My stomach flipped as my feet found their way to the front. I walked up beside Jude. Maybe if I saw how everyone else did it, I might be able to scrape through this. Then maybe I'd convince Maddox never to call me up here to perform again.

I wasn't sure how long I had. What had Maddox wanted me to play? A sports report with me being an interior designer for Batman. It was bonkers, but I needed a minute to think. Except I didn't have a minute.

"Welcome to the five o-clock news," Bradley said as he walked out beside Cynthia. "I'm your anchor, Friendly Takeover. Our top story is defamation charges against a woodchuck who claimed he could chuck wood. He will be held on bond until it is determined if, in fact, a woodchuck can chuck wood. Now to my Old News. What do we have, Old?"

Cynthia hunched over and groaned. "Apple crop went bad. Made all the worse by the fact that my teeth are gone. You take em again, Friendly?"

"No," Bradley said. "Why don't you try apple sauce instead."

Cynthia growled. ". I ain't dead yet, and I don't want apple sauce. It gets stuck in my denture cream. I want my teeth. Maybe Sally in makeup took em."

"While you look, we can head over to weather with Sugar Spice," Bradley said.

Kayleigh took the spotlight easily. She pretended to run from a storm on foot as she gave a weather report. It seemed like the game was easy enough. You only had to act for a minute or so, staying in character as you did your section of the news.

Based on the previous three, I only needed to perform for about a minute. It seemed easy. Almost. Except what did Batman's interior designer have anything to do with sports?

I had another minute to think while Jude's Benjamin Button impression gave a special field report about a fire in town. He ended his performance crawling offstage like a baby.

"Somebody call a nanny to pick up Random Order from daycare," Bradley said. "And for our last segment, we have Champion Underdog looking at sports. How are the teams looking, Champ?"

Taking a deep breath, it only took me a moment to channel my inner interior decorator. My ex-girlfriend Gloria was always trying to get to decorate. She'd even gone off to school to learn how to do it professionally.

"You see, Mr. Wayne, if we install the foosball table there and move that dreary column of bats to bring in some natural light," I said, praying I was at least trying to follow along with the prompt. "We'll show a live scoreboard on the wall there so you can know how the Gotham Football team is doing at all times, and this room will be greatly improved. Maybe it might even get your hobbies off the streets and get you cheering for the city again. A fresh coat of paint, maybe some red and gold to celebrate the win of Gotham soccer. We'll avoid blue. I know you're not a Metropolis fan. Then we just add some pillows and knickknacks. What do you think, Mr. Wayne?"

"And that's all we've got for the news tonight," Bradley said. "This is Friendly Takeover signing off."

Everyone else in the audience clapped. As I found my way back to my seat, Bradley clapped me on the back.

"Nice," he said. "Maddox didn't go easy on you, and you totally delivered."

I sat back down just as Maddox started announcing the last game. He pulled a hat out and called the winners from each game forward to react to a bunch of prompts that he pulled out of the hat.

Lorne, Riley, Cynthia, and Bradley came up with as many responses to the prompts and questions that came out of the hat. Bradley made us all laugh by acting out a robot shutting down when Maddox asked, "what Dr. Tunstelle does in her office after rehearsal." Cynthia acted out her being a spy.

There were a dozen or so prompts. There was no rhyme or reason to any of them. Most of them were funny, like "scenes Shakespeare threw out." Lorne made a brilliant joke about Romeo and Juliet being zombies. Other prompts like "people the university should hire as guest professors" made the four pull out full-blown impressions of celebrities.

Finally, Maddox sent the four back to their seats and congratulated everyone. Then in the back of the room, Lexi stood and smiled.

"Great Oxymoron Games tonight," she said. "The cast list will be live on the theater site in two minutes. I just wanted to say that everyone did a great job in their audition and what you did here tonight cements that we have a great group of actors. I have full faith this is going to be an amazing production."

"Lexi's right," Emma Kate said. "We'll see you all Monday. Learn lines over the weekend. We have two weeks to block this all and need to do dress rehearsals the last week. Tech roles are listed below the cast. If you're a theater major and you'll have a job on the crew additionally. The list should be up now."

Nearly everyone had turned their attention to their phones as Emma Kate spoke. I pulled up the theater website on my phone and found the cast list on the main page. 

"Congrats, dude," Bradley leaned back in his chair. "We get to play the drunken fools."

I'd been half expecting to get something like the Boatswain or have to dance around in one of the scenes where Prospero summoned spirits. Being someone with more than one or two lines seemed kind of daunting.

Looking over at Lexi, I wondered what she was thinking. She'd passed over Chase, an actual theater major for me, a football player with exactly zero Shakespeare experience.

Lexi seemed lost in thought. She looked at her phone and let out a long breath. I couldn't imagine how stressful casting your peers was, and she didn't exactly have a stress-free summer.

Lorne and Jude looked pleased with themselves. They had some of the best roles. Only Kayleigh, who sat between them, holding her stomach, sat with a blank expression on her face. She should have been over the moon that she was playing Miranda, one of the titular roles. Instead, she looked dazed, bordering on upset.

"I already have a million ideas for costumes," Maddox said to Lucas.

"Just don't involve glitter again," Lucas said. "I still haven't vacuumed it all up from my car from last summer."

"I need Raisa's approval anyway," Maddox said. "Didn't you see? EK and Lexi put her on the costumes too."

Lucas made a face. Raisa was in the back arguing with Emma Kate. I didn't look like she was too thrilled to be playing Sebastian.

"How am I supposed to shine if I keep getting pushed into the ensemble," Raisa said. "The professors keep saying I need to prove myself, and I can't prove myself as Sebastian. People like Lorne and Jude have had a million chances. They don't need another."

"Tunstelle says you can prove yourself in any role," Emma Kate said. "You have plenty of time. Focus on this role. If you knock it out of the part, you can impress the professors and then get cast in the fall."

"I'm not a bad actor," Raisa said. "I've had private lessons, and I was always cast as the lead in high school."

"We all were," Emma Kate said. "And we all have room for improvement. Even though I'm not perfect, I'm working hard to be better."

"You went to Hollywood for an audition last spring and got shot down," Raisa said. "I was in three movies before I was nine."

Emma Kate ran a hand through her hair. "You can talk to Tunselle if you want, but I recommend your mother call the department again. You can't have a mom managing you in college theater. We don't even have agents."

"Looks like I better rescue Emma Kate before she strangles Raisa," Bradley said. "Or vice versa."

Bradley made his way over and wrapped his arm around his girlfriend. He made defusing the situation almost look easy. It almost made me miss having a girlfriend. Emma Kate and Bradley seemed to complement each other well.

Glancing at the cast list again, I wondered how many of these roles Emma, Kate, and Lexi had picked themselves. Lexi seemed more relaxed than normal, and only Raisa seemed upset about the outcome of the auditions.

"You did good," I said when she walked over.

"Nothing is ever perfect when you cast a play," Lexi said. "It's an ego balancing act, but I think EK, and I did a decent job."

I smiled. "So, you're playing Prospero, huh."

"It'll be interesting," Lexi said. "It was Dr. Tunstelle's idea. And honestly, it'll be more challenging. It's been done before. I have a lot of lines to learn."

"Does Tunstelle want you to keep coaching me now that auditions are over?" I asked.

Lexi frowned. "I'm not sure. If you want, I can make some more time."

"If you're too busy, it's fine," I said.

"No," Lexi said. "We can keep running. It's always too quiet in the athletic department when everyone goes home for the summer. Say Monday morning at six?"

I nodded. "Sounds lovely. Do you need a ride back to your place? I was going to head out soon."

"Sure," Lexi said. "It is kinda late. I actually argued against this party. Emma Kate thought it would be better for the cast to blow off steam."

"I think she was right," I said. "But the party seems over about now."

Maddox and Lucas were packing up the extra chairs. Chase was putting away food, and it looked like Lorne, Jude, and Kayleigh had already taken off.

We made our way out to my truck. Lexi fiddled with the radio as I pulled out of the driveway. When she finally found a station that she liked, she leaned back and drummed her fingers against her leg to the beat.

"Nice tune," I said.

"I just wanted something quiet," she said. "You were good in the games tonight. Maddox didn't go easy on you."

"I had to channel my inner ex-girlfriend," I said. "Gloria cared a lot about how stuff looked. Then when she was done, she dumped me."

"I'm sorry," Lexi said. "But you made a good interior decorator for Batman. I'm guessing that was one of Bradley's suggestions. He can come up with some ideas to give the best of us trouble."

"You were good too," I said. "You guessed who everyone was on the bus easily."

"Lot of practice, and the impressions were good," Lexi said. "Improv is all about thinking on your feet and playing off your friends. I get the feeling that with practice, you might make a good member of the Oxymorons. We do have a few non-major players during the semester."

I tried to imagine what it might be like to do that again. Being a part of a team and working off odd suggestions might be fun.

"Maybe," I said. "Just maybe."

Hey everyone!!! Like brother likes sister, Parker responds to uncertainty like Shayna with "maybe, just maybe." Looking forwards, I'm hoping to have more frequent updates. I spent a long time recently getting Before the Curtain Opens ready for the Wattys. Now I should have more time to devote to Summer Tempest, but If you're tired of waiting for the next update, I recommend you check that project out. I'd love to hear what you think.

--- Eliana