Books were like the third point in our friendship. I had never met anyone in Mississippi who loved reading as much as I did. In fact, my reading habits were the cause of most of the teasing I got. No one seemed to understand the joys of the worlds you could discover in reading.
Thus, I was truly surprised when I found out Cami loved books and reading as much as I. That first day we discovered our shared passion we spent an hour talking about our favourite books, like we were reminiscing about old friends from the past. We both had serious problems enjoying science fiction, and loved any sort of historical romance.
My parents encouraged my reading habits; they knew it was a good obsession to have. Cami’s parents, on the other hand , thought that buying books was a waste of money, because they paid so much for the school textbooks – why not just read those?
So Cami was always borrowing books from me. I didn’t mind, I was proud of my collection. My parents had bought two full length bookcases from Ikea, and I filled them with books I bought. My favourite ones showed it, they were well-loved. When Cami came to choose a book, she’d always look for the one with the ratty pages or torn spine. That was the sign of a good-read.
Our English teacher, Mr. Tarav, was always offering reading for extra credit, even though it was usually only Cami and I who took him up on it. It was fun for us, and did wonders for our English grades. Our last extra credit project before the end of the school year had been to read any of Shakespeare’s works. Both Cami and I had tried and failed. The end of the year tests and play had kept us to busy to delve into ‘thees and thous.’ However, once our friendship had mended and we were back to spending time together, we were left with the age-old problem of what to do. It seems so ironic to me now that it was the last summer in my life when I was allowed to do nothing, and I spent all my time trying to think of things to do.
One of the things that Cami and I decided to do was to go back to reading Shakespeare together. For the extra credit, I had started reading King Lear, and Cami, Julius Caesar. Mr. Tarav had tried to persuade us to change to an ‘easier’ work, but we were so prideful about our reading skills, we refused. In the summer, on our own time, with no one to impress, we decided to take his advice.
I told my parents about our plan, so they gave me some money to go to the bookstore and buy us both a copy. Cami was really surprised, but my parents gave us a little pep talk about how they wanted to encourage literacy in all young people, not just their own children. My brothers’ idea of literacy extended to a 100 page comic book, so I guess they were trying to compensate.
That is how, one day, Cami and I found ourselves at the mega bookstore in the mall. The Shakespeare section was surprisingly measly, and was shelved on the lowest level. So we sat cross-legged, and pulled out one book at a time to read the description. To the uninformed reader, all of Shakespeare’s works might seem the same, mistaken identities, disguise, fools, so on. But Cami and I knew better. Mr. Tarav had taught us all about Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies and history plays and how to differentiate between them. We were looking for a comedy, that was for sure.
Cami pulled out a slim volume, “What about this one?”
“What’s it about?” I questioned, putting back The Idiot’s Guide to Shakespeare.
“It’s about a pair of twins who get separated and how they find each other. There’s girls dressed as boys, kings, and a shipwreck. Sounds exciting, yet manageable.”
“I think it sounds perfect. Do they have two copies?” And with that we had found our summer reading project. Of course we picked up some teen fashion magazines with the extra money from my mother. Reading can’t be all super-intelligent.
***
Our summer progressed at a slow, steady pace. We found life slipped into a routine just as quickly and easily as it does during the school year. We’d usually meet at Cami’s house for lunch, well, because her house had food. Then we’d ride our bikes back to my house to hang out for the afternoon – minus the cats, dust, and screaming children of Cami’s house. We’d usually curl up on the chocolate brown suede couches with our matching copies of Twelfth Night and read together. We’d take turns reading out loud the part of Viola. Sometimes, we’d bring my rat Wilhelm down to run around on top of us while we read – but that was never very much fun. Wilhelm didn’t get taken out of his cage very often, so when he was granted a taste of freedom, he went a little bit crazy. And having a psycho rat pooping on your head while you’re trying to interpret Shakespeare is no fun at all.
On our afternoons without Wilhelm we got quite a lot of reading done. We were done with Twelfth Night in only three weeks. Once we finished reading, we felt so sad that our afternoons of playing Viola were over. One evening when I was telling my mother how much I loved it, she told me that she had seen an advertisement for auditions for a local Shakespearean Theatre Company. The sign had mentioned that they were looking for people of all ages and experience levels. I gave my mother my best sceptical, ‘are you kidding’ face.
“Like there’s any chance I’d get in. I have no acting experience, I look plain as can be, and my accent sounds exactly like a hick from the backwoods of Mississippi.”
My mother laughed. “Well, then, maybe you should suggest that Cami try out. I’m sure she’d be very good at it.”
I don’t think my mother had meant to be mean. She was just facing the usual reality that Cami would try things I was to afraid to. Still, I would have liked her to give me a bit more encouragement before just accepting my self-deprecating refusal.
The next afternoon, I stopped by Cami’s house for lunch, as usual.
“Cami, did you hear about that new Shakespearean Acting Troupe? They are holding auditions this week, and they are open to everyone. I don’t think I’d get a part, but I think you should try out. You are definitely good enough and pretty enough to beat any other girl.”
“Well, that’s sweet Bryce. But how can I listen to a crazy girl? You must be insane to think that you wouldn’t get in. Just because you’re quiet doesn’t mean that you can’t act. I know you can, because I’ve listened to you every afternoon. I’ll try out if you’ll try out.” Cami ended emphatically.
Cami was as strong-willed as they came, typical oldest child. I was a youngest child, a true follower. It was, thus, very hard for me to say no to Cami. Not that she meant to strong-arm me, she was just very sure that she was right and was willing to quite forcefully enforce that right upon whoever might hold a different opinion. An important quality in the working world, but the cause of many of our fights in the friendship realm. Still, it was so hard to argue with her, because more often than not, she was right. I knew, deep down, that I should at least try the audition. Better to try and fail than to do nothing at all. And I knew that until I agreed, I would be hounded by the very persuasive Cami.
“Sure, I’ll do it. You know, public humiliation sounds like so much fun.”
“Awesome!” Announced Cami, triumphantly. We’ll start rehearsing this afternoon. Are we allowed to choose whatever we want to perform?”
We had to get our bikes and go all over town trying to find the advertisement that my mother had seen. Eventually we saw a bunch stapled all over the street lights by the Theatre Department at the University. “Wanted: Budding Thespians. Come take the opportunity of a lifetime, participate in the newest Canadian Shakespeare Company and make the Bard’s great works come alive, through you! Auditions: Miller Memorial Hall, Tuesday August 26.”
“That gives us plenty of time.” Cami said, exuding a confidence that I desperately wished I could mirror.
“Sure, we had like three weeks to practice.” I tried to be nonchalant. “But don’t you think that it’s mostly for the college kids? I mean they advertise on campus, the auditions are on campus.”
“Oh, you’re just looking for an excuse” Cami got back on her bike, “but you’re not getting out of this one!” And with that she peeled away, leaving me to scramble onto my bike and follow.
***
Nothing is quite so satisfying as an all-consuming goal. We had wondered what would become of our summer, how many different things we could find to do. But now, all that concerned us was trying to be the best Violas we could be. Of course, we had our fair share of bickering over whose turn it was to be Viola. Not many pre-teen girls care to play the twin brother role. We tried to be very fair in our alternating of roles. We were just hoping that when it came time for our audition, we would be allowed to perform whatever scene we wanted. If we got there and they handed us a Romeo and Juliet script – this would all be a big waste of time.
Nothing else entered our consciousness for those three weeks. Sometimes we’d be having so much fun practicing, we would even forget to eat. My mother seemed glad that I had decided to audition, but she expressed concern that we were so obsessive about it. After that, according to my mother’s orders, we were required to be outside of the house for at least two hours a day. However, even that restriction could not stop us, we’d pack a lunch, our Twelfth Night, and a blanket into our backpacks, then ride our bikes to the reservoir outside of town. We’d have our picnic, and then be able to practice our lines in absolute freedom, yelling as loudly as we wished for only the trees to hear.
About Us: We're just two friends, off to choose our own adventures!Carole Nickle
Name: Carole
Current Home: Various Locales, You have to choose a country, so..., South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands
Details: I like English, teaching, writing, website design, geeky computer programs and chocolate.
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