Behind The Curtains
Chapter Three- Auditions
Act One, Scene Two (Max)
[The writer, assistant, director, and producer are sitting in the back of an auditorium. They will decide the cast of MRM, after the auditions today.]
The four of them sat in the back of the auditorium, in the darkness. The only lights in the room were directed at the stage, the center of attention. Today was the day; a very important day. The day the rest of the cast of Maximum Ride: the Musical would be chosen.
Max sat closest to the stage, one row in front of the others. Her hair, which never seemed to stay a constant color, was tucked away in a loose bun, kept out of her face. Resting her head on her hand as she leant forward, Max stared intently at the currently empty stage before her, as she played with a pencil in her other hand. She was nervous, to say the least. Jeb had shown her quite a large list of names, which were those who wished to audition. How could she choose one from all of that?
All she could hope for, was her friends (in which she based the names of the characters off of) would get the parts. Max had tried to write their personalities from her head, onto the paper. Hopefully, it was a success, and the script would come naturally to them.
Behind her, sat Jeb, her 'assistant' — it felt so weird to call her father that —, Anne, her director, and Lissa, her producer. They too were excited for what was to come, for each had read the script from cover to back, engrossed with the plot.
"Max, I just want to congratulate you again, the musical is genius!" Lissa praised kindly, as she leaned forward to address Max. Lissa was nice to Max, although she was friends with Maya as well. It was twisted and knotted up to the roots, but she enjoyed talking to each of them, for their individual and completely different reasons.
Turning around to face the voice, Max smiled. "Thank you. I just can't believe I'm… nervous! I mean, I've read, and reread the script countless amount of times, yet here I am, about to crap my pants," Max sighed. "I began working on this with Jeb," she gestured to her father, who was talking to Anne, "ever since I was seven. Nine years I spent writing and editing this musical. All I want is for it to be perfect."
"I'm sure it will be," Lissa said genuinely. What could go wrong? All Lissa wanted was for it to not become a disaster because of her, and a debt that had to be repaid.
After looking up at the three above her, and them giving consent, Max leaned forward to the microphone. "First up please, Monique Williams," she said into the microphone. Her tone of voice was encouraging, which was exactly what she wanted it to be. Nudge was a born actress, and Max wasn't worried at all.
She and another helper walked out. The person that was auditioning must have the lines memorized, but they could call for another character, if needed for the scene. Nudge stood tall on the stage, and smiled widely, winking.
"South America," the person acting as Maximum Ride said coaxingly. "It'll be warm. They have llamas. You like llamas."
Nudge crossed her arms over her chest defiantly, as she frowned. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she replied, "I want to stay here."
"How long do you think it'll take another suicide to find us?" the helper read off the script.
She shrugged. "This place is out in the desert. And Ms. Hamilton told us about all the safety measures — the alarms, the lights, the radars. This is what we've been looking for!" Nudge cried, her voice strong as she tried to persuade the fake Maximum into letting them stay at the school. "I want to learn!" Nudge looked into the other person's face, eyes wide and pleading. "I'm tired of being scared!
"We all are! And as soon as we finish our big mission, we'll be able to relax. I promise!"
Sighing, Nudge looked down at her feet. "I just want to fit in. I want to be like other kids."
"Nudge, most of the other kids here seem like spineless, gullible weenies who wouldn't survive one day on their own." The helper snapped, and Max winced slightly. It wasn't right. She knew they were only helping, but still…it pained her to see her character butchered.
Nudge burst. "That's the point! They don't need to! They're not on their own — people take care of them," she added.
"I've always taken care of you and the others as best I could."
She smiled gently, as her eyes softened. "But you're just a kid yourself," she whispered, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. Then, she straightened her back, and looked 'Maximum' straight in the eye. "Max, I want to stay."
"We can't stay. You know that. We have to go. This has been fun, not fun exactly, but better than a punch in the gut. But it's over now, and we have to get back to reality, however much that might suck."
"I'm staying," Nudge said firmly.
"What?"
"I want to be normal. I want to be like other kids. I'm tired of being a freak and having to run all the time and never being able to settle down. I want a home," she emphasized each word. "And I know how to get one."
"How?"
Nudge looked down, and mumbled something incoherent.
"What?"
"If I don't have wings," she whispered, still staring at her feet.
And… Scene. Max thought, as she smiled down at the stage. Nudge had chosen a good excerpt from the musical to do; very dramatic, and in depth. Not to mention, she portrayed the character, Nudge, well.
As she exited the stage, Max glanced up at her three fellow judges. Each had an approving look on their face, which Max concluded was a good thing. Anne nodded in her direction, and Max looked at the next name on the list, smiling.
"Zephyr Jones, up next!"
Gazzy came onto the stage, proud as ever, although Max could tell he was a bit nervous, due to his tense walking. A man and a woman, each holding a script came out after him.
"Prepare for attack! This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill! We are at DEFCON one! Arm the torpedoes, and plot evasive action!" the first man read. "You kids stay here."
"Um — if I might make a suggestion," Gazzy said, looking curiously at the man.
"No time kid," the first man said
The woman said, "You should listen to this."
"What?" the man playing the captain asked.
"This one time, when we were surrounded by M-Geeks, there was a storm coming, and we rigged a delayed-timer electricity booster," Gazzy explained earnestly. "When lightning hit the rod, it was amplified, and we aimed it at the M-Geeks. They all, like, turned inside out, and fried. It was excellent," he said, beaming.
"That was good thinking, son," said the first man, "but I don't see how that helps us now."
Gazzy coughed, as if it made it all perfectly clear. "You've got torpedoes."
"Torpedoes are good at hitting a particular target. These things are many smaller targets, and they're in direct contact with our ship. We can't do anything to them, without harming ourselves."
"No, no," Gazzy shook his head impatiently. "You take the detonator out, then wire it directly to the sub's hull," he explained. "If you want to give it an extra oomph, take the actual explosive stuff, like the ammonium nitrate stuff, and diffuse it throughout the water," suggested Gazzy. "Then, when you electrify the metal hull, it'll ignite and spread the damage out into the water, but not too far, and you'll take out mostly M-Geeks, since I bet they probably scared off most fish in the area."
"They're really good at this. They like to… blow up things," the women said.
Gazzy smiled eagerly. "We know how to do it in lots of different ways!" he added.
The man paused for a moment before calling out, "Lieutenant Youngville, report to the map room!" Later, he added, "She's our demolitions master," pause, "At ease. Young man, explain your theory to Lieutenant Youngville. Fast."
Excitedly, yet thoroughly, Gazzy re-explained the demolition plan.
Blinking the woman complimented Gazzy, nodding slowly. "You're a diabolical little pyro, aren't you?"
He blushed modestly, perfectly. Max beamed at his excellence, even though he couldn't see her.
"Let's do this thing!" the women called, before the scene ended.
Max applauded mentally, wondering how in the world she wrote that part having to do with bombs. That was something only Gazzy — and possibly Iggy — would think of. Max doubted the fact that anyone besides Gazzy himself would play the role of, 'the Gasman,' as well as he had just performed. Even more, she doubted the fact that the others disagreed.
Many other people auditioned next, all doing well, including Iggy and Ari. There was one girl, in horribly prepared "mutant bird wings," as she attempted to play Max by galloping around the stage. Max shuddered from the memory.
However, next, it was Angel.
"Angel Jones, please," Max spoke into the microphone. There was no doubt she'd capture the hearts of the audience by just appearing on the stage.
And there she was, clad in a white, angelic dress, besides a women, who would voice Max. Angel smiled up at the lady, before beginning.
"You are really pretty, Max," she said in a small voice. "You have nice hair and really pretty eyes," Angel continued thoughtfully.
The woman groaned, "Yeah, brown and brown. Have I mentioned how much Fang loves red hair? I believe I have," she grumbled.
"No, your hair has little sun streaks in it," Angel informed her. "And your eyes are like — you know those chocolates we had in France? With the gooey stuff in the middle, with the alcohol in 'em except we didn't know, and Gazzy ate a million and then barfed all night? Those chocolates?" she asked innocently. Max swore she heard someone behind her go "Aww." (It was most likely Anne, who was a sucker for the littles.)
"The color of my eyes is like barfed-up chocolate?"
Angel shook her blonde head. "No, the chocolates before they were barfed," she clarified.
"So there you have it, the extent of my charms: brown hair and eyes like unbarfed chocolate. I'm a lucky girl."
"Max," Angel said softly. "You know Fang is the best guy ever. And he loves you. 'Cause you're the best girl ever."
The women sighed. "We all love each other Angel."
Angel continued relentlessly, "No, not like this. Fang loves you."
Rolling her eyes, the woman replied, "Okay, maybe I'll give him a break."
"Maybe you should give him more than that," Angel pressed in a determined voice. "He could totally be your boyfriend," she continued lacing her words with annoying persistence. "You guys could get married. I could be like a junior bridesmaid. Total could be your flower dog."
"I'm only a kid!" the woman shrieked. "I can't get married!"
"You could in New Hampshire," Angel insisted knowingly.
When she flounced off the stage, Anne leaned down to Max's level. "She's getting the part," she whispered in Max's ear. "She's too adorable to not get it."
Max smiled, knowing how excited Angel would be to hear the news. "Well, I guess we're done!" she stretched. "Anyone want anything to eat before we discuss?" Max questioned.
"Yes, a water please," Lissa asked. Max looked at Jeb.
"Coke, please."
"And an iced tea for me please," Anne replied. Max got out of her chair, her legs stiff, as she headed down the stairs, and out the auditorium to the vending machine.
Re-entering the auditorium, Max's heart stopped. She saw herself on the stage. An exact copy of herself.
Except for one thing — she had a large, magenta streak in her hair.
It wasn't Maximum Ride. It was Maya Ride. And she was auditioning for the part of Maximum.
[Blackout]
Authors' Notes: Ooh! Partial cliffhanger! Well actually, it pretty much is one… But who cares?
Fluffy: All scenes above were from Max: A Maximum Ride Novel. All other words are copy-righted to SACA BAF! Hope you liked the chapter!
Bubbles: Heeheehee. Cliffy. I hope you liked the chapter! Please review!
Anna: I loved this chapter! AND NO, I AM NOT BIASED! …Okay, I am.
=) SACA BAF (=