The leaves crunched, and Molly whipped her head around, but no one was there. She stopped. Took a breath, and pulled out her phone to check the email again.
“King Lear auditions will now be held in Drama B06, NOT 301! We can’t wait to see you!” Heart emoji. Kiss emoji. Moon emoji. “Best, Eden Alexander.”
Molly hadn’t been in the basement of the drama building yet. She wasn’t taking any theatre classes this semester, per request of her parents, who wanted her to “expand her academic horizons” and “try new things in college.” So she enrolled in Biology, Introduction to Medieval Literature, Financial Math, and Introduction to Art History. So far, biology was surprisingly interesting, English was great, math was fine, and art history was ridiculously hard. It was all fine. But when flyers had appeared on the halls of her dorm, advertising auditions for an all-female production of Shakespeare’s King Lear, she had jumped at the chance to sign up. Almost like a compulsion. She had to get back on stage, one way or another.
The drama building loomed ahead of her, with its odd, palatial-like turrets and stained glass windows. It was probably a frivolous thing to prioritize aesthetics when choosing where to commit to college. Nevertheless, Molly loved every old building on this campus. They made her feel like a true scholar. Of what, she wasn’t sure, but of something soon, hopefully.
It was Eden Alexander—the director of the show and a very popular senior.
A girl in a long black skirt and black boots suddenly appeared at the corner of the building. She had long red hair plaited in two braids and an olive green satchel, out of which a sheaf of papers stuck out. It was Eden Alexander—the director of the show and a very popular senior. Molly had already picked up on that much, despite her lack of involvement in the drama department thus far.
This was because of Lucia Galante, Molly’s resident advisor, who had just emerged from the shadows of the drama building with another girl in black skirts and black boots that looked, at least from Molly’s faraway perspective, to be exactly like Eden’s. Lucia designed costumes for campus productions and had encouraged Molly to audition, almost forcefully. Molly stopped for a moment and watched as the three girls ran towards each other, squealed, and hugged, swallowing themselves up into a black hole of velvet. They put their heads together. Molly felt like she was intruding on something intimate, even though they were all in public. But she had to keep walking towards them. It was almost time for her audition.
She walked across the orange and red-speckled lawn. Lucia looked up at the sound of her footsteps and squealed again. “Molly!” She turned to her friends.
"Girls, this is Molly. She's one of my residents! Isn't she adorable?"
“Girls, this is Molly. She’s one of my residents! Isn’t she adorable?” The third girl nodded, her silky blond hair rippling with the motion. Eden looked at Molly appraisingly.
“You have great bone structure,” Eden said. No one had ever said that to Molly.
“Th-thank you,” Molly stammered. Having all three of these girls looking at her was unnerving. Tall, thin white girls with long hair and black skirts—even though they had different hair colors, they were mirror images of each other.
The blond girl stuck out her hand. “I’m Rose. I’m the set designer.”
Molly shook her hand and said, “It’s nice to meet you.” All of a sudden, she felt something fall on top of her head. Lucia grabbed it before she could react. Just a leaf.
“The wind is picking up,” Lucia said. “Shall we go inside?”
“Yes, I think it’s time,” said Eden. “Thanks for coming today, Molly. We’re excited to get started.” She held the door open. Molly shivered, and walked inside.
