pink painted fish, while I tried to pick out as many bits of blue tissue as I could. Ellie called out to me a few times but I pretended I couldnât hear. Then Monty B came over.
âHi, Frankie,â he said. âLike the hair! Shame you werenât ready this morning but it was great to see your mum and Sara after so long. I suppose your dad was still in bed â having a lie-in.â
âHe doesnât live at home any more,â I mumbled, my face burning up. I donât even know why I said it. There was just something about the way he came out with stuff, like we were still neighbours and nothing had changed.
âBummer,â he said. âBecause last time I saw him, before we moved out, he said I could borrow his guitar.â
â What? â I couldnât believe he was for real. âDo you mean you came round to my house at nine oâclock on a Saturday morning because two years ago my dad said you could borrow his guitar?â I wanted to grab hold of him and shake him. He was so annoying.
âWell it was a pretty cool guitar,â he said. âBut thatâs not the real reason I came over.â
Miss Howell stormed back into the hall before I could ask him what he was on about. She looked around the room, frowning.
âRight, listen up, guys; weâll have to start the session on the stage. Itâs not ideal, I know, but itâs the best we can do at the moment.â
âOh my God,â said Neesha, holding her nose. âDid you find Arthur, because I swear itâs minging in here?â
âNo, of course I didnât find him,â Miss Howell said, running her hand through her hair. âYou didnât think he was going to stick around after leaving the hall like this, did you, Neesha? Heâs probably in Timbuktu or somewhere by now!â
Up on the stage, we all sat in a circle. Miss Howell took a big piece of paper out of her bag with CAST written at the top and everyone stopped talking.
âQuick, Mandy, put me out of my misery,â Monty B groaned. âBe honest, I can take it. Am I Sabine or not?â
âErâ¦not, Monty B,â she said, laughing. âBut Iâm glad you asked because I was just about to say that I really hope youâll all be happy with your parts. Remember what I said before the auditions â everyone in a production is important no matter how big or small your part is.â
My tummy lurched over suddenly, like when you go on a really scary ride at the fair and I stared down at the floor.
âOkay, letâs get started. Catharine â youâre going to be Sabine,â said Miss Howell, smiling at Catharine. âWell done.â
Catharine looked thrilled and everyone gave her a clap. I knew she deserved it because sheâs a brilliant singer and it was obvious I wasnât going to be Sabine, but still I couldnât help feeling gutted.
âThis is amazing ,â said Catharine, her eyes shining so brightly it looked like she was about to cry. âI really, really wanted to be Sabine but I didnât think I was going to get it.â
âWell, I did want to be Sabine to start with,â said Sam, tossing her blonde curls. âBut then I changed my mind because itâs not actually the biggest part, is it?â
âNot as big as your head,â said Monty B, and I nearly burst out laughing.
Sam made a face at Monty B and Miss Howell finished reading through the rest of the cast list, explaining that anyone who didnât have a main part was going to be either a Sweet-Dreamer or a Jelly-Skull.
âIâve written the name of your character on the top of your scripts so youâll see who you are in a sec when I hand them out.â
She passed round the scripts and everyone started to talk at once.
âI canât believe Iâm Gobstopper. Iâd better get used to acting really nasty!â
âIâve got to text my mum! She
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