The audition went by in a blurry haze. Heck, coming out of it, I didn't even remember what songs they had asked me to sing. I was still a bit frazzled by my brief run-in with Alex Brightman a half-hour prior.

What was he so nervous around me about? Why had he seemed like he was at war with himself?
And why in the world had he called me beautiful?

I mean, my friends and family had always told me I was pretty/attractive, but beautiful? Yeah, that was definitely stretching it.

I was pretty average, with (h/l), (h/c) hair, (e/c) eyes, and (s/c) skin. The only thing that was remotely different about me was my short stature. I came up to a whopping 5'2" in tennis shoes, 5'1" and 1/2 without that extra support.

So beautiful? Maybe.

Beautiful enough to be told that by Tony nominee Alex Brightman? No. Definitely not.

I sat in the lobby, trying to type out a simple response to my best friend over text. You wouldn't believe how difficult sending a "good hbu" is when your mind is in another stratosphere.

After finally hitting the "send" button, I shook my head and dialed her up.

She was my bff Mackenzie, but I called her Mac for short.

"Hey! What's up, Shorty?" came her familiar, teasing voice.

I sighed. "Lots. Lots is up."

Hearing the worry/stress in my voice, she grew serious. "(Y/N), what's wrong? Is everything okay? I don't need to beat up anyone, do I?"

I laughed quietly. "No, no, nothing's, like, wrong, per say.... I'm just.... I'm really stressed about this audition, man. And I met Alex Brightman earlier and that was just a weird encounter."

"Wait wait wait, hold up." I could just see her raising her hand sassily. "You met Alex? And you didn't die from pure glee overload??"

I sighed and rubbed my face tiredly. "It's kinda hard when your ears are ringing and vision is blurrier than the camera on an old Android."

"Okay, seriously, what the heck happened?"

I sighed again. "He sorta kinda bumped into me and knocked my glasses off. Neither of us were paying attention."

"Oh. Well, why was that weird?"

"....He just.... got really flustered with me. And then he called me beautiful, Mac. Beautiful. What the heck."

"Oooohhh~ Shorty's got a boyfriend, Shorty's got a boyfriend!" she sang teasingly.

I blushed and rolled my eyes.

"Real mature, Mac. But no, I think he just hit his head a little too hard when we ran into each other."

"Mm~ I don't know, sounds like he's really into you~"

I sighed and massaged my forehead, feeling the beginnings of a headache coming on.

"Mac, think what you want, but it's not like that. I know he's probably just as frazzled as the rest of the crew today, with everything going on."

"Alright, well, this sportswear isn't gonna model itself, and they just got the lights set up, so I gotta go. Bye, girl, and tell your new boyfriend I said hi!"

Before I could protest, she hung up.

"Miss (Y/L/N)?"

My head snapped up to find the curly-haired woman calling my name. I was once again nervous and jittery.

I quickly jumped up and walked over to where she stood.

"If you'll follow me, I have a few questions for you."

I nodded and did as she told me, trailing after her to a small room with a plastic table and two metal folding chairs. My brain involuntarily thought of an interrogation scene. I swallowed nervously, not extremely good under this kind of pressure.

"Don't be nervous," she said, giving me a reassuring smile. I felt a little bit better. "Please, have a seat."

I did as I was told as the woman sat in the chair on the other side of the table across from me. She sifted through a bunch of documents and manila folders.

"Now," she said, still looking down, "we don't normally make decisions this quickly, but with so many of our performers leaving, we need to find replacements as quickly as possible."

Things started to register in my whirring brain.

"Wait, I got the part?"

She blinked up at me. "Well, yes. You obviously have talent. And, as I stated before, we need replacements fast."

I stared at her numbly. My insides were buzzing.

I had gotten the part.

I had made it.

I was on Broadway.

I was going to be part of my favorite musical.

I was now a part of Beetlejuice the Musical.