𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐘 • Neil Perry

Chapter 3

TODAY was the day Neil would learn whether or not he would be buying a packet of Du Maurier cigarettes.

The feeling hadn't sunk in when he dismounted from his bike and left it at the rack in front of the towering brick buildings of Henley Hall. It hadn't sunk in when his feet carried themselves across the concrete towards the entrance. And it hadn't sunk in when he pushed himself through it. But the very moment it did was when his sight landed on Evelyn Peterson.

She came to an abrupt stop in front of him, clearly surprised as well. She was in her Henley uniform and holding the script for A Midsummer Night's Dream close to her chest.

"Hey," Neil greeted softly and let the door close behind him.

"Hi," Evelyn returned, smiling. "I guess I should say congratulations."

Any traces of a smile on Neil's face had entirely disappeared. "You didn't get it?"

"I rather look at it as you did, which hardly comes as a surprise," she said sincerely. "I got to hand it to you. You're an actor."

Neil laughed through his nostrils, riddled with disbelief. He didn't know what he was surprised by more: the fact he had got the part or the fact Evelyn was being so benign about it.

"Thanks," he replied. Then he gestured to the script in her hands, "Who are you playing?"

"Hermia." Her smile tightened. "I don't know the lines for it, but I was going to head to the lake down your side of the pond to learn them. I go there to clear my head usually."

"Well, before you go I was hoping to get a moment to talk," Neil told her, altering something in her expression. "There's something I have to tell you."

Evelyn's eyebrows drew together. "What kind of something?"

"Can I get my script first?" Before she could protest, Neil interjected. "I'll make it quick."

Her head tilted with a lack of enthusiasm that made him edge himself towards the auditorium. He placed a gentle hand on her upper arm. "Just wait here and I promise I won't be longer than two minutes tops." Then he began walking. "You can keep an eye on your watch and hold me to that."

"I don't have a watch," Evelyn remarked.

"Then I guess you'll just have to trust me," Neil quipped back over his shoulder and picked up the pace down the hallway.

Once he pushed his way through the double doors to the auditorium, he noticed Mrs Woolworth sat at the table to the bottom right of the stage. He jogged his way down the aisle and caught his breath.

"Neil!" Mrs Woolworth grinned. "Or should I say Puck?" Her laugh enticed Neil to laugh, too, only in a more begrudging manner. "Your audition was truly something wonderful. Ten years down the line when you're too big for the rest of us, I cannot wait to be able to say I gave Neil Perry his very first role."

Neil chuckled under his breath. "I don't know about that."

"You were untouchable," she told him sincerely. "I mean that. You knocked everybody out of the water."

Simultaneously, Neil felt proud of himself and saddened for Evelyn.

Mrs Woolworth pinched one of the scripts from the pile she had kept amongst her folders and notebooks, "Now, this is the script," and she handed it over. "I want you to live and breathe it. I want Shakespeare to be pouring out of your nose and ears by the time you're done with it, all right?"

"All right," Neil agreed.

"Secondly, I'm going to need a letter of permission—well, two. One from your father and one from your Headmaster. Get that to me as soon as you can and we'll get this show on the road."