You know the drill. Email me at [email protected] or post on the message board if you'd like. Happy reading!
* * *
Josie stood in front of the long rectangular mirror in Angela's immaculate bedroom, blinking a couple times to make sure her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. She most certainly didn't recognize the girl that stared back at her. Her once-stringy brown hair now fell in golden ringlets that shone in the sunlight that streamed in through the window. Angela had taken her to a salon in the mall, where she'd had her hair trimmed, permed, and dyed a very becoming golden blonde. Next, they had gone shopping in several stores and Angela helped her pick out several cute outfits, which Josie bought with money her mother had given her. She was now wearing a blue short-sleeved top that hung a little loose on her and was short enough to show part of her midriff. With that she wore white flower-print pants and new shoes. Finally, Angela had picked out some makeup for her and had just finished applying it. There was a little foundation to cover her zits, blush, eye shadow, eyeliner, mascara, and faint lipstick that brought out her pouty lips. "Josie, I knew I was right!" Angela exclaimed, standing behind her in the mirror.
Josie turned around. "I can't believe this!" she exclaimed. "Thank you so much, Angela!" She gave her friend a hug.
Angela shrugged. "I didn't do anything, really," she insisted. "You look fantastic!"
* * *
On Monday at school, Josie's first public appearance with her "new look," she noticed that everyone kept staring at her. For once in her life, she held her head high, knowing that she really did look good, although she was far from cocky about it. When she'd gone home on Friday night, her parents and Rob hardly recognized her, but they all told her she looked great.
Before last period, Josie was standing in the hallway by her locker when Bruce Taylor, the quarterback of the football team and one of the most popular guys in school, sauntered up to her, a toothy grin upon his face. "Hey," he said, leaning his arm against the lockers as he stood facing her.
Josie had always thought Bruce was good-looking. After all, who wouldn't with those probing warm brown eyes, perfectly styled dark hair, and perfect smile? However, he had never been nice to Josie before, pushing past her in the hallway as if she didn't exist and throwing little wads of paper at the back of her head when they'd had history together last year. He'd already taken the class before, but had failed it the first time around. Josie was pretty sure he had failed it the second time as well, and was taking it for the third time that year.
"Hey," Josie echoed, lowering her eyes. She didn't like the fact that he was standing so close to her, and it was pretty obvious that his eyes were focused on her bright pink shirt, which was especially low-cut.
"I don't believe we've met. I'm Bruce�Are you new?"
Josie bit her lip, looking up at him. "No, I'm not," she whispered.
"You're not?" He was incredulous. "Because I would have thought that I would have noticed someone as pretty as you before�"
"You had history class with me last year, Bruce," she told him. "I'm Josie Geller."
Bruce stepped back, his grin growing wider. Then, to her annoyance, he laughed. "No way!" he cried. "Josie Grossie?"
"The very same," Josie told him. "You used to throw paper in my hair, remember?" Suddenly Josie felt a certain amount of power that she hadn't before, and she stared directly into Bruce's eyes, watching him squirm.
Bruce brought his hands to his face and wiped his eyes with his fists in disbelief. "Well�I must say�You've undergone quite a transformation, haven't you?" He was looking down her shirt again.
Josie heaved a long, loud, exaggerated sigh, folding her arms across her chest in an effort to block his view. "Excuse me," she murmured. "I have a class to get to, and I'm going to be late." Without another word, Josie brushed past him and walked down the hallway, leaving him standing open-mouthed by her locker.
Bruce stared after her for a moment until she disappeared into one of the classrooms. Shaking his head, he muttered, "What the hell�?" and headed to his own class.
* * *
When Josie entered the auditorium stage after school, she was dismayed to find that most of the chairs that were set up were already filled. She took a seat in the last of four rows just as Mr. Peterson entered with a clipboard in hand. Josie didn't even have time to notice that Sam was sitting in the front row, his legs outstretched in a relaxed position. Mr. Peterson began, "Good afternoon, everyone. I'm happy that you all could come. I'm pleasantly surprised to see such a turnout. I've been wanting to do Shakespeare at this school for years, but the administration frowned upon it, saying that no one would be interested in trying out. Well, I guess we've proven them wrong now, haven't we?"
"Actually, that's one of the things we wanted to talk to you about." A tall boy in the front row, who was actually sitting next to Sam, stood up to address Mr. Peterson. Josie recognized him as Cody Myers, a senior who had been in every school production since he was a freshman. "A bunch of us from the drama club got together before school and had a little discussion."
"That so?" Mr. Peterson asked, obviously intrigued. "And what did you discuss?"
"Well�See, we think that the idea of doing Hamlet is cool and all, only�well, we would like to do a more�modernized version."
Mr. Peterson nodded his head, not a muscle on his face moving. Josie was trying to figure out what he was thinking, but he was certainly good at hiding it. She bit her lip. She had been looking forward to the possibility of the period costumes and scenery. What would happen now? Of course, Mr. Peterson hadn't agreed to anything yet, but Josie could feel her stomach tightening.
"Well�" Mr. Peterson began. "I think I understand where you're going with this, but would you care to elaborate?"
At this, Sam stood up, and Josie noticed him in the room for the first time. He looked every bit as handsome as she had remembered, and she immediately felt her heart beating faster at the mere sight of him. "I'll take it from here, Cody," Sam said, patting him on the shoulder. Cody nodded and sat down. Josie thought it odd that she had known of Cody but not of Sam. They were obviously friends, and it appeared as if Sam was in the drama club as well. "Mr. Peterson," Sam began, looking at him. "We love Shakespeare, but we also know that a lot of people at this school are turned off by the language. We want to show them how 'cool' Shakespeare really is, in a sense. Instead of the story dealing with the King of Denmark and his family, maybe�Maybe Claudius and Gertrude are the heads of a major corporation or something. We'll all wear 90s clothes and have today's music as the soundtrack�Duran Duran, U2, REM�What do you think?"
Mr. Peterson nodded, scratching his chin with his hand thoughtfully. "Well, now�I really think you have something here, Sam. We'll have to work out the details once we have a cast and everything, but if everyone works together, I really think it'll be great. But, still�Let's vote on it." Mr. Peterson's eyes turned to everyone who was sitting there waiting to audition. "How many of you think this is a good idea?" he asked.
All hands went up, even Josie's. Mr. Peterson laughed. "Okay, is there anyone who doesn't think it's a good idea?" The room remained silent.
"All right! It's a 90's version of Hamlet then! With that, let's get this audition rolling, shall we? I'm going to give each of you a sheet to fill out. Put your name, the part you're trying out for, your previous theatre experience, and any conflicts you might have with practice time. Hand them to me when you're done."
Josie frowned as she filled out her sheet. She wrote that she wanted the part of "Ophelia," of course, but when she came to the part where it asked what other theatre experience she had, she came up empty. She'd never acted in a play before, school or otherwise. She wrote: "I've never acted before, Mr. Peterson, but it's my love for Shakespeare that brings me to this production." She handed it in, as satisfied as she was going to be about it.
The audition process took much longer than Josie had anticipated, but no one was permitted to leave until everyone had had their turn so that everyone would have an audience to act in front of.
Josie was the last girl to audition for the role of "Ophelia." Some of the others had been good, others terrible, but she still had no idea how she would do. Still, she kept Angela's words in the back of her mind. If Angela believed she could do it, she was determined to try.
"Josie Geller!" Mr. Peterson called at last. "You're up! Do we have anyone who's auditioning for the role of 'Hamlet' that I haven't called? Scratch that. I have one more�" He pulled a piece of paper out of the pile. "Sam Coulson!"
As Josie stood up, she thought her knees would buckle. She hadn't known that Sam would try out for the title role, and she was going to get to do a scene with him! She stood in the middle of the stage now with Sam facing her. "Do you two need scripts?" Mr. Peterson inquired.
Josie looked at him and shook her head. "I don't. Just tell me what act and scene we're doing and I'll do it."
Mr. Peterson smiled, obviously pleased, and looked at Sam now. "What about you, Mr. Coulson?"
Sam shook his head. "Same as Josie," he told him.
Hearing Sam say her name startled her, and she forced herself to look at him, seeing that he was already grinning at her. She smiled back shyly, her eyes locked with his for a moment before she had to force herself to look away. "Act 3, scene one," Mr. Peterson said, breaking through Josie's thoughts. "Sam, we're going to skip 'Hamlet's' little speech and go straight to the part where he sees 'Ophelia.' Your line, Josie. Do you know where I mean?"
Josie looked at Mr. Peterson and nodded. She took a deep breath, her eyes focused on Sam now. "Good my lord, how does your honour for this many a day?"
Completely in character, Sam reached over and took Josie's hand, kissing it lightly. "I humbly thank you, well."
Struggling to remember that she was supposed to be "Ophelia," Josie continued with the lines. She reluctantly let go of Sam's hand and took a few steps away from him with her hands behind her back. When she was sufficiently far enough from him, she turned around, delivering her next line, "My lord, I have remembrances of yours that I have longed to redeliver. I pray you now receive them."
Sam held up his hands, shaking his head. "No, not I. I never gave you aught."
Josie moved toward him again, taking his wrists and placing her fingers in his upturned hands. "My honoured lord, you know right well you did, and with them words of so sweet breath composed as made the things more rich. Their perfume lost, take these again; for to the noble mind rich gifts wax poor when givers prove unkind." She took her fingers off his palms and slowly pushed them closed. "There, my lord."
Sam cocked his head to the side, smiling. "Ha, ha! Are you honest?"
Josie stepped back, her eyes widening. "My lord?"
Sam reached over and softly placed his hand on her cheek, smoothing his fingers over her skin. Josie could feel goose bumps rising on her arms. "Are you fair?"
Remembering who she was supposed to be again, Josie stepped back, out of his reach and delivered her next line. "What means your lordship?"
Sam stepped closer to her again, taking her hands. "That if you be honest and fair, your honesty should admit no discourse to your beauty."
"Could beauty, my lord, have better commerce than with honesty?"
Suddenly Sam grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her roughly toward him, delivering his next lines angrily inches away from her face. "Ay, truly; for the power of beauty will sooner transform honesty from what it is to a bawd than the force of honesty can translate beauty into his likeness. This was sometime a paradox, but now the time gives it proof." He released her just as abruptly as he had taken hold, taking a few steps backward. "I did love you once," he said, more softly now.
"Indeed, my lord, you made me believe so," Josie choked out, still overcome from having been so close to him.
Sam's face turned stern again and he stepped toward her again, taking her shoulders with his hands again, but much more roughly this time, and he shook her as her arms were pinned against her chest, having nowhere else to go. "You should not have believed me; for virtue cannot so inoculate our old stock but we shall relish of it. I loved you not."
Josie wriggled away from him, rubbing her upper arms. They did, in fact, hurt a great deal from his iron grip. "I was the more deceived," she replied wistfully.
"Get thee to a nunnery." Sam held out his arm and pointed sharply, anger still fresh in his eyes. "Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sinners? I am myself indifferent honest, but yet I could accuse me of such things that it were better my mother had not borne me. I am very proud, revengeful, ambitious, with more offences at my beck than I have thoughts to put them in, imagination to give them shape, or time to act them in. What should such fellows as I do crawling between earth and heaven? We are arrant knaves all; believe none of us. Go thy ways to a nunnery." He had grabbed her sharply again when he said the last part, but then paused and let go again, asking more calmly, "Where's your father?"
Josie swallowed hard. "At home, my lord."
Sam shook his head sadly, casting her a melancholy look. "Let the doors be shut upon him, that he may play the fool nowhere but in's own house. Farewell." With the last line, Sam turned away from her, pretending to walk away. He turned back around again when Mr. Peterson began to clap wildly.
"Brilliant! Simply brilliant! Give these two a hand, everyone!" The audience clapped as Sam and Josie reclaimed their seats.
There were only a couple more auditions after Sam and Josie's and then everyone headed home. As Josie was leaving the stage, she didn't notice Sam come up beside her. He walked next to her for a moment, unnoticed, before he stopped her and put his hand on her arm. She turned, startled to see him standing beside her. "Josie, right?" he asked.
She nodded shyly. "Yeah," she replied, just barely above a whisper.
"Hi. I'm Sam. Remember? I talked to you on Friday, I think? Outside the cafeteria?"
Josie nodded. He'd remembered who she was, even though she looked markedly different now. "I remember," she said.
"Good�Well, I just wanted to say that you did a great job�I really felt like I was 'Hamlet' and you were 'Ophelia.' Actually, I think I might have gotten into it a little too much. Did I hurt you?"
He sounded truly concerned, and even though her arms were still throbbing from his grip, she shook her head and said. "It's okay. I understand. You were really great, too."
Sam looked down for a moment, blushing. Then he looked back up at her, almost shyly, and said, "Thanks. Well�Mr. Peterson said he'd post the cast list on Wednesday. I really hope I get this part." He paused, waiting for her to say something, but she was back to her shy self again and said nothing. She couldn't seem to think of anything to say! "Hey, what did you think about the whole 90s idea? When Cody brought it up this morning, I have to admit I was a little turned off�But then I saw where he was coming from, and�I think it'll be cool."
Josie nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It'll be cool."
Sam put his hand gently on Josie's arm then, smiling. "Well, if I don't see you before then, practice starts Thursday, so�hopefully I'll see you there. Bye, Josie."
"Yep. Bye, Sam." She watched as he walked away from her and out the door. Closing her eyes and sighing, she headed to her locker to get her backpack.
* * *
Angela called about a half-hour after Josie got home. "So�?" she said expectantly.
Josie laughed. "So�what?" she asked.
Josie heard Angela sigh. "So�how did it go? The auditions! How was it?"
"I did okay, I think," Josie said. "The cast list is going to be posted Wednesday."
"You've got the part, I know it!" Angela exclaimed. "It's in the bag."
Josie laughed nervously. "If you say so�"
"I do. Listen, Josie, I have to go. I've got mega homework tonight and if I don't get started now I'll be up all night. See you at school tomorrow."
"Yep. See ya. Bye, Angela." She hung up the phone, wondering if Angela was right.