Chapter 1
Year 1 October

"Everyone assemble yourselves on stage and crowd up into a circle" Miss Nightgale instructed once the stage began to flood with people for the first practise. Auditions had finished last week and now the production was in full-swing. I skidded softly to an uninhabited spot in the stage and sat down happily there, feeling the vibes of the structure surrounding me.

"Welcome all to this years production! You've all been casted and selected to be in this for the next seven months of the year. I'll be your director for this production and this is your stage manager, Ella" Miss Nightgale said gesturing to me, sitting there a bit more inward on the squished circle I had just realized surrounded me.

"Hello," I said happily. This was my first time stage managing and I was excited. I'd seen others before me do it and I felt so honoured to follow in their footsteps. I looked around at my colleagues. Some I knew and considered good friends. Others, I knew not of and grew curious about.

"Ella, do you mind taking attendance? Get to know the cast you'll be working with?"

"Sure miss, no problem," I said quietly as I pulled out the green 2" ring binder. Many looked at me with raised eyebrows as I sat there, taking a bit to open the large book with barely anything in it but I didn't bother explaining my smaller size, they'd come to understand it. I flipped it open to see an organized Excel chart with about forty names lined up from top to bottom. Grabbing a pen, I looked down at the first name and became immediately tongue-tied. I looked up with wide eyes at the crowd in front of me and bit my lip nervously. "I'm sorry but I have a feeling I'm going to mispronounce the first person's name" I said anxiously.

"Is it Mariahka Alvarez?" a voice called from the back of the circle on the other side.

"Yes! Yes, it is. Thank you for that!" I called back with a sigh of relief. The girl looked back with a smile and relaxed, having been called and not disgraced with my horrid attempt at pronouncing her name. The names after that were much easier. Many belonged to my friends sitting near me whom I jested with once calling their names. After calling a few new names, I saw friendships begin to bind. They could see I wasn't scary and some seemed really nice.

This will be good for me. Finally, I'll be able to be social, I thought to myself and continued down the list. The next name there was familiar to me but I wasn't sure if it was her. "Anna Lyra?," I called out to see.

"Here," a soft voice replied to me. I hadn't looked up to check but the moment I heard her, I knew it was her. Her voice captivated me for a moment as I studied her name over and over again quickly in my head. I looked up to see her and saw her looking intently back at me. I think I was lost in her gaze for a few moments, staring into her eyes before snapping out of it and smiling back a bit brighter than expected. "Hi," I responded.

She smiled slightly back. "Hi."

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