"Did you get a part?"
"Oh my god! I'm in!"
"They obviously don't know talent."
"I got the supporting lead, it's not the biggest part but still!"
The various cries of people who had auditioned for the school play. Anyone who really stuck with acting in school didn't care what play it was, as long as they got in and got a decent part. And here we find Maureen Johnson.
Everyone knew she had talent. She was not the best in the school, but she could play a lead if she was given one. She could easily turn an ensemble member into a 3-dimensional being who stood out just as much as the character with lines. And as soon as she laid eyes on the cast list, it was apparent. She had talent, everyone knew she had talent…..
Except whoever had cast this play. She scanned the list again, her name not there the first time. She scanned it again, the crowd growing smaller as people who were cast left with their friends praising them. And people who were destined to work backstage were taken away by consoling friends.
But Maureen had no one to console her. All of her friends had gotten parts.
"Maureen!" One of her lucky friends, even if as a boy she had not been up against him for roles, she was still upset. "I got the lead! Can you believe it? Last play I was just some crummy understudy."
She gave him a smile, bright and congratulatory. "That's wonderful. I'm so happy for you," she replied, clenching one hand into a fist, nails digging into skin.
"What part did you get?" came another voice.
The smile stayed, but she could feel some of the sincerity leaving.
"I didn't get one."
The two looked at her. "Why not?"
"If I knew that, don't you think I wouldn't have done it?"
Before they could reply she walked away. She could have stormed, but no, she walked smooth and graceful. Eyes following. After all, she was Maureen Johnson, even if not on stage she was watched and admired.
How could she have not been cast? A rant that would be a perfect monologue and performance was beginning in her mind as she exited the school.
She was Maureen Johnson. One of the best actresses in the school, both on and off stage. She not only could act, she had stage presence, and she could sing. Why the hell hadn't she been cast? Why the hell out of all of her friends had she not been cast? Not even an understudy, which was beneath her enough. Why?
It was insane, horrible, that director did not know how to cast. She had seen some of the names, half of those people could hardly hum the tune to a commercial jingle let alone sing a song. And those who could sing decently couldn't act like anything more than the amateurs they were.
Maureen said a few choice words (most of them four-lettered) about the director.
"If I ever see that man again I'll…."
But she was cut off by said man. She had nearly run into him.
"Hello Ms. Johnson, how are you today?"
He was smiling, as if he didn't know. She returned the smile, perfect and happy.
"Oh, you know."
"Did you see the cast list?"
She nodded. "Yes, I have to say, I was surprised with some choices."
"Well, I would have really loved to cast you, but you just weren't right for the parts. And I figured understudying was beneath you."
It was bad enough he hadn't cast her, but to pull out the 'not right' line and saying she was too good for an understudy was just….she didn't want to think about it.
"Would you be willing to help out backstage? We could really use people on lights."
He was still smiling. He hadn't cast her, had patronized her, and now he was suggesting she work backstage.
"I'm sorry sir, I know I must sound like a Prima Donna, or a stuck up diva, but I don't do lights."
She said the last word crisply; she did not just mean lights she meant everything. She would not be reduced to work backstage.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
And thus they parted ways. Maureen did not look back once, but she knew he did. Men always looked back when she was walking in the opposite direction. At seventeen, she could easily draw attention from the lower-classmen, upper classmen, and men who weren't even in high school anymore.
It was at that moment Maureen was certain she was destined for more. She was better than high school productions, she would be famous someday. She would be in movies, Broadway and TV. And when her performances were broadcast across the nation that man would wonder why on earth he had not cast her.
She was Maureen Johnson damn it. And on or off stage she was the star.