The first piano notes echoed in the auditorium, and I closed my eyes. I was so nervous, I felt as if my stomach was devouring itself, while contorting into a knot and burning all at the same time. I drew a shallow breath, and tried to keep my focus on the glowing exit sign above the director’s head. My first note squeaked out of my nose, and my second was hardly loud enough for me to hear over the piano, and certainly not loud enough for the director, sitting smugly in the back row to hear. I knew I had already blew it. I stared down at my music, the words, scribbled on paper swimming as I felt the tears prick my eyes. Stop it. You can’t just start sobbing in the middle of an audition. I finished the song, and scrambled off of the stage. I tried to walk down the aisle slowly, but my embarrassment was rising by the second. I shoved open the auditorium door, the bright florescent light not the only thing I was blinking from. I inhaled another shallow breath, clenching my teeth, forcing myself to keep it together.

As I pushed the door open wider, making a B-line for the exit, I felt a resistance behind the door. A head peered out from behind it, clearly older than mine, and much calmer than I had been before my audition. Oh great, not only did I screw off my audition, I’m slam doors into the upperclassmen too. The girl stepped into the auditorium behind me, shutting the door. I glanced at my cell phone. The screen read 6:50 PM, 1/8/09. My mom wasn’t picking me up for another 10 minutes, my audition hadn’t taken as long as the form said it should.

I sat down on the wooden bench next to the auditorium doors, across from the stony-faced students who hadn’t yet auditioned. I concentrated very hard on keeping a straight face, staring directly ahead. My eyes focused on a yellow poster taped to the pillar in front of me:

Once on This Island!

Auditions for the school musical will be held on January 8.

Sign up for a 15 minute slot on the theatre board outside of the auditorium.

Callbacks will be held the following day, and the cast list posted that Friday

Please chose a song from the musical to prepare.

Don’t miss out on this fun, enjoyable experience!

I read the poster 10 times over, focusing my eyes on different letters, grating my teeth and sitting as naturally as I could. The girl I had slammed the auditorium door into was singing her song now, the same song I had chosen. Her voice rang all the way through the auditorium door. I glanced down at my phone again, seeing that it was the time I told my mom to pick me up. As I stood and walked towards the front door, the last note of the song, a bone-chilling high C, ricocheted around every crevice of the room. When I sang that last note, it was a breathy whimper, but this was intoxicating. It was unreal. I opened the school door, trying to get away from the sounds coming from the auditorium. If people can sing like THAT in this school, why did I ever come here? And the note crashed down, a perfect ending, harmonized with my furious slam of the school door.