A/N: And now, back to the action! ... And drama!
Given that it was essentially her most favorite class in school, Shannon was almost always one of the first to arrive to the auditorium whenever the theater club had gotten together – one could say that she would run, not walk to that class. On this particular day, she came to discover that another thespian had already arrived ahead of her… a certain Iraqi girl who wore a fuchsia-colored covering around her head, and she appeared to be hard at work attaching leaves cut from paper to the branches of cardboard trees to be used as scenery for the fairy-inhabited forest, one of the settings in their play; for certain thespians who played minor roles, Mrs. Bernardo also had them assisting behind the scenes with elements such as props, scenery, and costumes. Parvana rather enjoyed helping to create the production design, and she hoped that, despite how rather crude these trees appeared, that they would serve their purpose to help pull their audience into these settings. After she finished adhering another handful of paper leaves to a cardboard branch, she noticed one of her classmates had arrived.
"Hello, Shannon," she extended a greeting.
"Hi, Parvana," Shannon returned the greeting.
"How are you today?" Parvana asked.
"Okay, I guess…" said Shannon.
Parvana nodded, "That is very nice."
Ever since enrolling in the theater club, and becoming aware of what a rather open bunch of thespians made up this club, Shannon had found herself stepping more and more out of her comfort zone, much of which could be attributed to some of the other thespians helping to coax her out of her shell – particularly Ruby, whose socially outgoing personality had something of an influence on her best friend. At the moment, Shannon had thought back on their bus stop exercises, how the topic of different cultures was addressed when Parvana worked with Benny and Luan, and how Mrs. Bernardo gained Parvana's approval to enlighten others about her culture if they were to inquire about it; Shannon was, admittedly, rather curious about a certain aspect of Parvana's culture, and figured as long as she was opening up to and getting know her fellow thespians, that there was no harm in asking.
"Say, Parvana, do you mind if I ask you a question?" She asked as she approached the fuchsia-clad girl.
"No, I do not mind at all," said Parvana. "What do you want to ask me?"
"Forgive me for my ignorance," Shannon felt the need to apologize, though she really had nothing to apologize for, "but, I am curious to know why, exactly, do women in your culture wear those head coverings?"
"They are called hijabs," Parvana explained, "and we wear them in accordance with the Islamic practice that we maintain a sense of modesty and decency, especially among the company of who we are not related."
Shannon nodded understandingly as she responded, "I get that… some of my relatives are a lot more Orthodox than me and my parents, and if they had their way, they would probably prefer I wear a much longer skirt in public…"
The Iraqi girl smirked as she stole a glance at how much of the Jewish girl's legs were exposed because of how short her denim skirt was and remarked, "Yes, I could see why…"
Although the conversation was a brief one, Shannon felt another smile spring onto her freckled face – it actually felt very refreshing to allow her walls to come down and open herself to others in her club; obviously, she still was not quite as outgoing as other students and classmates, but this certainly was a start.
Soon enough, other drama students gradually filled the auditorium – Errol and Leo began to help Parvana work on the trees, which turned out to be a good thing, because when Mrs. Bernardo greeted her thespians with yet another one of her incredibly grand entrances, she informed them that they would be rehearsing a few of the scenes that took place in the forest. With this being a fairy-inhabited forest, this meant that certain thespians would be put to work in preparation for their roles today, namely those cast as fairies: Ruby, Parvana, Lyberti… and now, Shannon. Yes, since she had relinquished the role of Hermia, Shannon had taken on another, far less significant role in the play as a fairy… at least she could still be in the play, which she was content with, but now, she also no longer had to deal with Amy's toxicity.
Or, so she thought.
"Oh, look, Lysander, a bunch of fairies…" said Amy, as she walked by with her arm locked with Rex's. With condescending intentions, she added, "Boy, Mrs. Bernardo really knows how to cast these roles, doesn't she?"
"I suppose," agreed Rex, although, to give him some of the benefit of the doubt, he could very well have believed that these other thespians really were well-suited for their respective roles.
As soon as Amy noticed that Shannon had apparently been recast as a fairy, that, unfortunately, only opened the door for another dose of her catty brand of ridicule; as she and Rex brushed past the bespectacled girl in the orange sweater, she said loud enough for all to hear…
"I know she cast the perfect Hermia for your Lysander, didn't she? These roles were practically made for us…"
It was at that moment that some of the other drama students saw a side of Shannon they had never seen before, as her face turned red and the rest of her body trembled with anger: she may not have been the smartest or even the brightest girl in school, but it could not have been more obvious to her that what Amy had just unloaded on her was a dump of mockery. As soon as she saw Shannon gnash her teeth, Ruby decided it was best to calm her best friend down before she did anything she may regret…
"Come on…" she said as she grabbed hold of Shannon's shoulders and began to walk away with her; she addressed the others, "We'll be right back…"
The other fairies watched in great concern as Ruby exited the auditorium with Shannon, just before Mrs. Bernardo called for Rex, Amy, Spencer, and Benny to center stage to rehearse Act II, Scene II…
"Lysander and Hermia, you have fled to the forest, where the two of you have fallen asleep… meanwhile, Puck, you shall come upon them and apply the love potion the fairies have been concocting as ordered by your king, Oberon! Thespians into positions, PLEASE!"
The four began to do as their drama teacher directed, however before they did; Amy had a note to pass onto Spencer…
"Try not to upstage us, Powderpuff…"
"That's 'Puck,'" said Spencer as he assumed Amy had his character's name mistaken.
"I know," she said casually before she and Rex took to the stage floor.
It took a brief moment for it to occur to Spencer what the true nature of that remark was meant to insinuate; by now, he started to see a much clearer picture of what Ruby had meant when she mentioned just what a bitch Amy was.
Out in the schoolyard, Ruby had escorted Shannon out to the same little spot on the premises that she had found her previously: the narrow clearing between an outer wall and a hedgerow where Shannon had secluded to when she had previously relinquished the role of Hermia. The entire time, Shannon trembled so much that Ruby found her own hands had begun to shake as she kept her grip on her shoulders.
"Calm down, Shans…" said Ruby. "This is what she wants… she totally, like, wants to see you pissed off; you're letting her get her way, again."
"She was cast as Hermia?!" Shannon snapped. "I was the one Mrs. Bernardo cast as Hermia! I practically gave her the part just to get her off my back!"
"Look…" Ruby continued in the hope of trying to help her friend calm down, "Amy would still totally do this if it was me, or Lyberti, or Luan, or, like, any other girl cast in that role because of Rex…"
"I am just so sick of her, I can't stand it!" Shannon continued to bark.
"Why don't you talk to Mrs. B. about it?" Ruby asked.
"And make a mountain out of a molehill?" Shannon asked.
"Then, why don't I say something to Mrs. B.?" Ruby offered.
"No!" Shannon contested. "There's no sense in you getting involved in this sordid affair."
"Shannon, chillax!" Ruby insisted. "I've dealt with Amy longer than you have!"
"But, this doesn't concern you, I have to deal with this," countered Shannon. "Besides, you don't need to run to Mrs. Bernardo; that's so elementary school…"
Shannon's heavy and labored huffing began to subside as her frustration finally calmed down, of which Ruby still wanted to aid in further calming…
"Look… let's just forget about Amy right now…" she said as she rested a hand on her shoulder. "Why don't we, like, rehearse by ourselves for a little while before Mrs. B. is ready for us?"
After a moment of silence, Shannon finally sighed and agreed to do just that. Even if Ruby was able to calm Shannon down for the moment, she herself still had a bone to pick with a certain ginger-haired, freckle-faced, green-clad girl, and the following morning when this particular girl had gone to her locker to put away her backpack and gather up the appropriate books she would need for her impending classes, she shut her locker door, only to be startled by the sudden appearance of a certain maroon-clad Indian girl.
"NYAH!" Amy shrieked before she returned to her senses. "What do you want now, Ruby?"
"I totally want you to, like, leave Shannon alone, that's what I want!" Ruby responded.
"What have I even done to Shannon?" Amy asked quizzically.
"Don't even play that, Amy," spat Ruby. "You're, like, totally making the drama club a living hell for her."
"Yeah?" Amy asked. "And, how am I doing that?"
"You know how!" Ruby snapped. "Ever since we started drama club, you've been a total bitch to her, mocking her, harassing her, even making a big stink about her being Hermia, and when she practically gave the up the part so you'd get off her back, you're still a bitch to her!"
"Am I?" Amy asked coldly. "Or, do ya think she just needs to grow a pair?"
"Seriously?!" Ruby asked.
"I mean, how does she expect to make it in show-biz if she can't handle it?" Amy asked.
Ruby shook her head and muttered, "You are totally unbelievable…"
"Yes, I know," Amy sneered with a most smug smile on her face; in spite of the context, she opted to, instead, take it as a compliment. "And what are you sucking up for her so much, anyway? What are you, her sister or something?"
"Look, we're just sick of your attitude, so just cut it out already!" Ruby demanded.
"My attitude?" Amy retorted. "You're the one getting on my case about something that doesn't even concern you, and I've got an attitude?"
"You're literally standing here and, like, proving it!" Ruby said.
"Yeah, whatev," said Amy with a shrug and an eye roll. "Look, I've got classes to get to, why so don't you quit wasting my time?"
With that, the girl with the poor attitude brushed past the Indian girl. Even in spite of her current state of mind, something that Amy had just said actually began to tug at Ruby's mind… Shannon was her best friend, but the more she thought about it, the more she felt like Shannon really was like the sister that she never had… and it was that thought that prompted Ruby to realize that to stick up for one another is something more than just friends do – it would also be something that sisters would do. She felt that it would be her sisterly duty to get Amy to stop harassing Shannon, and if she couldn't get results by herself, she would bring the matter before a higher authority…
Later that afternoon, Ruby raced over to the drama department to speak with her director before the day's rehearsals had gotten underway. In the back of the auditorium were a few rather small rooms, such as a couple of storage closets that were usually used for items such as props, scenery, costumes, and even one for electrical equipment such as microphones, spare lights, and the like. One of these small rooms served as Mrs. Bernardo's office, and as she spent a brief moment before a small mirror hung upon her wall to practice rather elasticized facial expressions, her concentration was broken by a frantic tapping she heard at her door.
"COME IIIINNNN!" She called out as she turned to face the door.
The door opened, and the Indian girl popped her head into the office to ask, "Mrs. Bernardo, can I talk to you?"
"Can you talk to me, of course, Ruby, you can talk to me; the channels of communication between a director and her thespians must always remain open!" Mrs. Bernardo responded. "Please, come in!"
Ruby further stepped into the office and began to explain some of the drama that had unfolded on the stage, but was not being seen in the actual production: "We've got a problem with the play…"
Mrs. Bernardo raised an eyebrow in intrigue to hear such a tactful comment coming out of the mouth of one of her young thespians.
"And, just what is this problem of which you speak?" She asked.
Many of the other thespians began to file into the auditorium for their day's rehearsal, and it was not long at all before they could hear the voice of their drama teacher echo throughout.
"THESPIANS ASSEMBLE!"
At that moment, Mrs. Bernardo had emerged onto the stage, and something was certainly off about this, because she did not even bother with one of her overly dramatic entrances as she always did at the beginning of each class; this, understandably, was cause for concern for just about all of the thespians.
"For the time being, I would like for all of you to engage in some vocal warm-ups to work on properly projecting your voice out into a packed house without straining your vocal chords," instructed Mrs. Bernardo before she pointed out two specific thespians. "In the meantime, Amy, Shannon, I would like to see the two of you in my office, please."
The two freckle-faced girls shot looks of uncertainty toward one another, however, the look that Amy shot Shannon was a tad more menacing… something told her she would not like where this would be going. The stage became awkwardly silent as the other thespians watched the two girls follow their director into one of the smaller rooms in the back, where upon she instructed them to have a seat in the chairs that were in front of her desk. Mrs. Bernardo swung the door behind her, but it did not completely close shut, which allowed for Ruby to sneak over and eavesdrop on this little conference their drama teacher had with the two, and as she took her seat behind her desk, she started off with a seemingly random tangent…
"Ladies… I have a story to share with you… a story from a magnificent and groundbreaking film from years past of which your generation may or may not have even heard… a film titled… THE WIZARD OF OZ…"
The two girls looked all the more confused. While Amy was familiar with the plot of the movie, she had never really taken the time to watch it in its entirety. Shannon, however, was very much familiar with The Wizard of Oz – it was one of her most favorite movies; watching it with her family during Passover one year when she was little was one of the defining moments of her childhood that fueled her lifelong passion for the world of movie magic and make believe. Still, even she was confused as to why Mrs. Bernardo felt it necessary to share such a story with them.
"One of the characters from this film, a scarecrow who wishes to have a brain, was played by a performer named Ray Bolger… but, he was not originally cast as this character, he was originally cast as a man made of tin who wishes to have a heart…"
"Oh, I'm familiar with this story," said cinephile Shannon.
"Really?" Mrs. Bernardo perked up. "Would you care to elucidate, Shannon?"
"Me?" A surprised Shannon asked, while a nod from her drama teacher encouraged her to press forward. "Okay… well, Ray Bolger had an extremely loose and limber performing style that he felt would have made him the perfect choice for playing the scarecrow… but, instead, he was cast as the tin man, and Buddy Ebsen was cast as the scarecrow… so, Mr. Bolger went to head of M-G-M Studios, and kept demanding that their roles be swapped, and eventually his demands were met, and he was cast as the scarecrow."
Although Amy seemed a might lost in the story Shannon had just told, Mrs. Bernardo beamed as she complimented, "My dear girl, you are VERY knowledgeable! Now, perhaps you could confirm if this is the case with our production…"
Shannon just stared at her drama teacher with blank confusion and responded, "I don't understand…"
"It's been brought to my attention our tin man wanted to be our scarecrow, so our scarecrow gave up the role to our tin man..." explained Mrs. Bernardo as she leaned back into her chair and shared the information that her anonymous informant had relayed.
Shannon and Amy were still left incredibly confused by what the implications were of which Mrs. Bernardo spoke - they even exchanged a quizzical glance with one another.
"What do you mean?" Shannon asked.
The drama teacher finally got down to business and asked Shannon, "Was there pressure on your part to give up the role of Hermia?"
Once again, Shannon and Amy exchanged glances with one another, but the angered look on Amy's face made Shannon more than uncomfortable about this entire conference; as far as the ginger-haired girl was concerned, the bespectacled brunette next to her had basically ratted her out, though this was not the case at all. The sudden silence in the room then prompted Mrs. Bernardo to press just a little harder, but not so much that she overstepped any boundaries of confidentiality.
"Would somebody please care to enlighten me?" She requested as she folded her arms and gave the girls an unusually stern glare.
Feeling personally attacked, Amy felt it imperative to claim her innocence, despite doing so incriminating her instead: "I mean, yeah, I auditioned for the role, but I never pressured Shannon into giving it up so I can have it!"
Mrs. Bernardo raised an eyebrow before she returned her attention to the bespectacled brunette and asked, "Shannon, would you care to weigh in on this?"
If she never felt like she possessed any form of social anxiety before, Shannon did in the moment; she did not like to lie, but she had very much feared that if she got Amy into trouble that it would just make things even worse between the two of them; finally, she proceeded with her explanation…
"Well… I mean, um… don't you remember, Mrs. Bernardo, how you explained the importance of chemistry to establish a connection with not only one another as thespians, but with our audience?"
"Yes…" nodded Mrs. Bernardo.
"Well… with Amy being Rex's girlfriend… the chemistry might be… more authentic and believable for the audience if she played Hermia…"
This weak explanation garnered a rather smug smirk from Amy; if this were a courtroom and she a defendant who was being prosecuted, Shannon's testimony would have actually helped her case. Outside the door, however, the palm of her hand met Ruby's forehead; she could not believe Shannon was still throwing in the towel and essentially allowing Amy to get her way again.
"That's your story and you're sticking to it?" Mrs. Bernardo asked.
"Yes…" Shannon meekly nodded.
The drama teacher possessed a knack for reading other people; Shannon's expression, body language, and cadence told her that she was not being entirely truthful… but, if this was the story that Shannon chose to stick to, then that was about all that Mrs. Bernardo could do regarding the matter, although, she did attempt to give Shannon one last opportunity:
"If I were to offer you the role of Hermia again, would you still be interested?" She asked.
Ruby continued to listen in anticipation; she wanted Shannon to take the opportunity to actually stick up for herself and accept the role again. Amy, however, wanted Shannon to decline the offer so that she may keep the role for herself and not have any other girl play a romantic interest opposite her boyfriend. Once again, Shannon felt a might uncomfortable about the entire ordeal; although she still very much wanted this role that she had auditioned for and originally was cast in, she still felt like things would be far more peaceful if she just let Amy keep the role.
"Um… well… I… don't know…" she mumbled. "I mean… how do you feel about the job Amy's been doing with the role?"
Mrs. Bernardo looked a might taken aback by Shannon tossing the ball back into her court, and even Amy looked surprised by such a response, if only because it seemed like all she needed to do was answer yes or no, not answer a question with another question… and, to make matters worse, she probably was not going to like their drama teacher's tactful reply:
"Speaking strictly as a director, I would say that Amy's inability to remember her lines properly and the lack of sincerity in her delivery do not make for believable performances as Hermia…"
Ruby did all she could to keep a straight face; even if Mrs. Bernardo was being honest as a director (and, perhaps, painfully so, at that), it still felt as though Amy had just received a well-deserved sick burn. If she could see the look on the ginger-haired girl's face, she would have seen that it was akin to a deer having just taken a bullet between the eyes after being stunned by headlights. Shannon, meanwhile, looked incredibly troubled to hear this, as she considered the situation…
"Oy vey… well… it'd be just awful if our first production of the semester was a flop after everybody worked so hard putting it together…"
Mrs. Bernardo's face sweetened while Amy's soured.
"If you believe it would save the play… then, yes, I would accept the part again…" Shannon finally said.
"MARVELOUS!" Mrs. Bernardo exclaimed; even though she wanted to give Shannon a fair chance to make her own decision, from her perspective as a director, the bespectacled brunette was a much better performer and much better suited for the role.
"But… but…" muttered a broken Amy.
Mrs. Bernardo finally turned to face the ginger-haired girl once again to impart some words of wisdom onto her: "Remember, Amy… there are no small parts, only small actors… I do believe you possess talent somewhere within you… talent that's going to waste because you haven't figured out how to properly harness it… but, if you can, I believe you could eventually have what it really takes to make for a fine leading lady…"
Amy's mouth twisted into a crooked expression… Wasted talent? In her mind, she thought she had done a darned good job in the role… sure, maybe she flubbed a line or two during rehearsals… but, that wasn't her fault – Shakespeare had such a weird way of writing. And, yes, maybe she didn't put much effort into her on-stage acting… but, even Shannon pointed out that she and Rex possessed natural chemistry, wouldn't the audience pick up on that? Mrs. Bernardo then returned her attention to the bespectacled brunette with absolute delight.
"So, back to our original plans… Shannon, you shall be our Hermia!" She declared. "I'll give you a day to familiarize yourself with the text again before we rehearse you with Rex, but, given your vast Shakespearean knowledge, I doubt that would be much trouble for you."
Feeling happy about being reassigned her original role, Shannon revealed a smile… a smile that soon disappeared when she noticed that, while their drama teacher paid her no attention, Amy gave her the stink-eye over this new arrangement – she was not at all happy to be forcibly removed from the role, and watch as her boyfriend played romantic leads with another girl.
"In the meantime, today we shall rehearse the fairies!" Mrs. Bernardo exclaimed as she arose from her seat and lead the two girls out of her office.
Amy could only scoff and roll her eyes at the thought of being cast as a fairy instead. Upon exiting the office, the two girls noticed that Ruby had been standing around in a rather nonchalant manner - something that made Shannon actually look rather pensive.
"Ruby... you were the one told Mrs. Bernardo, weren't you?" She asked in disapproval.
"Yeah, I totally was," Ruby accepted full responsibility.
This only further soured the bad mood Amy found herself in as she barked, "Oh, I see... you two ganged up and ratted me out, huh?"
With another scoff, the angry Amy stormed away, though Shannon attempted to clear the air as she called out to her.
"Amy, wait, I had nothing to do with this!" With that insistence having fallen on deaf ears, Shannon turned to the Indian girl to lash out at her for going against her previous wishes. "Ruby... I begged you not to go to Mrs. Bernardo about all of this!"
"Hey, I did it for you!" Ruby retorted. "Amy was making your life a total hell in this club; she needed to be knocked off her high horse! Plus, Mrs. B. put you back in the part that you're totally, like, better in than Amy, anyway!"
"This didn't concern you, and you didn't need to make this a bigger issue than it already was!" Shannon argued as she now dreaded how this would make the rift between she and Amy even worse… little knowing that her reaction was about to cause a little tiff between she and Ruby instead.
"Seriously?! This is, like, the thanks I get?!" Ruby asked. "I did all this to help get Amy off your back, cause you're my friend! Isn't that what we, like, talked about the other day? That friends stick up for each other?"
Shannon just went blank; in the heat of the moment, she found herself at a loss for any other words upon the realization that she was actually engaged in a quarrel with her best friend. To see no more words were to be spoken here, Ruby likewise rolled her eyes, scoffed, and walked away to join her fellow fairies for their day's rehearsal; she could not believe Shannon could be so ungrateful for her help like this. Shannon, meanwhile, unsure of what else to do or say, made a beeline for the nearest exit.
Once again, I really have to commend Albertson for helping to shape our next two chapters: clearly, whatever decision Shannon made would have directly affected the outcome of the entire play, and I, personally, could have gone either way with her decision... it doesn't seem like a stretch to imagine she'd just as well let Amy keep the role of Hermia just to keep her happy, but she's clearly thinking more about the good of the whole club's effort in putting together this play by accepting the role again based on Mrs. Bernardo's tactful critique (and, there also is a strange sense of satisfaction knowing Amy just got a big dose of indignation over being reduced to being a fairy).
We'll see how all of this will unfold in our next chapter, so stay tuned!