While the theatre kids are sitting on the floor of the stage in the auditorium listening to Mrs Bridget Andersson, an older woman with a shawl on her body, her signature look. Alex and his friends are backstage doing nothing, they just sit on the floor.
"I just hope Hilda becomes the lead she's a way better actress than the rest of those dummies," Fran says eating some chips she got from the dining hall.
"I don't care," Alex says. He's on the floor, head resting on the wall and his eyes are glued to the ceiling.
"Of course you don't. You don't understand theatre." Fran says with a smile, Alex has taken offence to that because he does understand theatre. He looks at her.
"Of course I understand theatre, it's about a bunch of people playing dress up and pretending to be people they're not."
Fran shakes her head. "No, it's more than that. It's about telling a story, having a connection with characters being in the mind of someone else." She explains and Alex can only raise his brow. "Being in a whole new world."
"Ooh, Fran looks like you want to be an actor, you should join the winter play," Margaret says to her.
"Yeah, maybe," Alex says with a small smile on his face.
"What?" Fran says looking at Margaret with a grimace on her face. "I don't want to act, I got the memo of acting from Hilda she's the one who told me all that."
"Alright alright," Hilda says raising her hands in surrender.
"At least Zayn is having fun, he's a good actor," Fran says looking at the stage of thespians sitting on the floor like little kids listening to tales told by their grandmother.
"What? Hasn't he been a tree since I got here?" Alex asks. And Fran looks at Alex bemused.
"Do you know how hard it is to stand still like that for hours?"
Alex raises his hand in surrender. "Sorry, my bad."
"Ah, I'm back!" Adrian says. They sent him on a mission to join the other thespians to learn what play they're doing this year. "They're doing Fredrick and Desdemona"
"Ooh." Fran and Margaret say in unison. Alex just snorts.
Fredrick and Desdemona is a forbidden story written by famous Russian playwright, Nikolai Kozlov about a snow fairy princess who fell in love with a knight, an elf. The story is tragic, it was inspired by Princess Laila Baron Grant who fell in love with a wizard, this happened in real life and the love between them caused a war, the war was so grave that they call it the grave war, and the people of Euroix vowed to never have a war like that again.
Alex knows the play but he doesn't know much about acting to know who should get what role but he knows Hilda will kill that role because he has seen her act and she's good. Even though she has never gotten the role of the main character because the role keeps going to Susan Baxter, Susan is a good actress but it would be nice if Hilda was given a chance.
Hilda has never been a tree, at least, she's been a supporting character and has killed every role but still it will be nice to see her as the main character because she's that good. But what does he know? He's not the drama teacher.
"Hilda better get that role." Fran says, "Or else." her fist meets her palm.
"What are you going to do punch the teacher?" Adrian says laughing.
"No, I'll get expelled," Fran says. "But still. Hilda deserves this role. She works hard for it."
And everyone agrees because Hilda has always wanted to be the main character. Maybe this year will be different.
She has always wanted to be an actress since she was little. Ever since she went to Broadway with her mother when she was seven years old. It was the revolution of Princess Katherine, the princess who fought for firstborn daughters to be Queens of the land. She changed history.
Hilda is hoping to change history with her stories. And she hopes she gets there someday.
Anastasia and Kate are in the dance room, in their ballet clothes, slippers and their hair up in a bun stretching. They're the best female dancers in the room but it's just Anastasia who gets the lead, Kate dares not upstage Anastasia or else she reaps the consequences.
And besides. Ana and Henry have better chemistry since Henry is the best male dancer no one can compete. But Henry doesn't know that. The only thing he knows no one can compete him with is his looks, and that may be true but Ana thinks he should keep his eyes on the prize.
They're dancing the swan princess this year and Ana is sure she's going to be Cornelia the evil swan. As much as she loves the main roles she prefers the villain
Madame Auclair with her vibrant pink hair always up in a bun, her cane and her thick French accent. The things that make her her. She only puts her focus on the girls who have a hard time so Ana and Kate are the only ones with talking privileges, but the other dancers, dare not speak because why would they be chit-chatting when they have a lot to learn?
"I heard Garfield got fired for not closing the barrier," Kate says.
"Aww, why? He did great putting the barrier down."
"Ana!"
"What? The princess isn't hurt." She says mockingly, "She's fine. A bit dramatic but she's fine."
"I do wish I saw the look on her face," Kate says and Anastasia laughs.
"Same," Ana says.
Her phone chimes and because she has certain privileges she takes her phone out and she stops stressing at first she thinks it's her sister's assistant, and she is ready to ignore but it's not it's Sylvie sending her a picture, she opens it and her mood changes. She looks at her phone in anger. Kate notices her change in expression.
"What?" Kate asks her. Ana doesn't answer her she just stares at her phone. She hears giggling then she looks up from her phone to see Henry flirting with a ballerina, typical. She ignores him and shows Kate the picture Sylvie sent her. And Kate is already scared for Elena.
"What are you going to do?"
Ana looks at Kate like she's asking a stupid question and now she feels stupid for asking it. But Ana smiles, the kind of smile that can scare a troll and make a witch run for their money.
"Oh, Kate there is nothing to do," she says. "Pierre is mine." and that is the end of discussion. Whatever Princess Anastasia Vanya Natalya Romanov wants, she gets and that's the end of it.