Disclaimer: I do not own Danny Phantom or any of the characters. Danny Phantom is the sole property of Butch Hartman, Nickelodeon and Paramount global.
Staged
Chapter 4: Auditions
The rest of the school day went by slowly but eventually, the final bell rang and classes were done for the day.
However, it was also the beginning of the auditions for the school play. Most of the students who were auditioning were either kids from the drama club or kids who were after some extra credit. Either way, there was a surprisingly long line of would-be actors ready to audition.
Mr. Lancer, who was relishing in his role as director, was seated in a Hollywood style director's chair with his name on the back of it and even wore an artsy-looking beret, ready to find his leading roles.
"Alright, students and my future stars. Let's make some magic!…"The teacher said through a mega-phone, grinning wildly.
"Is it me, or is he enjoying this a little too much?..."Danny asked, as they sat in the theater while they waited for his turn.
"It's not just you..."Star commented, as she sat next to him.
As they waited for Danny's turn to audition, they watched a couple of students trying to memorize lines and try out. The first was Mikey, who was trying out for one of the leads and seemed to be doing well at first.
"The course of true love never did run smooth. Love looks not with the eyes-..."Mikey said, reading from the script.
However, due to being nervous, he accidentally tripped and the script fell to the ground, scattering across the whole stage floor.
"Oh no..."He said as he tried to pick it up.
"And our first mishap..."Mr. Lancer thought as Mikey tried to save the papers, but just made a jumbled up mess.
"Uh...sorry...I got nervous...can I try again?..."Mikey asked, grinning nervously.
Mr. Lancer saw the other boys waiting to auditions, most of which are here just for extra credit and most were currently distracted with their phones or chatting. They clearly didn't seem to care about the art of stage theater, aside from the extra credit that he had promised.
The teacher sighed and figured there was no harm in allowing it.
"Fine, whatever. Not like anyone is impatient..."He said, slouching in his seat. "Either way, we can always use understudies..."He mused as the nervous, clumsy red haired boy tried again and once again tripped.
As the next person audition, Dash and his friends, who were only here for the extra credit and to hit on girls who were auditioning, looked bored and lost. The thing that did get his attention, aside from his phone and the girls from drama club, was his stomach rumbling.
"Was that you or a dog?..." Kwan asked.
"No, it was my stomach. Where's the popcorn?..." Dash complained, as he looked around.
"That's for movies. Stage theater doesn't do that..." Kwan answered.
"Seriously?! Then what's the point of even going to one...other than making out with a smoking hot chick in the dark? I know that's what I want..."Dale whined, clearly not concerned about stage performance or extra credit.
"What is this lame play suppose to be about anyway?..."Dash asked, looking bored.
"I dunno, some fairies falling in love or whatever and some chick with a horse or something..."Dale said.
Team Phantom heard this and collectively rolled their eyes.
"Wow, they really didn't read the story at all..."Star said, wondering why she ever associated with them in the past.
"You're surprised? I'm still surprised they even made it this far into high school with their GPA..."Sam said in a snarky way.
"I guess using other people and throwing touchdowns can only go so far..."Tucker said with a shrug. "Too bad that won't cut it after graduation..."He said, since those jock's less than ideal fates are pretty much sealed.
"Not without a sports scholarship and even then, they wouldn't last a week out in the real world..."Sam said, having major doubts that any of the jock's chances of success or happiness in the future.
"Excuse me? Some of us are trying to memorize our lines here..."Danny said before going back to reading his script.
"Wow, you really want that extra credit..."Star said, as her man kept rehearsing his lines.
"Good news, it doesn't look like you have much competition..."Sam said as she gestured to Joey's flop on stage and tripping on his own shoes do to being nervous.
"Still gotta be prepared for anything..."Danny said as he kept reading as much of the script as he could in a short time, really wanting that extra credit and the trip to the convention.
A little later
The auditions continued and more students tried out and either did well or flopped on stage.
The next person to try out was Nathan, but he was sweating and looking nervous as he saw all eyes on him. He cleared his throat and tried to speak, but due to being so nervous, he was hardly audible and visibly shook, as he also had clear stage fright.
"LOUDER!..."Mr. Lancer demanded, sounding impatient.
This only made Nathan more nervous and he even started sweating a bit as he felt everyone looking at him. He felt that the whole world was judging him right now. The geeky, chubby boy gulped and gave another less than audible performance. It barely sounded like mumbling to everyone.
"LOUDER!..."Mr. Lancer yelled again and Nathan started shaking a little and sweating even more now.
At this point, Nathan was shaking and sweat was dripping off him.
"Poor Nathan, Lancer isn't giving him much of a chance to speak up on his own..."Danny thought as the geek kept mumbling his lines and kept making mistakes, but he still wasn't loud enough for anyone to hear it, especially Mr. Lancer, who was losing his patience already.
"Mr. Lester! You cannot be in this play if we can't hear you! You are wasting our time if-..."Lancer began scolding, but was suddenly interrupted in the middle of it by the once nervous teen up on stage.
That's what made him snap.
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT! I DIDN'T EVEN WANNA DO THIS! MY MOM FORCED ME! SHE SAID THAT IT WOULD BE GOOD FOR ME TO GET OUT MORE AND BROADEN MY HORIZONS! AND SHE SAID THAT SHE'D THROW AWAY MY NEW IMPORTATED DOORSTOPPER HEAD FIGURE IF I DON'T SHOW MORE INTEREST OUTSIDE OF HORROR GAMES! I JUST WANT HER TO STOP DICTATING MY LIFE!..."Nathan yelled, looking he was on the verge of getting into a fetal position.
Once he finished yelling, he panted and fell to his knees, since grew exhausted fast.
Danny and the others members of Team Phantom, along with the other kids were both shocked and kinda disturbed with what the nerd with red hair just blurted out on stage about how controlling his mother is.
"Yikes!..."Danny said, unsure of how else to respond after hearing that
"You said it..."Star said, also at a lost for words like her boyfriend.
"Too much information..."Sam said, while Tucker sympathized with his plight, since he loves that game too.
Mr. Lancer, however, seemed more impressed by the "dramatic" display that he assumed was part of the performance and applauded. That caught Nathan by surprise.
"Much better, Mr. Lester. You'll make the perfect understudy or supporting character, so long as you remember to speak up..."He said.
"Oh...thank you..."Nathan said sheepishly as he began to walk off stage.
"LOUDER!..."Lancer yelled, getting an irritated look from the boy as he then called for the next student to audition.
"Dang, now was that unexpected. I guess you got competition there..."Tucker said as more kids try to earn a spot in the play with less than impressive performances.
"I just hope that I manage to get even a small part here. I'm even open to being an understudy or, I dunno, villager # 2 or whatever, if it means I get the extra credit..."Danny said, keeping his expectations at a reasonable level.
"As if some loser would even be expected to get more than 2 lines..."A snotty voice was heard.
Danny, Star, Sam and Tucker turned around and frowned when they saw that it was Paulina.
"Who invited you?!..."Sam said, annoyed to see her.
"Get lost, Paulina! This is a no moron zone!..."Star said, glaring at her.
"As if I'd ever take lip from a bunch of social outcasts, especially a loser traitor like you, you loser chaser..."Paulina said as she talked down to her ex-best friend.
"Wow, nice one. It must have taken you ALL night to come up with that burn..."Star said sarcastically, getting on the dark haired girls nerves.
"Shut up, Strong. You guys may as well go home since there is no room for wanna-be's in this play..."Paulina said.
"Then why are you here?..."Sam asked sarcastically, earning a snicker from Star and the others.
Paulina got mad but tried to regain her composure.
"I'm not a wanna-be. I'm gonna be the start of this show, ya know..."Paulina said.
"Oh please, you haven't even tried out yet..."Star pointed out.
"That's just a formality. I'm pretty much a guaranteed since I am the most popular girl at Casper High. I am sure to get the lead role. And once my ghost boy sees how amazing I am on stage and the kind of star that I am meant to be, he'll totally want to dump that stupid Starlight girl and go out with the most beautiful girl in Amity Park..."Paulina said, being egotistical as always.
"Not in a million years..."Danny thought, before he decided to mess with her head a bit.
"Not possible..."He said in a flat voice.
"Excuse you, what do you mean by that?..."Paulina asked, irritated.
"I mean that even if Danny Phantom wasn't dating Starlight Spirit, and wanted to go out with the most beautiful girl in Amity Park...well, she's already happily taken right here..."Danny said as he took Star by the hand, referring to her and making her smile from that compliment.
Even someone like Paulina could tell that he was giving her lip and glared at him.
"You've gotten WAY too cocky since this traitor traded down to you, but I will let my acting skills speak for themselves. Prepare to eat your words, losers!..."Paulina said as she headed for stage to show off her so-called talents.
"Well, this will either be very sickening or really hilarious. Let's find out which..."Sam said, making mental notes to watch the play.
"A little of both, no doubt. The closest she'll ever be to acting is being a drama queen..."Star said.
"I get the feeling that will be an understatement..."Danny said in agreement as more kids did their own performance in front of Lancer.
So few were successful in impressing him and the rest seem to be giving him migraines right now.
One kid found himself frozen in terror the second he got on stage and didn't say a word the entire time, even after Lancer told him to leave. Another thought reciting in Spanish would help, the last was too busy stuffing their face with pizza to speak clearly. That's when a certain Hispanic girl stepped on stage in cheerleader uniform.
Paulina was that overconfident and it seemed they underestimated the girl's mind. And by that, it seemed Paulina was under the impression that she was the main star, evident by her "audition," much to everyone's surprise and astonishment.
"Since the part of the star, whatever her name is, is still available, I'll take it..."Paulina said as she got on stage, already claiming the female lead part for her own as she strolled in.
"Ms. Sanchez-..."
"I'll need a big dressing room, and when you send flowers the opening night, I prefer long-stemmed roses with the thorns removed, of course, and-..."Paulina started her long list of demands, until the irritated teacher cut her off.
"Miss Sanchez, you do realize that you still need to audition for the lead role before making any demands to me at all, right? And that needs to be done now, while it's still daytime!..."Lancer said, cutting her off.
"That was already better than I expected..."Sam said, snickering as she wished she had some organic, vegan snacks to eat right now.
"This is nothing, last semester, during that big fundraiser, she paid her cousins to do all the work for her and threw a fit when she didn't get the most sales, even though she didn't even bother to give her any specific details or what her quota was..."Star said in a gossipy-kind of way, finding it hilarious in hindsight since Paulina was the one who got a big earful from Ms. Testlaff due to being "in charge" of it.
"Why am I not surprised that she could be that lazy and stupid?..."Sam asked as they continued to watch the so called most popular girl in school try out for the part.
Tucker took out his PDA and used the camera function.
"This'll either be hot or funny..." He said as he recorded it while Danny just practiced his own lines again.
With a sigh, Paulina took her pom-poms and auditioned as she knew best. The collective students rose a brow, partially wondering if she intended to cheer her lines. Even the jocks knew the difference between questioning and whatever the girl was thinking.
Anyway, the cheerleader then turned to the audience, sent a perky smile and began her routine/audition.
"O most pernicious woman! O villain, villain, smiling, darned villain! My tables—meet it is I set it down. That one may smile, and smile, and be a villain— At least I am sure it may be so in Denmark! Go Denmark!..."Paulina said in a cheering way, missing the point of that line from Hamlet...which is the WRONG play to boot.
There was an absolute silence in the auditorium as no one was sure at first what to make of what she did. Suddenly, Lancer laughed his head off, holding his sides and almost fell out of his chair as he kept guffawing right now.
"I needed that! I mean, you don't get the part but I certainly needed that after sitting through all those other auditions today!..." He went.
"Thanks, I- wait, come again?..."Paulina said, surprised.
"I said you didn't get it..."Mr. Lancer said, trying to calm down his laughter.
Paulina's jaw dropped and she couldn't believe her ears.
"But I didn't even get to-..."Paulina tried.
"You didn't get the part, maybe as an extra for comedic relief if I need it but definitely not the lead role. NEXT!..."Lancer said, losing his patience and not laughing anymore.
Paulina looked offended and even got red in the face in anger.
"You'll be hearing from my papa's lawyers!..."She yelled, angry that she was being treated this way but the teacher didn't look intimidated.
"Don't bother, even I know you can't sue over not getting a part..."Mr. Lancer said, not afraid unlike with Star. "NEXT!..."He called out again.
Paulina growled and angrily marched off the stage, her face red and steam was practically coming off of her as she left the auditorium in a huff.
Sam and Star were laughing at this entire thing, as well as Danny and Tucker who couldn't believe how stupid Paulina looked right now.
"I take it all back, she is good. That was hilarious!..."Sam said, laughing so hard that tears were coming out of her eyes.
She was actually happy that she came to watch these auditions and see her hated rival make a fool of herself.
"Please tell me that someone recorded all that..."Star said, giggling.
"Got it all on here..."Tucker said as he gestured to his PDA, unable to resist re-watching.
"Did she actually think that using cheer-leading even works here? She didn't even get a line from the same story..."Danny said.
"Oh please, outside you, clothes and begging her dad for more allowance, Paulina's entire world revolves around cheer-leading. It's sad... and kinda funny..."Star said, still chuckling.
"Yup..."Sam said. "It must be pitiful to live such a shallow existence..."She commented.
"Try actually having to be her "friend" and listening to that..."Star said, glad that she ended their false friendship when she did.
Lancer then groaned before he continued with the auditions, while seeing if he can salvage some sort of stage actors from the many half-baked performing stragglers that were just here to lift up their grade point average.
"The course of true love never did run smooth. Love-..."Ricky Marsh, one of the underachievers, paused and seemed lost. "Uh...line?..."He asked and clearly didn't practice too much.
Lancer facepalmed at how unimpressive the students have been, mentally wondering if he's been cursed.
"What I'd give for some talent right now..."He muttered under his breath as Ricky continued to flop on stage until his turn was over.
The next person on stage, Paige, then did something that no one else expected her to do. She auditioned with screaming.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!..."Paige screamed, enough to shatter a nearby glass cup and even Mikey's glasses cracked a bit due to still being back stage and close to the screams, as loud as it was in the front.
Danny and the others were covering their ears and Tucker cringed as even his glasses cracked a bit too. He waited for Paige to be done before he pulled out his spare ones.
"Nice lungs..."He commented in a both incredulous, irritated and almost impressed kind of tone.
"Uh...very nice, Miss Smith. I'll let you know later which role you have earned soon..."Mr. Lancer said, impressed with the brunette girl's volume.
"Thank you..."Paige said in a perky way before walking off the stage.
"And the ghosts complained about my Ghostly Wail..."Danny said as he waited for the ringing in his ears to stop.
"I'm pretty sure that scream was new personal best for her, besides the times when ghosts attacks..." Star commented, as she noticed that this brunette was also usually a redhead but seemed to be into dying her hair lately.
A group of jocks, meanwhile, were growing increasingly bored.
"I still can't believe we have to do this dorky play. It's not like it'll matter once I graduate..."Dash said, hating that this is the only way that he could raise his grade so he can play for the next football game.
"Hey, I'm only here because it was either this or my mom signed me up for dance lessons to impress her parents..."Kwan said, pouting.
"Kwan Li! You're next!..." Lancer shouted.
"Here we go..." Dash said, eager to see something funny.
Kwan went onto the stage, quickly glanced at his script again before he cleared his throat and started his audition.
"O, when she's angry, she is keen and shrewd! She was a vixen when she went to school; And though she be but little, she is fierce..." Kwan went, coming off as rather eloquent, to everyone's surprise.
Once he was done, the director actually seemed pleased by this.
"Hmm... not bad, Mr. Li..."Mr. Lancer admitted before writing something down on his clipboard.
"Next!..."He said suddenly, wanting to move along.
"Okay..." Kwan said, leaving the stage.
His friends sent him looks, while Dash had an arrogant look on his face for some reason.
"If you got this, this'll be easy..."The blonde jock said in a cocky way.
"Not really... I emulate soap operas when I got down time..." Kwan said but was ignored.
"Mr. Baxter! You're next!..."Mr. Lancer called and the blonde jock got up.
"Finally..."He said impatiently.
Dash then went to the stage, script in his hand and he had his fists at his hips.
"Who's the star of this thing? It's suppose to be some king, right? I wanna be him..."The jock said, figuring that if he had to do this, he wanted a good role.
"Over my dead body..."Mr. Lancer muttered under his breath and not wanting his vision for the play to be tarnished by teen attitude, then he saw the time. "Uh, Mr. Baxter. Do your part or get off the stage..."Mr. Lancer said, not looking forward for this one.
"Fine...the things I do for extra credit..."The jock muttered under his breath before reading.
"Against my child, my daughter Her-maya. Stand forth Dem e-try-us. And my noble lord, this man hattuh my consent to marry her. Stand forth Lisa-Ender. And, my gracious duke, this man hattuh bewitched- heh, that show- the bo-some of my child. Th-the-thoo..."Dash said, before squinting at the text. "Uh...what's this word say?..."He asked as he showed it to a nearby stage crew member.
"It says "Thou", it means you..."The guy said, looking annoyed with the loud idiot who couldn't be bothered to try and read the simplest of lines right.
"Oh right...it means me. Of course, that's sweet. I totally knew that..."Dash said as he continued, unaware he was not reading the right lines. "Me, me, Lisa-Ender, me has-it given her rhymes, and interchanged love tokens with my child..."He said as he continued to ruin one of Shakespeare's works of art.
However, he seemed to be getting annoyed by what he was reading...and butchering and started to complain.
"This is supposed to be English?! You sure this isn't a bad translation from Chinese or something?!.."He yelled, out of complete confusion.
"What a moron!..."Danny said and the others agreed, disapproving of Dash's acting and wondering when this torture would stop.
Jazz, who was working as the stage manager for the play and hiding behind the curtains, saw the performance from the jock she used to tutor, and groaned.
"And people wonder why I gave up on him after I tutor him last semester...after all the migraines I got from them..."She said as she groaned, pinching the bridge between her eyebrows as her most un-tutorable student was making a bigger idiot of himself than usual as he continued to butcher this work of art.
She tried not to think about that failed experiment as just another pain in her butt as her most untutorable student was murdering Shakespeare. She wasn't the only one who couldn't take any more of this, as the guy who explained the word thou began to correct the blonde idiot's misunderstanding.
"I said thou means you... as in you're saying "you, you, Lysander", you're not talking about yourself!..." The stagehand said.
"What? It doesn't mean me?! Why didn't you make that clear?! Can I do it again after this idiot made me mess up?!..." Dash asked.
Mr. Lancer could feel his intellect shattering with each word the jock uttered, hearing his favorite subject being dragged through the road at 120 miles per hour was torture to him. He then decided to end his suffering.
"Thank you, Mr. Baxter. That will be all for now..."Mr. Lancer said, feeling that Shakespeare must be rolling over in his own grave right now after seeing Dash's performance.
The jock left, confused but ignoring the rejection with his ego. He then frowned as he walked away.
"I'd better get a part..." He muttered.
"Who else do we have here to hopefully do a tolerable job?..."Mr. Lancer asked, feeling that no one can can possibly be any worse than Dash.
Danny was about to get up and give it a go, but Spike appeared and raised his hand.
"I'm up next..."He said, as he made his way to the stage.
Everyone seemed surprised that the gothic-looking teen would even consider participating in the school play, including Jazz who was still working as the stage manager. She wasn't expecting to see him here though.
"What? He never told me that he was planning on trying out for the play..."Jazz said as she thought that their therapy sessions were the only interactions he has.
"I never knew that he was into theater?..."Star commented, surprised by his presence here.
"I never knew that he actually talks..."Tucker said since Spike was always quiet and tends to blend into the background, seemingly never alert or reacting to whatever is going on around here, or not caring about it.
"He's auditioning? He just lost Goth points..." Sam muttered as her fellow goth went to face the director.
"Oh...Mr. Jones..."Mr. Lancer said. "So, you wish to participate in the play?..."He said.
"Yes, sir. I'm trying out for the role of Egeus, Hermia's father..."The emo-teen said, as he spoke with surprisingly deep voice for someone so young for his age.
"Very well then, show us what you got. Not like you could do worse..."Mr. Lancer said, having low standards at the moment after Dash's performance.
The elder teen walked onto the stage and cleared his throat. To everyone's surprise, something unexpected happened as he began his audition.
"Scornful Lysander! true, he hath my love, And what is mine my love shall render him..."Spike said in a surprisingly loud and passionate way as if he was speaking like a completely different person.
Everyone was stunned as he continued to impress with his acting prowess, some people's jaws even dropped upon seeing this.
"And she is mine, and all my right of her I do estate unto Demetrius!..."Spike said in a deep, eloquent sounding way as he performed.
Everyone in the theater room was stared slack jawed and was stunned silent from that unexpected but very well delivered performance.
"That just happened?..." Sam asked, looking stunned.
After that dramatic display, Spike got up and bowed.
"How was that?..."He asked in a normal voice, looking hopeful and genuinely curious about how he did.
Everyone seemed surprised by this, none more than Jazz, Spike's "therapist". Mr. Lancer, however, was enthusiastically applauding and looking happy at finding some real talent here. As were the drama club kids as each of them applauded too.
"Spectacular! Bravo, Mr. Jones! That was the best performance yet! By Gulliver's Travels! We have found our Egeus! This play will be my masterpiece!..."The director said, looking like he just found a star in the making.
Spike bowed and smiled as best as he could. Deep down, he was thrilled that he nailed it and got the part that he wanted.
"As if there was ever any doubt..."He said, smiling and humbly excused himself as he walked off the stage.
Everyone else was still flabbergasted looks on their faces after witnessing the seemingly-quiet, sullen, grumpy and gothic-looking student give such a passionate and spirited performance.
"Did I really just see that?..."Danny asked, surprised by Spike's outstanding performance.
"You did. I can't believe that happened either..."Star commented.
"I still can't believe how deep his voice sounds..."Tucker said.
"I'll say. Even I didn't see that coming, and I thought I understood everyone's status quo, especially from a fellow goth..."Sam said, rubbing her eyes clear.
She and Spike didn't exactly hang out, but she had assumed that, like her, he didn't care much for mainstream stuff.
"I guess that talent really can come from literally anywhere and anyone. Even him..."Star said, just as shocked and surprised as the rest.
"Definitely..." Danny said.
Jazz, who was still shocked by what she just saw and heard, snapped out of it as she approached Spike and spoke up.
"What was that?..."She asked, looking lost.
"That was quote from Egeus from act 1, scene 1. I thought that was obvious, since it is Shakespeare and all..."Spike said, like it's no big deal.
Jazz, still not used to him actually speaking to her and surprised to hear how low his natural voice sounded, looked a little stunned but quickly shook it off. She had to figure out what was going on.
"Not that..I mean...not that I'm saying you were bad, you were actually really great. What I'm trying to say is...well...I mean..you...I...you...where did all that come from?! How are you so good at acting?!..."Jazz asked, looking lost.
"I've been going to theater camp since I was in 6th grade and I really like acting. It's my passion and I don't like to toot my own horn, but I think I'm really good at it. I think it's my calling. Plus, I need all this experience I can get if I wanna be ready for Broadway after college..."Spike said, once again surprising his therapist
Jazz, still not used to him actually saying words to her, still looked a bit confused and trying to make sense of this.
"But...I...how come you never told me that...or anything when I tried to help you reach out or help mend the tension between you and your parents since the start of last semester?!..."Jazz asked, looking so confused right now.
To her surprise, Spike just sighed and decided to be frank with her.
"Because all you do is talk and talk in really big words and complain about your family while pretending that you're actually talking about my family and issues. Which I want to point out that there were never any problems between me and them to begin with. My folks and I get along great, they support my hobbies and even helped by getting me acting lessons. My mom was the one who bought me the leather top I'm wearing, along with a bunch of other stuff for Christmas and my dad even helped me out with my fake tattoos, since he used to be a tattoo artist before he became a mechanic. He even said that I'm free to get real ones after I turn 18..."Spike said, revealing that his aren't the real thing.
"R-Really?..."Jazz asked and the gothic looking boy nodded.
The red haired girl was still confused, but also curious about another detail that he just mentioned.
"Wait...your tattoos are fake?..."She questioned.
"Duh, I'm only 17. So, I can't exactly get real ones right now. I though it was obvious..."He said, as he even rubbed part of one which smudged off to prove it.
"So, you and your parents? They...uh...you guys get along?..."Jazz asked, feeling like she did something foolish without realizing it.
"Yeah, we do. And you never really stop talking long enough to let me speak a word about it, just assuming we had problems or whatever. And FYI, if you assume I'm not happy or have troubles just because of the way that I dress this way, that's kinda judgmental for a therapist..."He said, crossing his arms.
Jazz looked embarrassed as the gothic looking both then continued to spell things out for her.
"I dress like this because I like it and I think it looks cool, but it doesn't define who I am. I am my own person, ya know..."Spike said, wanting to be clear about this. "As for why I never spoke a word to you before today, I just figured that if I didn't say anything, you'd see that all those therapy sessions that you were giving me were really actually for yourself and maybe you'd talk about other stuff eventually..."Spike said, hoping that the redheaded Fenton girl won't feel offended.
She didn't feel offended, just foolish right now.
"I...uh...I..."Jazz stammered, blushing deeply as she hadn't even realized that she was using Spike as a way to relieve her own stress by ranting to him and never letting him speak a word back to her the entire time.
"Was I really like that?..."She thought, since she sincerely believed that she had been trying to help him.
Apparently, the roles of therapy and patient were reversed and she felt embarrassed with herself. Thankfully, Spike sensed what she might be feeling and tried to make her feel better.
"Although I do want to point that even if I never got a chance to talk back to you, that doesn't mean I ever felt like complaining about the whole thing. In fact, I hope we can still have our therapy sessions with one another, because despite not saying a word to you, I do like our little chats..."He said, sending her a smile, which surprised the red haired girl even more.
"Plus, even if you do talk a lot, I know you mean well...plus, you are kinda cute and I didn't mind hanging out with you to be honest. I just hope we can talk about other stuff and I dunno, maybe hang out some place after school if it's alright with you..."Spike said as he walked passed the gaping red-head, who was currently questioning what had just happened, until it hit her that he just called her cute.
Jazz was blushing up a storm, unsure on how to process all of this, while her brother and his friends saw this and were surprised yet again with this shocking new development. Jazz's brother, however, was focusing on one particular detail right now.
"Huh? So, Spike likes Jazz? Well, at least he's a major step up from Dash or Johnny..."Danny thought, while the others were more focused on the fact that he was such a good actor and pretty eloquent for someone his age.
"I can't believe what I just heard...and why do I suddenly feel jealous of him all of a sudden?..."Sam thought, recalling the part Spike mentioned about his own parents.
"Wow...I've been attending the same school as him since the start of High school and I never knew he was that good at acting..."Star commented, impressed.
"I just hope that I can still get a part..."Danny said, worried since Spike set the bar pretty high now and Mr. Lancer seems excited to have talent like his in the show.
"NEXT!..."Mr. Lancer shouted, wanting to get through this.
Danny gulped and realized that it's finally his turn. He suddenly felt himself getting cold feet and wasn't sure if he could go through with this now. Star, however, noticed this and decided to give him some encouragement.
"You'll be fine, Danny-boo. You were killer as Macbeth last semester and you even pretended to be nice to that old bat whom we agreed to no longer say her name out loud. You can handle this..."Star said, giving him a look that told him that she believes in him .
"You think so?..."Danny asked.
"I know so...and here's a little something special to prove it..."Star said as she placed a kiss on his lips for good luck.
Danny's eye shot up and he felt his nerves instantly disappear. He even felt himself power up without even going ghost. Like a surge of new energy going through his body, which didn't go away even after she pulled away.
"Wow...now that's what I call a super motivator! I feel like I could flying across the whole world and back!..."Danny said, fully confident and ready to take on anything right now.
Star giggled.
"Glad to hear that, Danny-boo..."She said sweetly, happy that he's no longer nervous.
"Oh, barf!..."Sam said, rolling her eyes at the lovey-dovey display.
"Where's a curtain call when you need one?..."Tucker muttered as the happy couple got all mushy again.
Danny, thanks to Star's encouragement, was less nervous and went up to the stage, more confident and sure of himself. As he walked up on stage, ready to give the best performance that he could.
"Alright, Mr. Fenton. Show us what you got?..."The balding teacher/director demanded, wanting to move this along.
Danny cleared his throat and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. Feeling at ease with himself, he remembered the exact lines he needed to act out, trying to do his best.
"Through the forest have I gone. But Athenian found I none, on whose eyes I might approve, this flower's force in stirring love. Night and silence. Who is here? Weeds of Athens he doth wear..."Danny said, using the best acting skills he had to offer.
He continued and tried his best to remember his lines and not come off as too big of a dork. Thankfully, he hasn't stumbled over his lines or mispronounced anything yet, so that's good so far.
"This is he, my master said, despised the Athenian maid, and here the maiden, sleeping sound, On the dank and dirty ground. Pretty soul! she durst not lie Near this lack-love, this kill-courtesy..."He said, doing the appropriate body gestures needed as he tried out.
The audition was a bit nerve-wracking, but it was WAY easier than pretending to like a bitter old bat whom he rather forget all about. Anyway, the ghost boy kept kept giving his best for this performance and hoped for the best.
Once he was done, he waited for approval from his teacher/director. Mr. Lancer didn't look unimpressed to be honest. He wrote something down on his clipboard, and then had a non-pulsed look on his face. Danny was kinda nervous, until the teacher smiled in approval.
"Thank you, Mr. Fenton. You certainly did improve since the last play, you did much better than I expected..."He said, satisfied with his performance.
"Uh, thanks..."Danny said, wondering if that was meant to be a compliment or not.
"You're welcome, and I am sure that you'll make a wonderful Lysander. So, you'd better show up on time to rehearsal..."He said, going back to his strict teacher/director mode.
It took a moment for the ghost boy to register what he had just said. Danny gasped when he heard this and seemed to be in disbelief.
"Wait...you mean that I got the part?!..."Danny asked, looking stunned since he had been aiming for a small role from the beginning.
The teacher nodded.
"Yes...well...since Mr. Jones will be Egeus and you are one of the very few halfway decent acts that I have seen all day, and unless someone better shows up in the next 10 minutes, which seems to be unlikely and I don't plan on holding my breath...ergo...you got the part..."He said, handing over the lead role since he didn't have any other boys auditioning and very few of the ones who did perform were for other parts.
"Yes!..."Danny said with a fist pump, happy to get the part and the extra credit.
He then walked off the stage, feeling proud as his friends and girlfriend went to congratulate him.
"Way to go, Boo. I knew that you could do it!..."Star said as she went to him and kissed his cheek.
"I'll admit, you looked a little less like a dork than I expected..."Sam said in a snarky way, but her smile showed that she was being playful and was happy for him.
"Thanks, that warms my heart..."Danny said with an eye roll.
"I still can't believe you got the role of Lysander..."Tucker said, since that's one of the more important roles in the play.
"I just wanted a small role, not one of the leads. Oh well, nothing I can do about it now. I just gotta memorize all these lines and deal with Mr. Lancer as a director and not flop of stage during opening night. No pressure..."Danny said, hoping that will be the most difficult part of this whole thing.
"Hey, relax. Since Hamalot is gone now and I don't think there are any "curses" with this play, I doubt that anything evil is gonna show up to make your life miserable here..."Tucker said, unaware that he just jinxed himself.
Before Danny could say anything, Mr. Lancer spotted Star and assumed that she was here to try out too.
"Ah, Miss Strong. Since Mr. Fenton is going to be Lysander, I assume that you are here to try out for the role of Hermia..."Mr. Lancer said.
Star thought about it and seemed indifferent to be honest.
Hermia is suppose to be Lysander's love interest, but she still wasn't so sure about performing in front of the school. She already had enough on her plate. Not to mention, she wasn't in any rush to return to the stage after that whole beauty pageant fiasco.
"Actually, I just came to give Danny some moral support..."Star said, turning down the idea.
It was just a play and even if it was a love story, it was no big deal as she knew that her man was just doing this for extra credit and nothing else. Besides, she's she knew that this was just acting and even if this is a love story, it means nothing. Besides, she was already Danny's leading lady in real life and can kiss him anytime she wants already, so she didn't really have any issues with not participating in this play, other than being her boyfriends "number one fan".
Lancer nodded, seeing no problem with her decision. Mostly since she was the one who threatened him with that lawsuit and he didn't want to risk getting on her bad side again.
"Very well. Now, who—..."Before he could say anything else, the door burst open as light rushed into the theater.
Lancer paused, turning towards the door like everyone else as another popular girl crashed the scene. One that NO ONE from Team Phantom wanted to see right now.
"Do not threat, mon ami. The true star of zis show has arrived!..."A dramatic, accented voice was heard.
"No!..."Danny said in horror and Star turned red in a mix of rage and annoyance at who just showed up.
It was Colette, who appeared appeared and had a smug look on her face as she walked into the auditorium.
Yes, it seems that something evil has showed up, after all.
-To be continued-
Next time on Staged
Auditions: Star vs Colette
A/N(1): I dedicate this chapter to my family, my friends and my love for God :)
A/N(2): Special thanks to NeoMark, Hmilles02, BeConfuzzled Writer and Jay The Average Fanboy for helping out with this chapter. You guys rock :)
REPLIES to my loyal and totally awesome reviewer:
RonaldM40196867:
1) I thought that it would be an interesting story.
2) Sorry, no spoilers. We will have to wait and see what happens.
3) Sorry, no spoilers. We will have to wait and see what happens.
Jebest4781: Thank you :)
Danifan3000: Sorry, no spoilers. We will have to wait and see what happens.
Jay The Average Fanboy: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) I'd say it is his favorite.
2) I'd say that they both prefer one with a fresh fragrance.
3) Hard to say, but as a ghost boy, he has much stronger senses than the average dog.
Luiz4200: I remember that episode.
Invader Johnny: We shall see what happens in the next chapter.
Leonardo: Yes, he told her about it.
Hmilles02: Thank you :)
Here are my responses to your questions:
1) Not unless she gets a lot of character development and actually grows as a person.
2) Well, her parents would probably not spoil her too much if they had another child to take care of, so maybe.
3) Yes, I do.
4) Well, she might be relieved if her parents had another kid besides her to focus all their attention on.
5) He might have been an interesting and comical addition to the show.
:) I hope you enjoyed this! Remember to read and review :)