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...that I won't even pretend to have a title for...

"I'm done for tonight," Terry explained as he headed, as quickly as he could, for the door. It's not that Red Robin was necessarily a bad place to work, he just loathed working as a waiter, and the sooner he got to Alexis' car the better.

"There's a table in your section still!" his co-worker shot back quickly, "What about them?"

"What about 'em?" Terry retorted, "Barney's got 'em. Bye ya'll." He shot a wave to a waitress who was heading for the kitchen, she gave him a quick nod back. Her section was busy so that was all he was going to get. He pushed open the door and headed out to the parking lot.

Alexis leaned on the car, waiting. She really wanted a cigarette, but she'd made the resolution to quit smoking at New Years and she was going to stick with it. No matter what her boyfriend put her through, no matter what school put her through, she would not smoke again. But, oh, she wanted one.
Good thing there wasn't anyone nearby, or she probably would have mooched one. She didn't have any on her after all.

Finally, the door opened and someone exited. Terry. About damn time too. "I was about to leave without you," she teased, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss, "I guess it's a good thing I'm done with classes for today."

"How long have you been waiting?" Terry asked.

Alexis shrugged and smirked. "Like five minutes. It's cool."

"And you didn't smoke?" Terry added, his tone expressing his awe.

Hs girlfriend rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I didn't have any cigarettes so I rolled up the pages you have so far of paper you need to write for Monday and lit them up."

Terry groaned at her mocking. "You are so mean to me. And I love every second of it."

"It's only because it's better than work," Alexis replied with a sly and playful smile, "And because you know you can punish me for it later. Now get in." She pulled away from him and moved towards the car.

He could never move while he was watching her. He soaked up every detail, her hair in the wind, the color of it in the sunlight, whatever outfit she was wearing. Everything was breathtaking and refreshing every time he saw her. Especially when he was leaving work. She was wearing a new top, a dark green color that worked perfectly on her. Long-sleeved, of course, as it was winter There was a hood, which despite the cold temperature he knew she would never put up. When she turned towards him at the door of her car, he saw that there was a translucent fabric where her cleavage would have been, had she not had a shirt on underneath.

"Coming?" she reminded him.

Terry nodded and started for the car. "New top?"

"Just made it this weekend," she nodded, grinning. It made her day every time he noticed things like that. Most boyfriends hardly paid any attention to anything, but he noticed whenever something was new or different and could tell what it was in under three minutes.

"I like it." He opened the car down and got into the passenger seat. He knew that the drive back to campus would be filled with her telling him all about her latest adventurers in fashion design, particularly where this shirt was concerned, but that was fine. She would be ecstatic to tell him about it, and he knew he would love every second of it just because it was her voice.

He was just a little bit head over heels for this one, but after eight months he guessed that was kind of expected.

Fourth Character

Name: Alexis Tanner (last name subject to change)
Siblings: One younger brother
Parents/Guardians: Alexis was raised by her mother
Birthdate: October 15th, 1986
Appearance: Alexis has a style all her own. She adores punk hair styles, and has even been known to dye her hair on occasion to go with an outfit she has chosen. Her natural hair color is unknown to those who go to college with her, but she prefers to keep her hair a deep auburn. She also adorns her right ear with piercings, although nothing too large or too tacky. She has a scar on her left lower back, which she refuses to discuss with the few who have seen it. Her eyes are a dark hazel that looks even darker due to her light Caucasian complexion.
Style: Alexis seems like the sort of girl who would dress in a very punk style, but she actually dresses in a very unique fashion, mixing and matching from different styles. Her closet is an ecclectic wardrobe of blouses, flowery skirts, cargo pants, fish nets...you name it, she's got it and she'll find the perfect occassion to wear it. Many of her clothes are her own creations. Alexis considers her style ahead of the times, and she is probably right. One of the key features of her style is that she always has a belt around her waist, and her collection of belts is vast.
Hobbies: Sewing, clothing design, drinking coffee, reading, window shopping, visiting museums, clubbing, partying
Education: Alexis is a junior in college.
Sexuality: Heterosexual
Dreams: Alexis dreams of presenting her designs at Paris Fashion Week and being one of the world's best fashion designers.
Fears: Alexis keeps her mouth pretty tight when it comes to the things she is afraid of, but it isn't hard to guess that it involves her body as she can be very body shy.
Celebrity Crush: Nate Parker
Introvert or Extrovert: While she thrives being around other people more than most (which, technically, makes her an extrovert), Alexis usually lets others do all of the talking. She is the quiet type who, when she deigns to, will be the most uproarious person anyone has ever seen.
Happy or Depressed: Although she does like the direction her life is headed, she is generally not a happy person except for when Terry is around.
Indoors or Outdoors: Indoors
Single or Taken: Taken, she is dating Terry
Favorites
Season: Winter, she actually enjoys the cold weather
Food: White meats like turkey and chicken
Desserts: Pumpkin Pie
Places to Eat: Boston Market
Least Favorites
Season: Spring, because it marks the end of winter
Food: Spinach
Desserts: Oatmeal cookies
Places to Eat: Any fancy, expensive restaurant

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.

Third Character

Name: Terrence "Terry" Johnson
Siblings: None
Parents/Guardians: Terry was raised by his grandparents
Birthdate: August 20th 1985
Appearance: At their primarily white college, Terry serves to fill the "diversity quotient", he stands out because of his dark skin. He keeps his hair very short. Of his group of friends he is the most muscular and built.
Style: His style is very metrosexual most of the time, but he has enough clothes in his closet that can fit him into the hip-hop look if he so chooses.
Hobbies: Terry is mostly an athlete, he plays basketball and football. He does enjoy going out to clubs and bars every now and again, though he is not as big a fan of those as most of his friends. Mostly, Terry enjoys partying with other college students. He enjoys hosting his radio show on the campus radio station.
Education: Terry is nearing his college graduation.
Sexuality: Heterosexual.
Dreams: Terry wants to become a huge success as a radio DJ, hoping to reach Howard Stern proportions.
Fears: Terry's greatest fear is insects, period. He is very squeamish for how tough he acts.
Celebrity Crush: Angelina Jolie.
Introvert or Extrovert: Extrovert
Happy or Depressed: He is very happy with the way his life has been going.
Indoors or Outdoors: Indoors
Single or Taken: Terry has been taken for eight months
Favorites:
Season: Winter, as it gives him an excuse to stay inside
Food: Pasta
Dessert: Chocolate Chip Cookies
Places to Eat: Macaroni Grill
Least Favorites:
Season: Spring
Food: Veggie Burgers
Dessert: Twinkies
Places to Eat: Red Robin

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

First Post!!

Hi guys! Some of you may be readers of my other blog, Ramblings & Grahamblings.
I started this blog to get me thinking creatively again, and writing again.

For starters, we're just going to introduce some characters for this series...after I have the basic, main characters down I will begin writing scenes -- although they may not necessarily connect at first.

I'm going to do something a little interesting here, to flesh out the characters...also because it's more fun for me this way....those obnoxious surveys off of Myspace? Yup, I'll be making character bios off of those. :D

Here's our main character (or at least who we're envisioning as the main character):
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Nathanial Haksil
Siblings: Natanial has two older siblings, a brother and a sister.
Parents/Guardians: Nathanial's mom and dad are still happily married. He gets along best with his mother.
Birthdate: April 16th, 1987
Appearance: As far as Nathanial is concerned, his looks are the main thing he has going for him. He's slim, but not too skinny, and seriously toned. His hair is blonde -- slightly too blond to be called "dirty blond" but darker than platinum blond -- and is always styled to perfection. He has deep blue eyes that occassionally have a greenish tint.
Style: He's kind of preppy, and seriously a label whore although he makes an effort to mix his labels together to create his outfits. He is known for going for looks over comfort.
Hobbies: He's a performer through and through, acting whenever he gets a chance. He also loves modeling, and is known for posing whenever a camera is around -- even if it belongs to a stranger and may not be pointed in his direction. He's addicted to flirting, and frequently finds himself having led along some poor boy who wants more from him. He does yoga to maintain his physique. He also enjoys seeing movies and plays, as well as going out to clubs.
Education: Nathanial is in college, although he sees it as a chore -- a means of getting out of his no-where town and out into the world where he can finally fulfill his dreams.
Sexuality: Homosexual
Dreams: Nathanial dreams of being a movie star or a model, and, in his dreams, he is all but in charge of the Hollywood "It" scene.
Fears: His greatest fear is never finding someone who will love him. He tells people his greatest fear is spiders, which he is actually afraid of but not to the extent he pretends.
Celebrity Crush: Channing Tatum
Introvert or Extrovert: Extroverted to an extreme, but not necessarily open about things.
Happy or Depressed: Nathanial always acts happy, but he is rarely as joyful as he seems.
Indoors or Outdoors: Indoors whenever possible.
Single or Taken: Single, almost all of the time.
Favorites:
Season: Spring, it's the only time of year where being outdoors is about the same temperature as being indoors.
Food: The old classic, pepperoni pizza, will always hit his spot.
Dessert: Cheesecake
Places to Eat: Diners, especially in the wee hours.
Least Favorites:
Season: Winter.
Food: Haggis.
Dessert: Jell-O
Places to Eat: Fast food restaurants make him want to gag.