Page 31 of Love Me Not
You could have heard a pin drop as the pair on stage continued to stare, hand in hand, totally unaware of the rest of us.
“That’ll do,” I said in the understatement of the century.
That would more than do. Aiden Bishop was a freaking revelation. A gift from the acting gods. I could kiss Coach Collins for convincing him to join the play. Not that I would, ever, but wow. We had our male lead.
As if he’d done nothing special, Aiden returned to his seat with his typical blank expression. I let Burke do the same scene only with Kaitlyn as Darcy. There were no sparks like the ones between Emma and Aiden, nor did Kaitlyn match Emma’s performance. They would still do well in other roles with a little work.
Even with Burke and Aiden, we were a couple of actors short, but the ones playing smaller parts could double up. This was looking much better than when the auditions began.
Climbing onto the stage, I said, “Congratulations, everyone. We have a cast.” I paused for the small smattering of applause. “I’ll assign the parts tomorrow so we can start right away. Maddie and Hannah, I’ll meet with you on Thursday to talk about costumes and set design. Everyone else, see you back here on Monday at five o’clock for our first rehearsal.”
“Five o’clock?” Emma said. “Why not right after school?”
“The later start time is for Aiden and Burke. We’ll switch back to after school once the football season ends.”
Sensing a movement from the corner of my eye, I looked up to see Coach Collins sitting in the last row of the hall. He mouthed the words thank you and I nodded in recognition. He was the one who’d done me a favor.
“Thanks for coming, everyone. Parts will be posted outside my room on Thursday morning.”
The kids gathered their things, and Aiden and Burke headed up the aisle to the coach. He waved them outside, but instead of going with them, he walked my way. Great. Here came the I told you so.
I descended the three steps at the corner of the stage and crossed to where I’d left my things, but he beat me to the seat and grabbed the heavier of the two bags. It held half a dozen books and weighed a ton.
“I can get that,” I said.
“I’ve got it.” He held the bag with one hand as if it weighed nothing. “Thanks for giving the boys a shot, and for moving the rehearsals to a later time.”
“You’re welcome.”
We made our way up the aisle and I fought the urge to wrestle my bag away from him. Men being chivalrous made me twitch, but the bag was really heavy. The lingering dent in my shoulder from when I’d carried it earlier was proof.
“So the lead role is an athlete?”
“The male lead is, yes.”
“Are you going to give it to Aiden?”
Keeping that information to myself, I said, “We’ll see.”
Trey used his elbow to open the auditorium door. “He was good though, right?”
He wasn’t just good. He was great. But only in one short scene with no audience or time to overthink the lines and delivery. Could he keep that up? Could he memorize the lines? No way to know for sure. Other talented kids had shown this level of promise only to break under pressure. I couldn’t get my hopes up too soon.
“He was. But I have to be fair and consider all of the auditions.”
Total lie. The kid had the part. I just wasn’t going to tell Trey that with the I told you so still out there for the taking. Or was it for the giving? Either way, Coach Collins could wait along with everyone else.
He nodded. “I can see that. We go through the same with tryouts. Each boy has to earn his place.”
“And girl,” I added.
Perplexed, Trey said, “Girls don’t play football.”
Not true. “What about that wee league stuff? Girls play there.”
“You mean pee wee league?”
“That’s it. I’ve watched my nephew play and there’s a girl on his team.”