“Caesar?” Brielle asks. “Julius Caesar?”
“I am Julius Caesar!” Marina starts chanting and I can see other people looking at us now. “I am Julius Caesar.” She waves her hands back and forth. “I am Julius Caesar, the emperor of Rome.” She starts marching down the street like a soldier. “Follow me. I am your leader.”
“Is she okay?” Brielle whispers to me. “What the hell is going on?”
I nod. “This is just something Marina does.”
“Like, every day?” Brielle says, trying not to laugh.
I nod slowly and look over at Willow, who is laughing.
“I have just never seen anything like this before in my life.” Willow sounds like she’s going to die from laughing so hard. She’s practically wheezing.
Marina stops and turns back to us. “So, what do you think?” She asks normally as if she just put on an Academy award winning performance.
“It was kinda cool,” I say. “I have to admit, I’ve never heard of or seen that song or performance before. I don’t know if it was historically accurate, but it was definitely interesting.”
Marina shrugs and then shouts. “I just had an idea.”
“Oh? What?” I ask her.
“There’s this Off-Broadway show opening tomorrow, and I know the director is going to be talking to members of the audience. I figured if we go, maybe I can ask some questions and possibly do a little audition on the spot.”
“Do an audition on the spot?” Brielle asks. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I’ll ask a question. I’ll be like, ‘How long did it take you to direct this?’ And then I’ll get my answer, and then I’ll be like, ‘Thank you. I’m Marina, and I’m an actress looking for work.’” Marina starts singing. “Then she’ll hear my voice and be like, ‘Wow, you’re talented. I need you in my next play.’ And I’ll be like, ‘Sign me up. That’s why I’m here.’”
Brielle’s eyes widen, and she nervously licks her lips. “Oh my God. She can’t sing well either,” she says, gazing at me.
“Brielle, shush,” I say.
“Look, girl, is anyone being honest with her? She thought she could dance, but she couldn’t. Her singing is atrocious. I mean, we sing better than her, and we sound like cats in the rain during a thunderstorm. Please tell me she can act.”
“I mean, I’ve never seen her in a performance,” I say, starting to laugh. “Stop it, Brielle. You’re going to get me into trouble.”
“Hey, Marina,” Brielle says and I give her a death stare. “How many plays have you been in, or movies, or TV shows, or whatever?”
“I was in my church’s plays for several years.”
“Your church had plays?” Brielle asks. “Really?”
“Well, you know the nativity scene at Christmas? One year I was Mary, and another year I was a wise man because all the guys dropped out because they didn’t think it was cool to be in the church play anymore. So I had to take a spot as a man. But it’s cool because now I can play men and women,” she grins. “I mean, I’m not going to cut off my hair or anything, but if I have to put it under a wig, I could be a man,” she says in a deep voice.
“Okay,” Brielle says. “Anything else you’ve been in?”
“When I was in high school, I was also in a play that I wrote for the drama club.”
“Oh, so you’re a good writer?” Brielle asks. “Can you tell us some of the lines?”
“Why, of course,” Marina says excitedly. “I’d love to share it with you. Thank you so much for asking. You really are a girl’s girl, Brielle.”
“I like to think so,” Brielle says. I stare at Brielle and just shake my head.
“Well, the name of the play was We’re Not All Cheerleaders.”
“That sounds quite appropriate for a high school play,” Willow says encouragingly.
“Hi, I’m Brittany,” Marina says, twirling her hair. “I like bubblegum and Barbies, and I like jumping up and down and singing and twirling and grilling and twerking and working. At the pizza shop you got a buck, you got two, you got three. Give me some glue so I can put these pompom girls on my costume.” Marina starts jumping up and down and twirling around. Willow, Brielle, and I just look at each other with panicked expressions on our faces.
