Broadway for Marcomina Week
Title: Rehearsal Rooms, part 3
A/n: Finally! It's done! Well, technically I wrote all of this as a 20 000 word one-shot, but that's a lot of words for a one-shot, so I split it up into 3 parts for convenience.
Anyway, review if you like it, because I'm actually really proud of this, and have fun!
Mina looked over Marco's sheet music, managing to get past his scribbly handwriting to see the notes and imagine how they would sound in her head. Her sight reading ability was okay, but she did comply more to the notes representing vocals as opposed to the ones representing piano notes, seeing as vocals were her stronger forte.
"Interesting song, Marco. What's the style though? R and B? Pop? Jazz?"
"The style I was aiming for was jazz club kind of tone, but a while back, I fiddled with the tempo and went up the octave to give it a bit of an intimate piano ballad sound," Marco explained, stretching out his hands in preparation to play the rehearsal room's upright. "I added some vocal harmonies on the chorus if you don't mind sight reading. Think it'll sound good?"
"It might," Mina concluded, looking over the staffs cautiously. "For the vocals in general though, just remember that singers need time to breathe."
"I remembered," Marco admitted, pushing the key cover back and pressing a certain chord. "Now, shall we warm up before I show you my awesome new song for you?" The confidence in his expression was a bit of a testament to how easier it was getting for Marco to prep his singing voice without her assistance. Obviously, he was learning plenty.
Mina smiled in response to her student's new habit, but before she could reply, she was suddenly hit with a quick case of deja vu when her phone vibrated in her pocket. Attention grabbed, Mina reached into her pocket and pulled her device out, taking notice to the name on the screen. The feeling of deja vu intensified when she recognized who was calling. It caused her to take her eyes away from the screen for just a second to look at Marco, "Hey, think you can warm up yourself?"
Marco complied simply, pressing the keys calmly, "Of course, of course. Take your time."
"You're a saint," Mina grinned as she approached the door and stepped out of the room. "Don't push yourself too hard though."
The okay sign Marco gave her with his fingers was a good enough response for her.
Once out of the room and in the hall, Mina answered the phone, "It's nice to know that you're at least using your own phone this time, Thomas."
Thomas chuckled on the other end, "Yeah, thanks for giving me your new number, by the way. It was very helpful today."
The last bit of Thomas's sentence caught Mina's attention, "Helpful? What do you need?"
A confident chuckle followed, "Hah! I don't need this, but I know for a fact that you're gonna need this, Mina." He took a dramatic pause, "2 words: Natalie Goodman."
Mina was left confused, one eyebrow raised, "Excuse me?"
"Natalie Goodman, Mina!" Thomas repeated. "Y'know, the sister in Next To Normal?"
She had no idea where Thomas was going with this, "Yeah, what about her?"
"I'm at a workshop audition for a production of n2n, I'm probably not gonna make it in since I'm too handsome and that intimidates everyone, but they're really fucking desperate for a good Natalie," Thomas explained, anticipation building in his voice. "So I told the director that I know a soprano at RAPA who totally nailed A Heart Full Of Love in her freshman year and has the perfect Watch What Happens in her arsenal. Then the director told me that if she gets here in an hour and auditions, there is a really good chance that the role will be hers."
Mina's eyes widened in surprise, not being able to believe what she was hearing, "Wait, what!? What is this? A national tour? A revival?"
"Off-broadway revival," Thomas explained. Though, it was questionable why one would revive such a modern musical such as Next To Normal. Perhaps popular demand was a major factor. "But listen, n2n still has a loyal fanbase, so they might transition it into a legit broadway show if they get popular enough."
The words 'legit broadway' positively triggered Mina onto cloud nine, a wondrous smile taking her face, "Legit broadway? Thomas, you better not be shitting me..."
"I'm not! I swear!" Thomas insisted, holding back his glee as he spoke. "Get your ass over here, Carolina! It's just an hour by subway, and bring your sheet music if you can! I'll text you the address!"
"I can, I always have a song on me, and yeah, I could get over there in an hour," Mina informed, her nerves burning with excitement. But suddenly, the glass shattered when she realized where she was and what time is was. "Wait, hold on though, I'm with Marco!"
"Awww! I knew you two would get together eventually," Thomas cooed cutely. "I mean, I knew it would happen soon, because Mina, I swear to god, when you brought him drinking with us, you looked at him like you were dying to get your hands on some of that freckled dick. I don't blame ya, I'd feel the same way, but you saw him first and I must respect that."
Mina blushed rather harshly and was suddenly thankful that Thomas couldn't see her through a phone, "S-shut up! It's not like that! No, I'm in the middle of another session with him. I just can't leave like this!"
Thomas chuckled, "I'm just teasin', Mina. But c'mon, all you ever did freshman year when we were hanging was talk about making your broadway debut. That was all I heard: Broadway, broadway, and guess what? Even more broadway! Mina Carolina, are you really going to tell me right now, that despite making a secret vow to make it on broadway no matter what, you're gonna just look a potential life-changing audition in the eye and say no?! Just because you made an odd promise to a weird freckled guy?"
"He's not just a weird freckled guy, he's Marco," Mina insisted. "He's my friend, and I just can't abandon him."
"This is a chance you've been given!" Thomas reminded. "And you're telling me that you aren't driven as hell? C'mon! It's an audition, but I know you'll make it! I told them your vibrato is as good as Alice Ripley's and way more controlled than Hugh Jackman's! Get over here and prove me right!"
"I told you, I can't just leave Marco here, we have an agreement," Mina explained, looking back into the room via the door's window pane, where her freckled friend appeared to be arranging his sheet music on the music stand. "He's my friend..."
"So am I," Thomas reminded. "Come on, I want you to come here so I can come back to this theatre months from now with a front row ticket and the ability to tell whoever I'm sitting beside that I know one of the leads in this production." If only he could add his puppy dog eyes for extra help. "Please come, Mina, I can't wait to see you blow these guys away with your soprano."
Mina took a moment to breathe, considering her situation in her mind. She enjoyed her perfect record of meeting up with Marco on time every week without missing a single rehearsal slot, the only time she did was when she went to meet up with Thomas and Sam last month, but that was last month, and she even brought Marco with her.
Marco would understand, he was one of the nicest sweethearts she had ever met, and that initial nice factor was possibly the reason she got so attached to him.
How far would that attachment last though? It wasn't like a commitment or anything, not like a phone plan, or a subscription to a magazine, could she stop whenever necessary? Heck, she wasn't even stopping, this was just a pause to take part in other activities.
It couldn't be that bad, right?
After enough time to think passed, Mina replied, "... I'll be there." Hastily, she ended the call, not wanting to hear Thomas's excited cheer in favour of prioritizing her thoughts on something else. Looking back towards the room, she approached the door and re-entered.
Marco seemed to be practicing simple piano scales on the instrument when she entered, "Hey, is something up?" He noticed her nervous state quickly.
"No, everything's fine," Mina insisted.
Marco raised an eyebrow, "Really? Then explain why you look like you've got a secret to hide?"
She had never been that good at keeping things hidden from people, so she came out honestly, "I have to go."
Confused, Marco crooked his head, "Go? Like, to the bathroom?"
Mina had to clarify, "Thomas called, and he said that there's this open audition for Next To Normal across town happening right now. It's a bit of a revival, but he says they might transition to real broadway if it's popular enough. He dropped a word about be and now they want to see if I'll make a good Natalie Goodman."
Marco was not too familiar with rock musicals, but he nodded in comprehension, "Oh, that's actually really great."
"I know, it is," Mina informed, a small grin creeping onto her face, only to be shot down in mere seconds. "It's just... we're in the middle of a lesson, you're gonna show me your song and I don't wanna just leave you hanging."
The factor of how much Mina cared about his career and talent surprised him, "What? No, I uh... forget about it, Mina."
"Huh?" she asked as she crooked her head.
"I can show you another time," Marco insisted, standing up to grab the sheets laying out the vocals off a nearby music stand. "My little song really isn't anything compared to an audition like that."
"But it's your song, and you're in this school just so you could compose something for your band," Mina reminded. "I know this is special for you and I want to at least hear it once."
Marco took his papers back, eyes glue to the floor as he spoke, "It is special to me, but broadway's special to you." The words of Jean rung in his ears: support them no matter what.
He found it in himself to look up and see the soft expression on Mina's face, "Just go and rock that audition, I'll be fine here. I've got this room for the next hour, I can practice on my own."
Face fighting to express content, sorrow, and overwhelming joy, a pause followed in Mina's dialogue, a pregnant silence filling the sound proof walls of the room. Marco simply expected her to smile and say thanks, but what he saw next was unexpected.
Mina walked towards him with strong steps, and once close enough, held out her arms and wrapped them around him rather tightly. In all honesty, it did surprise her how much he gave a damn about her dream. It was not like she gushed to him about how many times she dreamt of making her broadway debut like she did with Annie, and in her memories, she had only mentioned a few times in favour of focusing on the lesson.
He cared about her, he supported her, he gave a damn about her goals. And for that, Mina was filled with the feeling of gratitude.
Eyes widening in surprise, Marco tensed up quickly, the only movement he was able to muster being him moving his neck to look down at her. Seeing her with her head pressed against his chest was undoubtedly adorable and kind of worrisome. What he felt in the moment totally contradicted when he said to Annie last month.
Eventually, Mina pulled away from him, looking up at his face with a warm grin and earnest eyes, "Thank you."
Luckily, Marco had gotten better at hiding his nervous blushes, "Y-y-you're welcome. Now go to the audition."
"You're amazing, you know that?" Mina smiled, turning around to gather up all her stuff.
"I've been told," Marco said, watching her gather up her gear with skills earned from years of changing backstage with a 15 second time-slot. Speaking of seconds, barely a few passed before she got all her stuff assembled and left the room.
Sighing, Marco grudgingly returned back to the piano bench. Perhaps Freckled Jesus and The Springles's new single Something Special could be played for someone another time.
The march season brought on sun over the district of Trost, which was very refreshing towards the citizens. Classes still held on as normal, especially Marco's theory sessions held inside a stuffy classroom, but he did manage to catch the stage-fighting and dance classes deciding to hold their classes outside. Anothing thing that Marco noticed was the fact that it was that particular time of year again where people tended to start slacking off, or started consuming copious amounts of coffee to prevent from slacking off.
Marco noticed the Shakespeare majors were getting irritable, as Boris Feulner and Marlowe Frudenberg had gotten into an argument which escalated into a full fight. Thankfully, the two were not stage-fighting majors, and the only things being exchanged were Boris's screams on how Marlowe's mother was a hamster and Marlowe insisting that Boris's father smelt of elderberries. Finals and critiques really fucked a lot of people up.
Marco himself was not too worked up on finals, as all he had to do was a simple theory exam as opposed to a critique, but he did find himself slipping just a little bit in his classes. He did have to completely bullshit his way through an answer when Ms. Brzenska randomly asked him in the middle of the class the significance of staccato strings. At least he made it through, and a long test was a little bit better than a final critique performance.
Throughout the month, Marco noticed the musical theatre majors scurrying around the rehearsal rooms as he walked past the hall on a random weekday. It seemed logical that they would feel this way about a performance, but as he watched the majors fight over rehearsal room time, the memory of a certain pigtailed broadway hopeful just had to creep into his mind.
For a guy who only came by the academy 3 times a week, not seeing one person in this one place should not have bothered him. Besides, he had his shift at the music shop to worry about the other 4 days of the week. But somehow, Marco could not help but wonder where on earth Mina was.
Of course, seeing as RAPA was post-secondary education, one would not get detention for not attending for a few weeks as long as their critiques were still performed and marked. But still, he could recall Mina being greatly dedicated to her classes, whether they be vocals, stage-acting, dance, or even stage-fighting. Her absence gave Marco the impression that Mina was intending to quit RAPA.
Not everyone needed schooling in the performance industry. Heck, Marco's distant cousin Ymir made it fine as a hiphop dancer without going to a lofty school like Jean was. Still, would Mina really be that quick to leave? One audition and she would be gone like the wind?
Mina's career was hers to use and control, that was true, but seeing her simply leave just like that left an emptiness in Marco's wasted heart. Not seeing her step out of a dance class laughing with Hannah Diamant made Marco's commute from RAPA's front door to the room of his theory classes a little less positive. Not seeing her in the mornings with her daily chamomile tea in her hands as she went to Mr. Smith's vocal classes was not as fun as it sounded.
And coming to booked rehearsal rooms and waiting for her for an hour was simply saddening.
Mina made a vow to never miss their sessions together, but her simply not being there on time, and not being there at all, left a hole in his heart. The only thing that filled that hole was disappointment. She didn't answer his texts, let alone his calls, but Marco pushed that feeling of discouragement to the back of his mind. Perhaps she was busy, which lots of people were. Speaking of busy, that state was something he tried to keep up for himself.
At this moment in time, Marco's time in rehearsal room 14 was reaching the end. As he anticipated, Mina did not arrive, but Marco was not surprised as the first 2 weeks of him waiting there for nothing prepped him for the feeling. Still, he utilized his rehearsal time to keep his piano skills in top shape, compose on a piano that was far better than the epiano with a broken pedal he had at his apartment, and even perform some of his original work.
Marco made the choice to end his session 4 minutes early and gathered up all of his music into his bag. With everything assembled, he opened the door of the rehearsal room and stepped out into the hallway. His feel shuffled him to the hall's stair case, his eyes skimming the other rehearsal rooms mindlessly to see other people rehearsing and practicing, just as he was.
Approaching the stairs, Marco was about to walk down them, but before he could, he caught a glimpse of familiar, something very familiar. Eyes taking a second take at rehearsal room 16, he was extremely surprised to see who was in there.
Inside, Mina Carolina only stopped practicing the verse of Watch What Happens when a particular freckled friend of her knocked on the glass window. Turning her head, the sight of him made her face express some rather subdued surprise. In mere seconds, she shuffled through the large room and opened up the door quickly.
Looking down at her, Marco didn't speak, he simply glanced at her as if she was a piece of art in an exhibit that no one knew what to think of. His throat was suddenly dry, and he lacked the ability to speak.
Thankfully, while looking back up at him, Mina managed to swallow the lump in her throat and talk, "... hi."
"Hi," Marco managed to reply once the pregnant silence between them was broken. "Haven't seen you in a while."
"Yeah, same..." Mina agreed, nodding her head. Perhaps her voice was tired from practicing, or she simply found it hard to speak with him. Which was odd, considering how well she clicked with this guy. "I uh... I'm practicing for my critique next week."
"Oh, again?" Marco asked, intrigued.
Mina nodded, walking back in the room with the expectation that Marco would follow, "Yeah, just doing some touch ups before the performance. I got Watch What Happens down back in January just to avoid all the stress of last minute practicing, but I wanted to make sure I still had it in me. I've been singing way more, y'know."
Marco did in fact follow her inside, "Really? But what about the audition though? What happened there?"
Mina grasped her water bottle and took a seat on a tall stool, "Do you really want to know?" She took a swig of her water as she waited for his reply.
He nodded earnestly as he found his own place on the piano bench, a seat that he always found comfortable, "Of course. That audition seemed pretty damn important to you. And I haven't seen you in a while, think you can catch me up?"
Putting the water bottle down, Mina swallowed the lemon-laced liquid along with the uncomfortable nervous lump in her throat before replying, "Well, if you really want to know, the audition went well. I had to come back for a callback audition, but that was it."
That explanation did not provide too much, but Marco was smart enough to fill in the blanks himself, "So... did you get in?"
Mina nodded, "Yep, I did. Say hello to the future off-broadway Natalia Goodman."
Marco's face and eyes lit up, "Mina, that's amazing!" He smiled at her genuinely, "You're in a real production now, that's great!"
"I know," Mina said officially, looking down with a modest smile. "I'm excited, but I'll have to stop coming here though..."
This caught Marco off guard, "Wait, what? You're quitting RAPA?"
Mina shook her head automatically, "No, not technically. The classes here are flexible and you can explore other projects as long as your tests and critiques are taken care of. I'm not quitting, and I haven't even thought of quitting. I'm actually post-poning my classes and degree for a while." She took a pause of hesitance, letting the words in her mind web themselves together before saying them, "It's just, for the past few weeks, I've just been really busy. I've been meeting up with directors, choreographers, vocal trainers, and there's even this one lady who wants to be my agent. I can't exactly balance school with all that going on. Heck, I've only been coming to classes twice a week. Those happen to be days when you're not here, but I can't go juggling rehearsals and classes like this forever. One of them has to go, Marco, and you know me well enough to know what I'd give up."
The truth in Mina's words were more apparent than Hugh Jackman's vibrato, Marco did know Mina well. He knew that she wouldn't let a chance to be in a broadway show like this slip away like leaves from a vine. She'd put herself out there, she'd accept her chance on the stage with open arms.
Marco nodded his head minutely, complying to her beliefs, "Of course, Mina. It's fine, that makes perfect sense. Besides, all that broadway gushing you subjected me to wasn't for no reason, right?"
"No, it wasn't," Mina agreed. "This is my chance, Marco. With this chance I've been given, I'm gonna be..."
"... driven as hell," Marco completed for her, a small amused grin growing on his face. "Yeah, I know the song."
Mina seem entertained at his ability to finish her sentences and chuckled, "Yeah, I think I might've rubbed off on you a little too much."
"It's okay," Marco assured. "Legally's a great musical. And also, I finished watching all the musicals on the list you gave me. You were right about Menken."
The mention of her favourite composer got her smiling, "Marco, I'm always right about Menken." The mood remained elevated, even as she stood up to look over her sheet music on a music stand. She changed the subject of conversation, "By the way, how's your song doing?"
"I showed it to Sasha and Connie, they liked it, so I laid down some rhythm guitar and percussion tracks to go along with it," Marco explained, watching her move. "But get this, Sasha's gonna let me sing lead for this one while she sings harmony."
Mina looked genuinely surprised, "Wait, really? Marco, that's awesome! You're gonna do great!"
Marco smiled modestly, "Well, yeah. I mean, no one's gonna hear it until we either perform or record it, but still, I've been feeling great with my singing voice lately so I asked Sasha if I could take the wheel."
"That's amazing, Marco," Mina stated truthfully. "I cannot wait to hear your song. But, may I get a demo now?"
"Sorry, Mina, but I vowed to Sasha and Connie that I wouldn't let it leave our apartment until Sasha's microphone gets fixed so we could record this sucker," Marco explained, somewhat disdainfully, since he was rather proud of his new creation. But he still had commitments to his band he intended to keep. "You're gonna have to wait a while."
It was not surprising that Mina seemed disappointed, "Oh, well, that's fine, it's your song, anyway." It did hurt to not get a little demo, like what he attempted to do with her weeks ago. But then again, she had to go, and her choice to leave was her decision. "Can't wait to hear it."
"Connie says it's gonna sound great," Marco stated. Suddenly, the topic of conversation shifted once more, perhaps in Marco's interpretation that the subject of his music had nothing left to talk about, or perhaps because his mind was genuinely trapped on another topic. "Y'know, it sucks that you're gonna leave RAPA though. When are you gonna go?"
There was a chance that Mina was avoiding this subject, seeing as she suddenly scooted back to her spot on the stool and looked down, "A week from now, right after the mid-semester critique."
Comprehending, Marco nodded, "Ah, that seems only fitting."
"I guess it is," Mina agreed. Truth be told, she hadn't talk about this subject with anyone lately, as her choice to leave was only her own. "But talking about it now, I think I'm having second doubts."
"Second doubts?" Marco raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
"I have friends here, don't I? And I don't wanna just leave," Mina replied. "I have Annie, Hitch, Hitch's odd Shakespeare friends, Hannah, Mylius and Nac ... and you."
Marco fought back a blush, trying to remain modest, "Mina, please, this is broadway we're talking about, don't let us hold you back."
"I'm trying not to, but I suck at holding onto friendships outside of school," Mina admitted, seeing as she barely emailed or spoke to either Samuel or Thomas when they were out of town. The reason she'd probably remain friends with Annie and Hitch would be due to the fact that they were roommates, and there was no guarantee about staying close to Hannah, since the redheaded musical theatre major had her own classes and a rather handsome boyfriend to keep her busy. Things would be tough.
And holding onto to Marco would be tougher.
They had no classes together, she was mad at him the first time they met, and the only times they truly spent time together was 1 hour sessions once a week. That was nothing compared to having 2 or 3 shared classes, and she did take part in her life outside the rehearsal rooms.
Heck, she had only known Marco for about 2 and a half months at this point, and bonding with someone this strongly in that amount of time was fast.
But then again, wasn't everything in the theatre world fast? From the costume changes, to how quickly the time between the first rehearsal and opening night slipped away in one's hands, this could not be too improbable, would it?
"You can make new friends, can't you?" Marco offered, suddenly breaking Mina out of her train of thought.
"I can," Mina agreed, since she was quite sociable herself. "I just know that if I left RAPA, I'd leave a part of me behind."
Getting off the piano bench, Marco got up and approached Mina, placing his hand on hers before he spoke, "Mina, you'll be okay. And I know you enough to know that you'll be fine out there, as long as you're living your dream."
The pigtailed girl flushed, her entire body tensing up as she pushed his hand away from hers, "Uh... no, don't do that."
Her reaction caused Marco to recoil his hand away, "I'm sorry! It's just a little quirk I have."
"It' fine! It's fine!" Mina cut off, her voice gaining an element of sternness and professionalism. "It's just... months ago, before I met up with you for your first lesson, I vowed that um..." It started to look like she was going to confess something terrible. "... I basically vowed to myself that I'd keep this relationship professional, and that I wouldn't fall for anyone anytime soon."
This time, Marco's blush actually showed itself, "Oh, and this right here, it's- uh..."
"Not really helping that said vow," Mina admitted, her face turning rosy red as well.
Marco stumbled back onto the piano bench, flustered as hell, "Oh, well, sorry about that."
"It's okay," Mina insisted.
Marco tried chuckling it off, but when that didn't work, all he could really do is run his fingers through his hair in a frustrated manner and begin rubbing the tip of his nose, "Well, feels like we're just one big mess now, aren't we?"
"Probably," Mina agreed. "I suck at keeping vows."
"And I suck at helping people keep vows," Marco added on, his palms starting to get sweaty. "But um... you know what, you can't live your life just making vows and trying to keep them."
"Why do you say that?" Mina questioned.
Marco wove his confession smoothly into his words, "Because I didn't make a vow to start liking you any time soon, it just happened."
Mina looked shocked and surprised, "You- what?"
"And I didn't make a vow to start missing you when you were gone, I didn't make a vow to start wishing I could see you again every day, and I didn't make a vow to come into this room and talk to you when I woke up this morning," he listed, each word coming out courageously stronger than the last. He lifted his head up and looked her in the eye, "It all just happened. But what do you do when things just happened? You try to work with them and see what you can make of it."
Mina's experience of improvisation onstage allowed her to agree with his words, "Oh, all right. So what you're saying is, since we both happen to have these feelings for each other, we should just work with them and watch what happens?"
Admittedly, that little reference made him smile, "Yes, in a way, yes."
The silence that followed between them was suddenly filled with tension and anticipation, considering what was just confessed.
Truth be told, Marco never expected these feelings to come out. They could have in a song, but most poetry in music were filled with metaphors and other literary bullshit to the point where one wouldn't know what the message could be. And he absolutely did not expect that Mina was reciprocate said feelings with her own.
It was all heavy matter to them, and the pregnant silence between the two went on and on for a while.
It stopped when Mina muttered some surprising words, "Would anything between us even work well at all? You with classes, your job, and your band, and me with rehearsals and all that jazz."
Marco agreed with a nod, though, half-heartedly, "Probably." His answer was dry and low, cautiousness steeped into his tone.
A silent moment just followed, and at this point, it was probably best to assume that conversations in this room were going to have plenty of awkward pauses woven into the duration.
But the current awkward pause was broken after a few long seconds when Mina spoke, "Y'know, with all that said then, if you don't get over here and kiss me right now, I swear to god, I'm gonna lose my head."
Marco had never stumbled off a piano bench and complied to something more faster in his life.
Did you enjoy it? Did you not? Did you want to leave a review?
Seriously though, I do want to know how I did on this, I really do. I have a tumblr account Super-Sandri if you wanna talk about it there.
Anyway, hope you had fun on this ride. Who knows? Maybe I'll expand on this universe a bit in the future.
k'bye