"When are you going to know if you made the play or not?" Luna asked me from her booster seat in the back of my car. "By the time I get done with school?"
"Yeah, they said the cast list will be out by noon today."
"When is that?"
"About lunch time. I'll know something by the time I pick you up from school."
She nodded like this answer satisfied her. I had been talking to her about the audition process every step of the way. She had listened to me practice my audition for the last week, and she was a natural cheerleader who encouraged me. She knew I had gotten a callback for a character named Mama Morton, and she celebrated with me and then helped me work on the song Mama sings in the play.
Yesterday was Sunday, and I had spent the entire afternoon at the high school for callbacks. Honestly, I was in over my head. There were people who were clearly better than me. A few of the girls really stood out in the role of Mama, and quite honestly, if I were the director, I would pick one of them. It was a good experience, but I was in a situation where I had to sing and dance and read lines in front of a panel, and I had never done anything like it before. It was taxing, and I was glad it was over.
The cast was supposed to be announced by today at noon, although James said it was often posted and emailed by Sunday night. Because of this, I stayed up late. The last time I checked the theater's Facebook account, it was one-thirty in the morning. I checked it again, twice, this morning while we were getting Luna ready for school, and there was still no cast list. James had assured me that sometimes, when the directors had tough decisions to make, they would deliberate right up until the deadline.
My phone rang as we were in the drop-off line at Lu's school. We were creeping along, and it would be a minute before she made it to the front. I flinched to dig it out of my purse, but then I changed my mind. I made it a point not to use my phone while I was driving. I liked to use that time to talk to Luna. At home, we would hang out together, but the car was one of my favorite places to have conversations with her.
"What is it?" she asked from the backseat.
"Nothing. My phone was ringing."
"Who is it, Nana?" she asked, talking about her grandmother, Kai's mom.
"I don't know."
"Check," she said.
I was at a complete stop at the moment, and I easily dug in my purse and found my phone.
"It's James," I said nervously. I could only think of one reason he'd be calling me this early. I glanced in the rearview mirror at Luna, and she was watching and listening with wide eyes.
"Hello?" I said, answering and holding the phone to my ear.
"Good morning. Are you working?" he asked.
"No, I'm off today."
James groaned. "I forgot. You told me that like ten times yesterday. I'm braindead."
"You worked hard yesterday. And you're working today, right?"
"I'm on my way there. Collin posted the list like five minutes ago. Did you see it?"
"No. I’m in the car."
"My aunt saw it and called me. I don't even know what Collin's doing up this early. They deliberated into the middle of the night. I'm surprised he didn't just post it when they were finished."
James's tone was so matter-of-fact that I couldn't tell if he was calling me with good news or not.
"Billy Flynn?" I asked.
"Oh, yes, and you're in the show, Audrey! You made it! You got a role!"
"I did?" I asked, my heart pounding. "I made it? Are you serious?" I stared in the rearview and watched Luna's eyes widen with excitement as she did a little dance.
"I'm serious," James said.
"A named role?" I said, feeling a wave of something in between excitement and anxiety. "Or ensemble?"
"No, you're Mona, Chica! Congratulations!"
