Getting the Part
"This cannot be happening."
Sam tried to pinch herself awake from this dream, but apparently it wasn't. No matter how many times she tried to wake up, she was still faced with the same situation.
She, Danny, and Tucker were looking at the cast list for this year's spring play, The Lunch Squad, at school. At the very top, playing the female lead, was Sam Manson.
After a long while of staring, she finally whirled on her friends and smacked Tucker on the arm.
"This is all your fault. You just had to dare me to try out for the play," Sam ranted as Tucker yelped and rubbed at his now sore arm.
"Hey, you had the choice to not do it," Tucker said back, "you could have said no, but you went for it."
Sam rolled her eyes at him. "Because I didn't think I would actually get cast! Because I didn't think I would land the lead role! Now I have to commit to this!"
Danny stepped in between his friends, wanting to avoid Tucker getting smacked again. "Why not just tell Mr. Dew that you didn't intend to seriously audition, and have him assign the role to the understudy? Once he knows that you were just having fun for our entertainment, maybe he'll understand."
"And risk getting iced out by the one of the few cliques in this school that supports freedom of expression and individuality, no way! I'd look like a hypocrite!" Sam reasoned.
"Then I guess you'll have to learn your lines front to back," Tucker said, looking at the cast list again. "At least the lead role is something you can work with. This character is a free thinker like you who does whatever she wants."
Sam double checked what he was reading. "Yeah, I guess it won't be so bad. At least my character isn't going to be that vain popular girl hooking up with the cliché bad boy. That one reminds me too much of the A-listers for my taste."
"We'll help you however we can," Danny offered. "It is partially our fault that you got cast. Between homework and ghost hunting, we'll help with rehearsing lines and whatever else."
"Thanks." Sam sighed. "Guess I better get my script and start rehearsing then."
Danny and Tucker both gave her supportive smiles. "You'll do great."
"Alright, my character is already expressive. She draws and writes, and doesn't conform to average clothing styles," Sam sat in her family's kitchen that weekend after receiving her script and attending the initial rehearsal sessions. "One other thing she does to emphasize how unusual she is compared to her peers is make strange sandwiches out of food that normally doesn't go in a sandwich, like candy. To fully understand my character, Mr. Dew wants me to make a bizarre sandwich this weekend and eat the whole thing. He also agreed to respect my dietary choices, so while I'm playing the character, she is a vegetarian." She pointed to the boys. "That's where you two come in. I want you guys to make a vegetarian-friendly sandwich for me that has ingredients not usually included. I'll blindfold myself so I don't question what's in it. Sound good?"
"Why do I feel like we're doing a dare without technically being dared?" Tucker questioned, sharing a look with Danny. The halfa shrugged in response.
Tucker helped Sam with the blindfold while Danny was on sandwich duty. She heard him opening and closing cabinets, unwrapping things, and cutting for a few minutes then he quietly stopped.
"Alright, here you go. It's right in front of you," Danny said, and she heard the thunk of a plate being set before her.
She picked up the sandwich and bit into it, carefully tasting what she had been served.
"I'm tasting a bit of mayonnaise," she answered slowly as she processed the flavors, "some really thin apple slices, some crunched up cereal… and a piece of chocolate?"
"Four out of four. Nice job, Sam." She could hear the proud and impressed tone in Danny's voice.
She heard Tucker question next, "Are you really going to eat that whole thing?"
Sam shrugged, likely getting bits of cereal spilled. "It's for the play, and I committed to this. Besides, the sandwich actually tastes pretty good."
"Just checking. But while we've got all this stuff out, mind if I have a bowl of your cereal?" Tucker asked.
The goth rolled her eyes under her blindfold. She should have seen that question coming from him.
The performance day got closer and closer. Of course, that meant Sam got busier and had less time for her friends.
"Where's Sam?" Tucker asked Danny as the pair ducked behind a park bench while Desiree flung some haunted tacos in their direction. Someone had wished for tacos while the nearest taco stand was swarmed with customers, and Desiree couldn't resist granting a wish. "She should be here helping us."
"She has play practice tonight, remember?" Danny questioned, using a break in the taco ambush to fire an ectoblast at the genie ghost.
Tucker frowned as he recalled on his phone that she did have that on her schedule. "Oh yeah. Man, this play thing is really cutting into ghost hunting time."
Danny ducked back behind the bench. "Just get the thermos ready. I think I've got an idea."
In Sam's bedroom, Danny paced while reading from Sam's script. "This doesn't make any sense. Why would a restaurant be running underneath the school?"
Sam rolled her eyes as her character was directed to do. "For some sporto who spends a lot of time at school for practice, you don't know a whole lot about the place. The cafeteria food sucks, so whenever the menu is particularly sucky, students sneak down here to get a better lunch."
"But nobody comes to school on the weekend except for those with extracurriculars," Danny looked up from the script to meet Sam's eyes, as the character he was reading for was supposed to do. "Why is the restaurant open on the weekend?"
"Normal restaurants are open on the weekends too, sporto. Besides, some of the activities' students want to grab a bite. As for others, it's better to hang out here than at home or somewhere else where they could get in trouble for loitering."
Danny frowned. "I never considered that."
"Of course you wouldn't, the coaches have you guys too busy running laps to have any independent thoughts or consideration for society at large." Sam came to stand beside Danny. "Now, do you want to turn this lame Saturday detention into a first date, or what?"
He smirked at her question. "Your idea of a first date is a hidden restaurant under the school during Saturday detention? You really are a free thinker."
Danny and Tucker saw the opening night performance of The Lunch Squad. They made sure none of their usual ghost enemies would interrupt the night, promising the ghosts they could go back to their regularly scheduled mayhem the day after as long as they kept that night peaceful.
Sam's parents had also attended the show, happy that Sam was doing something other than protesting social justice issues and hanging out with her troublemaking friends. They grumbled a bit that Sam should have played the popular girl so they could see her act and dress more like they did, but changed their tunes when they learned that the popular girl got together with the bad boy her parents would not approve of.
After a few more shows, Sam's experience with the Drama Club was done. She played her part perfectly, attended the cast parties, and even kept a copy of the playbill and one of the show's advertising posters as souvenirs.
While she enjoyed the experience, she made a rule with the boys that a dare should never involve auditioning for anything as a joke ever again.
The End