She walked up to the door frame, anxious, knowing that on the other side is the sheet of paper that would shape her next few months. A Freshman in high school going for the lead in the musical? The idea seems unrealistic, but in Riley's school, there weren't many options. The school was small enough that everyone did at least two of the minimal extracurricular activities that were offered. Riley did almost everything.

She was almost there, her hands were shaking, her stomach sank like a tree rooting into the ground. Liam walked down the hallway towards the cast list, his girlfriend, Kayla, glued to his side. The sight of Kayla made Riley uneasy after all of the misplaced caution during auditions. Kayla hadn't tried out for a role, but she made sure to be there 'supporting Liam' as she had said, though the territorial, suspicious look in her eyes had made it clear to everyone that that wasn't the only reason.

Riley looked down at the ground as she stepped up to the list. The first thing that she saw was what she expected. Everyone expected it.

Liam Peterson- Don Lockwood

The lead. It was no surprise to Riley, with Liam being a senior. Not to mention that he was the best match for the role. Don Lockwood. Old-timey, handsome, talented... Riley shook her head and looked down, a blush on her cheeks when she realized that she'd been staring at him as the pair walked towards where she was standing.

Riley looked back up at the list, and searched for the line directly beneath Liam's name. There, in bold letters was her name.

Riley Cavanaugh- Kathy Selden

The squeak that the young girl had let out drew Kayla's attention, and Riley quickly covered her mouth, not able to hide the wide smile that tugged at her cheeks.

"Riley, did you get the part?", Liam asked with a small smile

She nodded and ducked her head down, "Yeah, I did."

"Congrats, Riley. It'll be good with you in the lead." Liam answered. His smile made Riley blush, but the moment ended when a soft exhale drew her attention up to look at Kayla, and the smile dropped from her face immediately. "So, uh, congratulations Liam."

Riley dropped the eye contact and started walking away,but before she turned the corner, she heard the sharp, controlling voice of Kayla saying, "Are you kidding... Liam, what about... you're MY boyfriend..."

Riley shook her head, letting out a shallow breath before she met her best friend Faith in the hallway.

"Riley, did you get the part?!", she asked enthusiastically. They had talked about it the day before and Riley told her friend how nervous she was for the cast list to come out.

Feigning sadness, Riley looked down. Faith frowned and reached a hand out, about to console Riley when the latter spoke.

"Yes! Yeah! Faith, I got it!"

Faith leaned in and hugged Riley, "I'm so proud of you! Your audition was great, Riley."

"Oh geez, thank you," her shy smile fell again as Kayla walked past them with Liam. Faith noticed and sent Riley a look, silently asking her friend a question. Riley shrugged her shoulders and answered in a whisper, "I don't know, remember how I told you she was lurking around the auditions?", when Faith nodded, she continued, "Well they were going to check the list out when I was leaving, and she yelled at him when he congratulated me. It sounded bad, Faith."

"Really? What did she say?" Faith asked quietly.

Riley shrugged, "I don't know. I heard more of the tone than the words. You know what I mean? I just know that she was NOT happy that he said something nice to another girl." Riley sighed slightly and looked past Faith to watch Liam and Kayla turn the corner. The bell for the five-minute warning rang then, and Faith stood up.

"That's not fair," she stated, and then replaced her furrowed brows with a smile, "Anyways, she can't yell at me for congratulating you again, so congrats!" Riley laughed slightly and nodded as she stood up to walk to her first hour class. Along the way, she was stopped a few times and asked about the play, and in those moments, nothing could have made her smile fade. Not even the lingering image of Kayla yelling at Liam.

Later that day, after basketball practice, Riley walked into the cafeteria singing a song from the musical. She wasn't trying to sound good, so her voice was loud and pitchy, but her excitement in that moment had been outweighing her embarrassment by a ton. Riley stopped and flipped her head down, getting ready to throw her dark, dye-red hair back into a ponytail. She took a seat, filling in the open spot of the circle where the cast had already started their first read-through.