For a moment, I wasn’t Selena standing in an audition room, trying not to mess up.
I was her.
And when I finished, the silence that followed felt heavier than anything I’d said.
Director Cho watched me, her expression thoughtful.
“Again,” she said finally. “But this time—don’t defend yourself.”
I blinked. “What?”
“You’re not arguing innocence,” she clarified. “You’re realizing what’s happening to you.”
I nodded slowly, glancing back down at the page, but my hands had steadied now, the tremor gone, or at least quieter.
When I started again, the words felt different in my mouth.
“I talked with no man at that hour, my lord.”
Softer. Not pleading, more confused. A woman slowly realizing that everything had changed for her without her knowledge.
“They know that do accuse me. I know none.”
My voice dipped instead of rising, the strength draining out of it rather than building, as if something inside me was folding in on itself.
This time, I didn’t look at them. I let my gaze drift somewhere past the table, unfocused, like I couldn’t quite see what was in front of me anymore.
“Refuse me, hate me, torture me to death!”
That line had come out harder than I’d expected. Because for a second, it wasn’t acting at all.
I let the silence sit after the last word, didn’t rush to fill it, didn’t try to fix it.
“Good,” Cho said quietly.
The word broke whatever spell had settled over me, and suddenly I was back in the room again, aware of my hands, my breathing, the weight of their attention.
“Let’s move on. Beatrice.”
I nearly laughed.
Beatrice was everything Hero wasn’t—sharp, quick, untouchable, the kind of girl who never let anyone see her hesitate.
The assistant handed me another page.
I skimmed it, my confidence dipping again as I read the fast, biting lines.
“You can take a moment,” Cho said.
I nodded, reading it again, trying to find the rhythm.
Then I raised my head and started.
“A dear happiness to women.”
The line slipped out in a wry tone, before I could overthink it, and something in it felt… right. I could feel Beatrice, her humor, her view of men and the world. I was in it.
I kept reading, relishing each new line more than the last. I tilted my head, let the edge of a smile curl into my voice.
