CH3

The waiting to see if I passed onto the next stage was excruciating. My stomach was turning into knots as I worried about if I could have done something better, or different. I had no way of knowing what the other contestants had done, or how well they performed. I didn’t even know if we were all going to be judged together or if they would split us up into groups of our talents and then decide from there.

Then there was the number of people who had come here today. Each one must have had something exceptional to show off, or else they wouldn’t have got past the signing up or the first showcase. I wondered how many people they had denied already or if they were going to sort us out after. You could have all the talent in the world, but if you croaked during the moment that you had to show off your skills, there was no way you’d get in.

I held my hand to my chest and focused on my breathing. I had to be confident and relax. There was no use worrying about it now. I knew I had talent. Everyone I had met had said as much. My only issue was the constant swapping of schools because of my situation, but that had no bearing on my skill level.

Finally, the number of people who were making their way into the canteen had trickled down into less and less. At a guess, this meant they were the last submissions the company had accepted to see. There were several groups of people, some on their own, talking to people they knew, others had come in groups to work as a group if they could, and then there were those who, like me, were alone.

It had been a long time since the last person had come into the canteen when at last one of the staff members holding a folder came out and got our attention with a raised but polite voice as they said, “now listen up everyone. We have decided that because there are so many of you, we’re going to split you all up into groups of your talents and send you back into the room so you can find out if you have gone onto the next stage or not.”

A few whispers broke out between some of the people waiting. I expected they might do something like this, as it would take far too long to go through every person, one at a time. Far quicker to do it in groups. That meant I would find out if I passed or not with a group of other actors or singers. Though which group they put me in, I wasn’t sure yet.

Slowly the staff member called out names, causing the canteen to empty with the bodies of those waiting. None of them returned, so I assumed those who had passed the trials had either been told to come back another day for another round, or they had been moved into another room within the building.

Finally, it came to my turn. I was with a group of other singular people who looked just as nervous as I felt. We headed back into the room and onto the stage. Out of all of them, only I and a young woman seemed to have any confidence between us. The others fidgeted with their hands, some brushing their hair, while others twisted the corners of their shirts.

The group of judges were sitting in the same spots as they had been before, and I wondered if they had even moved or had a break in between all the people they had interviewed. My gaze lingered on the man with the hat and sunglasses. His arms folded across his chest, and he didn’t seem too impressed. I hoped that wasn’t a bad sign.

“You all have some wonderful talents,” the woman from before spoke out, snapping my attention away from the man. “However, we do not have any room in our roster for so many actors, so some of you will go home today.” She paused, allowing us to dread those words. “The rest of you will have to compete with one another in order to go onto the next level,” she finished.

The man in the hat whispered into her ear briefly, and the woman nodded her reply. She then called out a couple of names, pointing at each of them as she did so - none of which were me. However, those she had called out had been the more nervous ones among us. I had a feeling they would be the ones let go.

“You will go home, I am afraid, but you have talent,” she said with a smile. “We will keep your forms for reference, so if someone else cannot continue the interview we will call you back in,” she added.

I had a feeling it was them. That meant I had at least got a little further towards my dreams. I let out a silent sigh of relief and watched as those who hadn’t made it through left in tears. Of those of us left, the more confident girl was one of them. It wasn’t too surprising she had made it. I could tell, just from how she posed herself, that she was sure of her abilities. She would likely be my biggest rival.

There was silence between those of us left, as the group of judges decided between them what sort of contest they wished to put us through. Since we were all actors of sorts, I imagined it would be something along those lines. Though I couldn’t even imagine what they had in mind for us to do.

After what seemed like forever, and the man in the hat seemed to demand something from the others, the lady finally turned her attention back on us and with a smile said, “we’re going to pair you into two at random and you’ll have to act out a scene for us. We will have you improvise the whole thing, to see how well you work under pressure.” She paused there and glanced between us. “Though do not think that you can let your teammate carry you, as a pair you’re still going to need to outshine the other person.”