Sabrina Takes the Stage
By Samantha Finnegan
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Sabrina walked into Forest Road School with sweaty palms and a pit in her stomach. Today was the day she had been counting down to for the last three weeks. It was audition day for the third grade production of Robin Hood.Sabrina wanted the leading role of Maid Marian. She held her backpack straps tightly as she walked up to her best friend Marissa. She shot a toothy grin Sabrina’s way that could have lit up the whole hallway. Loading...
“Hey girl, how pumped are you for this afternoon?” Marissa asked as she looked at her pal. Sabrina kept her eyes low to the ground and replied, “I am not sure if ‘pumped’ is the word I would use, but I guess I am ready.” The girls had been friends for a long time, since kindergarten. Marissa was always one step ahead of Sabrina. When they played soccer, Marissa scored the goals. When they sat in math class, Marissa always raised her hand to give her answer right away. That is just how it was. Loading...
“Hey girl, how pumped are you for this afternoon?” Marissa asked as she looked at her pal. Sabrina kept her eyes low to the ground and replied, “I am not sure if ‘pumped’ is the word I would use, but I guess I am ready.” The girls had been friends for a long time, since kindergarten. Marissa was always one step ahead of Sabrina. When they played soccer, Marissa scored the goals. When they sat in math class, Marissa always raised her hand to give her answer right away. That is just how it was. The girls walked down the hall past the cafeteria, towards the auditorium. As soon as they walked into the room Sabrina spotted their teacher, Mrs. Note, playing a light tune on the piano. Many of the kids were already sitting in the theater seats reading a packet of music and play dialogue. The sight of this made Sabrina’s heart plummet to the bottom of her belly. “Come, Come, girls! Take a seat and grab your lines and music!” Mrs. Note motioned the girls toward the seats near the stage.
“Who would like to go first?” Mrs. Note questioned the crowd. Marissa's hand shot up towards the sky and she began flapping it rapidly. Mrs. Note pointed towards her and gestured her to come up on the stage. Marissa walked with such confidence. You could feel her presence, big and mighty. As Sabrina watched her friend glide up front she could taste the jealousy. Sabrina slumped back in her seat, trying to hide herself from Marissa’s A+ audition. All of a sudden, she slipped an inch too far off the chair. Sabrina slid completely down and met the floor with a loud THUMP. Laughter filled the auditorium. “Quiet!” shouted Mrs. Note. The remaining snickers started to die off as the teacher got up from her table. “Are you alright Sabrina?” Mrs. Note stood looking at Sabrina sitting on the floor. Her ego was more bruised than her bottom. As if she wasn’t shaken up enough, now she was terrified and mortified.
Mrs. Note spent the next hour calling kids up to read their lines. Some read better than others, but most of them sounded confident. This made Sabrina less and less interested in being in the play. There were about five more students left to try out when Mrs. Notes voice rang, “I apologize, but we must resume the rehearsals tomorrow. All the amazing auditions took longer than I anticipated.” Most of the students let out a groan of disappointment, but not Sabrina. She felt like her prayers had been answered.
Now she planned to go home and tell her mom that she would NOT be trying out tomorrow. She grabbed her backpack and hugged it tight. Marissa scooched up next to her and walked to the front of the school for parent pick-up. “Why the long face?” Marissa inquired. Sabrina’s head felt like a thousand pounds as she lifted it to meet Marissa’s gaze. “I am talentless. Watching you today reading your lines made me feel nervous to get on stage that I decided I am not even coming back tomorrow.” Marissa’s face immediately changed; a look of shock overcame her. “You do know that tomorrow is not just the leftover reading parts, but it’s the singing try outs too…”
Marissa’s last words lingered in Sabrina’s mind as she boarded into her mom’s car. Her frown started to fade. She opened her mouth to speak and said, “Mom, can you put on the Disney princess playlist?” Her mom compiled and a soothing sound of Moana came out of the speakers. She listened to the words and her heart felt like it was growing in her chest. She tapped her little legs against the carseat. She began to hum along with the melody. Soon, she will singing at the top of her lungs. “How far I’ll gooooooooooooooo..” filled the car! She was so nervous about the reading part that she forgot her true shining talent was her beautiful voice.