Chapter 10: First Rehearsal
"You've gotta be kidding me. Only six people showed up?" Emma said with disbelief as she looked over the small group gathered in the gym. She could've sworn half the student body was going to side with her but since only Neal, Killian, Milah, August, Graham and one of the freshman showed up, she was clearly wrong.
"Well, we're going to have to work even harder in order to pull this off." She told them all.
"Don't worry love, we got this."
"Alright, well, we need to sabotage this play. This means ruining props, messing up on making the set, and possibly injuring some of the cast."
"I have to hurt someone?!"
"No, we'll do the messy things." Milah explained. "You can just work on little details, okay Christopher?"
"Its Kristoff!"
"Whatever."
The boy sighed and grumbled about how everyone messed up his name. He wasn't that important though so its not like someone would take the time to remember. Emma pulled out a notepad and wrote down all of their names and put a dash next to it.
"Okay Neal, what do you want to work on?"
"I'll mess up the scenery." She wrote down his job and after some thought, put down the same thing next to her name.
"Killian?"
"I can body check someone down a flight of stairs."
"Okay..." She gave him a look but wrote it down anyways.
"Milah?"
"I'll break some props."
"August?"
"Well, I gotta print the scripts and it'd be a shame if I accidentally printed a messed up copy."
"Indeed it would." She said with a smirk while Neal and Killian made a 'not bad' face.
"Graham?"
"I don't really want to do something really bad. My girlfriend is the lead." He tried to explain.
Emma nodded in understanding.
"How 'bout you be our mole? If you find out about any projects for the set or cast let us know and we'll handle it."
"Sure."
"Kristoff?"
"I can break props too."
"Alright, remember your jobs but don't start working today. We'll start next week okay? These things need time and careful planning."
Everyone nodded and started gathering their things to head off to their study halls.
"I am so glad to see all of your bright faces here today." Dr. Hopper told all the kids in the auditorium. They responded by groaning and/or clapping. Its not like there was a choice to skip rehearsal today. If you did there would be a reduction on your grade.
"Lets go over a few things first. Even though this is drama club, I don't want any drama between students; no horseplay and no foul language. Second, as soon as you enter the doors to this auditorium you are someone else. This means I don't want you guys calling each other by your real names but by your stage names. Got it?" The kids grumbled but weren't that mad about it.
"Since many of you have never acted before, I just want today to be filled with some improv to get you guys comfortable up on stage. Alright now, I want you all to get up here and make a circle so we can do our warm-up."
‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›
After twenty minutes of breathing exercises, stretches, and over-pronunciating sentences, the kids got a chance to sit back down and get a drink of water if needed. Once everyone was settled down, Dr. Hopper continued.
"Okay, to get things started lets have Romeo and Juliet get up here to help me demonstrate some improv."
Kathryn and Maleficent silently cheered as Regina stood up to make her way over to the stage. She held her breath and looked around, hoping that Robin would be the one to accompany her up there. However, she didn't see anyone make a move to get up. She climbed up and went over to stand next to the man, still looking around for her Romeo. Dr. Hopper looked around some more as well and didn't see the boy.
"Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" They heard Malcolm say which earned him a few laughs. Just before Archie asked someone else to come up, the doors flew open and Romeo ran in and hopped up on the stage.
"Sorry I'm late." He said out of breath. "Mr. Spencer had me run some extra laps to make up for all the gym classes I missed."
"It's alright. I don't really think missing warm-up will be harmful."
"Thanks."
He looked over to Regina and back to Dr. Hopper.
"I'm guessing that's my Juliet."
"Yup. Do you two know each other?"
He looked back over to her and gave her a warm smile. "Well I bumped into her and made her drop her books." He told the man, a bit embarrassed. Archie just chuckled and patted him on the back.
"Very romantic."
He laughed and held out his hand to Regina.
"Its nice to actually meet you I'm-"
"Ah!" Hopper interrupted. "We go by stage names in this room."
She mentally groaned.
"Oh, well then I'm Romeo."
"Juliet."
"Nice to meet you Juliet."
She returned his smile and shook his hand. She was a bit let down that it wasn't Robin who got the role but she didn't mind that much. This guy seemed pretty nice and at least had manners. Something she wouldn't find in a person like Malcolm or Killian. Although she was a bit surprised that he got the lead considering he just started going to this school.
"Alrighty, now that you two have met, let start acting."
He pulled an index card out of his pocket and looked it over, trying to decide what he wanted to do first. He found one he liked and put the paper away.
"I want you two to have a conversation but you can only use questions."
"Romeo" smiled and said, "I loved this game!"
"Alright the situation is: you two are strangers staying at a hotel when you hear gunshots in the middle of the night. You both leave your rooms and meet in the hallway. Romeo will go first,you ready?"
"Yeah."
"I guess."
"And action!"
"Hey, did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" She quickly asked.
"You didn't hear the gunshots?"
"Those were gunshots?"
"What did you think they were?"
Crap. How was she supposed to answer that in question form?
"Why do you ask?" She said after nothing else came to mind.
"Why can't you just tell me?"
"Shouldn't we be focusing on the fact that there's someone firing a gun in this building?"
"Well did it sound like they were on our floor?"
She bit her lip and took a moment to think. This guy was good.
"Why should it matter?"
"Do you really want to try and evacuate if the shooter is in the lobby?"
Dr. Hopper bit the end of his pen and watched the two closely. He knew he made the right decision when it came to casting. They just met and they were already working so well together.
"But what if he's not in the lobby?"
"How could you be sure he's not?"
"Don't you know?"
"Know what?"
"Don't you know who the shooter is?"
"Is it you?"
"How'd you figure it out?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came to mind so she just started at him, trying to think of something.
"Scene!" Dr. Hopper called out. "That was great guys especially with the twist you threw in there, Juliet. Okay everyone, I want you to get into pairs and do this exercise. You need to come up with your own situations and questions. Think of it as a competition, you want to stay in there as long as possible." He went back over to the two onstage.
"I want you guys to keep working together. Try to get to know one another."
He left to go watch the other groups. Once he was gone, Regina decided to go first this time.
"What's your name?"
"Why do you want to know?" He gave her a smirk.
"Why can't you just tell me?" She took a step closer to him.
"Does it really matter?" He took a step in as well.
"Are you always this mysterious?" She asked with a tilt of her head and another step.
"What makes you think I'm mysterious?" He closed even more distance.
She was about to say something else when she noticed something that would be barely visible some feet away. Now that she was within arm's reach she was able to make out a jagged line in his hair on the side of his head, one she figured was made because scarred tissue prevented hair from covering it.
"How'd you get that scar?" She nodded towards the thing in question. He stared at her for a bit then gave a small smile.
"You really don't know who I am do you?"
"Should I?"
"I don't know. Most of the other kids do. They go around talking about that accident I got in."
"That was you?!"
He sighed and nodded.
"Sorry, I don't want to bring up bad memories." She added after she saw a hurt look on his face. He turned to look over to where Milah was questioning Emma.
"Honestly, I don't remember what happened."
"You don't remember getting hit?" She carefully prodded for information.
"Or the reason why I was driving or even getting up that morning." He confessed.
"That whole day is gone?"
His eyes met hers and he gave her a sad look.
"That whole year is gone."
She got quiet and just stared at him, shocked. She knew people could loose their memory by getting hit in the head but she had always just seen that stuff in movies. Now, she was having a conversation with someone who lost a whole three solid years of their life if you counted the time he was comatose.
"It must really suck for Milah." She muttered.
"That's an understatement. I remember having a crush on her and when I wake up we were apparently a couple."
"Jeez." She looked over to the girl and watched her playing with her friends. She couldn't even imagine what it must be like to wait for a guy who doesn't even remember you.
"Anyway, lets not dwell on my problems. Ready for another go?"
"Yeah." She replied in a low voice.
"Neal?"
"Killian?"
"Did you eat my sandwich?"
"Why do you think I did it?"
"Who else would do it?"
"How about Emma?"
Emma heard her name and turned around to glare at the two.
"Why does it seem like you're hiding something?"
"What makes you think that?"
"Was it good?"
"What?"
"What do you think?"
"Are you asking if your sandwich was good?"
"Do you have a problem that I am?"
"Shouldn't you know if it was good?"
"Why can't I have your opinion on it?"
"Why would I have an opinion to give?"
"Didn't you eat my sandwich?"
"Didn't we already go over this?"
Emma sighed and rolled her eyes. The two had been bickering over sandwiches for quite some time now. She looked around the room and listened in to the conversations other kids were having. Malcolm was apparently a model asking his manager Felix why he didn't get a magazine all about himself, Robin was a firefighter trying to evacuate Marian from a burning build but she didn't believe there was an actual fire, Mulan was a police officer interrogating Aurora, Snow was a kid asking Ashley where babies come from and Peter and Ruby were just flirting with each other in question form.
"Alright guys, back to your seats!"
They all broke up and sat down. They all were chattering about how well they did and who was the best. He waited a few moments for the talk to die down before he started talking again.
"Alright you guys, this was a great first practice. Remember, tomorrow we'll be staying later and getting more done. For a form of homework I want you guys to do some research on your role and try to get into character."
The bell rang and everyone started getting up to leave. Neal started walking away and Killian ran to catch up to him.
"Dude, you owe me a sandwich."
"That was just a skit."
"A skit that I won and I think my prize should be a sandwich."
Neal sighed and handed some money to his friend.
"Buy it yourself."
‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›‹¤›
Regina threw her bag on and started to leave with her friends when "Romeo" ran up to her and held out a piece of paper.
"Hey! Here's my number. I figured we could practice our lines and if you had any questions you could just call me."
She took the paper and gave him a smile.
"Thanks."
He turned to leave and started jogging over to where Milah stood with his bag in hand.
"Wait!"
He stopped and looked back over to her. She did have one question for him. One that had been bothering her since they first met.
"What the hell is your name?"
"Daniel." He told her. "And if you didn't know already, my last name is Nokota as in a breed of horse." He gave her a wave and headed back to his waiting girlfriend. She watched him go and put the paper in her pocket.
"Hey Regina." Robin said as he walked up to her.
She looked over to him as if in a daze but once she realized exactly who was in front of her, she immediately snapped out of it and mentally slapped herself.
"Hey Robin."
"You did really good today and I was wondering if you wanted to join me tomorrow night. My friends and I are going to get some dinner then go over to my place to study our lines."
She stared at him in awe. Only until she felt Kathryn nudge her did she reply.
"Yeah sure. What role did you get anyway?"
"Paris, the man that attempts to woo you but ultimately fails."
"Oh," Wow. "well grats on the good role." She tried to hide the awkwardness in her voice.
"Thanks." He smiled and left to find Marian.
Regina just stared at the floor with her mouth half open. Did that really just happen?
I know some of you may be groaning that I had to throw Daniel into this story as a love interest because half the fandom is devoted to Outlaw Queen. However, Stable Queen is my otp so i had to atleast give him some part (not to mention the fact that Regina and Daniel are the Juliet and Romeo of OUAT). Worry not though you die hard OQ I am 92% sure I'll have Regina end up with Robin somehow I'm just trying to have a nod to all the ships. Thanks for all the comments last chapter and don't forget to leave one for this chap too. ^(-'o'-)^