A/N: I'm back! This was a doozy to write, and I can't believe how many favorite stories I got from this! Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! I had no idea this would be so popular. Pop-youuu-lar…anyway :) Just to forewarn you, this is intertwined with a lot of the Wicked Script, most of which I got from watching YouTube videos of past performances. I even found the same performance I saw live in London in 2008! So exciting! However, as always, neither Wicked nor the Chipmunks belong to me, no matter how much I wish they did. I did use the Glee version of Defying Gravity for Jeanette's lyrics, so they're a bit different from the Broadway version. Other than that, keep reading and reviewing; I think I'm going to drag this out a few more chapters! Tell me what you think!
PS: According to some readers, I've been spelling Brittany's name wrong. So this from this chapter on, she will now be Brittany instead of Britney. Thanks for pointing that out to me, starbin21 and darth-korbo!
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Fifteen minutes later, Jeanette was chewing nervously on her pinky finger, glancing around at the classmates in the auditorium waiting to hear she and Brittany compete.
She felt a hand on her back, and she jerked at the sudden touch.
"Calm down slick, it's just me."
Jeanette looked up, surprised to see Alvin standing beside her with a smirk on his face, so identical to Simon's it startled her.
"Don't tell me you're nervous," he continued, leaning casually against a doorframe opposite her.
She laughed, though it was short and strained. "Why wouldn't I be?"
"It's just Brittany. You know, your sister?"Alvin replied, as though they were competing for more bathroom time instead of the lead role in this play.
"Yet, at the same time, it's Brittany," Jeanette said, exasperated now. "She gets everything. She's the best at everything."
Alvin laughed, shaking his head. "No, she's not, Jeanette. As much as she thinks she's a goddess—and don't get me wrong, she can be," he replied, looking in Brittany's direction with his famous gleam in his eye, "she's no better than you. Just be Jeanette. Brittany can't be that. Don't sell yourself so short, kid."
Jeanette blinked, astounded at the wisdom spilling from Alvin's lips so easily.
"Th-thanks, Alvin."
"Anytime," he said with a wink, dashing onto the stage to cut up with Brittany before showtime.
"Girls!"
Mrs. Wilson's voice rang out over the auditorium, but suddenly Jeanette was able to push the butterflies down as she stepped out under the lights. Brittany was already sitting atop the Baby Grand on stage, smoothing her shining hair in her hands.
"Who's going first, girls?" Mrs. Wilson asked, settling down in her seat.
"Brittany can go first," Jeanette spoke up, finding a seat at the front of the stage.
Slightly surprised, Brittany smiled, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Good call, Jeanette."
She remained seated at the piano, crossing her legs and throwing her shoulders back as the pianist began to play.
From the first notes, Jeanette didn't hear Brittany's angelic voice, a threat to her in this competition. Instead, she imagined herself onstage, wielding her broomstick in her hands as she strode to center stage in front of a full house, belting her lungs out. She imagined standing tall, her chin held high as her voice flowed over the auditorium. She was no longer timid, bashful Jeanette Miller, but instead, she was Elphaba, realizing for the first time the power she had over her own life, rising high above Oz as she…
"Jeanette? Jeanette?"
Snapping out of her daydream, Jeanette jumped to her feet, realizing that Brittany was done singing her piece and was now staring at her, along with everyone else in the room. She blushed deeply, taking her place beside the piano as her sister jumped down, walking past her with a smirk. Jeanette placed her hand on the cool, satin smooth surface of the gleaming piano, her sweaty palm pressing into the wood as she steadied herself against it, taking a deep breath.
"Whenever you're ready, Miss Miller."
Jeanette turned, setting her shoulders back as she nodded to the pianist. Now or never.
Simon leaned against the partition as he watched Jeanette cross paths with her sister, taking her place beside the piano instead of sprawling atop it as Brittany had. She took a deep breath as she nodded to the pianist, giving him the go-ahead.
As the soft notes floated over the stage again, he saw a new light come into Jeanette's eyes. She stood stronger, bolder, more confident. She seemed to become Elphaba right on stage, right before his very eyes. She seemed to be crawling out of her shell, as he had been coaxing her for so many years to do. It almost seemed as though—
"Something has changed within me."
Simon smiled, hearing the first notes of her fantastic voice envelop the entire auditorium.
"Something is not the same. I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game.
Too late for second guessing. Too late to go back to sleep. It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap….!"
Simon glanced across the stage to the opposite wing at Alvin, who was watching Jeanette as she tilted her head back to hold the note. His eyebrows were raised in surprise, taken aback that Jeanette could sing so beautifully in an instant.
"It's time to try defying gravity. I think I'll try defying gravity. Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity, and you can't pull me down."
Jeanette's voice crescendoed as she stepped away from the piano, letting the words wrap around her.
"I'm through accepting limits, 'cause someone says they're so. Some things I cannot change, but 'til I try, I'll never know.
Too long I've been afraid of losing love I guess I'd lost. Well if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost!"
Simon looked down into the auditorium seats at Eleanor, who was perched atop the back of a chair, her hands clasped together in her lap as she held back a smile Simon knew was there. Her eyes lit up as she watched her sister move downstage, her hands suddenly moving with the music.
I'd sooner buy defying gravity. Kiss me goodbye! I'm defying gravity! I think I'll try defying gravity, And you can't pull me down…"
Before Simon's eyes, Jeanette was at the front of the stage; her eyes squeezed shut as she belted out the notes that had taken over her body, her hands clasping the open air in front of her.
"I'd sooner buy defying gravity, Kiss me goodbye, I'm Defying Gravity!"
Simon mentally pumped his fist as she hit the first high note, but he nervously glanced down at Mrs. Wilson as he watched Jeanette, prepared for the upcoming infamous High F.
"I think I'll try defying gravity, and you can't bring me down! Bring me down! O-ooh-oh!"
Simon's face was split into such a grin he didn't think he'd ever be able to pry his lips away from his cheekbones. He looked down at Brittany, whose mouth was hanging wide open at the perfect note that Jeanette had hit twice. He held himself back from jumping out of the curtains to snatch her up into his arms and parade her around the room.
Mrs. Wilson was on her feet, her notes left on the table. She clapped her hands together as she approached the stage.
"Beautifully done, girls! Beautiful! The Millers were blessed with beautiful voices! Now, I won't reveal my decision until tomorrow, of course. Brittany, you were breathtaking, as always," she commented, making Brittany smirk as she cocked her hip. "But I must say, I'm very impressed, Jeanette. You've really come out of your shell, my dear."
Brittany snorted, turning on her heel to go backstage, pushing past a laughing Alvin as she went.
After half an hour of rotating between scenes focusing on Glinda and Elphaba, Mrs. Wilson sat down in her chair, sending the students out for a break. Simon came from behind the heavy velour curtain, wiping his sawdust covered hands on his faded jeans. He noticed her flipping through some script pages and descended the stage steps, coming down to sit beside her.
"Something bothering you, Mrs. Wilson?" He asked, looking at the older woman's furrowed brow behind her bejeweled cat-eye glasses.
She sighed before replying. "Well dear, after all this hullabaloo for finding Elphaba's character—which I still haven't picked yet, of course--" She said, giving him a look that said she wasn't revealing the lead role just yet.
"Of course not, Mrs. Wilson," he said with a chuckle. "Go on."
"Well, Elphaba and Glinda are very important characters, as you know, and we've done our share of the other auditions. However, I just can't put my finger on a suitable Fiyero. After weeding out the idiots, so to speak," Mrs. Wilson continued, crossing her arms with a sigh, "the best Fiyero I can find is Alvin, though I believe I'd rather have him as the Wizard."
"He does make a good Wizard," Simon agreed, leaning forward to rest his chin on his hands. Forever glued to his mind was the image of Jeanette, dark tendrils of her hair framing her face as her smooth voice washed over him like warm ocean waves.
"Why don't you help me decide where to place him?" Mrs. Wilson's voice broke apart his daydream, sending it wafting away like smoke. "As much work as you do for me backstage and in planning the productions, I think of you as an apprentice anyway." She stood as the students mulled back onto the stage, Jeanette walking beside Eleanor as they chatted lightly. Simon observed his older brother walking beside Brittany, his eyes drifting off into space as she babbled on, her face set in an annoyed expression. They'd cut it perfectly for Fiyero and Glinda in the first act, especially in Dancing through Life, Simon thought to himself, as he flipped to that scene in the playbook. They have enough ego to fill the room.
"What a perfect scene to practice with, Simon!" Mrs. Wilson said suddenly, noticing the page Simon was browsing over. She whipped the book out of his hand, beginning to direct traffic onstage. "Why don't we mix things up a bit!" Mrs. Wilson's voice boomed out to the students scattered about the stage. "Eleanor, pull out the old wheelchair, I'll have you as Nessarose. And Theodore, I'll have you play Boq. This is one of his most prominent scenes, so we'll see how you do there. Alvin, I'm recruiting your brother to decide whether you place you in the role of the Wizard or as our faithful hero, Fiyero. And as for Galinda—Brittany, since you've been pouting so much about Jeanette's performance as Elphaba, why don't we try you out for this scene. Elphaba will be played by Brittany, therefore why don't we have Jeanette as Galinda?"
Simon cringed at the thought of sweet, soft-spoken Jeanette as a loud-mouthed brat like Glinda, or Galinda, shall we say. It was the beginning of the first act, after all.
He chucked to himself as Jeanette wrinkled her nose, picking up the playbook as she crossed downstage, while Brittany was skipping around, tickled to have gotten her way. She'll be disappointed when she realizes she barely has any lines in this scene, and when she does, everyone will be laughing at her, Simon thought to himself as read over the upcoming scene in a spare script book.
"Alright everyone, from the beginning of Scene Four, please! Alvin, you may begin when you're ready."
Simon watched his brother situate himself slightly stage left, a few paces away from Jeanette, who stood dead center. Where she should be, he caught himself thinking, mentally blushing at the words. Theodore stood in between them, facing Jeanette, while Eleanor sat in the wheelchair at stage right, waiting for her part. Alvin cleared his throat, his voice effortlessly ready to perform at any given moment.
"The trouble with schools is, they always try to teach the wrong lesson," he began, his casual singing voice fitting the role perfectly. "Believe me, I've been kicked out of enough of them to know. They want you to become Less callow, Less…shallow," Alvin sang, leaning toward Jeanette and nudging her shoulder. She laughed uncomfortably, not flirtatiously, like Galinda was supposed to laugh. "But I say, 'Why invite stress in?' Stop studying strife;" He plucked a tattered book out of Theodore's hand, who shuttered on cue, and dashed after the book Alvin threw offstage. "And learn to live the unexamined life…"
He moved toward Jeanette as the beat picked up, skimming past her effortlessly. He always had the grace of a ballerina on his feet, or the moves of Michael Jackson, as he liked to say.
"Dancing through life, skimming the surface, gliding where turf is smooth. Life's more painless, for the brainless; Why think so hard, when it's so soothing…Dancing through life, No need to tough it, when you can sluff it off as I do! Nothing matters, but knowing nothing matters; It's just life, so keeping dancing through…"
Wow, I never realized how much this song suited Alvin, Simon chuckled to himself as he watched Alvin leap around the stage, flirting with imaginary girls who would be positioned for him at showtime. He moved around the stage easily, his feet almost gliding underneath him.
"Dancing through life, swaying and swinging, And always keeping cool; Life is fraughtless, when you're thoughtless," He continued, making his way back over toward Jeanette to tweak her chin, but instead he let his thumb brush over her soft pink lips. Unconsciously, Simon felt his fist clench as a burn ran through his chest. "Those who don't try, never look foolish. Dancing through life, Mindless and careless, Make sure you're where less, Trouble is rife! Woes are fleeting, blows are glancing, When you're dancing through life!" Alvin sang, holding out the long note as he hung off of a prop, Jeanette standing underneath it as she gazed up at him, trying desperately to look adoring.
"So? What's the most swankified place in town?" He spoke, looking down at Jeanette with a wink.
"That would be the OzDust Ballroom," Jeanette said, swirling around almost perfectly to look up at him from centerstage, surprising Simon how gracefully his normally clumsy friend was moving on her feet.
"Sounds perfect!" Alvin yelled, leaping off the prop. "Let's go down to the OzDust Ballroom, we'll meet there later tonight," he continued, starting to dance centerstage as he picked up Fiyero's movements swiftly. Though Jeanette was supposed to poorly copy him, according to the script, she merely stood behind, watching him in a way that made Simon's chest burn again. "We can dance 'til it lights, find the prettiest girl; give her a whirl…" He clasped Jeanette's hand, beginning to bend down to kiss it before Theodore cut in, twirling her gently away from him. Simon was suddenly grateful for Boq's annoying presence in the scene. "Right on down to the OzDust Ballroom; Come on, follow me, you'll be happy to be there…" Alvin belted out, singing the next part alone, his voice making up for the absent background singers who would be present in the real production.
"Dancing through life, Down at the OzDust…" He grabbed Jeanette's hand again, twirling her in front of him before tucking her under his arm as he hugged her thin shoulders.
"Only because dust is what we come to; Nothing matters, but knowing nothing matters. It's just, Life…" He sang on as Jeanette joined him on the last word, looking up at him as they sang.
He grabbed Jeanette from underneath his arm, his hand on her waist as he twirled her out, then swung her around as they swapped positions, his hand resting against her open palm as they walked closer together. While he intertwined his fingers with hers, his opposite hand reaching greedily for her slender waist, Simon was a mess.
From the audience, Simon realized he had destroyed a spare paper in his sweaty fist, his other hand rubbing his chest uncontrollably. It felt as if he'd been attacked with the worst case of heartburn imaginable, and he flopped back in his seat as beads of sweat had begun to gather on his forehead. He brushed them away impatiently, waiting for Theodore to cut in again before Alvin could walk any closer to Jeanette. Apparently oblivious to it all, Mrs. Wilson sat beside him, intrigued in Alvin's performance, no doubt. He was wonderful at playing Fiyero, which pissed Simon off for a reason he couldn't put his finger on. Or didn't want to.
"Miss Galinda!" Theodore's voice was like a breath of fresh air for Simon as he placed a hand on Alvin's chest, pushing him away and breaking the chain of their hands as he stepped in front of Jeanette, though Alvin continued to stare at her with a gleam in his eye.
"I hope you'll save at least one dance for me!" Theodore continued. "I'll be right there. Right by your side. Waiting. All night."
"Oh, well that's so kind, Biq," Jeanette said slowly, hitting the lines perfectly as she looked over his shoulder at Alvin, who was sliding back into the shadows of the stage.
"Boq," Theodore corrected, pressing a hand to his chest.
"Do you know what would be even kinder?" She asked him, her voice lowering as she pulled him downstage. "See that tragically beautiful girl?" She sang, her voice soothing the burn in Simon's chest better than any medication could have ever dreamed of doing.
"The one in the chair? It seems so unfair, We should go on a spree, and not she. Gee, I know someone would be my hero, If that someone were, to go invite her…" She sang, holding out the tragically beautiful note as she motioned to Eleanor, who sat with her head down in the wheelchair opposite them upstage.
"Well, maybe I could invite her!" Theodore exclaimed, pulling back from Jeanette as he pointed to himself.
"Oh Biq, really? You would do that for me?!"
"I would do anything for you, Miss Galinda," Theodore recited solemnly, stepping closer to Jeanette before dashing around her and over to Eleanor.
"Excuse me, Miss Nessarose!" He called, twirling Eleanor around in her chair as he pushed her offstage, winking over his shoulder at Jeanette. "There's something I'd like to ask you…"
"You're good," Alvin called, leaping off of the overhead prop he'd been sitting on.
"I don't know what you mean," Jeanette replied slowly, pulling a silly pose as she walked away from Alvin. "But, I do happen to be free tonight so…"Jeanette continued, twirling around slowly and eyeing Alvin in a way that made Simon's heart jump before he could even fathom being jealous.
"So, I'll pick you up around eight?"
"After all," Jeanette began singing as Simon looked down at the script nervously. He'd forgotten this part. "Now that we've met one another,"
"It's clear we deserve each other," the two sang, beginning the duet.
"You're perfect," Alvin cooed, placing his hand on her cheek.
"You're perfect!" Jeanette chirped in return, as Alvin slid his hands down to hold her arms. Simon felt his fingers tearing the paper fisted beneath them as a bead of sweat fell down his cheek like a tear.
"So we're perfect together, Born to be forever!"
"Dancing through life!" They sang together as Alvin swung Jeanette around again, pulling her close until they were nose-to-nose. Simon's blood was set to boiling as he was certain he'd never seen a cue in the history of the play requiring Fiyero to be that close to Galinda this much. Especially not as Alvin grinned wickedly, his hand sliding from her shoulder ever so slowly down to rest on the small of her back, easing her forward gently until her chest pushed against his own. Pressing his forehead to hers, Alvin lifted Jeanette easily into his arms, twirling offstage as he held her bridal style while Jeanette laughed effortlessly, the sound bruising an already burning heart.
Simon was on his feet, slamming his fist down on the table in front of them.
"Nope, I don't think so!" He blurted out, his breath coming in heaves as he tried to keep himself from leaping down the auditorium seats to wrap his hands around his brother's neck. "This isn't going to work, Mrs. Wilson," he said, lowering his voice as he focused on calming himself down, failing miserably.
"Is something wrong dear?" Mrs. Wilson asked, confused. "You're looking awfully…frustrated."
"Well I just…I…I…don't think he's doing the part justice," Simon began, running a hand through his hair as he pushed his glasses up his nose, which was wet with sweat. He leaned his head into his lap, mopping his face with the front of his shirt, which was old anyway and used for working.
"I thought he did a fine job," Mrs. Wilson continued, signaling to Brittany and Eleanor to take five. Simon picked his head up to see Alvin chatting with Jeanette offstage as she giggled into her hand in response. His heart rose in his throat again, beating madly.
"He's murdering the dancing!" He spat out suddenly, without thinking. As soon as he had spoken the words, his brain ran with them. "He's doing more improvisation than following script, which marks a sore actor from the very beginning." He sat back in his chair, his arms folded over his chest as he blew out a breath.
"It's only his first time running through the scene, Simon. They can't be right on target every time. But if you think—"
"I just don't think he's fit for the part," Simon repeated, his eyes boring down on the pair laughing behind the curtains.
Mrs. Wilson smiled knowingly, watching as Simon's jealously radiated off him worse than heat waves in mid-July. She pulled her shiny glasses off her nose, cleaning them on her loudly colored shawl. "Well if Alvin isn't going to be Fiyero, who is?" She leaned forward, a wicked smirk crossing her face.
After a moment of silence, Simon blurted out the words she had been waiting to hear since she first began auditions.
"I'll do it! I'll be Fiyero. And a damn good one too," he replied, mumbling the last words under his breath as he started down the stage, determination in his stride. "Is that okay with you, Mrs. Wilson?" He called over his shoulder.
She chuckled quietly to herself. Some things about Simon will never change, she thought before calling out, "Of course dear. Take the stage!"