He stepped carefully away from his victim, wiping his bloodstained hands on the sides of his pyjamas.

He carefully stowed
the five-shot, double-action .500 Smith&Wesson Magnum revolver in the drawer under the mirror. He slowly backed up in
the pitch-blackness.
"OK, OK, good job, good job. Except, when you touch his head, and pull up a bloody hand, do it slower. It needs to be
dramatic. I want spectacular!" Mr Mulhall exclaimed.
"OK Mr Mulhall," Kris said. Tony sat up, covered in red 'blood'.
"Ahh!! Do I have to do it again? This red stuff's never gonna wash off!" Tony whined. But really, he was ecstatic. He was so
happy that he'd gotten to be one of the main characters in the school play. In the play, his name was Jeremy. Kris was
Michael. Mari was Susan, and Ivi used to be Melissa. But, she had quit, and now Erin was Melissa. There was just one more
part that needed to be tried out for. The part of Sam. There were five main characters. Jeremy, Michael, Sam, Susan and
Melissa. Sam and Melissa were together in the play. Jeremy and Susan. Michael was a loner, for now.
"Places! The auditionees are going to be here in about two minutes! There's six of them, and they're all extremely talented.
So, be nice," Mr Mulhall said.
The 'auditionees' came in. They walked in a single file line. Two were practicing their scripts, three were walking solemnly,
and one was chatting animatedly. That one was Enzo. As Mr Mulhall instructed, Kris, Tony, Erin and Mari applauded loudly,
confidently.
"OK, you guys, this is how it's gonna work. You will all audition one by one. At the end, the cast will conference and see
who is best for this part, OK?" Mr Mulhall stated. They all nodded. They all took seats.
The first guy that tried out was Tyler. Tyler was very good, read his lines like a professional actor. But he lacked volume.
The second guy was Daniel. He lacked confidence. His sentences were full of 'um's and 'uh's.
The third one was one that had been practicing his lines. His name was Connor. He was OK. He wasn't that great of an
actor.
The fourth was amazing. He gave the character a real personality, and made it believable. His name was Ryan. He was one
of the ones practicing his lines, too.
Logan, the fifth actor, was mediocre.
And the sixth was Enzo. He made the character seem alive. He was Sam. There was no more Enzo. Only Sam. When Enzo's
performance was over, even Mr Mulhall was uncharacteristically silent.
"OK. Conference time!" Mr Mulhall bounced away, ushering the auditionees to a spare room to wait.
Tony, Kris, Mari and Erin walked to the conference room, chatting excitedly.
"Tyler. Tyler was... amazing!" Tony said.
"So was Enzo..." said Erin.
"Let's start from the beginning," said Mari reasonably, "Tyler?"
"Amazing!" Tony repeated enthusiastically.
"Meh... A little too quiet..." Kris said.
"OK, Daniel?" Mari asked.
"HAHAHAHA no." Tony said.
"Connor?" Erin said.
"No... We can do better." Kris said.
"Ryan!" Tony said.
"Yeah... I liked him..." Mari said.
"Me too! He was amazing! The way he read it... wow! I can so believe it! He is Sam!" Erin said.
"No... I liked Enzo's..." Kris said.
"We can't be prejudiced... We can't pick Enzo because he's our friend, we have to pick whoever it is fairly." Tony pointed
out.
Five minutes later, they came to their decision.
***
"So... Do you speak Spanish?" Ryan asked politely. He seemed very nice.
"Er... Yeah," said Enzo.
"I'm sure you're going to get the part of Sam!" Ryan said, clearly hoping for the same thing to be said to him.
Enzo didn't disappoint him, "No... You're going to be Sam! You were amazing! You read the lines perfectly! Your accent...
We all knew he was supposed to be British, but where did you get the accent?! It made it even more believable! You're an
amazing actor!"
"I am, aren't I?" Ryan said, enjoying the attention. "But," he said, snapping back, "you're going to be Sam! I just know it!"
The cast came in.
"I'm sorry, Daniel, you didn't make it." Mari said bluntly.
"Neither did you, Tyler," Tony said.
"Or you, Connor," said Erin.
"Logan, you can leave, too," Kris said. The rejects left the room, mumbling and making faces.
"OK... We've come down to you two..." Mari said.
Ryan stiffened next to Enzo.
"And... I'm sorry... Ryan," Tony said. Enzo deflated.
"...but Enzo is the better actor," Erin finished off happily.
Ryan stared, disbelieving.

"But you can't be serious!" His 'nice' faade disappeared , "I'm so much better than him! He... he has no experience! He's
never acted before!"
Enzo stared at the ground. It was true. He'd never acted before.
"No," said Kris firmly, "we picked him. Go away."
Mr Mulhall popped in, "Enzo? OK. Let's get to work! Here's a script! Oh, wait... Enzo, it's time for you to meet the cast... As
the characters."
"Hi, I'm Jeremy. You're Sam, right?" Tony said.
"Hi Jeremy," Enzo said.
"I'm Michael," said Kris.
Enzo nodded.
"Susan," said Mari.
"And I'm your 'girlfriend'! I'm Melissa!" Erin said.
"Jeremy, Michael, Susan, Melissa..." Enzo repeated.
"Good, good, let's start practicing. Wait! Oh, I think Mica's here!" Mr Mulhall said.
"Mica?" Enzo asked.
Mica burst in, "hi! Sorry, Mr Mulhall, swimming practice. Oh! Hi! Who are you?" she said, looking at Enzo.
"Well," she said, composing herself, "I'm Amy. I am an important person." She said.
"Uhh..." Enzo said.
"Practice! Places! Now!" Mr Mulhall said. Enzo looked at his script. It was set in Cebu. More accurately, Plantation Bay
resort. Jeremy, Michael, Susan, Melissa, Amy and Sam were on summer vacation. They decided to spend a few weeks of it
in sunny Cebu. The go there, then go to the beach. Michael persuades them to go swimming. Then he teaches them how to
surf. Then"Hey..." Enzo said, flipping through the script.
"Yeah?" Erin asked.
"Um... Where's the rest of the play? This is only Act 1." He said.
"Oh.. Ask Kris, he's the one who found it," Mica said.
"Yeah, none of us have the entire thing," Tony added.
Enzo looked at Kris, looking for an explanation.
"Well... I want it to be a surprise! I'll give it to you when you need it," Kris assured him. Mari rolled her eyes.
"Um... OK?" Enzo read through the first page.
A SCHOOL BELL RINGS. KIDS ARE CROWDED IN THE LOCKER ROOM. TALKING IS EXTREMELY LOUD. JEREMY, MICHAEL,
SAM, MELISSA, AMY AND SUSAN ARE CROWDED AROUND MICHAEL'S LOCKER.
JEREMY: So, we're leaving in your car, straight to the airport?
MICHAEL: Yeah, does everyone have their bags?
AMY, MELISSA, SAM, SUSAN AND JEREMY NOD.
Michael: OK, then. Let's go!
THEY WALK OVER TO MICHAEL'S CAR, CARRYING BIG DUFFELS. THEY PILE IN, AND HEAD TO THE AIRPORT. AMY USES
AIRMILES TO BUMP THEM UP TO FIRST CLASS. AFTER A SHORT FLIGHT, THEY'RE AT CEBU AIRPORT. THEY GO THROUGH
CUSTOMS AND BAGGAGE CLAIM WITHOUT INCIDENT. THEY GO ON A TAXI TO PLANTATION BAY RESORT.
SUSAN: So... Three weeks by ourselves? No parents?
MELISSA, smiling: Yeah... I'm so happy!
AMY, laughing: Haha, I honestly think our parents are glad to have us out of the house.
SAM: What's our rooms like?
Michael: Well... There's a girls' room and a boys' room. They're connected, but both sides can be locked.
Jeremy: Awesome!
THEY ARRIVE AT THE RESORT, MICHAEL AND JEREMY ORGANIZE ROOMS. FINALLY, IT'S SORTED OUT, AND THEY HEAD
TO THEIR ROOMS. AMY, MELISSA AND SUSAN GO INTO ONE, MICHAEL, JEREMY, AND SAM INTO THE OTHER. IN THE
GIRLS' ROOM:
Melissa: I need to shower!
Susan: Same!
Amy: I don't care, I just wanna go swimming! I'm so excited!
Melissa: Well, we can swim after... Right now, we need to shower.. And unpack...
Susan: I call the first shower!
Melissa: Second!
Amy: Uhh... Third?
SUSAN ENTERS THE BATHROOM, AND THE SOUND OF RUNNING WATER IS HEARD. MELISSA AND AMY START
UNPACKING.
Amy, pulling out a few shorts: So.. You and Jeremy?
Susan, putting away a T shirt: Yep.
Amy, packing a swimsuit into a drawer: Cool.
Susan, pulling out more clothes from her suitcase: Who do you like?
Amy, packing away more swimsuits: Um.. No one, really.
Susan, packing away a bag of toiletries: Oh...

MELISSA COMES IN, WET AND WEARING FRESH CLOTHES. SUSAN RACES IN.
Melissa: Hey.
Amy: Hi.
Melissa: What should I wear at the beach?
Amy: Well, I'm wearing shorts and a swimsuit...
Melissa: OK, me too.
SUSAN COMES OUT OF THE BATHROOM, WET. AMY RUNS IN.
Enzo looked up from the script, "Um... Why is it only the girls' room?"
"If you continue reading, you'll see that the guys' room is on the next page. Or the next next page. Whatever." Tony said,
bored.
Enzo continued reading:
Melissa: So, what are we doing today?
Susan: Um, I think we're just going to the beach. You know, swim.
Melissa: Suntan.
Susan: Sun BURN.
MELISSA LAUGHS.
Melissa: Michael's going to try to teach us how to surf, isn't he?
Susan, groaning: Yeah...
AMY RUNS IN.
Amy: Beach! Beach! Let's go to the beach! Now! Please?
Melissa: Where do you get so much energy?
Susan: Yeah, really... I mean, we're thirteen. We're supposed to sleep in late, and be depressed about homework.
Amy: I don't know! Please, beach?
Melissa: Haha, OK Amy...
IN THE BOYS' ROOM:
Sam: I need to shower!
SAM RUNS INTO TO THE BATHROOM.
Jeremy: Well... OK.
Michael: Yeah. I'm so excited!
Jeremy: For what?
Michael: The beach!
Jeremy: Why?
MICHAEL STARES AT JEREMY.
Jeremy: Oh! Haha, me too.
Michael, smiling: I'm so happy, though. We're finally alone, with no parents.
Jeremy: In Cebu.
SAM COMES OUT. MICHAEL AND JEREMY STARE.
Sam: What?
Michael: Nothing... Why'd you shower?
Jeremy: Yeah... I mean, the plane ride wasn't that long...
Sam: Because I like being clean?
Michael: Oh...
Sam: Why? Aren't you guys gonna shower?
Jeremy: Nope. We're hardcore...
Sam: Well, um, ok then. Let'sA KNOCK ON THE DOOR CONNECTED TO THE GIRLS' ROOM IS HEARD. THE DOOR OPENS. MELISSA WALKS IN.
Melissa: Are we going to the beach now?
Amy: Yeah? Beach! Beach! Beach, please?
Sam: Well...
Susan: Please?
Michael: Haha, OK. Go get changed.
Jeremy: Yeah, we'll meet you outside the rooms in five minutes.
Amy: I can't change in five minutes!
Sam: OK, OK... Ten.
Melissa: Ten minutes?
Michael: OK fine! Fifteen!
AMY, MELISSA AND SUSAN GO BACK INTO THEIR ROOM.