Thank you so much for taking the time to read, thank you as well to those who took the time to write reviews, I feel so lucky to have such amazing and generous readers. This chapter came out shorter than I expected because I had to cut it into two parts. I do hope you have the patience to stick around for the next installment. Be seeing you soon!

PS. Please tell me what you think about this one :)

The Audition

What exactly do you do when the day you thought would never come suddenly arrives?

(Because right now, Emily had no clue whatsoever.)

"Who else is in it?" JJ asks as they sat down for lunch.

Emily hesitates for a moment, "Naomi."

"Hold on, Naomi? Ice Queen Naomi?"

She merely looks at him not quite sure whether to agree or argue, but in the end she gives him a feeble nod.

"I didn't know she could act?"

"Me neither," she agrees. JJ let's her eat in silence for a while before he blurts out, "I moan!"

"What?"

"Naomi spelled backwards is IMOAN." He says innocently in a matter-of-fact kind of way, making Emily laugh so hard soda almost comes out of her nose.

"She is quite beautiful though." He later adds.

Emily looks at him thoughtfully, JJ was right about that too.

"I TOLD YOU!"

"Katie..."

"OH MY GOD EMS!"

"Katie, you... are crushing me!"

It takes quite a bit of effort before she finally squirms out of her sister's grip; both of them wearing the same goofy smile on their faces afterwards.

"So have you thought about what you're going to tell mum?"

"What?"

"We're supposed to go on holiday remember and this—"

"Oh shit." Emily didn't really think that far ahead. Fuck.

It was about three days later when Effy asks to see them. Emily was rushing from her last class, when she catches a glimpse of Effy and Naomi sitting across from each other reading through the lines. Her heart pounds the moment she realizes that it was only going to be the three of them, the sound so strong it fills her ears.

Effy sees her and beckons for her to join them while Naomi read through the rest of the scene. The first time Emily sees her perform she understood immediately why Naomi was there. She was so confident, so exact, so deliberate... a different kind of intense.

"Okay, that was great. Now I want you to read together," Effy leafs through the script, "Scene four."

The scene was rough for a cold read but they managed to do it well, with only minor flubs here and there which in the end were barely even noticeable. Emily feels her stomach flip over when Naomi shoots her a smile right after the scene.

"Something's wrong." Effy said shaking her head.

"Excuse me?" Naomi scowled.

"It feels like something's off. It doesn't seem real enough."

"Of course it doesn't, it's acting." Naomi replied dryly, sharp crystal ice lacing her every word.

"That's not what I meant." Effy rolls her eyes ever so slowly, "there's no honesty... no..." she starts to pace, "warmth."

Emily shifts uncomfortably in her seat, the truth was, she wasn't really a hundred percent sure she even said the words correctly, let alone delivered a decent line. She couldn't hear herself think with both Effy and Naomi in the same room with her... in fact she might as well have been speaking gibberish.

"Listen, you two play best friends. For this to work, you have to sound more intimate..."

"Sorry?" They both say almost simultaneously, a hint of a blush streaking across their faces.

Effy raises an eyebrow; she could tell this was going to be difficult. "I'm just trying to say that you're both practically strangers and it shows."

When the read through was over, Emily suddenly felt as if she needed time to slow for a while, even just a little, because she desperately needed a moment to sort things out

It seemed like she was weighed down by one problem piled on top of the other, just threatening to make her crumble. For starters she still hadn't told her parents about the play, or the need for her to stay behind during the Summer Holiday to rehearse. Then there was the play itself, and the enigma that was Effy, and of course there was Naomi who she couldn't function properly around.

She sighs, running a hand through her bright red hair.

'Be careful what you wish for, you might not know what to do with yourself when it comes true.'

It was pouring outside, the rain drumming a maddening beat on the roof and on the concrete. The college was mostly empty by now, and Emily couldn't help but giggle as she realizes that it would be the perfect setting for a cheap slasher movie.

She walks on a bit more before she finally settles on an empty room at the far end of the corridor and closes the door behind her.

"Hi."

Emily nearly jumps out of her skin. She spins around; her heart feeling like it was now lodged in her throat.

"You scared me!" she breathes, finding it ridiculous how her pulse had gone twice as fast in mere seconds. It was her eyes... that wonderful shade of blue that made her nerves violently jitter with no sign of ever calming.

"Sorry," Naomi holds Emily's gaze for a moment before quickly looking away.

"What are you doing here?" the redhead asked lightly. She gives a nervous smile, feet frozen to the spot, as she tries her best not to look at Naomi too intensely.

"Thinking about earlier... what Effy said," Naomi furrows her brow a little, "She was talking about me you know? I sound cold."

"Naomi she wasn't— "

"Because she was definitely not talking about you... you were just..." she sighs out of frustration, and shoots Emily a sideways glance, "I mean how do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"I don't know... whatever it is, you're making me look bad."

This made Emily laugh, they both do and just like that the tension between them lifts. Naomi's eyes follow the small redhead as she walks across the room and sits by the chair next to hers.

"I want this to work Emily."

"I do too... that's why... that's why I think we should spend more time together."

"Pardon?"

"You heard Effy, we have to actually know each other for things to work properly and... I don't know... It's a stupid idea and you're probably busy and—"

Emily feels her palms sweat, as she mumbled the last few words. Naomi raises an eyebrow, a hint of a smile tugging on her lips.

"No, I think it's brilliant."