Chapter 49: Lights, Camera, Action!

The first two months of school for Ariana came and went and so far 4th grade was much better than 3rd. Lauren and Rebecca had almost completely laid off their bullying (although they still picked at Ariana every now and again but quickly covered with an apology so Ariana wouldn't go to the principal who would call their parents) and Ariana was one of the top students in her class. It was the first week of November and Mr. Williams had told his class he had a surprise for them after recess. It seemed like Mr. Williams had been planning this surprise for a while so throughout recess classmates discussed with one another what the surprise could be. Various ideas went around in the 15 minute period and when the bell went all of Mr. Williams students ran back to class so they could see what this surprise was.

"Okay everyone so Ms. Thomson and I have been working on this for a while and we have decided that her class and ours will put on a production of 'The Wizard of Oz'" Mr. Williams announced.

"Of course everyone will be able to try out for parts and if you don't feel like getting up on stage you can help out with the sets and behind the scenes work."

Ariana's eyes widened at this announcement. She had seen "The Wizard of Oz" multiple times and knew that she just had to get the role of Dorothy.

"Mr. Williams, when will we be able to try out?" Ariana asked.

"We will hold try outs next Thursday so that gives you 10 days to practice your lines and sign up to try out for the part you want." Mr. Williams answered.

"I'm going to hand out several sheets of paper and when you come to try out you'll be reciting theses lines for me and Ms. Thomson."

Mr. Williams handed out a booklet of paper containing lines for each character in the play and Ariana spent no time in heading right to Dorothy's part. She was going to learn these lines inside and out, maybe her mama and mommy would even help her learn her lines, and she would be the next Dorothy Gale.

"The sign-up sheet will be up at lunch so feel free to sign up between now and next Wednesday."

With Mr. Williams' announcement several students began studying the lines they were given before Mr. Williams made them focus on the up-coming math quiz. The lunch bell rang and Ariana rushed to find Mandy to ask her if she was trying out for the play.

"Yeah! I'm trying out for the part of the good witch of the east." Mandy replied with a smile.

"Cool! Maybe you could sleep over this weekend and we can practice our lines!" Ariana exclaimed.

"Okay, what part are you trying out for?" Mandy asked.

"Dorothy." Ariana replied. A worried look came over Mandy's face.

"Um…Rebecca's trying out for Dorothy too." Mandy warned her friend. Ariana knew that Rebecca was quite a competitive girl and with Ariana trying out for the same part both Ariana and Mandy knew it could spell trouble. Ariana simply shrugged it off and played it like she wasn't worried but a part of her was. What if Rebecca got really mad that she got the part and she didn't? She and Lauren just started laying off bullying her, and she didn't want them to start again over a part in a play. Doing her best to put that behind her she waited until lunch was over and made sure to be one of the first to put her name down on the try out list.

"Mama! Guess what?" Ariana exclaimed as she got into her mother's car, her brother and sister happily occupied with toys in the backseat.

"I'm trying out for our 'Wizard Of Oz' play."

"That's so cool honey, what part are you trying out for?" Alex asked.

"Dorothy, and Mandy's trying out for the good witch of the East." Ariana replied.

"Well that's cool. Do you need any help with anything?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, do you think you could help me with practicing my lines? I have until next Thursday to learn them." Ariana said.

"Sure, we can work on them when we get home and a bit after dinner." Alex promised. The 4 Russo's headed home and Ariana dug the script out from her backpack and looked her lines over during the 10 minute drive. Alex watched her oldest daughter concentrate on the papers in front of her and could easily see how badly Ariana wanted this part. When they pulled up to the house Ariana rushed into the living room and continued to read her lines, thinking of the best ways to deliver them so she was guaranteed the lead role.

"Hey sweetie." Mitchie smiled as she leaned over the couch and gave her daughter a kiss on the foreheaed.

"Have a good day at school?"

"Yeah, our class and 's class are going to do Wizard of Oz and I'm gunna try out for Dorothy." Ariana told her.

"That's great honey. When are you trying out?"

"Next Thursday. Is it okay if Mandy sleeps over this weekend so we can practice our lines? She's trying out for the Good Witch of The East."

"Sure, I don't see why not, did you already ask mama?" Mitchie asked.

"No, I forgot to." Ariana replied.

"Well let's ask her too just to be sure." Mitchie said and the 9 year old agreed then continued to study her lines. When dinner was ready Ariana made sure with Alex that Mandy was allowed to sleepover that weekend and the next day the girls discussed what their schedule would be for the night. When Friday night came around Ariana waited patiently for Mandy to come over.

"Finally!" Ariana exclaimed as she saw her friends vehicle pull up in front of her house. As she saw Mandy come up the driveway Ariana flung the front door open and rushed over to her friend.

"Come on! Mommy said she would help us with our lines!" Ariana said as she grabbed part of her friends things and brought them inside. After the girls brought their things into Ariana's room they sat down with Mitchie in the living room and rehearsed their lines. The scene they were given was near the end when Dorthy heads back to Kansas with the help of Glinda and the red ruby slippers.

"Goodbye, Tin Man. Oh, don't cry. You'll rust so dreadfully. Here, here's your oil-can. Goodbye." Ariana recited handing Mitchie their makeshift oil can.

"Now I know I've got a heart, cause it's breaking." Mitchie said, putting on her best tin man voice.

"Goodbye, Lion. You know, I know it isn't right, but I'm going to miss the way you used to holler for help before you found your courage." Ariana continued

"Well I would never've found it if it hadn't been for you." Mitchie told her, once again manipulating her voice to sound like the lions the best she could.

"I think I'll miss you most of all." Ariana said and she gave Mitchie a quick hug just as Dorothy did to the Scarecrow.

"Are you ready now?" Mandy asked

"Yes. Say goodbye, Toto." Ariana replied, making one of Anna's stuffed Dogs wave its paw

"Yes, I'm ready now." Ariana confirmed looking at her best friend

"Then close your eyes, and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself - "There's no place like home; there's no place like home; there's no place like home."

The two girls chanted together until they were finished and Alex smiled and applauded them.

"You guys did great!" Alex exclaimed.

"You'll definitely get the parts." The girls shared confident smiles and after running through their lines once more they settled down in the living room with popcorn and a movie before calling it a night. Just under a week later Ariana woke up more than ready to face the day. That day at lunch time the auditions for "The Wizard of Oz" were happening and just as she had promised herself Ariana memorized that script inside and out, to the point where she didn't even need the script anymore. To set herself out from the rest Ariana took one of her baby blue summer dresses and wore a plain white dress shirt under it, almost resembling Dorothy and asked Alex to put her hair in braids.

"Good luck honey." Mitchie said giving her daughter a hug before Alex took her up to the bus stop.

"Thanks mommy, see you later." Ariana said.

"Luck Awi!" Trenton called out, and Anna soon followed.

"Thanks guys." Ariana smiled giving her siblings a hug before she and Alex headed out the door.

"Knock 'em dead honey." Alex said causing Ariana to giggle as she gave her mother a hug.

"I will, bye Mama" Ariana said as she got onto the bus. As the bus pulled up to the school Ariana already saw Mandy standing by the stop waiting for her, she was wearing a light pink dress to slightly resemble the good witch of the east and her hair was slightly curlier than usual.

"I'm so excited! Last night my mom and dad helped me with my lines and said if they don't give me the part they're nuts." Mandy said with a giggle.

"That's what Mom and mama said too, they've been helping me all week with my lines, and mama helped me with my Dorothy outfit." Ariana said as the bell rang and the two girls headed into the school to their classroom. Ariana watched the clock impatiently most of the morning, wanting it so badly to be lunch hour but time seemed to be crawling that day. When the lunch bell rang after an extremely long wait, Ariana rushed out of her seat and grabbed her things to head down to the small gym where the auditions were being held. The kids were being brought out in groups to audition, each character being represented in each group, and after each group was done the teachers were going to post the cast list up before the end of the day.

"Okay group 4 we're ready." Ms. Thomson called out. Ariana jumped right out of her seat and rushed into the gym.

"Okay so Ariana as Dorothy, Michael as the scarecrow, Tyler as the lion, Micah as Tin man and Mandy as Glinda, is that right?" Ms. Thomson asked. The children nodded and she gave them each a warm smile.

"Ari, Mandy where are your scripts?" Ms. Thomson asked.

"Oh,we practiced a lot, we don't need them anymore." Ariana replied, the teachers looked impressed and began to write things down on sheets of paper in front of them.

"Okay, you may begin."

The girls and 3 boys played out the scene wonderfully, both Ariana and Mandy didn't miss a single word of their lines but the three boys did fumble on a word or two.

"Fantastic job guys!" Mr. Williams and Ms. Thomson commented.

"We'll be posting the cast list in each classroom before the end of the day."

"Thank you." The group of children said as they walked off the stage and the final group was called in, and of course who else be in the final group for Dorothy other than Rebecca. As Ariana finished off her lunch she found the time yet again going by at an insanely slow pace. She had been waiting so long to see if she had gotten the part, and now time was playing a cruel trick on her making her wait longer than she deemed necessary. At around quarter to three Mr. Williams got out of his seat and placed a sheet of paper under the "Wizard Of Oz Play" Board they had set up to inform the class about what would be needed for the play.

"Students, for those of you who auditioned for the play the cast list is up." Mr. Williams told his class and right away every student who tried out was right up at the board. Many left with frowns on their face but there were still those who came out from the group of children beaming with pride. Finally Ariana made it through the crowd of children and managed to read the list.

Dorothy Gale - Ariana Russo

"I got the part!" Ariana exclaimed with excitement.

"Yes you did, we were very impressed with how well you did, even more so that you and Mandy were the only two that didn't need assistance with your scripts." Mr. Williams said.

"So she's Glinda?" Ariana asked. Mr. Williams nodded and Ariana smiled wide. As soon as the bell rang Ariana rushed to find her best friend and congratulate her.

"We got the parts!" Ariana exclaimed as she saw her best friend and they both brought each other into a hug.

"This is going to be so awesome!" Mandy said with a huge smile.

"Oh please, they only gave you those parts cause they felt sorry for you rejects." came a voice from behind the girls. Ariana rolled her eyes and looked over at Rebecca standing behind her.

"Lay off Rebecca, you'll have another chance at the lead." Ariana said. As luck would have it Alex chose that time to pull up and Ariana gave her friend a quick hug before running over to the car, sharing her excitement with her mother as they drove off.

Hey guys! So since I've gotten a few reviews lately wanting to bring this story back I decided I'd give it a shot. Admittedly I have missed writing this story a lot and I've had this chapter sitting on my computer for the longest time but I just never got to posting it. I'm in the middle of writing the next chapter and I'm not sure when I'll be able to post it with all the crazyness going on with my family all being here right now(the first time we're all together in 7 years, I'm really hoping we don't all kill each other by the time everyone's ready to leave haha). So I hope you all enjoyed and hopefully the next chap will be up soon =)