Break A Leg

It’s another typical Sunday morning in Kate’s favorite café. She’s got her feet shoved under Tommy’s thighs, Eli’s wrapped up in a thick grey coat, nursing a hot chocolate, and Billy and Teddy wrapped around each other like they always are. Kate had no idea what soul mates really meant until she saw them look at each other while performing Romeo and Juliet – It had been like nothing she’d ever seen before.  Like the true love stories you’d always hear about in the books, the movies. It would've been more romantic had they both not died at the end, of course, but.

Whatever - the play was magical, either way. She looks outside the window, ignoring Billy’s excited rant (he always has something to be excited about nowadays, now that he’s off and auditioning in more things), trying to gauge traffic. “Why are David and Robbie always late?” She says suddenly, and Billy huffs at being interrupted. He hates that, but she never could scrounge up enough empathy to apologize for it.

“I would answer your question, because I just got a text from Robbie right now, but I kinda don’t want to after being so rudely interrupted while I was talking about West Side Story being produced by the Clint Barton in some performing arts center in Manhattan.” Billy says, his eyebrows raising as Kate takes her barefoot feet from under Tommy’s thighs and leans toward him with a certain seriousness. Everyone knows how serious she is about Clint Barton’s work – Especially Billy. Billy loves the theater. Tommy always argues that it must be a “gay thing,” to be constantly obsessing over Broadway, Wicked, and other quote-unquote “shit like that,” but he’s always at every show Billy’s in with a smile on his face and a tear slipping down his cheek.

“Clint Barton is directing West Side Story? Here. He’s doing it…here. Oh my god.” Kate clutches her hands to her chest, feeling her heart beat pick up just the teensiest bit. “When are auditions, Billy, why didn't you mention this sooner, what the hell?”

Tommy and Eli roll their eyes at her simultaneously. Eli looks up from where he’s scrolling through Tumblr on his phone (he has over half a million followers, being that he’s one of the most popular budding actors in New York, currently, and only a college freshman. Kate’s majorly proud of him, of course,) to raise an eyebrow at her, his jaw twitching imperceptibly. “He’s only been talking about the auditions since we've walked in, Kate. I’m pretty sure listening is a big part of auditioning, or am I wrong?” His smirk is smug until Kate grabs a napkin off the coffee table and throws it into his cup of hot chocolate, smiling when it lands in its mark.

“Shut the hell up, Eli,” she sniffs, smiling brightly in spite of herself when she feels the wet press of lips on her cheek as a makeshift apology. “Seriously though, Billy, where’s the auditions?”

“What auditions?” Says a gravelly voice from behind her, and she turns around to see Robbie giving Kamala a piggyback ride like she’s five and not fifteen, with Cassie trailing behind them with a tiny, genuine grin of happiness. Robbie’s no actor, but he does come to every show, and they all love him for it.

“West Side Story, directed by Clint Barton.”

“The Clint Barton?” Robbie and Kamala ask in unison, Kamala wrinkling her nose at Robbie.

“How do you even know who he is, Robbie,” she asks, her voice flat with disinterest.

“I try to keep up with these things so I’m not completely lost when you guys do your theater talks, or whatever.” Kate smiles at him – He’s new to the group, joined pretty quickly after complimenting Billy on his performance in Spring Awakening. Robbie brought Kamala, and Kamala brought Cassie. Kate feels complete when everyone’s here on Sunday, in some café that’s way too expensive and crowded with NYU kids and corporate workers trying to get caffeine in before starting the last day before the week truly begins. They’re like the family she always wanted; the family she needed after her mother died.

“They’re like TED Talks, Rob, except even more boring. You don’t need to keep up with it, really.” Tommy grins when Kate, Teddy and Billy gasp collectively.

“First of all, I’m surprised you even know what a TED Talk is,” Teddy says, and everyone laughs – except for Tommy of course.

Billy’s mouth drops, and Kate shuts her eyes preemptively. “Second of all?” Billy starts. “Theater is great. Theater is the most important thing to be bestowed upon this disgraceful earth –“

“Kill the dramatics, Billy,” Eli interjects quickly, trying to kill a monologue before it even begins. Cassie hides a smile behind her hand, and Kate grins at her for it.

“When are the auditions, Billy? You never answered my question.” Kate shoves her feet back under Tommy’s thighs, silently holding her hand out for a piece of his pumpkin muffin, which he hands to her without question. Billy sighs, and Teddy rubs his shoulders in sympathy of his monologue being thrown into the wind.

He holds up a finger, pulling out his phone and tapping at it as Kate chews on her piece of muffin. “Next Saturday, at the Center. Have a song prepared, as well as a monologue of your choice. Then, if we get a callback, we have to do a cold reading. Any of you in?”

Eli nods, but of course he does. “I need more plays in my repertoire, just doing television isn’t enough. Scandal actually wrapped up last week, so I’m free for a while – How long is it going on for?” Of all of them, Eli is definitely the most experienced, job wise. Billy’s only done plays, and Kate prefers to stick to Community Theater. She wants to go out there, but thinking of the competition always makes her throat close up. But for a play directed by Clint Barton, she’ll suck it up.

“Only two months – well, plus rehearsals, it’s probably about four.”

Eli’s nose scrunches, and Kamala’s does too. (Kamala is Eli’s biggest fan, which is why she tagged along with Robbie in the first place, actually.) “…I’ll check with my agent about it. I’d like to be in a play with the great Billy Kaplan, for once in my life.”

Billy grins at him, shrugging. “See what you can do, okay? Kate, are you doing it? What about you Kamala, you’ve always wanted to try out for a big play.”

Kamala shakes her head, rapidly, as if she wants the idea to disappear from Billy’s lips as soon as he mentions it. “The stage fright would kill me. Plus, I probably wouldn’t even make it past auditions. I’ll see if they need any help backstage, though.”

Teddy winks at her, says, “They always do.”

They all look at her expectantly, and she leans back on the couch, feeling pressured, all of a sudden. “Yes, I’m auditioning. I don’t know what to sing, but I’m auditioning.”

Robbie claps, loudly, and everyone in the café starts to look at him. “Shit –” He smiles apologetically at the people staring at him until they look away.  “I’m happy for you guys, though, I’m sure you’ll all get some great parts. Gabe’ll be excited to see you guys on stage, for sure.” Kate nods swiftly; of course he will be. Making Gabe proud has steadily become a part of her performances.

Billy claps his hands together. “Well then it’s settled! Kate, Teddy, Eli and I, taking the theater world by storm! Making a change in the prolific, magnificent world that is theater, we will –“

“Kill the dramatics, Billy.” At least he won’t have any problems with auditioning.

***

Kate tore through her folder full of monologues as soon as she got home, her hands shaking. This is as big as it gets – Clint Barton rarely directs plays, and when he does? Every actor in the city is going to be vying for a role. Barton’s popular for his loose interpretation of scripts, known for giving men parts usually played by females and vice versa. As far as Hollywood and theater goes, he’s the most open-minded director there is. She wants to play Tony, she wants to get lost in the mind of a man who fell in love at the wrong place and the wrong time. Her skin starts to tingle as she picks up Heathcliff’s monologue from Wuthering Heights – She can her the lines in her head, feels his anger seeping into her bones.

She wastes the rest of the day trying to find a song to keep her streak going instead of doing the chores assigned to her by her by David, otherwise known as the shittiest roommate in the world. If Kate’s still mad about him not showing up for Sunday coffee, well, no one’s here to chastise her for it. She can hear the melodies as she shifts through different song selections, but nothing feels right. It’s when she’s belting out the lyrics to “All that Jazz” that David bursts in, yellow glasses framing his face even though it’s fucking November. His nose is scrunched, and Kate stops immediately.

“Of all the songs from Chicago…of all the songs in the world, why All that Jazz?” He looks over at the sink, which are full of dishes, and sighs. Kate grins sheepishly. “You should sing something from Cats!”

“You’re joking.” The sad thing about David is that she can never tell.

He smirks at her and falls onto the couch gracelessly, looking up at her with interest. She should’ve waited until he came home – David’s never wrong when it comes to songs for her auditions. “Does it have to be from a musical?”

“No, but I’d like to impress Barton with something that’s been on Broadway before, demonstrate my skills.”

David raises his eyebrows, and Kate feels scolded without him saying anything. “I know they’re overdone but maybe if I practice enough –“

“Be different, not dumb. I can already tell you that people are going to grab their best singing guy friends and do a million renditions of “Tonight” together, and by the time Barton gets to you, just you, he’s going to be exhausted. What you need to do, Kate, is wake him up.”

“Hm. What about –” Kate takes a deep breath, centers herself, and starts to croon the first few lyrics to “When I Was Your Man”.

David nods vigorously, clapping his hands together. “There we go. Now that that’s settled, could you maybe consider doing dishes today? Billy and co are bringing Chinese later and it’d be pretty cool if we had plates and actual utensils to eat with.”

Kate mouth turns. “What musical is he making us watch today? Did you tell him to bring Cats? Or Jesus Christ Superstar?”

“Neither, because I’d like to stay alive. We’re either watching Rent, Wicked, or How to Train Your Dragon Two, and if Tommy and I have any say in it, we’re watching the dragons.”

Kate grins and makes her way to the kitchen, mentally preparing herself for the pile of dishes she’s yet to face. “No objections here.”

When has everyone piled into her tiny, cramped apartment, the dishes are done and set on the coffee table, piled high with the saltiest and sauciest foods known to man and How To Train Your Dragon 2 shoved into her shitty DVD player that she got on sale at a flea market at Billy and Tommy’s insistence. Billy’s head is on her lap, and crumbs from her egg roll keeps on falling into his hair, but if he notices, he doesn’t say anything. Halfway into the movie, he looks up at her, and his brown eyes shine in the darkness of the night, and she smiles down at him. Billy and Tommy are definitely the brothers she got, but didn’t ask for.

“Hey, Katie, who are you auditioning for?”

“Tony, probably,” she whispers, and then Billy starts squealing and the quiet peacefulness that had swept over her typically noisy friends explodes in seconds. Tommy starts yelling at the interruption, David reaching over to comfort him, Cassie and Eli laughing extremely loudly at Tommy’s spurt of anger. Robbie sighs, takes out his phone. They never finish a movie in its entirety when they’re all together – the closest they came to it was Toy Story 3, and that’s only because everyone was too busy crying to yell at each other.

“Tony? Of the Jets? Oh my god. Oh my god, Kate, you’re going to be so amazing, imagine you singing Tonight, imagine you meeting the love of your life –“

Kate’s head starts to pound, and she’s not sure if it’s from the wine she’s been sipping at or Billy’s dramatics. “Please, kill the dramatics, Billy. I’m not going to fall in love with anyone, it’s just a job.” A job where she has to kiss someone a copious amount of times, but a job, nevertheless. When she looks over toward Cassie, her eyebrows are raised, as if she knows exactly what Kate’s thinking.

“I thought Romeo and Juliet was just a job, too, until I met Teddy.” He turns to look at Teddy, the crumbs from Kate’s egg roll flying from his hair, and Teddy starts to laugh uncontrollably. “Clearly, we’re the most romantic couple in the world,” he says, voice deadpan as he slaps Teddy playfully on the back as he’s still bent over laughing.

Kate’s wan smile is enough to get Billy to reach over and pat her on the back, some crumbs landing on her jeans. “I mean, be open to it, at least.”

“I guess it all depends on whoever’s going to play Maria, right?” Kate asks, but she prays that if she does get the part of Tony, her Maria is the least attractive person in the world.

When the movie’s over and crowd’s cleared out, David claps her on the back with a reassuring grin. It doesn’t look as reassuring as it should, due to his impersonal glasses that he’s still got on, even though it’s night time, and the set of his jaw – David always looks serious, even when he’s trying not to be. “You can’t be so scared of getting back onto the dating scene – You don’t have to find the love of your life, or anything, just one date. Just one.”

She rolls her eyes – It’s only been a year since she’s broken up with Noh, and she’s just tired and uninterested in everyone right now. Between directing and acting in every community theater play ever, plus waitressing, she’s already got enough on her plate – Having a boyfriend or girlfriend of any kind would just make her even busier. Of course, she can’t tell her friends that, because then they’d start setting her up on blind dates, and she’d rather avoid that for as long as possible. “I’ll think about it.”

“Of course you won’t.” David grins at her and starts cleaning up as she shuffles her way to bed. She loves Sundays like she loves theater, but both of them are exhausting as hell.

***

When audition day comes, and her lyrics and lines are both memorized and performed to perfection, she still can’t help but shake Billy – Her brain’s wracked, her hands are cold. She’s full of nerves and nothing else. What if she doesn’t get the part? What if it’s back to Community Theater, back to a life full of nothingness –

“Kill the dramatics, Kate,” Billy cuts into her train of thought with a cool voice, looking at his nails with nonchalance.

“I didn’t even say anything. I’m just shaking you because I’m extremely excited and not nervous at all, obviously.” She tries to tap into his nonchalance, leaning back in her seat and slipping her purple Ray-Bans on with an affected coolness she’s picked up from David after living with him for years.

Billy takes one look at her and smiles that wry smile of his and Kate knows she’s fooling everyone but him. “Please, your internal thought process is so loud that you don’t even need to say anything. You’re going to be a great Tony, I’m going to be an excellent Riff, and it’s going to be amazing.”

“Whatever you say, Romeo.” She takes a moment to scan the crowd – there’s hundreds of hopeful actors, all of them primped and ready to act out West Side Story. She looks down at the tag stamped on her chest: #50. “Are we staying for everyone, or do you wanna ditch after we’re done?”

“Earth to early bird – I’m number 142, so we might as well stay for everyone. If you woke me up early like I asked you to, we could’ve ditched.” Kate rolls her eyes. She’s always the one stuck with his dramatics. Well, her and Teddy.

“Passive-aggressiveness is a poison, you know. And besides, I’m not as early as Eli over there.”

“If that’s true, then why am I still here to inflict it on you?” Billy grins, looking over at Eli, whose thumbing through his monologue like it’s nothing. “Eli’s too perfect for his own good. I’m pretty sure if he wasn’t such a theater nerd he would’ve been president.”

“He’s already president of like, twelve million clubs, isn’t that enough? God.”

“I don’t think anything is enough for him. Probably why he’s so successful,” Billy says, and it doesn’t sound like jealousy.  More like pure admiration.

She groans in agreement just as Clint stands up from his table in the front where he’s conversing with some redheaded woman.  Kate gets a good look at her when the woman moves to stand next to Clint. She looks like she could eat Kate for breakfast.

“So this is how it’s going to work,” Clint starts, his voice unsteady with anxiety, “We’re going by groups. When I call group ten, I’m calling everyone with the numbers one to ten on their…paper…thing.”

The redhead rolls her eyes and lifts up a sheet of paper, and everyone murmurs in understanding. Clint grins at her thankfully for a brief moment, clearing his throat as he turns back to the group. “When I call group twenty, I’m calling everyone from number eleven to twenty, and so on. If it sounds confusing, you’re probably in the wrong place, because I’m confusing as hell.”

Redhead’s lips curve as she leans in to whisper in Clint’s ear. “Sorry guys,” Clint says, chuckling. “In all seriousness, I wish you all the best. If you’re familiar with my work, you know that I cast blindly – I go by talent, not your credentials, not your look, not your race or your gender. I only want the best, so I hope you all brought it with you today.”

Kate nods and grabs Billy’s hand, clutching it like a lifeline. She’s got one chance to get this right. She can’t afford to fuck up anymore – It’s Broadway or bust. She looks over at Eli, sitting in the front with a number 2 stamped on his chest, at his calm and collected demeanor, and she honestly wonders what it’s like to be so in control. Of course, and she knows this better than anybody else – Eli’s an expert at faking it. For a moment, she wishes she could fake it too.

Barton calls up group one, and she crosses her fingers with her free hand, wishing him the best of luck. Eli’s the perfect package, but that’s never enough, especially not in theater. That’s the one thing Kate loves about theater, through and through – whatever you think you’re the best at, someone else can do better. She’s always loved a challenge.

The groups thin out, get scarcer until suddenly, Barton’s calling group five and Billy’s shoving at her, telling her to move. “It’s your turn, go! Break a leg, break both of your ankles, break your neck, do whatever you must to get the part, Tony!”

Her hands are shaking when she reaches the stage. Of course they are. She eyes everyone in her group – No one remarkable, no one with any sort of presence, until.

Until her eyes land on a girl with curly brown hair and wide, beautiful eyes that seem to just know that Kate’s sizing everyone up, sizing her up because her gaze suddenly sharpens. When she smiles at Kate, she looks dangerous. Kate cannot handle this right now, she cannot handle developing some sort of sick crush on her competition seconds before –

“Number fifty….Kate Bishop? You’re up.”

Oh, god. She sucks in a breath, finds Billy and Teddy and Eli staring up at her with their dumb, dorky grins on their faces and smiles right back with her own dumb and dorky grin. She can do this. Broadway or bust.

“That’s me.” Kate steps forward, center stage, feels the heat of the stage lights on her face and she starts to feel at home under it. “Today, I will be performing Heathcliff’s monologue from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.”

Redhead’s face lights up, but Clint just rolls his eyes. “You didn’t think to do something a little more romantic? Who are you auditioning for?”

“Tony.” She raises an eyebrow, silently dares him to question her. Not a smart move, since she really does want the part, but she’d rather go down swinging than to hear some shit from some director who hasn’t made a play since 2010.

With a bow of his head and a wave of his hand, Kate knows that she’s in the clear. For now, at least. She breathes, centers herself, and begins to speak. Acting is another world – being another person, for a minute, for a month, for a year? That’s what she lives for, that’s who she is. She’s full of life and ready to give it to another person, another sentient being other than herself for as long as they need her, and that’s where her talent is. In her opinion at least. When she says shit like that to David and Tommy, they just laugh and shrug her off, but they’ll never get it. They’ll never get theater.

When she’s done pouring her heart out into Heathcliff, she starts to sing. Singing’s a little more difficult for her – she doesn’t feel as powerful when she sings, but she tries to anyway. When she’s heaving and exhausted from her little ten minute stunt, Clint and Redhead smile at her briefly, but they don’t have the same light in their eyes that they had when she mentioned her choice of monologue. Her heart sinks to the floor, possibly to the center of the earth.

On her way down, the girl with the prettiest eyes and the dangerous smile stops her, and her heart sinks even further. God, she could get any part she wants with just a swoop of her eyelashes. Kate’s not sure if that’s the crush or the jealousy talking, there. “You did an amazing job.”

She even sounds perfect, if that’s even possible. Kate rolls her eyes and shrugs. “Thanks. Good luck with your audition….” Her voice trails, because she wants the name behind the beauty. If she also wants a name to google on her phone as soon as she sits down, well, nobody needs to know.

“America. America Chavez.” America smiles at her, something small but full of promise, and Kate can’t help but give her a lame salute and a grin full of teeth out of some misplaced nervousness.

“Well…good luck. I said that, but I’m saying it again so you have extra…luck. Yes. Great.” She hurries off the stage, not bothering to turn around with her cheeks burning like she’s in middle school all over again. Eli smirks at her when she approaches, as if he knows everything. “Shut the hell up, Eli.”

“I didn’t even say anything!”

“You were going to, and I don’t want to hear it.”

He shrugs, nonchalant as can be, and looks back to the stage. America’s up there, and she shines under the light as if she was made to be there. Kate’s cheeks start to warm up again, and she sits down as fast as she possibly can without raising even more suspicion from Eli. He’s annoyingly perceptive when he wants to be, and she cannot handle that right now, not with America standing up there singing “Maria, Maria,” like she was born to do it. Her lips curve around every word, and her singing voice isn’t as light and airy as Maria’s tends to be, but soft and low, carrying the room until she’s finished. Her eyes are watering when she’s done, her arms outstretched as if she’s reaching out for someone, and she stays in that moment while everyone claps, as if they can’t help themselves. Kate knows that she can’t. She claps until her hands hurt and America is off the stage with a kind curtsy and a plastered smile. Kate hurries to stand up and grab America’s arm as she’s making her way back to her seat, tell her about how great her performance was. The warm, real smile she gets in return keeps Kate grinning for the rest of the auditions. Even all the horrid ones.

***

When Billy storms into the café approximately two weeks later with his hair in disarray and his shirt half-tucked into his pants, Kate knows what time it is. Her stomach jumps into her throat and she cowers under the nearest couch pillow. “Please, god, no, I’m not ready for rejection.” She sees images of America kissing other random, better actors in her head (because she knows without question that America got the part – she had to, no one else was good enough) and she groans, because even her own imagination is against her. “Don’t tell me: I’m like, the staircase that Maria steps on when Tony comes to meet her at midnight.”

Eli snorts from next to her, flicking through his phone, fingers flying as he answers texts. “You’re your own worst enemy. It’s amazing.”

“Shut the hell up, Eli,” she says as she splays across his lap dramatically. Her chest hurts because she wants to play Tony so badly, but she needs to know one thing first – “Who’s playing Maria?”

“Miss America Chavez, of course. Thanks for the hot chocolate, Eli.” Billy blows at his mug, and his eyes are sparkling, and Kate’s the worst friend ever.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t even ask – what parts did you two get?” She ignores her heart speeding up after hearing who’s playing Maria, leaning back on the couch with the most excited look she can manage for her friends’ sake.

Billy leans over, mug in hand and smirk in place. “I got Riff, obviously, and Eli gets to play the illustrious Chino, which he will turn into some sort of Tony Award Winning performance because that’s just his thing, apparently. And he tells me to kill the dramatics.”

“With that audition of yours, I don’t think Barton had a choice when it came to giving you the part.” Eli says with a grin, coughing out a “Drama Queen” when Billy’s focusing on cooling his drink. Kate slaps his arm in his defense, and Eli is kind enough to pretend that it hurts.

It takes a few minutes of silence and several pumpkin muffins, but she finds enough courage to ask the one question she’s been dreading all morning. “Who got the part of Tony, Billy?”

“You, of course. Who the fuck else was the part going to go to?”

“Well if that America girl had said she was auditioning for Tony, that’s who else,” Eli supplies unhelpfully. Kate kicks his leg this time, and Eli doesn’t even pretend as if it hurts, because it actually does this time.

“Anyway,” Billy continues, “Clint had written notes for everyone under who had gotten the part, and mine was, I shit you not, a note to ‘kill the dramatics’. I swear, this city is so cold.”

“What’d mine say?”

“It’s up online, you know. You could read it yourself.”

“Yes, I’m aware. Does it look as if I can afford the internet right now?”

Billy eyes her, takes in her designer jeans and baggy cashmere sweater. “It does, actually.”

“You are insufferable, Kaplan. I needed this gig, honestly. Waitressing is actually the worst job on this planet.”

“Sounds a little bit like an exaggeration to me,” Eli says, still scrolling through his phone as if it’s the only thing he can give full attention to. She doesn’t blame him, though – if she was balls deep in every club on campus and different acting projects, she would abuse the shit out of her phone too.

“But I’m not exaggerating! I’d like to see if you could last if you were working in heels all day with no breaks.”

Eli’s head lifts up at that. “Aren’t you like, legally allowed to have a thirty minute break?”

“I can’t just take my heels off for thirty minutes – I need an hour, at the very least.”

“And you call Kaplan insufferable? Please.” Eli snorts and Billy grins easily at him.

“Where’s Teddy – Did Teddy get the part? Also, you never answered my question.” Kate sits up with renewed interest, already bored of the teasing. She needs to know what Clint thinks about her performance – She’s bizarrely interested, for some reason. She hates when directors give her notes about her work, and it’s mainly one of the reasons she never sticks around for plays that last longer than two months. Something’s different about Barton and that redhead to her, like they have something more substantial to say. So she starts to kick at Billy relentlessly until his phone is out of his hands and in hers.

“Well since you’re hell-bent on getting the answers yourself, I don’t think I’m needed.” Billy sniffs, sipping at his hot chocolate and looking out the window with a hazy, forlorn look on his face.

“Billy, please. Will you ever save your drama for the stage?” She opens up Safari and the tab is already open to the Cast List, and Kate spots her name immediately. “You did well, Katie-Kate. Your issues were mostly technical, but we’ll go over them at the first rehearsal.” She grins up at her friends. “Clearly, I’m a star.” Her nose wrinkles after reading the notes over a second time. “Did he seriously call me Katie-Kate? Gross.”

Robbie and Cassie walk in with their hands full of bakery boxes. “We come in peace, theater nerds.” Cassie sits on Eli’s lap and starts to unwrap the box, and Kate holds up her hands.

“I can’t eat that stuff, I’m a celebrity now.”

Robbie’s eyebrows furrow in curiosity as he sits down on the floor, unwrapping the other box. Her chest starts to warm: it’s all very “Friends”-esque, with the café and the batch of misfits surrounding the coffee table. “You guys haven’t even started rehearsals yet.”

“Like I said, I’m a celebrity and I need to watch my figure. Or my vocal chords, more like.”

Cass laughs derisively, chewing on a cupcake. Even though it’s ten in the morning. “Didn’t you eat pizza and drink milkshakes for the entirety of Romeo and Juliet?”

“I was Tybalt, it wasn’t as if I was preparing for literally the biggest role of my entire career. It’s different for you guys, you all have other projects or agents to give you work and I don’t. This is it for me.”

Billy and Eli nod in sympathy. “You’re right. No cupcakes for Tony!” Billy yells, slamming his hands on the coffee table.

“Billy, where’s Teddy?”

“Quite frankly, I find it insulting that you believe that I always know where and what my boyfriend is doing.” Billy reaches over for a cupcake and pouts when Kate slaps his hands away.

She rolls her eyes, looking at him like he’s clueless. “You guys are practically married, now fess up.”

“If you must know, I think he’s at the diner starting his shift? Loki’s going overboard with the times now.” Billy’s face lights up. “You know, he doesn’t know he’s in the play yet. We should surprise him.”

“Yuck, sounds romantic to me.” Eli’s tongue sticks out in disgust, and Kate kicks him. It’s unfortunate that her friends must be hit to stay in line, but them’s the breaks.

“It sounds like a great idea. Robbie, are you good to drive?”

“No one’s getting anywhere near my car until every last crumb is wiped off of yourselves. I’m serious.”

“We know, Rob,” everyone chants in unison, wiping themselves off.

When they arrive, smiles in place and boxes of sweets held high above their heads, Teddy can’t help but smile helplessly at them as they crowd in, uncaring of the crowd of morning people in the diner.

“Congrats, babe, you are officially the newest Diesel of West Side Story!” Billy yells at the top of his lungs and reaches over the diner to plant one on Teddy, grinning wide at the old lady who sneers at them. Kate beams – Billy’s come a long way from the awkward, anxiety ridden high school kid he used to be.

“Seriously? I got the part?”

“Yes, seriously, way, totally, you got the part. Don’t be so surprised, anyone would hire you after that monologue you used,” Billy says, slapping Teddy’s arm.

Teddy smiles that amazed, awestruck smile he usually makes when he gets the part he wants, as if it’s a surprise and he’s not one of the best actors Kate’s ever seen – That anyone’s ever seen. She grabs a cupcake and shoves it in his face for the hell of it, grinning when everyone laughs in surprise. They’re doing something that’s way bigger than themselves, and she knows that Billy and Eli feel it too, because they pat her back like they know what she’s thinking. This isn’t just an ordinary play.

***

The first rehearsal is always nerve-wracking, to say the least. Kate puts on a brave face and walks in with a smile, beaming at the Jets and the Sharks in equal measure. Redhead is the first to walk up to her, and she dumps a script in her hands, saying nothing, not even giving her a smile. Kate would be scared for her life, but Eli used to be that way when they first met, so she’s completely used to it. “Hey, miss? Ma’am? Whatever? What’s your name?” She yells after her, and the redhead turns back towards her with the barest hint of a smirk.

“It’s Natasha,” she says after a moment, and turns right back around. Kate nods, the script heavy in her hands as she makes her way toward the stage where everyone is seated around Clint. Without thinking, she sits right next to America, and Billy gives her the most obvious wink for it. She rolls her eyes and looks at America, whose face is buried in the script, a pink highlighter between her teeth.

“Getting started already, huh?” Kate asks kindly, chin in hand. America looks over at her with disinterest at first, but then she looks over again and her eyes light up.

“So you’re Tony?” She sounds disappointed, but her eyes say otherwise. Kate’s cheeks turn red at the thought of being America’s love interest for months –All of the kiss scenes, the touches, the intimacy of playing lovers on stage. Of course it’s her first time doing it – She usually sticks to playing people that don’t like relationships, since it makes everything easy for her. She tries not to get attached when it comes to crushes, or relationships, or anything. Especially after The Disaster of 2012.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Kate says with a shrug. “Unfortunately, you’re going to have to be my girlfriend for a few months. Y’know, method acting.”

America smirks and looks back down at her script, highlighting again, and Kate looks down at hers. “I don’t think that’s necessary, princess.”

Kate’s nose scrunches up in confusion. “Princess? Why are you calling me – Oh. Ugh.” Her shirt is, of course, bright pink, and says Princess on the front in bright silver letters. She didn’t think anything of it at the time when she had first put it on in the morning, but now she immediately regrets it. “That’s not gonna stick, is it?”

“Who knows, princess? I might forget your name entirely.” Her eyebrow quirks as she highlights another line, and Kate wants to die on the spot.

Barton coughs loudly, drawing the attention of everyone on stage. “Listen up, everyone! I know you know some directors who want to start at the middle of the play, or the end, or wherever the hell they believe is the best place to begin. Today, we’re starting from the top. Natasha, my assistant director –” Natasha cuts a glare toward him from across the room, “I mean our second director, is handing out our rehearsal and performance schedule. Keep to it, come prepared. We’ve also got a list of tips on how to conduct yourself in a wide scale play such as this, just in case you decide to forget you’ve never been on a stage ever in your life. I’m assuming you’ve gotten your scripts already?” Everyone nods and hums in approval. “Good. That script is your new bible, so to speak. Highlight your lines, live and breathe them. I suggest you write your blocking in there, as well as any edits we make to the script as we’re performing.” He nods once, looking over at Natasha. “I guess that about…covers it. Let’s get started with the table read first for Act One. You’ll all be learning the songs as we rehearse them on stage.”

Barton calls break and it’s as if everyone simultaneously decided to watch West Side Story on DVD the night before, or maybe it’s just the magic of theater, because all of the Jets huddle up on the edge of the stage, fingers poised to start snapping. Clint grins at them. “Good, you’ve done some research. Right idea, wrong side of the stage.”

Since Kate’s not a part of the first major scene, she makes her way over to where America’s sitting, still highlighting her lines, and cracks open her script for the first time since she received it. She’s halfway through Act One, the yellow of the highlighter starting to burn her retinas when she looks over at America. America’s the exact opposite of what she wanted in a partner: she wanted someone unattractive, preferably shorter than her, someone who doesn’t take theater seriously. Unfortunately, America is none of those things; she’s gorgeous, distractingly so, she’s way taller than Kate, and she’s been highlighting her lines since the moment she arrived. “So, what’s your deal? Why’re you here?”

America spares her a glance, the first time they’ve really looked at each other, and Kate raises her eyebrows in curiosity. America’s eyes are a deep, rich brown.  Looking into them must be a special indulgence that Kate’s been blessed with. She may be a little too far gone already, but whatever.  “I imagine the same reason you’re here, princess.” She looks down at her silver studded shirt and back up to her eyes, and Kate ignores her cheeks heating up.

“I mean the real reason – what made you become an actor?”

America sighs and goes back to highlighting her script, Kate’s nose scrunching in disappointment. The silence becomes deafening, until America clears her throat. “My moms are actresses, best in the world. I didn’t have a choice.”

Kate laughs in disbelief. Doing exactly what her parents – What her dad wants her to do has never been an option for her. “You always have a choice.”

“Please.” America sneers, her nose wrinkling in contained anger. “What, is that why you started acting? To piss off your parents?”

“To piss of my dad, yes. My mom’s…” She takes a deep breath, and America’s eyes light up in understanding.

“Got it. Interesting choice of profession, you could’ve said you wanted to be an artist or something.” She laughs, “I’d love to see the look on my mother’s faces if I said I wanted to be a fucking artist.”

Kate nudges her with her elbow, jokingly, and America smiles easily at her. “You should do it. I’m all for being your own person, the whole ‘free spirit’ mentality. I probably would’ve done MMA if Billy over there didn’t take me to one of his shows.” She points at him, and waves when he grins at her.

“Hmm.” America looks at her appreciatively, before laughing. “Can’t see it.”

Kate’s eyes widen in surprise, lifting her shirt up and pointing at her stomach. “Seriously? You can’t see it? I’ve been training since I was like, ten years old.”

“Sound a little pompous there, princess,” America says, taking in Kate’s toned stomach. Kate smirks – If she’s got to take her shirt off to keep America from staring at her script like a zombie, so be it. “By the way, shouldn’t you be studying your script? Your scene’s up next, Tony.”

“Shit. I mean…right. I knew that.” She flips back to the first few pages and begins to memorize.

When she’s called to the stage, she’s got the first few pages of the play memorized and Tony’s mentality down pat. Billy stands before her, his grey Henley decorated with splashes of sweat from his opening scene, and he couldn’t look happier. This isn’t her first time doing a play with Billy, but this is the first time they’ve done it together with roles equally important – Kate’s usually a background character, someone to look over. Her hand reaches over to the empty cardboard box being used as a temporary prop, and the lines flow from her effortlessly. Billy shines with her, but he’s always been good working with other people, even when they get on his last nerves. The scene is done with their own blocking, and they stop themselves without direction to edit as they see fit. When they’re done, Clint and Natasha look extremely impressed – Well, Kate thinks Natasha looks impressed, from the way the corners of her mouth are turned upward.

Barton gives a low whistle. “Not bad. You guys edited yourselves nicely, but there’s still some technical issues there – Kate, you don’t just completely face the audience, you find the happy medium. Those are the basics of stage acting. Billy, you need to project more, this isn’t community theater, I’ve told you that.”

Billy recoils instantly, his shoulders hunching, and Kate gets that twitch in her eye she always seems to develop when one of her friends are insulted. They’ve known each other since high school, and Billy’s probably one of the few people Kate would gladly take a bullet for. “Hey, he’s worked for some of the best in this city, don’t be rude. It’s the first day.”

“I’ve seen his résumé, and apparently the best in this city neglected to tell him about his projection issues.”

“I could’ve sworn from watching your countless interviews that you’d be less of an asshole in person, but apparently not.” Everyone freezes, the Jets stop snapping and the Sharks stop practicing the merengue. When she looks at Eli, his eyes are wide, shaking his head slowly at her, and Teddy just looks shell-shocked. To her surprise, Natasha starts laughing.

“Don’t mind him, he’s usually a pain in the ass on the first day. Billy, you were doing fine, just speak up a little bit. Speak to the mezzanine, not just the orchestra.”

Barton goes from looking like a grown man to a pouting child in mere seconds, and Kate starts to grin. “I am not a pain in the ass on the first day,” he sniffs, and Natasha ignores him, makes them do the scene over again at her instruction. They run through the opening again, through Riff and Tony’s scene, and then America takes the stage, Kate sitting off in the sidelines memorizing the next few pages.

She can’t help but look up every few minutes or so – America looks like she was born for the stage, with the way her voice carries, her bright brown eyes glowing under the stage lights. Her acting itself is seamless; Natasha barely has to correct her. Kate would be jealous as hell if she didn’t like her so much – she goes back to highlighting, avoiding a potentially dangerous train of thought.

When they’re through, and every single part of the exposition has been blocked and rehearsed to death, Barton gathers them around on stage. “Good job today, everyone. Tomorrow we’ll go over the beginning again, and then get some of the dance scene done. Emma Frost will be coming over to choreograph the dance scene for the next few days, then we’ll get to the kiss scene and the fire escape scene and the rest. Nice job today, I’m serious.” He looks down briefly before looking at Kate directly. “I’m sorry if I was a little……coarse today, I’m usually anxious during the first few days of rehearsal. See you tomorrow!” He claps his hands, and everyone disperses, some lingering behind to ask questions. Kate gets off the stage, grabbing her coat and her script, letting her hair down. Billy stops in front of her to give her a big kiss on the lips, Teddy laughing when he comes over to see her wiping the leftover spit from the kiss.

“Absolutely disgusting, the lot of you.” She sees America leave, and her eyes widen in panic. “Okay, love you guys, I’ll call you later, I think David’s making ratatouille tonight or some shit, come over if you want, I gotta go.”

She rushes outside, catching up to America easily. America turns to her, eyebrows raised. “Do you want to come over Sunday? There’s this café in Brooklyn that my friends and I go to every Sunday, and I just wanted to know if you wanted to come. Since we’re going to be romantic with each other, I kinda want us to be friends, at least.”

That gets her a small grin. “Have you never done a fake relationship before? You don’t need to be friends with the person, you just need to have chemistry.”

“What, and you think we’ve got…” Her finger points between the two of them. “Chemistry?”

America inches closer and closer into her space, until all she can see is brown ringlets and deep brown eyes. “I’ve seen the way you look at me,” she says, her voice low, as if they’re sharing secrets. “I’m sure we’ve got plenty of chemistry, princess.”

Kate’s face heats up from the closeness, but she smirks anyway. She can handle this, she can handle America. “Like I said, I’m a method actor. You should come, there’ll be cinnamon buns, hot chocolate, a guaranteed free seat on my lap…”

America laughs, and Kate feels the breath of it against her cheek. “Cheeky. I’ll be there.” She backs up and walks away, and Kate feels dizzy from the sudden empty space in front of her.

This play is either going to be huge disaster or a big success – Kate can’t tell which one.