Author's Note: I actually didn't realize how many High School AUs there were for Lunar Chronicles Fanfiction. If you wrote one of those, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to copy anyone and I'm going to try to make this story as original as possible
Long, sleek wings. Supersonic turbofans. Aerodynamic stabilizers. Drag-reducing landing gear. Someday Thorne would fly a true beauty, a plane with the best, most expensive technology. He would be able to custom-design his plane - that's how important of a pilot he would be. He would paint the words RAMPION across the side, reminiscent of his first car.
Of course, he would have to work on the not-getting-kicked-out-of-flight-school part. But he was sure he would be able to do that. The teachers who had expelled him, saying he had a terrible work ethic and never focused didn't understand him. Thorne had refused to do the conditioning and strength training at the flight academy, insisting that you didn't need to be in good shape to press a pedal and hold the controls. All the coaches had screamed at him that he was never going to be a good pilot if he didn't want to work hard. But he was planning to work hard. Just not at push-ups and crunches.
Thorne's mind wandered through a dreamscape of him, older and even more handsome than he was now, flying his private plane through the vast, expansive sky. He burst through the clouds darkening the rest of the world and soared up, up, up to a whole other world. Sunshine gleamed off the shiny exterior of the plane and Thorne leaned back lazily in his pilot's chair, enjoying the view of this private landscape available only to pilots.
"Carswell Thorne, would you mind telling us what the effects of the Spanish Inquisition were during the Crusades?"
He startled out of his daydreaming, nearly knocking his chair over as he straightened up. The history teacher - he couldn't remember her name - was glaring down at him. "I, uh - what was the question?" Thorne tried to put on his signature, dazzling suave smile, but she wasn't charmed.
"Carswell, if you keep up this kind of behavior, I will - " The bell signaling the end of the day rang, and it was like a bomb had been dropped. All the students who had previously been slouching at their desks half-asleep now exploded out of their seats, grabbed their bags, and charged for the door.
Scooping up his backpack over one shoulder, Thorne shot another dashing grin at his teacher. "Sorry, professor, got to run! Have fun grading papers!" He darted out the door before she could give him detention.
This was the day he had been anticipating for ages. Play tryouts. Thorne had been starring in plays since he was a tiny kid, and doing them in high schools was even better. What was not to like? Musical theater let him show off his singing and acting talent, style his hair and wear fancy costumes, hang around with cute girls, and it gave him inspiring stories to write about in his college application essays.
Everyone loved him. The director, the choreographer, fellow costars. After all, Thorne just had a certain charisma and flair that no one else had. He was a star.
Scarlet glanced over her shoulder at all the popular kids flooding the hallways, a swarm of them congregating toward the main auditorium. It was freaking play tryouts today - a topic that interested Scarlet about as much as the topic of the best ways to kiss - and unfortunately it was all people had been talking about for weeks.
"Hey! Scarlet!" a voice called. She turned, expecting Cinder or Cress, who had been hanging out with her for a few days ever since Cinder started at Commonwealth. Instead of either of them, she saw a hulking figure cutting a path through the crowds, who parted around him like a stone in the river. Everyone seemed frightened of Wolf. But after their exchange the other night, Scarlet wasn't intimidated one bit. She crossed her arms over her chest as they fell in step together. "What do you want?"
"I..." He seemed a little bit embarrassed for a second, ducking his head before turning to look her in the eye. She was taken aback again by the vividness of his sharp green eyes. "I heard from that blond girl at the cafe-"
"Emilie?"
"Yes, her - I heard that you work on a farm."
"Live on a farm," she corrected pointedly. Her grandmother and the farm were more home to her than her actual parents had ever been.
"Anyway," he pushed on. The two of them were receiving several stares from people as they walked by. Apparently Wolf wasn't known to socialize, especially with girls. "I was wondering if you needed a farmhand."
She blinked. "You want to work on the farm?" Scarlet didn't try to disguise her doubt. This was the boy who she had seen beating up kids in dark alleyways, even one of her friends. She had seen him sneak into bars and clubs and stumble out drunk. She had seen him steal cars and break into homes and run around causing mayhem with his Wolf Pack. And now he wanted to work on her beloved farm? For some reason, she imagined him eating all the chickens and goats and sheep like a real wolf would do.
"For real," he promised. "I - the principal told me I need to get my life in shape. And that might mean getting a job. And you're the first halfway decent person I've met in this blasted town, so... um. Yeah."
Looking at the floor to avoid meeting his eyes, Scarlet said, "I really appreciate your offer, but I think we have enough farmhands for now."
His earnest eyes fell. He seemed to get what she wasn't saying. You're not really the type of person I would like to hire, or even associate with. "I understand. Thank you for the tomatoes last night." They entered a room, and he kicked at the floor a little. Scarlet felt bad. She knew that she was probably his only hope for a paying job.
"All right everyone, line up over here!" a sharp voice barked. Scarlet was startled. She looked around at where they were, realizing that she hadn't been paying attention to where they were walking during their conversation. She was horrified to find herself in the auditorium, among all the kids... trying out for the play.
The lady who had first called to them marched over to the glass-windowed doors and slammed them shut. She rapped sharply on the windows at all the kids standing outside hoping to get a glimpse of the tryouts. "No watching!" she screamed, locking the doors.
Scarlet grabbed Wolf's hand instinctively. "What are we doing here?" she hissed. "We have to go."
He looked at her strangely. "I'm trying out for the play. I thought you were too."
Scarlet gave him a scathing look. She was so annoyed by now that she didn't even dwell on the fact that he was trying out for the play. "You seriously thought I was trying out for the play."
Wolf shrugged infuriatingly. "Maybe you should pay better attention to where you go."
Grinding her teeth, she let go of Wolf and hurried over to the woman finishing locking the doors. "Excuse me, miss, I'm not supposed to be here - "
The woman glared at her. "I don't have time for your petty problems. I have play tryouts to run. Now get back in line." She strode away, deaf to Scarlet's protests.
She walked down the length of the line, taking everyone's names. When she reached Scarlet, the girl tried one more time. "I really don't want to -"
"Stop protesting!" she snapped. "You're here, and that means you're trying out." Scarlet realized that they had made quite a scene. The popular kids were staring at them, some asking who Scarlet was, some giggling behind hands, some storing the gossip in their brains to share later. "Now, name, girl."
Scarlet sighed. "Scarlet Benoit, B-e-n-o-i-t." She looked around, mind and heart racing as she tried to figure some way out of this, not paying attention to the kids who were saying their names until she heard a peep from the back. "Crescent Moon Darnel," and, in a stronger, louder voice, "Cinder Linh - well, actually Selene Linh, do you want my real name or my nickname?"
Scarlet breathed a sigh of relief. As soon as the lady turned her back on them, leading the kids to the stairs up to the stage, she hurried over to her friends. "Thank god you guys are here. I was worried it would be just me, Wolf, and a bunch of popular kids."
"Wolf?" Cinder asked at the same time that Cress said, "I didn't know you were going to try out."
She rolled her eyes. "I wasn't until I got in here and then she locked the doors."
Cinder was still giving her a funny look. "Isn't Wolf that guy who dented my prosthetics?"
"You mean, he beat you up which caused you prosthetics to get dented," Scarlet corrected. "But he's actually not that bad. Last night - "
Her words were interrupted by another shout. "No talking!"
"Well, it looks like she already hates me," Scarlet muttered to Cress and Cinder. They giggled a little, but Scarlet was worried. What have I gotten myself into? she wondered.
What have I gotten myself into? Cinder was thinking as they made their way over to the stage. She had decided to do the play after considering what Kai had said. She wanted to make some more friends and maybe put herself in the spotlight a little, force herself to go out of her comfort zone. But a scan of the other kids trying out showed that it was mostly Kai and Thorne's group, the popular kids, plus Wolf, lurking awkwardly on the side, as well as a boy and a girl in their grade that she didn't know and some younger kids, including Peony and her friends. She spotted Pearl and some other girls hanging in the back too, inwardly grimacing that she would have to spend several weeks doing something with her least favorite stepsister.
Cinder saw someone standing next to Kai and his girlfriend Levana that she had never seen before. The girl looked similar enough to Levana that she guessed they were sisters, but she had tan skin and dark brown hair in contrast to Levana's pale skin and red hair. In fact, as Cinder looked closer, she thought that the girl looked a lot like herself.
"That's Channary Blackburn," Cress whispered to Cinder as if she had read her mind. "She's a few years older than everyone, but she always comes and does the play even though she's not a student anymore. Ms. Hope loves her." Cinder guessed that Ms. Hope was the director of the play who had already started screaming at everyone.
The group of kids stopped once they were on the stage. Peony caught Cinder's eye and smiled reassuringly. Cinder envied her little sister's confidence and how easily she had been accepted among the social hierarchy of Commonwealth High - she had already made tons of friends and joined the cheer team.
"All right, everyone listen up," the director yelled. "I'm sure you are all anxious to hear what play we are doing this year." Cress had told Cinder that the name of the play was kept secret until tryouts. Everyone around Cinder seemed tense, nervous about the tryouts.
"This year we are trying something new," Ms. Hope announced. "I have written my own musical theater piece, inspired by several fairy tales. It is called... Fairy Tale Mayhem!" If she was expecting some big round of applause after this statement, she was disappointed, because everyone just looked at their friends, confused. She smiled awkwardly and pressed on. "As usual, you will be able to look at several scripts and decide which one you want to sing for your tryout. You have five minutes to grab a script and start practicing, starting... now!"
Everyone except Cinder, Cress, and Scarlet rushed to the table holding the scripts, wanting to have the first pick. The girls hung back until everyone had grabbed what they wanted. Singing voices started floating through the room, some high and melodic, some deep and gravelly. Cinder looked at all the neatly labeled stacks of papers. "Cinderella, Prince Charming, Little Red Riding Hood, The Big Bad Wolf, Rapunzel, another prince, Snow White, and the other prince guy. Jeez, how many princes are there?"
Scarlet rolled her eyes. "Looks like we'll be acting as the weak little princesses who need a prince to save them." She snatched up a random paper without even looking at it. "I don't really care who I play. Actually, if I have a really bad audition, she'll kick me out, right?"
Cinder laughed. "Maybe, Scar. Have fun with that." Glancing at Cress, she asked, "Which one are you going to do?"
Cress picked up the Rapunzel script. She pointed to the lyrics, something about a beautiful crescent moon. "This song looks similar to a lullaby my mom would sing me when I was a baby."
After another moment of consideration, Cinder chose the Cinderella script. "Her name is like mine, it's meant to be!" she joked. The girls retreated into a quiet corner to practice singing the lines of the songs on their scripts and reading the other parts. All of them except Scarlet, that is. She was slumped against the wall, clearly annoyed at having to be here.
Cinder felt her hands starting to shake. She tried to take deep breaths, but nothing helped. She had never done anything like this before. Wishing once again for Peony's confidence, she stood up and started to pace around.
"Your five minutes are up!" called the director. She was now sitting in the front row of the auditorium seats, clipboard and papers on her lap. "While waiting for your turn, please stand in the wings. Now, the person going first is..." she took a moment to scan all the kids standing before her. Cinder saw Thorne clear his throat and start to stride forward, but before he could volunteer, Ms. Hope's gaze swept over Cinder and she called, "You!"
Pay attention to details... there may or may not be some foreshadowing in this chapter!
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