#*addicted

“Not like that, Rose, you need to make the audience believe that you’re Glinda. You have to own it,” the director tells me.

I, meanwhile, am shooting daggers at my youngest sister, Daisy. Those daggers are usually reserved for Loren, but today is an excuse. Daisy convinced me to audition with her for the local theater’s rendition of Wicked. To no one’s surprise, she got the role of Elphaba and I got Glinda. I am one hundred percent aware that our names are the reason we got the parts, but Daisy has not stopped smiling since rehearsals started a few weeks ago, and I can’t be the one to burst her bubble.

“Yes Rose, darling, you need to own it!” a voice from the audience yells. I flip the bird in that direction without even looking. Why did my family insist on watching? And why is Lily married to the abomination that is Loren Hale?

I feel my phone buzz in my pocket. Vous avez ceci.

Translation: I got this.

I walk over to the prop bed and sit beside Daisy, ready to run through “Popular” again. I take Daisy’s hand, which has yet to be painted green for the actual show, and start. As I sing to Daisy, everything else melts away. There’s no way to be mad at her, or mad at anything for that matter, when she’s around. Even as Elphaba, I can see the support and excitement in her eyes.

Daisy loves getting out of her comfort zone, and saw the flyers and asked us all to audition with her. Ryke, as much as he loves Daisy, cannot act. At all. Lily, being the painfully shy dork that we all know and love, didn’t audition for obvious reasons. Loren didn’t audition because he’d scare everyone off and the show would be cancelled, and Connor didn’t audition simply because he wasn’t around when Daisy asked.

I make my way around the stage, singing and trying to remember the steps correctly. I can’t just wing it, as Daisy would do. I have to be precise. I have to be perfect. I cannot fail. I make my way back to bed Daisy and put my hands on her shoulders and sing, “Now that I’ve chosen to become a pal, a sister and advisor, there’s nobody wiser... not when it comes to popular.” I throw my arms around her for good measure. I’m really not very good at giving or receiving hugs, but I’ve gotten better throughout the years. I can feel Daisy’s smile as I hug her, then I bound off to my next spot.

I mentally sigh as I sing the next part, “There's nothing that can stop you from becoming popular.” And I end it there. The “-lar” tacked on to the end is not proper English and I refuse to sing it.

“Stop, stop!” the director yells. Again. “Rose, you keep forgetting the lyric. It’s one word for crying out loud. ‘Lar!’ That’s it! Why do you keep missing it?” he throws his arms up in defeat.

“It’s not proper English.” I point out.

“It’s the lyrics!” He shouts back and then turns to everyone, “Alright, take five.” He sighs and walks offstage.

My family treks down the aisle and meets Daisy and me onstage. “Are you fucking serious right now, Rose?” Ryke asks. “The director is right, it’s one fucking word. I want to hear the rest of the fucking song but we have to stop every single time because you can’t fucking say ‘lar.’”

“Lar isn’t even a word!” I yell, exasperated. I sit down on the prop bed.

“Darling, you and I both know that’s not true,” Connor points out.

Fuck. I think he’s right. In the heat of the moment, I forgot that ‘lar’ is a word. Or rather, a deity.

“I’m going to kill you,” I narrow my eyes at him.

That just makes him smile, “We both know that’s not true either.” He walks over to Daisy and holds his hand out to her, like he’s asking her to dance.

“Rose darling, Daisy and I are going to need the bed,” Connor states.

Ryke looks like he’s about to pummel Connor, but we all back away, Ryke included. Connor launches into his rendition of “Popular,” complete with dance moves and theatrics. He makes it past the ‘lar’ and continues on.

Connor is stunning. He’s the most confident man I’ve ever met. And here he is, waltzing around the stage, dragging Daisy along and being a far better Glinda than I ever could be.

He saunters down the stairs and into the first row, where we have have been sitting for his little show. He beelines straight for Ryke, as he sings, “Did they have brains or knowledge?” Connor teasingly pushes Ryke’s shoulder and sings “Don’t make me laugh, they were popular, please, I know about popular!” Connor rolls his eyes dramatically and flits away before Ryke can punch him. Connor easily falls back into step with Daisy and continues the rest of song with great gusto.

Connor finishes belting out the last line and applause immediately fills the silence. He whirls around to see the director coming back from his break.

He looks at Connor, then to me, then back to Connor. “I think we found our new Glinda,” the director announces.

As much as I want to be mad at him, I can’t. Connor has saved me from mortal embarrassment numerous times before and it’s moments like these where I fear my heart can’t get any fuller. We all run up to the stage and congratulate him, and I catch him wink at me.