony's foot and snatches the pen from his hand as she pushes him away.

"Looks like someone's eager to get a part," Tony says irritably as he holds his hurt foot.

"Duh!" Megan states. "Who better to play a queen than Miss Get-Anything-She-Wants-Whenever-She-Wants-It?"

"Obviously, I was born to play the part of Kilpatrick," Tammy says smugly after she signs her name on the sheet.

"Don't you mean 'Cleopatra?'" Marc corrects her.

"Whatever!" Tammy snaps at the smart Clark boy. "What do you know? Nobody's going to get that part but me." She turns her attention and points to Megan, to make her grasp her understanding, "Not even you, Margaret."

"Oh, please," Megan scoffs. "As if I'm interested in playing someone who sits on a throne."

"I kind of figured," Tammy says haughtily. "After all, it's not like you'd get a part anyway; you'd probably be backstage doing clean up with the rest after the curtains come down."

Megan gets furious at that insult; this only coaxes her to sign up for the play.

"I'll show her."

Behind the kids, one of the floor boards mysteriously begins to flip open like a hatch. The four Clark kids turn around; Megan says dreadfully,

"Oh no. Not now."

The Clark boys get WOOHPed, but Megan holds on to the side of the bulletin board to delay the pull of the suction to get her name on the sheet. Megan strenuously pulls in closer to the board.

"Just… gotta…" Megan grabs the pen and signs her name on the audition sheet. "Yes!"

Letting go of the bulletin board (and the pen) in her excitement, she finally gets WOOHPed.

Thank you all for waiting. Expect this to be completed by the end of this summer.