Chapter 9: Theater Drama

"See you later, Mr. Smiley!"

"Have a good day, Lavanya. Make sure you get your rest now!"

"I will, sir!" Lavanya answered then she left. As Lavanya left the arcade she was heading to Beach City's Community Theater. Couple weeks ago, Jamie told her that he was the lead director.

"Really?!" Lavanya asked surprised.

"Yeah. After me and Steven did a play of the tale of William Dewey, Mayor Dewey himself made me lead director. If you want, you can come by the place and check it out?"

"Sure. I'd love to!" Lavanya answered smiling.

"I'm here!" Lavanya hollered then she saw Jamie, Steven, and Connie on stage.

"Hey, Lavanya!" Steven greeted.

"Hello, Lavanya." Connie greeted.

"Sorry for the wait, I just finished work." Lavanya said as she got on the stage.

"That's fine. Mayor Dewey called me and he wanted to do another play."

"Another one? Did he write one for us?"

"Actually, he was kind enough to let us do a play of our own, as long as it's in the budget…" Jamie muttered the last part then he cleared his throat.

"So what play have you provided us, o great director?"

"I love your motivation but don't do that please?" Jamie chuckled blushing a bit.
"But the play I decided to do is based off my favorite story." He said as he held up a book.

"'Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart'?" Steven read the title then Lavanya gasped.
"You like that book too?!"

"I do! You've heard of it?"

"Not just heard of it, I read it like every day! It was one of my favorite books to read!"

"Then it's settled! We're performing 'Jack and the Cuckoo-Clock Heart'!" Jamie said then everyone cheered.

"Hold on… Lavanya? Are you gonna be okay doing this? After all, you did leave the theater." Connie mentioned then Lavanya rubbed her own arm to comfort herself a bit.
"That I did… But you know… Lately everyone's been so nice to me… Maybe… Maybe I can try to perform one more time…" Lavanya said then Jamie clapped.
"Oh! Happy day! We get to perform one of my favorite stories as a play and even have the great Lala Heart performing as well!"

"I thought I told you to not call me that, Jamie…" Lavanya said with a smile as she pinched Jamie's cheek.
"My apologies…" He said then Lavanya released his cheek.

"So we need to figure out all the characters that need to be performed…" Jamie said then as he look through the book he started listing all the characters.
"And done."

"So… There's six main characters and a few extras…"

"I'd say about a total of ten to fifteen people would be perfect." Jamie said then he gasped as he got an idea.
"Lavanya! How's your singing?!"

"Excuse me?!" Lavanya said, shockingly confused.

"Your singing! Can you still sing?!"

"Uh, I g-guess?"

"Sing the first few lines of 'Flames with Glasses'!" Jamie said then Lavanya stuttered at the sudden suggestion but she took a deep breath.

My… Vision's not quite right
But glasses make me look a sight
Enough to give the world a fright
Like a sprite…
Wearin' specs

Jamie then steps towards Lavanya and smiles.

Oh, fiery little sprite
Conflagration in the night
Don't play games with your sights
If it leaves you in the dark…

Lavanya smiled then nodded.
"That's great."

"I think you and Jamie should both be Miss Acacia and Jack, Lavanya." Connie suggested then Jamie shook his head.
"No, no, no, no! I can't do that! I'm supposed to be the lead director! I'm have to direct people in order for the play to go smoothly…"

"Don't worry about that, Jamie! You can leave that to me!"

"Uh, a-are you sure about that Steven…?" Jamie asked feeling a bit uneasy leaving his lead directing position to Steven.

"Don't worry about it! I'll make sure this play will be an even bigger success than the last play we did!" Steven promised then Jamie nodded.
"Okay, I'm leaving it to you then." He said then Steven and Jamie high-fived each other.

"A play?"

"Yeah… Before I moved to Beach City, I used to be quite famous in theater. I dunno if you heard of the name 'Lala Heart'?"

"Shut the front door! You're the Lala Heart?!" Jenny asked then Lavanya blushed a bit and nodded.
"As much as I wanna hide it, but since you guys are my friends, I wanna be honest with you. So yeah, I am Lala Heart."

"I can't believe that I didn't recognized you before, Lav! I love the songs you sing!" Sour Cream said as Lavanya was sitting on his lap.

"I always thought you were the kind of guy that raves to music that doesn't have words."

"Are you kidding me? The songs you sing are the type of songs that help me sleep." Sour Cream said then Lavanya blushed.
"Th-Thank you… I feel honored that my singing are useful to you."

"So what role in this play are you gonna go for, Lavan?" Jenny asked as she looked at the list.

"Actually, I already got a part… I'm playing the main character's love interest, Miss Acacia."

"Has someone got the role of Jack?" Sour Cream asked looking at the list.

"Actually, since Steven is the lead director, there's a possibility that Jamie might get the role of Jack. However, no one has gotten Jack's rival Joe. Joe is another main character who's in love with Miss Acacia."

"Oh~! You should go for that role, Sour Cream!" Jenny suggested then Sour Cream scratched his cheek.
"You think I have a shot at getting the role…?"

"Just… DO IT!" Lavanya said as she did the "Just Do It" pose while sitting down. Everyone laughed at how adorably silly Lavanya looked then the blond hair girl smiled.

The next day there were quite a good amount of people that came to the theater to audition for the play. As Lavanya went in she sat next to Steven and Connie.

"Nice beret, Steven."

"Thanks. Okay, everyone! Auditions are now open! Please perform a line and we will call you one by one!"

"First up is… Sour Cream." Connie said then Sour Cream walked up on stage.
"Hi, I'll be auditioning for the role of Joe."

"Okay. Sing a few lines from one of Joe's songs." Jamie said then Sour Cream glanced at Lavanya. The blond girl opened her mouth and mouthed a few words. Sour Cream then started repeating the words that Lavanya was mouthing.

"Pretty good. We'll have you work on the rapping a bit."

"Next, please!" Steven called happily. After about two hours Steven had everyone's roles ready.
"Okay, ready to hear the roles?" He asked then everyone cheered.

"Okay, for our two main; Jamie will be playing Jack and Lavanya will be playing Miss Acacia. Now for the role of Jack's mother will be Jenny. Playing Madeleine, Jack's adopted mother who saves Jack, will be played by Sadie!"

"I'll do my very best." Sadie said nervously then as Steven got to the last character.
"And finally… The last character, our wondrous rival Joe will be played by- -!"

"Not so fast! I'd like to audition for the role of Joe." A familiar voice shouted making Lavanya freeze in her place.
That voice…! It… It can't be?!

"Kevin…" Steven softly said as he squeezed his beret. The teenager Kevin walked towards the stage and Steven stood up.
"I'm sorry, good sir but we were just about to give the role of Joe to someone else."

"But you didn't even hear me audition. All good directors listen to everyone's audition before coming to a decision." Kevin said then Steven growled softly.
"Very well…"

"Please sing Joe's final song…" Jamie said then Kevin cleared his throat. With no hesitation he sang the song perfectly making Lavanya gasped in shocked.
"Steven… You can't give this role to him… I beg of you." She said then Steven nodded. When Kevin finished, someone clapped really loudly.
"Bravo! Bravo indeed! Now that's a performance!"

"Mayor Dewey?" Steven said as a man came walking down.
"Jamie, I read your play and I must say I am truly fascinated by how much angst and romance is in it. This young man here is perfect for the role of the main character's rival."

"What?!" Steven, Connie, Lavanya, and Jamie all said together.

"But sir we were just going to give the role to Sour Cream."

"If this young man isn't in the play, I won't be funding it!" Mayor Dewey said then Lavanya covered her face with her hands and Steven groaned.
"The role of Joe goes to… Kevin…" He said then Kevin smiled and walked down.
"Nice to see you back in theaters, Lala." The teenager said in a flirtatious tone and blew a kiss.

"Lavanya…? Do you… Know Kevin…?" Steven asked then Lavanya sighed as she removed her hands.
"I do… Kevin is… My ex-boyfriend…"

"WHAT~?!" Almost everyone in the theater shouted in shocked.