Ivy hid her face behind her clipboard so that no one could see her giggling.
‘Was that you?’ came Sophia’s voice through her headphones.
‘Yup,’ she whispered back.
Garrick was doing the same monologue as Jackson. With a slightly different interpretation, she thought. Garrick’s head jerked from side to side.
‘W-w-what light …’ Twitch. ‘Through yonDER.’ Hop. ‘Window-oh-oh.’ Jump. ‘Breaks.’
He gave in to the urge to scratch and was lurching about as he said the lines: ‘It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!’
Ivy was impressed that he could still remember his lines. He threw himself to the ground and started writhing like a beetle on its back, shouting the lines louder and louder.
‘Arise, fair sun, and KILL the envious mooooon …’
Ivy caught sight of Olivia sitting in the audience, twitching herself, trying not to laugh out loud.
By now, several people in the audience were sniggering, while Camilla looked utterly shocked.
When Garrick had finally finished his monologue, he fled the stage. He rushed right past Ivy into the wings and she heard the backstage bathroom door slam open. His three cronies ran backstage after him to find out what had happened.
Serves you right, Ivy thought.
‘Next!’ she shouted.
Half an hour later, Olivia was sitting in the sixth row of the theatre, holding hands with Jackson, waiting to hear the big news.
‘It’s so going to be me,’ Charlotte declared over the excited hubbub of the theatre. She was two rows in front, sitting between Allison and Katie. ‘No one else even came close.’
Jackson squeezed Olivia’s hand and said quietly, ‘Don’t listen to her. Your audition was really good.’
Olivia smiled, but her heart fluttered. There was a real possibility that Charlotte would get the part.
Camilla was up in the sound booth, the little room above the back row of the audience, making her decisions in private.
Jackson chuckled. ‘I especially liked the part where you were talking about me.’
Olivia’s entire body tingled with embarrassment and she hoped she wasn’t going redder than a tomato dunked in ketchup. ‘I couldn’t help it,’ she admitted. ‘I was thinking of you to try to get the romance across.’
He smiled at her and leaned closer. ‘Well, it worked.’
Olivia breathed in. Is he going to kiss me right now?
Just then, Ivy plopped down in a seat in front of them, facing backwards.
Jackson straightened up and Olivia let out her breath.
‘It won’t be long now,’ Ivy said, still wearing her headphones. ‘I just went up to check with her.’
Olivia gasped. ‘Did you see anything?’
Ivy shook her head. ‘Not a sausage. And I wouldn’t tell you anyway. That would compromise my professional integrity.’
‘Speaking of professional integrity,’ Jackson said, ‘I think some of the itching powder evidence might have gone astray.’
Ivy put on an innocent face. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
The three of them glanced over at Garrick, who was sitting several seats behind them, looking grumpy and hilarious in a red-and-yellow polka-dotted shirt that he’d had to borrow from the costume department.
‘I’m surprised he hasn’t made a fuss about you, Ivy,’ said Olivia.
‘If he did,’ Ivy replied, ‘he would have to admit that he was the person who first brought itching powder into the theatre.’
Olivia heard something crackle in Ivy’s headphones.
‘She’s ready!’ Ivy said and hurried up the centre aisle to the back of the auditorium. She held open one of the doors and Camilla appeared, a dark silhouette against the lights in the lobby. The theatre fell completely silent as she came down the steps to the front of the stage, a thumb hooked into one of her red braces.
‘In my hand,’ she said in an ominous tone, ‘I have the final cast list.’
Being a director really suits Camilla, thought Olivia.
She glanced at Jackson, who looked as relaxed as if he was waiting to hear what was in the cafeteria for lunch tomorrow. Olivia felt more like she was about to hear whether or not she was going to be lunch tomorrow.
‘Thank you all for taking the time to audition,’ Camilla continued, ‘and please remember: if you don’t get a part, we need lots of support backstage with props and painting sets.’
Olivia glanced around at everyone else in the seats. The girl with the ponytail looked stony-faced and pale, and the boy with the Robin Hood cap looked like he’d won his role already. It was very tense.
Camilla cleared her throat. ‘For the female leads, in the role of Juliet, will be …’
Olivia squeezed Jackson’s hand so hard she made him yelp.
‘Olivia Abbott!’
Over the polite applause, Charlotte glared at Olivia. ‘No way!’
But Olivia refused to let that dampen her spirits. She squealed and clapped and grabbed Jackson in a huge hug, which was awkward with the arm of the chair between them.
I did it! she thought. I’m going to play Juliet… with Jackson playing Romeo! We will finally have our first kiss.
The babble died down and Camilla made her next announcement. ‘The second female lead, the part of the nurse, will be played by Charlotte Brown.’
‘The nurse?’ Charlotte whined. ‘Isn’t she old?’
Camilla ignored her. ‘For the male leads, in the role of Mercutio will be … Jackson Caulfield.’
‘What!’ Olivia said. Jackson didn’t even audition for that role, she thought.