Cast List
by Ariya B. '23

“Thank you.”

 

My teacher drops my test face down on my desk. I flip it over and see my score. It could be worse, I guess.

 

“Hey. What did you get?” I ask the girl in front of me.

 

She tells me. She got a better score than me.

 

“You?” She asks.

 

“Not as good.”

 

“It’s okay. It was hard. We’re all in the same boat.”

 

Maybe on different oceans. She’s smarter than me, of course, but it’s fine. This will all be okay. I still have the audition results to look forward to.

I get down from the bus and walk to my house, each step becoming slower than the last. My sister is visiting home from college. I used to live with her, and I still don’t know how she got from point A-childhood, to point B-figured everything out-hood.

As I open the door, the wonderful smell of something sweet swirls around me. How fitting.

“Hey! I made cupcakes for the family. Hope you don’t mind. How was your day?” She asks as I enter the kitchen. When did she find time to do this?

“Where’s mom?”

“She went to the bank.”

“Oh.”

I begin to trudge toward my room when my phone buzzes.

“Where are you going so soon?” It’s my perfect sister again.

The words “CAST LIST” stare at me from the top of my notifications. I frantically type my password incorrectly many times before opening the email.

“I don’t know what could be so interesting for you to ignore me.”

She is looking over my shoulder.

I didn’t get it.

“Aww that’s too bad. Mom told me you wanted the lead.” She says.

Of course I didn’t get it. What was I expecting? I thought this was the one thing I was good at, the one thing I could count on, but I can’t even do that. I can’t do anything. Not getting good grades, not getting a good part, not making cupcakes in record time. Wow. I’m not even good at being mature about this situation.

“I’m gonna go upstairs.”

“Don’t be upset about this. You’ll have plenty of chances to audition for shows in the future.”

“You got the lead your sophomore year! I’m a junior!”

“I’m surprised you remembered, but I did. But that’s okay. I was only the third best student in my class.”

I don’t even know my ranking, but I know it’s not that high.

“Yeah, you really let your grades drop.” Should I not have said that?

“But you know, I still got into a good school.”

“I gotta study.”

“You don’t want a cupcake?”

“I’ll take one.”

Once I enter my room, cupcake in hand, I feel terrible. Should I throw away the cupcake?

On second thought, I ate it.

Wasn’t bad. Wasn’t bad at all.