Read Online In the Spotlight by Liz Botts, Elaina Lee - Free Book Online

people clattered in soon enough. This was only a read through for the primary cast, so only the people with speaking parts, and their understudies. The rehearsals with the full ensemble cast would start next week, but for now, it would be small and intimate. Maggie flopped down next to me. She had won the role of my character’s best friend, how fitting. Kyle and Claudia entered together, arguing, sending me further into my spiral of confusion about how I felt about Kyle. I didn’t see Josh come in, but suddenly he was there sitting roughly across the circle from me.
    “I think we’ve all assembled,” Ms. Bard announced, cutting through the din. “I’d like to go through the play from start to finish today. A true cold read. No stopping. No questions. There’ll be plenty of time for questions later. Understudies, please read along silently. Do not bother the leads. I repeat, do not bother the leads.

    We want pure creativity today. Come now, people, and let us get started.”
    And so we read. The basic gist of the story was that my character, Kelly, had a crush on a boy who had just moved to town.
    The boy, Eric, played by Kyle, turned out to be a player who was romancing not only Kelly, but her sister, Tiffany, played by Claudia. All the while Chad, Josh’s character, was secretly in love with Kelly. He waited and watched from afar until he got the chance to get close to her. By the end of the first act, Eric’s character has been shown as a jerk, and while he tries desperately to blame Kelly for his downfall, she begins to see Chad as the true love of her life. Kelly and Chad share a sizzling kiss at the end of the first act, as well. As we moved through the script, I could tell that Kyle had been sure he would play Chad. The cadence of the lines fit him so well, and they sounded forced coming from Josh. The more I thought about it, even the songs sounded like an ego burst for Kyle.
    About halfway through the first act, Josh stopped abruptly.
    “Ms. Bard, this is ridiculous,” he said.
    “Hey, no stopping,” Kaylee piped up quickly.
    “Wait, Kaylee dear, let’s hear what Joshua has to say,” Ms.
    Bard said gently. “Please share with us, Joshua.”
    “These lines are just so…cliché,” Josh complained. “I would never say anything like this.”
    “That’s why it’s called acting,” I said. Then gasped. Had I actually said that out loud? From the way everyone was looking at me, I was pretty sure the words had left my mouth.
    “Excuse me,” Josh said, more annoyed than surprised, judging from the tone of his voice. “You can’t act with badly written lines. I think they need to be rewritten. I’m sorry but that’s just my opinion.”
    I glanced over at Kyle, who was glowering sullenly at Josh.
    As muddled as my feelings toward Kyle had become over the past few days, I still felt some loyalty that I couldn’t quite name. I was even more irritated that an outsider had come in and won a lead role, and now thought he could criticize the play.

    “Maybe if you think it needs to be rewritten, you should reconsider taking the part,” I challenged him with a slight raising of my eyebrows.
    “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” Josh replied, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair.
    “Maybe,” I snapped. “I’m sure there are plenty of guys who’d be totally willing to play your part.”
    “Hannah! Josh!” Ms. Bard clapped her hands to get our attention like we were in second grade. Josh and I continued to glare at each other across the circle. I had no idea where the sudden, fierce animosity had come from. Part of me wanted to start screaming at Kyle too. Why did guys think the world should come to a grinding halt just because they were slightly inconvenienced?
    “Sorry,” I grumbled. “I’ve had a long week.”
    “I still think it needs to be rewritten,” Josh said pointedly.
    “But, I’m sorry too. I didn’t mean to interrupt rehearsal.”
    “Apologies accepted,” Ms.