It was the last day of school before the start of Christmas break. Everyone was excited. People were barely focusing in class because they knew that, starting the next day, they would be free from homework, stress, and basically everything that was negatively put on them because of school. But there was a group of people that was also excited for something else:The musical cast list. Everyone that auditioned was excited. Everyone wanted to know the role they got. I especially wanted to know. It was the first year that I had done the musical that I actually had a solid chance of getting a major role. That year, our school was doing the Disney musical “Beauty and the Beast”. This made me even more excited because “Beauty and the Beast” was one of my favorite Disney movies of all time (yes, I’m a guy, but there is no need to judge). I wanted the role of Cogsworth, mainly because he was one of the funnier characters in the show and I thought that he fit me well. All day my mind was racing. I had thought after though after thought. What if I don’t get it, what role would they give me? What if I do get it and I can’t memorize my lines? My mind was racing.

That same day, the chorus and band was going to the elementary school to perform for the small children (a performance I, personally, dislike very much). This made me nervous, since I didn’t want anyone to text me and tell me what I got before I saw the list for myself. From the moment we arrived at the elementary school, I prayed that the performance would go by quickly so that we could return to the school and I could see the list. The entire time we sang and played our instruments, I was thinking. If I don’t see my name next to Cogsworth, what would my reaction be? What would my reaction be if I did see my name next to Cogsworth? I could barely focus on my music with all these thoughts going through my head. When we finished our performance, I put my things away as fast as I could so that I could get on the bus and leave. For some reason, I thought that if I moved quickly, everyone else would move faster as well. As soon as everyone got on the bus, conversation about the cast list had immediately begun. We had looked at the clock as we left and noticed that it read 2:10. We realized that the list must already be out there. This made us all even more eager to get to the school and see the list.

The bus pulled into the school and everyone on the bus got off as fast as they could. We all piled into the chorus room and surrounded Jay, who had sat down at the computer. He logged in and went to the North Collins website. He went to Mrs. Koudounas’ page and there it was:

The list.

We all began frantically searching the list, looking for our names, but I had found mine immediately. There my name was, right near the top, and the character name next to it shocked me. Instead of Cogsworth, the casters gave me the role of LeFou, Gaston’s dopey sidekick.

I was shocked. For all this time, I was so excited to have the chance to get Cogsworth, to act him out on stage. But it was not given to me. I looked for the name of whoever was casted as Cogsworth. It didn’t take me long to find it, but when I did, I was at a loss for words. My best friend had gotten the role that I wanted.

I was extremely surprised. In my head at the time, I thought that Joel had snuck in and stolen the role that I dreamed of having right from under my nose. I was angry. I wanted to find Joel. I wanted to look him and the eye and ask why he stole my role from me. I never got my chance. After that, the bell rang, I went to my locker, got on the bus, and went home, sad and disappointed.

Things changed when we got back to school and started rehearsals. I began to realize that this role was more fun than I had originally anticipated. I started to become the character that I was casted as. But perhaps the most surprising thing was that I forgave Joel. I forgave him for coming in from the shadows and stealing my dream role.

I am no longer as forgiving, however. I am not as easily pushed aside now. Which was why losing yet another role to him was an even worse feeling than before. While I am feeling better now, I still feel that I could act the role better. But that doesn’t matter. In the end, I still ended up having a rather large role. That show actually ended up being my favorite show of all the ones I have performed in. And I realized that it doesn’t matter what role you get, or what songs you are in. In the end, all that matters is if you are having fun doing it. If you aren’t, well, why are you even doing it in the first place?