Page 4 of The Wrong Costar

I let out a long breath as I looked up at the others. “Well, there’s no email from her so far. God, this is torture.”

“For you maybe,” Hayley grumbled. “I’ll probably end up a tree again.”

“You’re not going to be a tree again. You haven’t been a tree since we were in kindergarten,” Madi reminded her.

“No,” Hayley agreed. “But I’ve been a bush, a chimney sweep, a dead woman, and last year, I played a baby in a pram. Hell, I even played Toto when we did theWizard of Oztwo years ago.”

Evan started laughing. “You were the best dog I’ve ever seen.”

Hayley lifted an eyebrow at him.

“What?” he said. “You got a standing ovation at the end. Everyone loved you.”

“That’s true,” Hayley admitted, a sly smile forming on her lips. She might have always landed the dud parts, but she somehow always managed to steal the show with them. I was surprised Miss Appleby hadn’t realized this and started giving her better roles.

“At least I don’t have to worry about casting,” Madi said. She’d done a lot of backstage work in our previous plays, and Miss Appleby had her running the stage management this year. “I don’t know how you guys don’t get sick performing in front of all those people.”

Evan rolled his eyes at her. “This coming from the girl who made out with her hot boyfriend in front of the entire school. Not to mention the one million people who watched the finale of the contest on YouTube.”

“Evan!” Madi groaned. “I thought we agreed to stop talking about this.”

“I agreed to no such thing.”

She slowly shook her head at him. “You know how embarrassed I am by the whole contest. I literally can’t sleep at night sometimes because I’m so mortified.”

“It was worth it though, right?” I said.

Madi started to smile, her gaze darting in Cole’s direction. He was watching our table from across the room, and he grinned at her as he caught her eye. “Yeah, it totally was,” she agreed.

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and my palms grew sweaty as I pulled it out. It could be just a text message or a notification from Instagram or Snapchat. Knowing it probably wasn’t the email I was desperate to receive didn’t stop my heart from racing though. As I focused on the screen, I saw a new email was waiting for me, and my stomach twisted with nerves.

My eyes went straight to the subject line, and my galloping heart seemed to freeze. “Guys, Miss Appleby just emailed us. The cast list is up on the drama room door.”

At once, everyone jumped from the table and ran from the room. A few people in the cafeteria laughed as they saw us scrambling for the door. It was probably quite the spectacle, but I didn’t really care if I looked stupid right now. Not when our parts had finally been posted.

We raced down the corridor, screeching to a stop when we reached the drama room. We all gathered around the piece of paper pinned to the door; my heart still raced with a combination of nerves and exhaustion from sprinting through the hallway. My name was the first one on the list, and I couldn’t stop a huge smile from lighting up my face when I saw it.

I got Belle.

My whole body pulsed with excitement as I read my name next to the role I’d auditioned for. It took everything in me not to squeal out in celebration. My friends still needed to find their parts, and I wouldn’t be celebrating unless they were all happy too. I turned to see the other’s reactions, but they were all still reading through the list.

“I got Plumette,” Hayley said. She clapped her hands and grinned at the rest of us. “I was worried I was going to be the footstall with no lines.”

Madi gave Hayley a high-five. “I told you you’d get the part.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I was born to play a flirty French maid.”

The rest of us chuckled, but my heart seemed to clench when I saw Evan’s shoulders slouch.

“Gaston,” he said, giving a defeated exhale of breath.

“What?” That couldn’t be right. My gaze darted back down the list. Evan had delivered an amazing audition, far better than Todd, who was his closest rival. Todd had been given the part of Lumière though.

I searched the cast list until my eyes fixed on the name next to Beast. “Who is Liam Black?” My voice was filled with accusation.

“Only the hottest movie star ever,” Hayley replied.

“I know whothatLiam Black is, but I’m not talking about him. I’m talking about the Liam Black who’s been cast as Beast in our play.”

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