The next morning, Ben hurriedly entered his homeroom class, hoping he could arrive with just enough time to get an answer.

When he walked inside, Ben managed to make direct eye-contact with the person he was hoping for. Ben smiled sheepishly at being caught so easily while the student giggled at his embarrassment. Just like yesterday, the girl smiled flirtatiously, before giving a subtle nod—

Agreeing to go with the plan.

"Well!" Fairy Godmother exclaimed, knocking Ben from his thoughts as he sat at his desk. "I expect we learned our homeroom manners yesterday. If not, we have dressing rooms that need painting."

Fairy Godmother paused a moment to sternly narrow her eyes at the students in warning, waiting until everyone nodded obediently before she continued, "Now, a few announcements. This morning during free period is your chance for musical auditions, both singles and pairs. I'll be in the theater until noon for those bold enough to explore the wingspan of their creative spirit."

Ben turned around to catch the attention of the same student as before, silently asking if she were sure. Once again, the girl nodded a little more eagerly than before, washing away any doubt Ben had in him.

When Fairy Godmother released the class from homeroom, everyone piled out into the hallway. Before Ben had a chance to escape into secrecy, Gil Playfair—a member of the Tourney team—caught up to him. "Hey, man!" Gil greeted energetically. "Your dad wants the team to hit the gym during free period. What do you want us to run?"

"Uh, I have other plans," Ben insisted uneasily. "Would you mind covering for me? Tell him I have homework or something?"

"Sure," Gil agreed with a careless shrug. "What are you doing?"

"Something I can't talk about now, but hopefully you will hear about it tomorrow," Ben claimed mysteriously as he began slipping through the crowd of students. "Thank you! Catch you later!"


With his evasive skills and fast footwork, Ben managed to run through the stairwell in record time, slip away from his father without being seen, and maneuvered through the auto-shop without tripping over any clunky tools.

Ducking out of the auto-shop class, Ben ran down the hall to enter the school theater from the backstage. Peering through the stage curtains, he saw nearly a dozen eager kids arriving, all wanting to try out for the musical. Spotting a nearby janitor's cart, Ben turned the mop upside down and used it as a cover as he rolled the car down the ramp past the group of students, into the shadows at the back of the auditorium.

From his safe hiding place, he watched as Fairy Godmother stepped onto the stage and began the auditions in her trademark dramatic style.

"This is where the true expression of the artist is realized, where inner truth is revealed through the actor's journey, where—" She stopped suddenly to glare around the theater. "Was that a cell phone?"

While the students hurriedly checked to see if they were the culprit, a young teenage girl standing next to Fairy Godmother answered timidly, "No, Mother, it was the warning bell."

Fairy Godmother nodded, satisfied that her domain had not been invaded. "Those wishing to audition must understand that time is of the essence, we have many roles to cast, and the final callbacks will be next week. You'll sing a few bars, and then I will give you a sense of where or not the theater is your calling." She paused in her speech to gesture grandly to the teen standing next to her. "Jane Paxson, my daughter and composer of this musical, will accompany you on the piano. She will be available for rehearsals prior to callbacks. Shall we begin?"

The auditions were turning out just as Fairy Godmother believed they would, which meant it wasn't pretty.

The first student was a freshman girl with a voice so soft that no one could hear her sing. The next girl gestured overly enthusiastically, but was completely off-key the entire time. Afterwards, a snappy dressed boy went next, but he was a terrible singer with no idea what the words of the song were, considering he was reading it from the palm of his hand. Next, another girl tried out, but sang too high-pitched for a musical. The weirdest audition had to be a boy and a girl who made strange gestures and performed slow somersaults as they chanted the lyrics in a hypnotic monotone.

As Ben impatiently watched the auditions continue on, someone behind him snickered. "So that's your clever disguise?" The beautiful voice teased. "Hiding behind a janitor's mop?"

Sighing in embarrassment, Ben turned around to see Mal with a raised eyebrow and amused smile. "It was the best thing I could come up with," he reluctantly admitted while pushing the cart away. "How did you get here so easily?"

"Through the main entrance," Mal insisted with a giggle still in her tone. "I waited until everyone went to class and snuck in. Maybe I should have come up with the plan instead of your blunt 'Meet me in the theater so we can do a secret audition' text."

Ben chuckled through his embarrassment. "Alright, next time you can come up with the evil scheme and I'll follow along."

"You better not give me free range," Mal joked as her teasing smile turned into a mischievous smirk. "There's no telling what I would make you do."

The 'blonde' teenager gestured to the theater. "Your friends don't know you're here, right?"

"Don't you mean our friends?" Ben corrected playfully. "And no, not really. I had Gil cover for me with my dad. He's the main person I'm worried about. Everyone else would be supportive of me."

"Well, Uma and Evie were the only ones I told," Mal informed with a careless shrug. "Evie said it was a bad idea, but I'm hoping to surprise her if weget a callback."

"When we get a callback," Ben corrected once again. "And we will thanks to your amazing voice."

Taking a seat in the very back row of the theater, the couple watched as Fairy Godmother checked her clipboard before announcing, "For the lead roles of Arnold and Minnie, we only have one couple signed up." She smiled warmly at her star students. "Audrey and Chad, I think it might be useful for you to show us why we gather in this hallowed hall."

As Audrey and Chad climbed up the stage steps with Carlos trailing behind them once more, Jane prepared to play as she asked, "What key?"

Instead of answering, Chad practically slammed a boom box on top of the piano. "We had our rehearsal pianist do an arrangement," he informed smugly.

Carlos rolled his eyes at the other two got into position. "Sorry," he apologized to Jane. "Chad is a jerk that only cares about himself. If it makes you feel any better, I think your song is amazing, unlike what they're about to perform."

Before Jane could have a chance to ask what he meant, music started pouring from the boom box. The upbeat tune sounded nothing like her soulful ballad. Yes, their voices sounded great, but Jane couldn't help feeling disappointed as they sang.

During the couple's number, the few kids who gathered their courage to audition became discouraged at seeing the duet. Audrey and Chad sung and danced as though they were professional. Almost everyone that they were flawless.

Almost.

"Audrey is holding back," Mal mumbled under her breath, causing Ben to lean forward to hear her better. "She's having to dial back on her voice to stay on the same level as Chad. He's already winded when the number just started. He went out of step on the choreography and she managed to cover it."

Ben raised a curious eyebrow. "How do you know all of this?"

"My family is big on performing," Mal claimed with another shrug. "Uma and I have an older cousin who is a professional vocal coach. As for the dancing, I know Carlos. I can tell by the way he's watching that he made the routine. I know how he teaches people to dance because he taught me, Jay, and Evie a routine when we were at Dragon Hall. This must be infuriating to see Chad not taking it seriously."

Soon enough the number finished, though it took glares at fellow students to get an applause. Afterwards, they slowly slinked out of the theater, totally intimidated and defeated.

"Don't be discouraged!" Chad advised as he followed them. "The Drama Club doesn't just need singers. It needs fans, too! Buy tickets!"

While he was busy with his 'adoring fans', Audrey and Carlos walked out together as they talked about what Audrey could improve on with the choreography. Meanwhile, Jane began gathering her music sheets, her anger boiling inside at seeing a song she worked hard on to be completely changed.

"Do we have any last-minute sign-ups?" Fairy Godmother announced. She looked around the room. "No? Good. Do—"

"Wait!" Mal shouted as she jumped out of her hiding spot, running toward the Drama teacher. "I'd like to audition, Fairy Godmother!"

Fairy Godmother raised an eyebrow at the outburst. "Timeliness means something in the world of theater," she scolded while placing her clipboard in her bag. "The individual auditions are long over. And you can't perform a pair if you're alone."

"She's not alone."

Raising her head, Fairy Godmother looked quite surprised to see a particular students emerging from the shadows to stand with Mal. "Ben Adams?" she questioned incredulously. "Shouldn't you be with your sport's team?"

"They don't know I'm here and neither does my father," Ben revealed as he gestured to Mal. "I'm here to sing and audition with her."

Fairy Godmother raised a suspicious eyebrow at the star athlete. "Even if you are serious about this, it's too late," she insisted. "I called for the pairs audition and you responded too late. Free period is now over."

"But Mal has an incredible voice," Ben persisted as the drama teacher started walking away. "If you'd at least give her a chance—"

"Perhaps," Fairy Godmother interrupted, "the next musical."

As the teacher exited the auditorium, she missed Jane tripping over the piano leg, her pages of music flying everywhere. Immediately, Ben jumped on stage to help with Mal following right behind him. As he started gathering the papers, Ben had no idea that his presence made Jane so speechless.

"You composed the song Audrey and Chad sang?" He wondered, waiting for a nod to continue, "And the entire show?"

Jane barely managed a nod. She just couldn't believe that the Ben Adams, star athlete and most popular guy in school, was talking to her of all people.

"That's really cool. I can't wait to hear the rest of the show." As Ben helped the composer to her feet, he couldn't help asking, "Why are you so afraid of them? It's your show."

Jane flinched at those words, not believing them. "It is?"

"Isn't the composer of a show like the playmaker in Tourney?" Ben questioned, before explaining. "You know, the person who makes everyone else look good. Without you, there is no show. You're the playmaker here, Jane."

"I am?" Jane had never thought of it that way before. Feeling bold and strong for the first time, she sat at the piano and asked, "Do you want to hear the way that duet is supposed to sound?"

She began playing the audition song that Chad and Audrey had rearranged. She played it more slowly, with feeling and soul. Ben looked at the music sheet and decided to just go for it. He began to sing softly:

"It's hard to believe,

That I couldn't see,

You were always there beside me . . ."

Mal soon joined in, a little more boldly than Ben.

"Thought I was alone,

With no one to hold . . ."

When they started harmonizing together, it sounded absolutely wonderful. Every now and then, they would gaze at one another, sparking the same glow inside them that they felt on New Year's Eve. Jane beamed as she listened to this simple, pure interpretation of her song. It was exactly what she hoped for.

No sooner than they had finished, someone called out their names. "Adams! Fae!

Whipping toward the far end of the theater, Ben and Mal couldn't help their surprised expression at seeing Fairy Godmother standing at the back door. She had been listening and watching the entire time, and she was impressed.

"Congratulations, you have a callback," Fairy Godmother informed as she wrote their names on her clipboard. "Although, I must warn you that they are being held the same day as the Tourney game and the Art Relay competition. However, if I see that you are serious, I will schedule your time to coincide with both intermissions so neither of you misses anything. Understood?"

Watching as the couple nodded eagerly, Fairy Godmother instructed her daughter, "Jane, please give them the duet for the second act. Make a schedule so you can work on it with them without it interfering in their other activities."

Fairy Godmother adverted her stern gaze toward Ben. "I won't say anything to your father, but the list will be posted tomorrow," she warned. "If you are truly exhausted from practicing for Tourney and this callback, I'll consider postponing it for Saturday afternoon if you give as much effort as you do for Tourney."

"That won't be necessary," Ben promised graciously. "Thank you."

Nodding in response, Fairy Godmother strode off to her next class, but not before catching a glimpse of Ben and Mal hugging each other at pure excitement at getting the callback.

This musical was going to be a lot more interesting—

And Fairy Godmother sincerely hoped they would do excellent.