Auditions
Kyle found himself staring at Crystal the next day during drama class, while Crystal found herself staring at Gigi again for some reason. She at least tried to be more careful this time though; she didn't want to be scolded by the girl like she was yesterday. Gigi was dressed in all pink again today, but her long blonde hair was pulled up into a high ponytail with some small pieces falling down around her face. Crystal wished she could pull off an outfit like that.
Her whole "being careful" thing was thrown out the window when Gigi suddenly whipped her head around to look at her. She squinted at Crystal, giving her a cold look, before turning back around and starting to panic slightly. Could she read minds or something? Why won't she stop staring?? Gigi was totally paranoid that Crystal knew her secret somehow. Knew that she might just maybe have a tiny little baby crush on her, and now she was just trying to make her go crazy. Her silent freaking out was put to an immediate stop when Ms. Sport began to speak.
"Good morning class! I trust you all have learned your classroom manners! I have a few announcements for you. This morning during free period I will be holding auditions for the winter musical in the auditorium; solos first and then pairs!" Gigi and Gavin looked at each other and giggled at that. Not even her paranoia could ruin her excitement. "I will be in the theatre until lunch!"
Everything inside of Crystal was telling her that it couldn't hurt to just go audition. "But that will put me on Gigi's bad side," she contemplated if it was worth it. After a little bit of thinking, Crystal decided that she would just go watch the auditions from the back of the theatre. And so during free period, that's exactly what she did. She snuck off making sure that nobody important saw her, and was soon sitting in the darkness that was the back of the school auditorium.
The auditions had already started and nobody that Crystal knew had performed yet. After the solo auditions, the curtains closed. She sat there confused for a second, but the two sets of hands came peaking out of the middle and a more upbeat song began to play. When the curtains opened she saw Gigi and Gavin, wearing coordination sparkly outfits and prancing around the stage in sync.
Crystal was absolutely mesmerized, whether it was by the performance itself or the performers she wasn't sure. But she could not keep her eyes off the stage.
"Hey! Didn't expect to see you here!" Kyle whisper shouted as he sat down beside her, startling her out of her trance.
"Oh, yea! I just wanted to watch I guess. I'm too scared to actually audition," Crystal spoke quietly in a timid voice, still not taking her eyes off of the sparkling outfits.
"Me too. Like I told you before my friends would tease me until the day I die." Kyle laughed. Gigi and Gavin finished their performance and Ms. Sport applauded dramatically.
"Any last minute sign ups? Last call! No? Nobody? Okay, then we're done," Ms Sport spoke to everyone in the theatre.
Crystal felt a rush of impulsiveness run through her and before she could think twice she was stepping out from the darkness and yelling "WAIT! I'd like to audition Ms. Sport!"
"Ms. Methyd I already said last call; unless you are deaf all of a sudden there is no excuse! The theatre waits for no one, and you don't have a partner anyway."
Crystal was about to turn around and go back to class when Kyle came out of the darkness too and volunteered reluctantly.
"I'll sing with her Ms. Sport!"
"Ahh, Kyle Smith. Where is your basketball posse or whatever it's called?"
"Team," he corrected, "and I'm here alone. Well, I'm here to sing with Crystal actually." Crystal could not believe that he was doing this for her; she felt very grateful for him in that moment.
"Yes, well, we take these shows very seriously here at East High, and that means punctuation is important. I'm sorry but free period is now over," Ms Sport said with the tiniest bit of sympathy peaking through in her tone. She then proceeded to walk out of the theatre with her bags in hand.
The pianist gathered her stuff too, but dropped it clumsily, leaving sheet music scattered across the stage. Crystal and Kyle both ran up on to the stage to help her pick up the mess she had just made.
"So, you wrote the song Gigi and Gavin just sang?" Kyle asked the girl who he now recognized was the composer of the show. She nodded.
"That's awesome! You shouldn't let them push you around so much, it's your show after all.
"I don't know, it sucks but it is what it is I guess. I'm Jaida by the way," the girl told them. She had her black hair pulled into a low bun with a little hat on top of her head, pretty brown eyes, and smooth dark skin.
"You should get to do things your way!" Crystal chimed in.
"I guess; do you guys wanna hear how the duet was supposed to sound?"
Crystal and Kyle looked at each other and nodded, there was nobody listening anyway, what was the harm? Jaida handed them the sheet music and started to play her piano as the two stood around it. It was much slower and prettier than Gigi and Gavin's version, although Crystal had enjoyed their performance anyway. The pair sang in harmony, just like they had at the resort party on New Years Eve a litte over a week ago.
The entire time Kyle looked at Crystal as he sang, admiring the way her curls fell and how her face lit up when she sang her part. Crystal just looked at the lyrics, oblivious to the fact that the boy next to her was staring intently at her. They finished the duet flawlessly, leaving a huge smile across Jaida's face.
"Ms. Methyd, Mr. Smith, you have a callback! Jaida give them the duet from the second act and work on it with them," Ms. Sport's voice boomed through the theatre as she emerged from the darkness where Crystal and Kyle were sitting just minutes ago.
Kyle stood there stunned as Jaida excitedly babbled about when and where they could rehearse for callbacks. Crystal instantly felt her body starting to fill with regret. "Gigi is going to want my head on a platter," was the only thing going through her mind.
✽ ✽ ✽
"A CALLBACK!? THEY GOT A CALLBACK!?" Gigi was furious. The callback sheet had just been put up in the school lobby, and there right under her and Gavin's names read "Kyle Smith and Crystal Methyd."
"What are you screaming about?" Chad, Kyle's best friend and teammate, asked as he approached Gigi and Gavin. She didn't have to say anything because as soon as he read the paper on the wall in front of her he understood what all the fuss was about.
"We need to do something," Chad took the words right out of Gigi's mouth. At this point Gigi was sure that Crystal was onto her and was trying to sabotage her life. She needed to not only get her off her trail, but also get her out of her way for the musical. The thought of spending any extra time around Crystal made her head spin.
Gigi had a plan. She knew that Jackie had been trying to convince Crystal to join the art club and participate in the art show; she just needed to encourage her a little more. In between the next periods, Gigi searched the hallways for Jackie.
"You need to get Crystal to join your little club." Gigi got straight to the point when she saw Jackie standing at her locker.
"Okay first of all, yes, I'm trying. Second of all, what's it to you?" Jackie seemingly had yet to hear about the callbacks.
"Crystal and Kyle somehow got a callback for the musical. I need them out of my way. And I'm sure Chad isn't happy about this either. You guys should talk to each other." Gigi chose not to mention her other motive for getting Crystal away from her.
"What?! That's crazy, and so out of line! I'll talk to Chad, but not because I care about your musical. I'm doing it because I want Crystal in the art show anyway," Jackie told her. Jackie and Gigi had never gotten along; Gigi had always been mean to her (for the same reason she was mean to all the girls at school). There was no way she was gonna let Gigi think she was doing her a favor.
"Fine, I don't care why you do it, just make sure they can't go to callbacks."