Sunnydale High School Drama Presents
by Ben Church
b_church@yahoo.com
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Part 4: Rehearsal
Buffy sat in the auditorium, in the front row. It was dark.
She looked up on the stage and saw Angel, not Angelus, but Angel. He
was looking at her so sadly it nearly broke her heart. Sitting in
front of Angel, on the edge of the stage, was Micky. He was playing
his pennywhistle, a tune Buffy vaguely recognized from Titanic.
Then she woke up.
Willow sat in her room, listening to a tape of Little Shop.
She found that she could sympathize with Seymour as well. Singing
softly along with the tape, she got ready for bed.
"All right," Xander said. "Now, should I do a voice for the
plant? Or should I just use my regular one."
"That's something we'll work out in rehearsal." Joe told him.
"But it couldn't hurt to try some out by yourself just to see if any
seem appropriate. I'd avoid trying an accent though. 'Cause unless
you're really good at it, it just sounds really bad.
"Gotcha." Xander thanked Joe and hung up. Then, he picked up
the young Audrey 2 puppet from his bed and began practicing.
Buffy entered the auditorium early the next afternoon, hoping
to find Micky. She wanted to make sure that Cordy didn't get too much
grief. Though, she honestly didn't know why not.
Instead, piano music greeted her as she entered. She didn't
recognize the tune, but the mood was quite distinct. Depressed. Buffy
walked quietly backstage and found Joe.
He was playing the grand piano, with a picture of Theresa
sitting in the place one usually put a music book. Though she couldn't
see his face, Buffy could tell by the emotion in the music that Joe
missed her terribly. She understood quickly just how deep the boy's
feelings had run for her.
Not wishing to disturb him, she went back to the audience.
Micky had come in while she was backstage.
"How much did you see?" he asked her quietly.
"Enough." Buffy said. "He really liked her."
"He loved her." Micky informed her. "But she never knew. They
were friends since Kindergarten."
"That's a familiar story." Buffy said.
Micky smiled. "Willow and Xander."
"You know?"
"There are very few people who don't." Micky said.
"Xander's feelings for Willow are complicated, and with Oz in the
picture, it complicates things even more."
"He never told her?"
Micky seemed to know instinctively that she was now talking
about Joe and Theresa. "Never. He's usually an outgoing guy, but when
it comes to girls that he really likes..." he left the sentence
unfinished. "He'd made up his mind to damn the Torpedoes and Full
Speed ahead," he looked at her uncomprehending face. "To tell her, the
night she...they were supposed to meet at the Bronze."
They sat silently for a moment, listening to the music. Now he
was playing Foolish Games.
"How long have you known Joe?"
"Literally all my life." Micky said. "Our parents came over on
the same boat and became friends. They moved out here and raised us
together. We're like brothers."
At that moment, the rest of the Crew came in, ending the
moment. "Well," Micky said, rising. "Time to get to work."
"Okay Cordy," Micky said. "Welcome to your first day of Crew. Where's Buffy? She
was just in here."
"Um, I think she went to get nails or something." Actually she'd gone to check in
with Giles.
"Okay, I needed to talk to you in private anyway." He began to hand her a bunch of
papers stapled together. "The Techie Gospel, The Commandments of Tech, a Glossary of
Techie Terms, and a bunch of Actor Jokes. This will help you fit in. Hope it's not too
complicated for you. Oh dear. That was my out loud voice."
Cordy was ready with a come back, but realized that he could make her life a living
hell. She refrained.
"Now one last thing. You should really be dressed in ratty clothes, I mean, these're
gonna get ruined."
"These are my ratty clothes."
"Do you realize," Mr. Dean said to Joe. "That we'll have
practically no theater department here next year?" Over half the
Theater people were graduating this year.
"Don't feel bad Mr. D." Joe reassured him. They were heading
for the chorus room. "The people you'll have left are really good."
Entering, they found Xander, Andrea, Fitz and Ben dancing a kick line to
a recording of Havah Nagila.
"And just think. Next year this place might even seem normal."
Mr. Dean said wryly.
Rehearsal for the cast proceeded smoothly. Ben was the first
to memorize his lines as usual. Xander, after toying with several
different voices opted to use his normal voice, only deeper.
The Ensemble and supporting roles learned their songs and
lines well. And the leads' songs were progressing well. The dancing
was another matter altogether.
"Xander," Ben said, after he and Xander had been singled out
yet again. "Welcome to the dancing school for the rhythm impaired."
They were going over the choreography for the closing number.
"Okay," Mrs. Jerik, the choreographer said. "It's step..."
"Wait a minute." Xander complained. "I'm never on stage! Why do I have to learn the
choreography?"
Cordelia was miserable. Never had she been more unhappy. Not
even when her father had not allowed her to get a dress she'd wanted.
She also had never been more sorry about her behavior towards other
people.
Chris Smith and Ziggy were constantly playing pranks on her,
Izzy, in addition to writing endless unhappy things about her in her
scripts, was Paints head. And took great delight, though she had the
grace to hide it, sometimes, in giving Cordy the messy job of painting.
She was always the one who had to sweep up.
Despite her miserableness, Cordelia was proud of herself. She
hadn't complained once. Except when she got home. Then she cried
where no one could see her. She hadn't realized what it really felt
like to be the object of scorn, except most recently when her
relationship with Xander had been discovered. "My how the tables have
turned." she thought.
"Hey," a kind voice said. It was Xander. "How are you holding
up?"
Cordelia valiantly hid her unhappiness. "I'm fine." she said.
There was no way she was going to reveal her weakness in front of him.
He was her boyfriend, there were rules.
Xander didn't buy it however. "I release you from the no
complaining clause of the bet." he told her. "Anytime you need to,
I'm here for you."
Cordy smiled slightly. "Thanks."
"Now," Xander said. "Up for some fun tonight?"
"What sort of fun?" she asked warily. "This isn't Slayer type
fun is it?"
"Nope," the boy smiled. "I'm thinking, The Bronze."
"Uhhh," she hesitated. "I don't know. Isn't tonight Kareoke
night?"
"Well yeah. But from what I hear, Joe's never given a bad
performance."
"Joe does kareoke?"
"Yup, him and Fitz. Both good singers. C'mon, it'll at least
take your mind off of your hell."
To Be Continued...