New Scene: The Date (Part 1)

After the two had eaten their dinner at Applebee's, Nick brought Hope back out to his car, opening the passenger side door for her as he had done every time so far. Once he got into his own seat, he smiled at her. "Enjoying yourself so far?" he asked with a smile.

Hope nodded.

"Good," he said, "But it's only going to get better tonight."

Hope chuckled. "Good luck topping how much I enjoyed you picking up the tab for dinner," she teased.

Fifteen minutes later, he opinion changed completely as he pulled into a parking spot in a vast field full of cars. Looming above them was the brightly lit ferris wheel of a carnival. After a moment to let the sight of the carnival sink in, Nick opened his door and then circled his car to let Hope out. He helped her out of her seat, bringing her up to eye level with him. Her face was mere centimeters from his face. "This is kind of awesome," she breathed softly.

Nick smiled. "Glad you think so." He leaned in to kiss her, only to find himself face to face with her fiery hair as she turned her head to take in more of the carnival.

"We're going in, right?" she asked, "Or just looking at it?"

New Scene: Preparations

Alexis held up the shirt to Hope, and the red-headed girl gasped.

"It's gorgeous, Alexis!" Hope exclaimed, "Perfect for the club tonight!"

Alexis rolled her eyes. "Please, no. This is for you to wear tonight. I've seen your closet, girl, and nothing you have in their screams 'first date'."

Hope raised an eyebrow skeptically and turned to her own collection of clothes, hanging in her closet. "Sure, I've got something!"

"You want something that says 'I'm not easy, but I'm sexy as hell'," her roommate continued, "You've got 'sexy as hell', and you've got 'not easy', and you've even got some 'easy' in there, but nothing is the right combination."

"How do you know what I've got in here so well?" Hope asked, more than a little creeped out.

Alexis smirked. "I may have taken a mental inventory when I helped you unpack. You have to get ready, hurry up and put this on! I want to see it before I go!"

While Hope put on the clothes, Alexis sorted through her own for what she was wearing. Settling on a stunning black top she'd made and a pair of low rise pants she'd bought from Wet Seal.

Hope's cell phone rang just as she pulled the sweater down to her waist. She grabbed it and smiled. She flipped the device open and answered. "Hello?"

"Hey you," Nick's voice came, "So, I'm running a little early actually. Don't rush or anything, but I'll be outside your dorm whenever you're ready."

"Alright, I'll see you in a few minutes then," Hope replied. She closed her phone then rolled her eyes to Alexis. "This early thing doesn't work for me. On time or fashionably late, seriously."

"Trouble in paradise already?" Alexis smirked, stripping off the shirt she had been wearing.

Hope smiled, walking around Alexis to look at herself in the mirror that was hung on the back of their door. "I wouldn't call it paradise to begin with, we don't even know each other." She glanced back at her roomie. "What is that on your back?"

The immediate tension that filled the air was startling. Alexis' body tensed, and she hastily yanked the shirt she had picked out over her head and pulled it down onto her body. "Nothing."

Hope put her hands up in defeat. "Ooookay, sorry," she replied, clearly surprised by the other girl's reaction. She turned her attention back to the mirror. "Are these jeans okay?" Almost as quickly as it had filled the room, the tense atmosphere disappeared.

"Oh, they're great," Alexis answered, "But I think they need a belt. I have just the thing here." The two girls examined a few belts before deciding on a sash-like cloth belt, which Hope quickly wrapped around her waist and tied.

They both stood in front of the mirror for a second and smiled. "Perfection," Alexis said, "All we need is modesty."

"And fragrance," Hope pointed out, returning to her dresser, "You have got to smell this one. It's fabulous. I picked it up at J.C. Penny, but don't tell anyone that."

Alexis leaned in for a sniff. "Oh my, that does smell good, can I borrow that for tonight?"

Hope laughed, "I thought you'd like it. You're not trying to get Terry to jump you in the club, are you? Because he will."

A mischievous smile spread across Alexis' face. "No, I'm trying to get him on the dance floor, that's all. And I may or may not leave him out there with a boy, just for a laugh."

"You devil, I love it," Hope said, "I wish I could go with you guys, I love clubs."

"Nathanial goes a few times every week, it's not like this is a once in a lifetime opportunity," Alexis commented, as the two girls headed for the door, "Go, have fun on your date, and...be careful."

"I'll be fine, mother," Hope quipped as she exited the room and headed down the hall. Nick hadn't mentioned what he had planned, but they'd see soon enough.

Two Short Scenes: Hope for Hope

Hope, Nick, and Nathanial left the theater together, showering each other with compliments for their auditions. Nathanial had resumed his usual confidence, something that the idea of singing in front of people had knocked him out of.
"I mean, I knew I'd be fine," he assured his two companions, "I probably didn't even need to use the mic, you know?"

"Neither of us did," Nick pointed out.

Nathanial glared at him, smiled curtly and shook his head. "On that note, my dorm is in the opposite direction of either of yours, so I'm gonna go. You two have fun, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Which leaves what exactly?" Nick replied.

"See you tomorrow Hope. Good night and good riddance, Nick."

Hope rolled her eyes. "It'd be great if you two ego-trips could graduate kindergarten some time soon."

Nathanial shrugged and set off for his dormitory. The other two began walking in the other direction. They carried on a friendly, and less-than-subtly flirtatious conversation until they reached the door of Hope's dorm.
"This is my stop, see ya around stud," the redheaded said with a wink.

"Bye," Nick nodded. Hope turned to go inside. He leapt into action before he missed his chance. "You want to get something to eat with me tomorrow night? Like, off-campus?"

Holding the door ajar, Hope smiled and turned her head back to face the boy. "That sounds great. What time?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope pushed open the door to her room, to find her roommate passed out at her desk, a book in one hand. She tried to contain her ear-to-ear smile, as if she thought it might be too loud. Gently she pushed the door shut again, but the quiet click still made the roommate stir.

"Shit! The butter!" Alexis exclaimed.

"Butter?" Hope asked.

"Nevermind," the tired girl shook her head, "I was making cookies. Where have you been all night?"

"Auditions," Hope reminded her roomie, "Nathanial was great, by the way."

Alexis breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm going to guess you were too, from the way you're glowing." She was clearly coming back to her senses from waking up.

"Glowing? Girl, this is not a glow." Hope made another failed attempt to contain her smile, and collapsed joyfully onto her bed. "I have a date."

"Oh good!" Alexis exclaimed, "My roommate last semester never had any dates, and she always bitched about it whenever Terry and I went out."

"Probably didn't help her get any dates," Hope observed, rolling into her favorite "girl-talk position", lying on her stomach. "We met at the auditions. He was amazing."

Alexis inquired, "So which sexy, straight theater boy is it?"

"Nick."

Alexis bit her bottom lip. "Oh, good. Great." There was a hesitation in her voice.

"What?" Hope demanded, propping herself up on her arms, like a cobra ready to strike.

Alexis shook her head. "I don't really know him, personally. It's nothing. I better finish this homework." She smiled and flashed her eyes and then returned to her reading.

Hope narrowed her eyes. Something was amiss.

The Auditions Continue

"Faaareweeeellll," Nick's melodious voice finished. The pianist stopped playing and the faculty in the seats exploded into momentary applause and then stopped, realizing there were other students around.

In a few moments Hope was up on the stage. Nervous. Nick hadn't left, he and Nathanial both sat in the front row watching her. Ignore them, girl, you got this, she told herself, You have had this number down pat for a month.
She inhaled, her diaphram expanding as she took in the air. The pianist was waiting for her. "Whenever you're ready, Ms. Daniels," one of the directors said.

Hope inhaled again, her hand on her stomach. And then she was off.
"Ya ya ya ya ya ya ya."
She paused. The ensemble put in some "ya"s in this part of the song.
"Ya ya!"
Pause for imaginary "ya ya".
"Brrrrrrrrrr! Ooh!
Lock the door and stop complaining
Gather 'round and listen well..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"From now on we're entertaining how to hotten up this hell!"

Nathanial was watching Hope and was very impressed. He was still skimming his own copy of the song she'd given him. Nick had sat down next to him to watch, and as she had began to sing the department's vocal superstar had momentarily stopped breathing. He could understand it, her voice was phenomenal, unlike anything he'd ever heard in person. How had a talent like that ended up at this school? She belonged on Broadway already -- and she wasn't even using the mic!

"Hold your mood and hold your bladder
Skip the food and stop the chatter
Can't you hear the pitter-patter
We're not here to eat
We came for the heat!"

Nick was grasping at the arm of his chair.
Nathanial smirked. He was having almost the same reaction Hope had had. Speaking of heat, there was going to be plenty of that later when those two left the theater.

"Let's raise the roof! Let's make a scene!
Let's hope the gods of love will shine above
And show the way!
Let's call the shots! Let's roll the dice!
Take my advice, it always pays to raise the roof!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hope sang with all her might. This was her first impression, really, to most of these professors. She was coming in with a bang. The song was quick, exciting. Kind of sexy.
Scratch that, really sexy. Which was good, with Nick in the audience. The song seemed to speed by, but she was finally coming on the end.
"Before the big hand hits the one
We've got to do what must be done
So put away that smoking guuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuunnnnn
And raise the roooooof!
Go raise the rooooof!
Let's raise the roooof!
Raise the roof."

The pianist stopped. The directors exploded into applause again, only this time they couldn't stop themselves.
"Hope, where have you been all my life?" one of them exclaimed.

She blushed and tucked a strand of her flaming red hair behind her ear and smiled sheepishly. "Uhm, I think Nathanial needs to..."

"Yes, of course, Nathanial...what do you have for us?"

"I'll be singing 'The Buddy System' from City of Angels," Nathanial explained as he quickly ascended to the stage.

"Wonderful," one of the professors said. It was evident none of them were particularly looking forward to this.

"Let's go," Nick suggested to Hope in a whisper.

She shot him a look. "Wait for Nathanial to finish, he's nervous and he needs some support."

"He's Nathanial, he's fine."

The look was back. "Cool it, hot stuff, and park it." Obediently, Nick returned to his comfortable sitting position.

(Disclaimer: Hope was singing the song "Raise the Roof" from the off-Broadway musical The Wild Party.)

New Scene: Audition

(The new characters in this, except for one, are minor enough that I will not be making bios for them. The one character who that is not true of isn't getting a bio because....well, because I'm lazy. :-P)

Alexis rubbed Nathanial's shoulders. "You'll be fine," she assured him, "Totally fine." She, Terry, and Nathanial were outside the theater wing, prepping the Theater Queer, as they affectionately had dubbed Nathanial, for his audition.

Terry nodded his agreement. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"It's a musical, I can't sing," Nathanial snapped, "You do the math, babycakes."

"You're a guy in a girl-heavy theater department," Alexis reminded him, "What song are you doing anyways?"

"I don't even know, I figured I'd pull something out of my ass when I get there," Nathanial answered.

"No wonder you're so nervous," a woman's voice interrupted. Hope was walking steadily towards them, a small pile of books under her arm. She was headed for the auditions, but she seemed totally nerve-free. "What's your range?"

"Uhm...male?" Nathanial tried. Music was not his thing, not at all.

"High or low?"

"Uhm....male?"

"Okay, here." She put down her pile of books and opened up one of them, then turned it towards Nathanial. "It's not difficult. Read it, when they play the music you give them, just do what the piano is doing with your voice."

"I can read music," Nathanial retorted. He paused then added, "Well, kinda."

Hope was unimpressed. "Do what the piano is doing with your voice." She picked up the rest of her books and walked by.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you here to audition?" the stage manager asked when Hope rounded the corner and found the table she had been looking for.

"Yes, I'm Hope Daniels I signed up for--"

"I don't really care," the stage manager replied, "We're so far off schedule that you could have signed up for three weeks from next Thursday and I'd let you go. Threw the whole damn thing out. "

"Who are you?" Hope asked.

"Laura Angelli," she answered, "Fill out these papers. Correctly, please. Then I'll let you in to audition." She slid a couple papers towards Hope, and then began ignoring the redhead completely.

Hope put her books down on the table, sat, and started looking at the paperwork. It was a fairly typical college audition sheet, just two copies of it.

"She's kind of a hardass, Hope," a boy sitting at the table finishing his own paperwork said, a comment which Laura either agreed with or was ignoring, "Totally anal retentive and probably OCD but that's why she's good at what she does. Stage managing that is. I'm Nick, by the way." The two awkwardly shook hands with their left hands so as not to stop writing.

Nick finished his papers and handed them to Laura. She whipped a camera out from under the table. "You get three shots. One of them is goofy. Go." Nick smiled, and Hope couldn't help but look. His teeth were perfectly straight and white and his already handsome face looked even better. The camera flashed. A few seconds later it flashed again. Then Nick was up, stradding the table. It flashed again.
"Go in," Laura ordered, pointing at the door to the theater, while handing his forms to another girl who ran into the theater with them and was back empty-handed in a flash.

Nick inhaled. "Wish me luck," he announced to no one in particular.

"Break a leg," Hope mumbled as she tried to determine what her scheduling conflicts would be.

It was then that Nathanial turned the corner. "Laura, who is in there now?" he asked before he even got to the table.

"Nick just went in," Laura said, "Fill out the papers."

"Conversation skills, Laura, have I taught you nothing?"

"Very little, Nathanial. I have work to do." Laura slid his papers across the table -- momentarily disrupting Hope -- and went back to ignoring everyone. She was now fiddling with the camera.

As she put the camera away and pulled out a three-ring binder, Hope finished her paperwork. "Here you go, Laura," the actress said, handing them to the stage manager.

"Three shots. One goofy. Go." Hope smiled. The camera flashed. She kept smiling. The camera flashed again. She paused. "What should I do for my goofy picture?" she asked. Before she knew what was going on, Nathanial's tongue was plastered on the side of her face. Her jaw dropped. The camera flashed.

"No problem," Nathanial smiled, and returned to his papers.

"Go in." Laura pointed at the door. She handed the papers to the other girl.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There were two students other than Nick already in the room, and neither of them was Laura's assistant who seemed to have managed to get out before Hope saw her again. One of them was on stage belting out a rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Miserables that, honestly, Hope wished she'd missed. She put her music on top of the piano as she walked by it to get to the seats.
"But the tigers come at night..."
Nick saw the redhead and recognized her. He smiled and even across the darkened theater seating, Hope could see the flash of pearly white. She made her way over to him. The other girl, who appeared to have finished but was waiting for her friend, was sitting on one side of him. The department's faculty sat several rows behind them.
"With their voices soft as thunder..."
Hope cringed slightly at the off-key notes.

"Thank you Caitlen," the department head interrupted suddenly, as though he had been asleep and was suddenly realizing how painful the noises he was hearing really were.

"No problem whatsoever! I mean thank you, Professor Strisky!" Caitlen answered perkily. She bounded off of the stage and the other girl got up to leave with her, waving shyly at Nick, who only nodded at her.

"Nick, why don't you show us what you've got?" one of the professors asked. The actor smiled at them, then at Hope, and then headed for the stage, vaulting up onto it.

"Are you singing us something of yours?" another professor asked. She sounded almost excited.

"Not today, no," Nick replied. There was a microphone on the stage, where the lights were at full, but he was making a point of not going near it. "I'll be singing 'The Old Red Hills of Home' from Parade. Carey's got my music already. And, Carey? I'm ready to go."

Piano music started. "Farewell my Lilah, I'll write ev'ry ev'ning."

And Hope was mesmerized. She did not even notice Nathanial plant himself in the seat next to her. The music erupting from the boy on stage's throat was so...perfect.
"Pray on this day, as I journey beyond them...
These old red hills of home..."

(To be continued...)

Short Scene: The Newcomer

Nathanial was not just chewing his gum. He was being loud about it. Class hadn't started yet but all of the kids were being quiet, probably due to a massive "Welcome Back" party that had been thrown the night before. It had been going til four in the morning and everyone who was anyone had been there. Obviously, most of the students were exhausted.

Even Nathanial was tired, but the silence was unbearable. So he chewed. He chewed in a way that almost dared someone to make a comment. Of course, in a theater class like this everyone already knew him so the dare itself was pointless, until the door opened.

Something about this girl made heads turn -- every head. The first thing everyone noticed was her hair. It seemed as though someone had taken a match to her head, and now the flames -- instead of rising -- were cascading down her back to a point just below her shoulders. Her skin was almost like porcelain from a distance, smooth and perfect yet pale. She strode into the room confidently, with more confidence than a new student usually had, but she was definitely too young to be a professor.
"Maybe she's a T.A.," one boy whispered behind Nathanial. He was clearly thinking the same way. There was a brief silence -- in which the boy was no doubt receiving the infamous dumb pat on his arm.
"We don't have T.A.s in the theater department," his friend reminded him.
In only a few seconds flat, the red head had planted herself in a seat next to Nathanial. He glanced sideways at her, then turned to the girl on his other side. She shrugged. He shifted back to face the red head and extended his hand. "Hi, I'm Nathanial Haksil..." he began.
With only a slight moment's hesitation, the new girl had taken his hand. "Hope Daniels, I just transferred here," she introduced herself with a gleaming smile. Her grip was firmer than his as they shook, which she must have realized because she released him very quickly. "Nice to meet you," she added.
"I think a friend of mine was going to sit there," Nathanial mentioned as they shook hands. Her grip was tighter than his. He also realized that, now that she was closer, her skin was spotted with freckles. Not so perfect after all -- although even he had to admit, she made freckles look good.
Hope flashed her dazzling smile as she released his hand. "Then I guess now we're friends," she replied.
Nathanial's mouth opened, closed, and then opened again. He wasn't used to people not putting up with his, well, shit. He kind of liked it, which seemed weird. At least he could tell this year was going to be interesting.

Second Character

Name: Hope Daniels
Siblings: None
Parents/Guardians: Hope was raised by her father, but remains close to her mother.
Birthdate: June 9th, 1987
Appearance: Hope's most extraordinary feature is her fiery red hair which she likes to keep at a length just past her shoulders. Her eyes are a green color that would stand out on anyone else but they are a feature that is frequently overshadowed by her face. She has light freckling over her entire body.
Style: She, like Nathanial, has a very preppy "whatever's-in-style" way of dressing. She also intentionally mixes labels to seem as though she she is creating her own look.
Hobbies: Hope is a musical theater triple threat -- she sings, acts, and dances. She keeps fit through running and being Nathanial's yoga buddy. She enjoys spending times at poetry readings in coffee houses as well as hitting the clubs and wild parties that her friends enjoy.
Education: Hope is in college, thoroughly enjoying all of her classes but looking forward to graduating.
Sexuality: Heterosexual.
Dreams: Hope hopes to one day make it to Broadway and star in a new, hit Broadway musical.
Fears: Hope is constantly fearful of disappointing those around her.
Celebrity Crush: Broadway performer Cary Shields
Introvert or Extrovert: She is very extroverted, though when compared to most of her friends she seems quiet.
Happy or Depressed: She is currently quite happy with her life.
Indoors or Outdoors: Indoors
Single or Taken: Single.
Favorites:
Season: Summer
Food: Hope is rarely seen without coffee in her hands during the day.
Dessert: (Milk) Chocolate-coated Strawberries
Places to Eat: Coffe shops.
Least Favorites:
Season: Fall
Food: Pineapple
Dessert: Dark Chocolate anything
Places to Eat: Fast food joints