Both Fèlicie and Mattheau sat up and turned to see the theater less than a hundred feet away from them. A quick glance up at the clock on the end of the street showed that they still had a minute to get inside, save for getting dressed and all that. Mattheau hopped out of the cart and helped Fèlicie out like a true gentleman, then they both dashed inside the theater.
Meanwhile, Monsieur Merante was just about to close auditions when Fèlicie and Mattheau came rushing in. "Stop! Stop! We're here!" Fèlicie said, out of breath. "Yes! We, uh...had to take leaps and bounds to make it here." Mattheau quickly added. Merante sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Very well. You have five minutes to prepare. Fèlicie, your audition for the role of Clara will be first, and..."
When he turned to Mattheau, Merante squinted his eyes. "You are...?" He asked. "Oh! I'm Mattheau, and I'm auditioning for the role of Fritz!" He eagerly answered. "I see," Merante slowly responded, "And are your parents here too?" Mattheau looked a little guilty at the question. "S-sorry, they're at work right now." Merante smiled and nodded. "It's alright, I understand." He turned to Fèlicie. "And how about you miss? Are your parents h-"
He stopped himself in mid-sentence and lowered his head apologetically. "Ahem, y-yes that's right, I'm sorry..." he murmured in a low voice. Mattheau turned to Fèlicie who was staring at the floor. Just then, Mattheau realized that Fèlicie was an orphan. He couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before. Even for someone so energetic, her clothes were tattered and dirty, and she really didn't have her parents with her.
Just then, Mattheau heard a small sound from the theater and looked out over all the empty seats. There, close to Merante were two people he had never noticed were there before. A short, blonde girl who looked about his age, and her tall, black-haired, sinister looking mother. The girl, Camille, was clearly snickering into her hand and getting great joy from Fèlicie's unfortunate situation. Mattheau's eyes narrowed and he could feel his ears getting hot. He hated bullies, and clearly this girl was one.
Fèlicie looked up and when she saw Camille laughing at her, she buried her face in her hands. Finally, after Camille finished laughing she just sat in her seat with a smug grin on her face. "Honestly, I have no idea how they let horrible...things like you into this theater," she sneered at Fèlicie. "Let you in, didn't they?" Mattheau remarked.