CHAPTER FIVE
(Chapter Title - Dance With You)

Lily was coming back from swimming with Monica when a bunch of people stampeded by them.

"What do you suppose is happening?" Monica asked.

Lily shrugged, wrapping the towel around her shoulders, "shall we go find out?"

"Sure" Monica said, following the herd of people.

Ruby emerged from the Mess Hall, holding a brightly colored piece of paper. She pinned it on the cork board next to the dessert table, then moved aside as the campers crowded around the paper.

"The musical has been announced!" Someone said.

"What are we doing? I hope we can do Wicked!" A girl said.

"I don't think the rights to that are out yet" someone pointed out.

Monica and Lily moved closer to the board as others moved aside for them.

Lily smiled as she read the following. The paper was bright pink with black lettering:

SINGING HILLS THEATER CAMP IS PROUD TO PRESENT THE PRODUCTION FOR THE SUMMER MUSICAL:

THE PROM

The Prom is a musical with music by Matthew Sklar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin and book by Bob Martin and Chad Beguelin, based on an original concept by Jack Viertel.

The musical follows four Broadway actors lamenting their days of fame as they travel to the conservative town of Edgewater, Indiana. There they meet Emma, a lesbian student who was banned from bringing her girlfriend to the high school prom.

Characters:

Alyssa Greene

Angie

Barry Glickman

Dee Dee Allan

Emma Nolan

Kaylee

Kevin

Mrs. Greene

Nick

Principal Hawkins

Shelby

Sheldon

Trent Oliver

Vera Glickman

Auditions will be held on Tuesday on the Performance Space. Be prepared to sing fifteen bars of whatever song shows off your vocal range. You may use a backing track, like karaoke or print off sheet music in the office.

Dress comfortably for the dance portion and bring your favorite monologue.

Sign up for auditions are on the clipboard next to this sign, along with a time slot.

Break legs all of you!

Lily looked at the time slots that were available and signed up for the 3:15 slot for Thursday, which was in two days.

The following day, Lily, Robin and the rest of the campers headed to the Performance Space where Ian and three other councilors were standing on the stage. Ruby was absent.

"Hello campers" Ian greeted the campers as they sat on the wooden benches, "I'm speaking for Ruby today - she woke up not feeling well, but she says 'break a leg' for those of you auditioning tomorrow. Those of you who don't audition, there are other ways for you to help - painting sets, working on costumes, working in the sound booth, doing lighting, helping with ticket sales, etc.

The people on stage with me tomorrow - Doug, Carol and Mae. Doug is our pianist and will be accompanying you. Carol is our choreographer and will be going over some dances for you guys to do. Mae is our casting director and resident vocal coach. She's also the one who will be in charge of calling each of you who get a callback. Any questions?" Ian asked.

Everyone sat there in silence.

"You're free to do what you want today. For dinner, some food trucks are coming in" Ian said, "go enjoy the rest of your day."

Everyone headed off in different directions, talking happily about the auditions and what song they were doing.

"We should go to the office and print off the sheet music we'll need for our songs" Lily suggested to her friends.

They all agreed and headed to the office, which was on the other side of the Mess Hall.

Once everyone had their sheet music and monologues, they all changed into their swim suits and headed down to the lake, chatting happily with each other.

That night, six different food trucks came into the camp. There was a Mexican food truck, a Mac & Cheese food truck, a Haitian food truck, a vegan food truck, a pizza food truck & a dessert food truck.

Lily went to pay for her food when the vendor shook her head.

"All the food is free, señorita" the vendor told Lily.

"Oh, well gracias" Lily said, getting a smile from the vendor.

"De nada" the vendor said to Lily before tending to the next person in line.

Lily went to sit at a picnic table with some other campers that she didn't know.

Chandler was heading to a picnic table, his plate piled high with delicious smelling and looking food when he heard four words that sent a chill down his spine.

"CHANDLER? CHANDLER BING? OH MY GOD!" A nasally voice reached Chandler's ears.

Please go away, please go away, please go away Chandler thought to himself, running to a nearby table where Barney, Marshall, Robin, Lily, Rachel and Phoebe were sitting, "you guys need to hide me!"

"Who is that?" Robin asked, taking a bite of her chicken taco.

"Her name is Janice Litman and she has the biggest crush on me" Chandler said, trying to hide behind a tree after putting his tray on the table.

"She won't once I'm done with her" Barney said, standing up and adjusted the drawstrings on his hoodie before walking over to Janice, "ever play a game called Have Ya Met Ted?"

Janice looked Barney up and down, shooting him a disgusted look. She perked up at seeing Chandler sprinting towards the barn, "you can run, but you can't hide my sweet boy!"

Chandler ran into Meg - one of the grooms in the barn, "is there an empty stall or a nice horse I can hide with?"

"Chandler, I'm coming for you!" Janice said in a very off-key sing-song voice.

"Hide with Conn Man and I'll stall her the best I can" Meg said.

"Much appreciated" Chandler said, looking for the stall that had Conn Man's name on it. He found it and closed the stall door before moving into a dark corner of the stall. He watched where he stepped before sitting on a dry dark corner of the stall. He looked up at the horse, "do not poop or pee on me, please."

Conn Man sniffed Chandler curiously before moving to the front of the stall, looking for any food he might have dropped.

Chandler heard his heart pounding in his chest. He had to be as quiet as he could so that Janice wouldn't hear him. He could hear her getting closer to his hiding spot.

The horses didn't like the sound of Janice's voice. A lot of them whinnied and pawed their stalls, trying to drown out her voice.

Conn Man lifted his head, pinning his ears back at the sound of Janice's voice. He bobbed his head and began pawing his stall door.

"Oh, are you here for the tour?" Meg asked, using some impressive improv skills.

Janice raised an eyebrow, "excuse me?"

"Yeah, there's a riding tour that's going on. Chandler is on one right now. If you can get on a horse, you can catch up to him" Meg said, getting Bluey - a blue roan Quarter Horse mare. She was one of the oldest horses in the barn and was extremely slow. She wouldn't go any speed over a walk and would buck you off if you forced her.

Janice squealed and mounted Bluey, "giddy up horsey."

Bluey whinnied in disgust at hearing Janice's voice and broke into a canter.

"That's the fastest I've ever seen her go!" Meg told herself, watching Bluey and Janice canter towards the woods. Meg's smile faded as she realized that Bluey was running away with Janice.

"Chandler! I need your help! Janice is on a runaway horse!" Meg said, getting Conn Man's bridle and got him out of his stall, along with Chandler, "go to the tack room and get Ghost's bridle and saddle. We need to stop them before Bluey hurts herself or Janice.

"What do you want me to do?" Chandler asked, going to the tack room and got Ghost's saddle and bridle while Meg got both Ghost and Conn Man out of their stalls.

Ghost was aptly named - she was a pure white Quarter Horse, who must've been gray in her youth. She stood a little taller than Conn Man.

Together, Chandler and Meg tacked up both Ghost and Conn Man before galloping after Bluey.

"I need you to distract Bluey and make sure she doesn't hurt herself" Meg said as they galloped into the woods.

Chandler nodded and saw Bluey up ahead with Janice, "I see them!"

Meg nodded and looked at Chandler, "you get on Bluey's right and I'll get on her left. She may be old, but she's quick."

Chandler nodded and slowed Ghost to a trot, talking to her, "good girl, Ghost" he looked at Janice, "are you all right?"

Janice nodded, looking scared.

Meg put a rope around Bluey's neck, "Janice, you'll ride with me. Chandler, can you pony Bluey?"

Chandler nodded, then noticed that Bluey was bleeding from a wound on her right front leg, "she's hurt."

Meg dismounted Conn Man and examined Bluey, "when we get back, I'll take care of the horses and call the vet. You guys go join your friends."

"I'll take Janice back on Ghost, since she's big enough for us. You take care of Bluey and Conn Man" Chandler said, making room for Janice, grimacing as she wrapped her arms tightly around his waist.

"Okay. Thanks for your help, Chandler" Meg said.

"You're welcome" Chandler said, gently squeezing Ghost's sides, "walk on, girl."

"My hero!" Janice told Chandler softly so she wouldn't startle Ghost.

By the time they got back to the barn, Robin, Monica, Ross, Barney, Ted, Savanna, Marshall, Aaron, Joey, Phoebe, Lily and Rachel were waiting for him.

"We saw the whole thing. Is everyone okay?" Robin asked, helping Janice off Ghost.

"Bluey is hurt, but Meg is caring for her" Chandler said, dismounting Ghost. He then reluctantly introduced Janice to his friends.

"What cabin are you in?" Phoebe asked.

"RENT" Janice said.

The friends stayed with Chandler as he put Ghost in her stall before following his friends out of the barn.

Janice headed for the RENT cabin while the others headed for their cabins.

"How do you know Janice?" Monica asked Chandler.

"We grew up together - I honestly didn't know that she would be here" Chandler told her, smiling a tiny bit, then frowned, "I'm so glad that she wasn't hurt, or worse."

Everyone nodded and entered their cabins, anxious for the following day.