The house the boys rented was in one word amazing. Lauren was the last one to arrive and she feasted her eyeballs on the expensive-looking furniture.
Joe was laughing. "So, what do you think?"
"I'm thinking this must've cost a fortune!" she laughed.
"We split it between all the guys, so it's not that bad. The others are outside, come on," he said, pulling her towards the back door.
"Joe, wait!" Lauren laughed. "Can you show me to my room, so I can leave my bags there?"
Joe halted and rubbed his neck.
"Yeah, about that… We don't have enough rooms for everybody so you kind of have to sleep in the living room. You brought a sleeping bag like I asked you to?"
"What?" she whined. "Joe, you can't be serious!" She knew there weren't enough beds, but she liked to act like a diva once in a while.
"Relax, Lo," Darren said, entering through the back door. "You're not the only one that needs to sleep here. Who knows, maybe we all camp out in the living room. Nice and cozy."
Lauren dropped her bags and followed Darren and Joe outside.
Nick, Matt, Jaime, Dylan, Meredith, Brian Holden and Julia were all sitting around a small table. The table itself was filled with drinks and snacks. In the back of the garden was the swimming pool, kept out of plain sight by little shrubs and flower beds. Lauren was tempted to put on her swimsuit and take a dive, but she took place in one of the empty chairs instead.
"Since Lauren finally decided to show up, I can make some announcements," Brian started.
There was a collective groan.
"I thought this was a party Brian, not a meeting," Joe complained, grabbing a beer.
"It's about our musical, so sit down and listen," Brian commanded. "We made a list of the characters and who we think would be perfect for the role."
"I thought we needed to audition?" Jaime asked.
"Yeah, well, change of plans. I know what you guys are capable of. Darren still has to write the songs so he can take your vocal range into account if necessary," Brian explained.
Lauren grabbed herself a soda from the table and took the bowl of Dorito's with her. Jaime and Julia both dived in with their hands, under loud protest from Lauren who tried to shield the bowl with her free hand.
Nick handed a piece of paper to Brian, who cleared his throat to draw the attention again.
"Okay, so… This is just a first draft and I assumed you all wanted to join in, so if that's not the case. Please let me know, okay?" He paused to look around, but nobody reacted.
"Fine. Harry Potter will be played by Darren and Jaime, you get to play Ginny Weasley. For Hermione we were thinking about…" Brian paused for dramatic effect. Lauren looked up, expecting to hear her name.
"Meredith?" Brian asked, looking at Meredith, who had almost dropped her beer hearing her name.
The girls all looked at each other.
"W-what about Lauren?" Meredith asked.
Nick started to snicker. "Oh, we have something else in mind for her."
"Look, Mere, we've put your name on it, but we can still change it. Like I said, it's just a draft," Brian said, earning himself a grateful smile from Meredith.
"Joe, we have the role of your life. You'll get to be Voldemort," Brian continued. Joe raised his beer and cheered, earning a pat on the back from Darren.
"Julia, we need you behind the scenes. Help us out with directing, stage, PA and such. Is this okay for you or do you want to join in on the cast?"
Julia waved her hand. "No, it's fine. I'll help you."
"And what about me?" Lauren asked. She was honestly getting a bit scared of what part the guys had in mind for her.
Brian, Nick and Darren all shared a mischievous grin.
"You, my dear Miss Lopez," Brian grinned. "You get to play Draco Malfoy."
Everyone burst out laughing, drowning Lauren's insults towards Brian and Nick.
"You were so good as Frodo, Lo, so why not make it your signature? Playing young boys?" Darren snickered.
"I'll fucking nail the part and you know it," Lauren said smugly. She didn't mind playing Draco, if she was honest she thought it was kind of awesome. But she would never admit it to the others.
"And Dylan?" Meredith asked.
"Ah, our golden voice. Dylan would make an excellent Dumbledore, don't you think?" Brian said. Dylan put his thumbs up.
"What about you, Brian?" Lauren wondered.
"Oh, I'm not playing anyone. I'll stick to writing and directing."
"We still need to find Goyle, Snape, Cho Chang, Lavender, Cedric, Neville, Bellatrix and Quirrell. We might add Molly Weasley too, we're still figuring that out. Maybe someone can take on multiple parts. Anyways, so we're going to have auditions soon to fill in these parts," Nick added.
"Aren't you forgetting someone?" Jaime asked suddenly.
Nick, Matt and Brian all looked at Jaime, Brian with a slightly panicked expression.
"Who's going to play Ron Weasley?" Jaime continued. Brian's face changed from panic to relief.
"God, Jaime. Give someone else a heart attack will you… Of course we didn't forget Ron. We already cast him," Brian said, handing back the paper to Nick.
Darren looked at his watch. "As a matter of fact, he should be here any minute now. I invited him over. You'll see when he gets here."
Lauren hated to be kept in the dark about something. Why didn't they just tell them who was going to play Ron?
Dylan stood up and walked towards Lauren, handing her something.
"Here," he said. "For you." Lauren looked at the small package in her lap, wrapped in the ugliest paper she ever saw.
"Is this what I think it is?" she squealed, tearing the wrapping and revealing her phone. "Oh my God, you fixed it?"
Dylan laughed. "Don't ask me how, but it's alive again."
Lauren jumped up and hugged Dylan, nearly knocking him over. "Thank you so much!"
He noticed the nearly healed scratches on her arm and elbow. "How did you get these?"
Lauren shrugged. "I tripped over my shoelaces a couple days ago. It's nothing."
Darren came to stand with them. "Honestly, Lauren, you're so clumsy I don't understand why you're not covered in bandages all the time."
"I'm not clumsy! I just like to hug the floor sometimes…" she joked.
Darren's phone went off and he went inside to answer it.
Lauren went to the girls to chat while Joe, Dylan and Brian dragged the music installation outside.
"When are we going for a swim?" Meredith asked.
"Are you kidding me? It's too cold," Julia complained. "The pool isn't heated."
Lauren pouted. "I was really looking forward to dive into that pool. I was expecting a pool party, to be honest."
The music started, but the girls kept themselves aside for a bit. It was getting cold outside, but they didn't want to be the ones to ruin the party. Although Lauren didn't see why they couldn't take the party inside. She was just about to make a comment about it, when Darren showed up again.
"Everyone, can I have your attention please?" Darren screamed above the music.
Joe turned the music down. Everyone waited for Darren to continue.
"I want you guys to meet our Ron Weasley," he said, waving towards a tall, dark-haired guy that came out of the living room, onto the terrace.
Lauren immediately recognized him. "No freaking way," she murmured.