Page 6 of You Float My Boat

‘I am, I literally have to stand up and I’m ready.’

‘By that logic I’m more ready than you are.’ I pushed my hands through my hair and fastened it up in a messy bun. ‘Let’s go.’

Voguewas flung to the end of the bed, and she jumped up. ‘Do you know who else is auditioning today?’

I shook my head. ‘I know what you know.’

‘Ugh,’ she groaned, flinging her rucksack over her shoulders. Her hand paused on the doorknob. ‘I thought you might have heard whether the rumours about Leo Tavener were false.’

Grabbing my copy ofTwelfth Night, I shoved it in my bag and pulled on my coat. ‘Nope, sorry. By my calculation we still have an hour of wishful thinking before we get to the theatre, and it’s confirmed he got the part without an audition.’

‘Yeah. And he’ll definitely be late so he can make anentrance.’ Her scoff was so thick and loud that it had her reaching for her water bottle before it turned into a coughing fit. ‘Yesterday he turned up to class wearing a Victorian cape. Professor Fournier asked him where his top hat was and reminded him he was taking French, not English.’

I stifled a giggle. ‘What did he say?’

‘Dunno, I didn’t hear over the sound of everyone rolling their eyes,’ she shrugged. ‘He won’t have noticed anyway. That boy is entirely infuriating, I’m amazed he can fit through the doors with the size of his ego,’ she continued grumbling. ‘Cecily could have warned us.’

I opened the door and gently shoved her out, before locking it behind us. ‘You know her feelings on keeping personal and professional lives separate.’

Stella’s grunt told me exactly what she thought of Cece’s stance, even though she was one of our friends.Especiallyas she was our friend. Stella was of the opinion we should be given insider secrets and preferential treatment due to the factour friendwas directing the summer play, but Cecily Caruthers and her ambitions to be a world-class theatre producer/director were unmatched.

‘No reason why we shouldn’t behave like professionals, Stella,’she mimicked in Cece’s clipped theatrical tone as we made our way down the stairs and outside.

‘If she wants professional, then someone should remind her that actors aren’t exactly known for their discretion. Theatre practically runs on gossip.’

‘But we’re talking aboutLeo Tavener. If I knew forsure he was getting the part of Orsino, I’d have serious second thoughts about auditioning.’

‘Maybe that’s why she’s said nothing. You know she wants you to be in the play.’

Stella harrumphed again.

In fairness to her, she had a point.

Leo Tavener. LeoTavener.Oxford University Dramatic Society’s resident celebrity student. Former child actor, he began his career in a fabric conditioner advert which everyone still remembered due to his cuteness and one lisped line,‘It’s thoft, Mummy,’before he moved on to bigger and brighter things. This included several Hollywood movies, one of which earned him his first Oscar nomination. The next year he was nominated and won, making him the youngest person to receive two nominations in Oscars history.

In the unlikelihood you ever forgot about his awards, you would soon be reminded. It was something helovedto talk about.

Seriously, he could go onMastermindwith his specialist subject being himself.

Unfortunately for everyone he decided to take a break from acting, and further his education. More unfortunately for Stella and me, he’d decided to do it at the exact same time as us, which meant we had the next three years of being side by side with Leo Tavener to look forward to.

‘You must always seek to expand your knowledge, Violet,’he told me last term when I asked him why he was bothering to go to university, in between telling me whatI could also be doing better. Something that had my teeth gritting together. Borderline unbearable.

Look up the definition of a person obsessed with the sound of their own voice and his face would beam out at you. And he definitely made it deeper on purpose. But I’d managed to zone it out way better than Stella had because I didn’t have all my classes with him. He was reading French, just like her. I was also of the opinion that I had other things to waste my energy on than getting annoyed with him, because it would become a full-time job if I wasn’t careful, and I’d burn out before the six-month marker.

‘I don’t know why Cece puts up with him. Or allowed him to be part of the production. It’s amateur for a reason, and we all know he’s not.’

‘Yeah, he reminded me of that again yesterday,’ I chuckled, pulling my gloves on as she pushed through the front doors and into the freezing January air. ‘I’m surprised he hasn’t changed his name to Leonardo di Tavener.’

She threw me an exasperated look. ‘Ugh. Please. I’m sure she’ll regret it once he starts telling her how to direct.’

‘I’m sure you’ll be first in line to say, “I told you so”. But I have a feeling she didn’t have much choice. Linus wanted him to add cachet to the summer schedule.’

‘Ugh,’ she harrumphed again, making me wonder if maybe she’d forgotten to have breakfast, because she was way grumpier this morning than she had been on any other morning since the start of term. We’d only officially been back three days; it was too early for thenovelty and excitement of a new year to have vanished already. ‘With a name like Linus Rockwell he wasn’t going to be anything other than a theatre producer was he?’

‘I dunno, he could probably be a high court judge. It’s got a certainje ne sais quoi.’ I winked, and she finally smiled. ‘Rockwell/Carruthers Productions … at least when they’re both insanely rich and famous with awards lining their mantels we can say we knew them once.’

‘Maybe I’ll sell my story,’ she snorted, pulling her beanie down lower and pushing her arm through mine, linking us together for added warmth. ‘Bloody hell, it’s freezing today. Can we swing by the dining hall? I want to grab a piece of toast or something.’

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