I didn't know that a lot of the college students of Baron were interested in joining in the play until I entered the Auditorium that day.

When I got in, I expected to see maybe twenty guys and twenty girls, but instead the auditorium was almost packed with students. Even just getting in was hard because it was too crowded. It was also very loud because most of them were memorizing their scripts. I saw Sidney's face and I could tell that she was just as surprised as I was.

"I don't think I'll even get a part with this many people trying out." She said and she laced her fingers with mine and gripped them. "Are you sure that this is the audition for the play? Because if you ask me, I think this is the free starbucks fair."

I pulled her to the crowd, dodging between some arms swinging due to over-acting, and I almost got hit on the face twice. Finally, somewhere near the stage, we found some empty seats that were at least a little far from the weird people who swings their arms like playing baseball when acting.

I let her sit first and followed as I looked around to see familiar faces. I saw some that were in my classes, but only knew them by faces and not by names so I still looked around. I then regretted doing it, because just about fifteen seats to our right was Zach Harris in his denim polo shirt that surprisingly looked good on him, and he was looking directly at us. I glared at him, and Sidney must have seen it because she told me, "Don't mind him. He's a jerk."

I couldn't agree more, Sid. I couldn't agree more.

Sidney and I practiced our lines instead of just sitting there while waiting, and the gummy bear thing really worked because she could memorize the whole script without stuttering and stopping anymore.

About half an hour later, we both just sat there as we waited for the auditions to start because we didn't want to strain our voice from too much practice.

"What if you're prince charming and some other girl here is Cinderella?" She suddenly asked out of nowhere.

I raised an eyebrow. "What is the question?"

She sighed and rested her head on my shoulder. "What would you do? If you'll get the part of prince charming and some stranger get the part of Cinderella?" She asked and I could hear fear in her voice. Fear that it would actually happen.

I clasped my fingers as if I was President Snow. "First, I would find out who she is, what year she is in, and what is her course." I said in a formal way. She pulled away from my shoulder and looked at me looking amused, and I smiled at her. "Then I would let my girl friend decide if she's a good Cinderella or not because we be both knew that she was just filling in and the real Cinderella took a trip to Gummy Bear Land and will be back after the play."

She actually laughed and I loved hearing it, even though some people around us started looking at her like she was crazy. She's crazy all right. We both were.

I tapped my finger on my chin. "What if you're Cinderella and some jerk guy here is prince charming? What would you do?" I asked her back.

She though for a while, which made me wonder if she really was thinking or just adding effect to the conversation. "Well, first, I'd make an investigation if he really is a jerk or not, and if he is, then I'll just let my dear friend Mr. Grammar punch him in the face." She smirked.

At first, I laughed at her, but I stopped when I realized she just called me Mr. Grammar again. "Don't let me bring up Ms. Imperfect." I warned her.

She waved it off like it was no big deal. "That one was lame, honestly. That was the only nickname you gave me, and Eddy, it sucked."

I was about to say something back to her, but the nickname really did suck. I did call her Siddy once, but she actually liked it so it was no use.

A bell rang from somewhere and everybody stopped talking so after the bell it was pretty quiet. Then, Ms. Styles appeared on the stage with a hell load of papers on her hands.

"Good afternoon to all of you." She greeted with a faint smile. "I cannot believe how many of you are interested in the play. Since there are so many of you, we will have the auditions by two. Wait ti'l your name is called, and then you will come up the stage and audition together. We will then tell you if you're audition piece will be the page one and page two." She said and murmurs already started echoing around the auditorium.

I had no problem with it because I could memorize both of the pages without effort, but I was really concerned with Sidney. She already had a hard time memorizing them. "What if I say the line wrong, Ed?" She asked me with obvious worry on her eyes.

I placed both of my hands on both of her shoulders and looked at her in the eyes. "Just go on the next line. If you play it cool, they wouldn't even notice it." I said because I already tried doing it in eight grade when I was so nervous. It did work. I got a line wrong, but I didn't stop and made it obvious. I jumped to the next line like nothing happened at all. Even the teachers themselves didn't notice it.

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?" She asked.

"I'm sure." I assured her.

"Now everyone settle down." Ms. Styles ordered us. "We will now start with the auditions. First will be..." She read on her list. "Betty Grace and Kyla Harper."

A girl in front of us stood up looking nervous, and another girl also made her way to the stage from the back. "Ms. Grace will be page one, and Ms. Harper will be page two." Ms. Styles said to them as soon as they were both on the stage. The girl with the brunette hair was the one who acted first, so she must have been Betty. I looked at the other girl, Kyla, who had long blonde hair and I could even see her blue eyes all the way from my seat. I didn't want to admit it, but she really did look like Cinderella.

Kyla started acting after Betty finished, and I take back what I said. She couldn't act.

When they were finished, Ms. Styles started calling names again. A lot were good, but most were bad. "Ian Flinn and Harry Brooke." Ms. Styles called and I watched as Harry slowly made his way to the stage. "Mr. Flinn will be page one and you Mr. Brooke will be page two."

Ian started acting, and his acting was good, actually. His voice was loud yet good to the ears, and his facial expressions were perfect. The only flaw he had was that he was one of those swinging-while-acting persons.

When Ian was done, Harry started. And surprisingly, he was so good. He could be a great Prince Charming if it was up to me. He was good looking and his body was well-builded, so the part really was suited for him.

When they were both done, Ms. Styles continued on the list. "Sidney Stewart and Angela Miles."

Sidney looked at me in alarm. I gripped her hand and told her, "You can do this." I said. Her hands were cold, and her breath was shaking. "Relax. You don't want Mr. Gummy Bear to get disappointed, do you?" I grinned, knowing that she'll laugh, and she actually did.

She went to the stage with this black-haired girl that was maybe a foot taller than her. She looked familiar, though, but I couldn't remember where I saw her. I just told myself that maybe she was in one of my classes. "Ms. Stewart, you're page one, and Ms. Miles, page two is for you."

Sidney took a deep breath. Before she started, she looked at me as if wanting assurance. I smiled at her and gave her a thumbs up.

She started, and at first, everything went well. She said her lines the way we practiced them, and she was a really great actress. I didn't know why she refused when I first encouraged her to join. If she had entered the plays back in high school, she would've been the best actress in town! I started to blame myself for how I didn't see it before. I was her best friend, so I was supposed to be the one to find out.

While she was still in the middle of her page, I just knew she was going to be Cinderella. She was perfect. The most beautiful princess I had ever seen.

But everything went wrong when Angela cut her when she was almost finished. She stopped acting. I wanted to yell at Sidney, "Go on!" But she already stopped for too long that it was too late.

If there was one thing I learned in high school theater, it's that whatever distractions may come on your way, you should never stop what you're doing. At first, I thought it was stupid. I asked, 'What if there's a fire?' but no one answered me. I only believed it when Sidney made me watch this Nickelodeon show Victorious and this crazy and weird improv teacher taught his students that you should never break your character no matter what.

Angela continued Sidney's line and Ms. Styles didn't even stop her, even though her acting was pretty bad. Sidney just stood there, eyes on the floor, probably plotting a revenge to Angela.

"Thank you, both of you." Ms. Styles said and scribbled through her list. "Next is Shane Mendler and Logan Gomez."

(AN: The names? Oh yeah. I just did.)

When Sidney came back, she looked really pissed and at the same time disappointed. "There is no way I'm getting in, now." She said and slouched on the chair.

"If you want to rip her head off, I won't stop you." I told her, watching Angela sitting on her chair which was on the far right end looking all almighty and proud. You don't even know how to act, I said in my mind.

She shook her head which I understood. She was never the always-making-a-scene kind of girl. "I sucked anyway. She just stopped me before Ms. Styles did."

I stared at her. "What do you mean you sucked." I asked her like I couldn't believe her, because I really couldn't. "Sidney, so far you were the best actress I've seen on that very stage. And I'm not just saying this because I'm your boyfriend or because you're feeling down. I'm saying this because it's true. Maybe you made a mistake by stopping even though Angela was the one needs to get punished, but I know for sure that Ms. Styles saw your acting. You were amazing, Sid."

She gave me a faint smile and said, "Thank you Ed. For always being there for me."

"I will always be there for you."

It was almost getting dark when my name finally got called. "Dylan Matthews and Karl Thames." Ms. Styles called. Sidney gave me a pat on the back and I headed to the stage. "Mr. Thames, page one. Mr. Matthews, page two."

Karl was this super tall guy that was in one of my classes. He was probably 6 feet tall or higher. He had dark brown hair and green eyes, and we always end up sitting beside each other, so auditioning with him wasn't hard at all. I was afraid that I will get partnered with those arm-swinging freaks, and thankfully Karl wasn't one of them.

When Karl finished his page and Ms. Styles finally gave me the approval to start, I gave my all. I once read that when you practice, you have to think that it's already the final show and give your best. I thought that it applied to acting as well, so I imagined the Auditorium packed with people, with Mom and Dad sitting on the front row, and with Sidney in front of me all dressed up as Cinderella.

It was perfect.

But since the script I had to perform was only one page, my perfect moment ended too soon. When I finished, something odd happened. After I said my last word, there was a moment of silence. Then about ten seconds later, everybody clapped, including Karl who was beside me and Ms. Styles.

I could've bowed or said a thank you, but I was too shocked. The whole afternoon, no one ever clapped for anyone. Karl patted me on the back. "Wow, Dylan. I didn't know you were that good." He said and I only smiled to him.

When Ms. Styles said the next names, Karl and I went back to our own seats. Even though I was still ten seats away, Sidney was already beaming at me. "You got lost in there, didn't you?" She asked with a smile on her face. "Your audition was already great, so I bet that if you get the part, you'll be the best prince charming there is."

"Thanks, Sid." I smiled. "But you're not just saying that because I comforted you earlier, right?"

"Maybe." She teased.

It was already seven o'clock, and the audition wasn't still finished. "Zach Harris and Vince Hudson."

When he walked up the stage, it was like my body couldn't resist giving all of its attention to him. Like it wanted to notice even the tiniest mistake he'll make. Zach was page two, so even if Vince was the one who was acting, my attention was still focused on him. Even the way he breathed, I noticed. I could tell that he was nervous because his breath was fast and his hands were shaking a little bit that I guess only I noticed.

"Hello? Earth to Eddy?" Sidney waved a hand in front of me. "What's wrong with you? I called your name five times already."

I gathered myself. "I'm sorry. I got lost."

We both turned our heads to the stage immediately when we heard Zach's voice. Deep inside me, so deep that no light could reach, hoped that Zach would suck.

Huh. Zach would suck. How much wood would a woodzach suck.

But tough luck, Zach did great. I could tell that he had experience, because he had no flaw at all. He delivered the lines very well that I got intimidated. "You still did better." Sidney told me, but I could hint uncertainty in her tone.

When Zach and Vince were finished, Ms. Styles said, "There are only ten people left on my list, so for those who had already auditioned, you may now go home. The results will be posted on Monday." She said. Sidney and I were about to stand up and leave along with the others when Ms. Styles said, "Next is Wendy Morgan and Zoe Wycliffe."

"Let's watch Zoe first." I suggested to Sidney and she agreed without any hesitation.

Zoe walked up to the stage with a blonde girl, who obviously was Wendy. Zoe got the first page and Wendy got the second. When Zoe started, her voice were so tiny that couldn't hear them. But when she recited the second line, I could already tell that she would be a great Cinderella.

"Wow!" Sidney said and I honestly couldn't agree more.

She ended her act with a bow, and the remaining people in the auditorium clapped at her. Sidney even shouted, 'That's my roommate!'

On our way to Annie's after we left the auditorium, I was holding Sidney's hand so tight. The moon was illuminating at us, and the wind made my skin feel cold. I haven't visited Mom that day, but she said that it wouldn't mind her anyway since she knew about the auditions. Dad was with her, so I guess she also wanted to have some alone time with him.

Sometimes, I wonder what my life would've been like if my biological mother never left us. If all these years, Dad and I didn't fight. Will everything be different? I guess. Will everything be better? Maybe. Would I want to change everything I have now if given a chance?

I looked at Sidney, with her hair flowing around with the wind. I thought about how she and mom always made of fun of me, and how they got a along so well.

No. I would never want to change what I had that moment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wow. This chapter took me almost a week to make, and it wasn't even that great.

Okay. So I said on the earlier chapters that it was my goal to finish this book by the end of May. Well, tough luck. It's May 31st and I'm still about six chapters away.

Writer's block had been taking over me lately, and it sucked. I could write poems, make covers, AND I COULD EVEN WRITE ONE SHOTS! But whenever I try to write this book, nothing. Nothing at all.

It's a miracle I get to finish this chapter this day.

Plus, I'm really busy and I've been sick. So I really really wish that this book wouldn't reach July. *fingers crossed*

Ooh! Check out the song on the multimedia section. So in love with it right now 💕

So yeah. I guess I'll just see you on the next update.

Z.