Alice tried not to let her comments bother her, but they did; because only Alice was left without a role, the teacher merely stating that she needed to discuss something with Alice first. The rest of the drama students were busy being assigned the duties of what non dancing characters they were expected to portray, or how they had to work with a dancing partner to provide the voice of a dancing character. It was all a little too complicated for Alice still, and she didn't want to admit that it hurt to not have the lead character's role.
                              
"Alice?" Mrs. Moodie and Mr. Pottinger bekoned Ace over to them and she went, ignoring the sneering Lexi. "Alice, we wanted to discuss your role before assigning it to you. See, normally your character has a lot of dialogue, but we felt that maybe with you dancing, we could cut all the spoken parts out." Mrs. Moodie started.
                              
"And since your character is normally male, we wanted to clarify a few discrepancies that will crop up." Mr. Pottinger added.
                              
"Precisely. So although it will be a lot of work for you, dancing in almost every number, both of us feel that you would be able to do it." Mrs. Moodie continued.
                              
"It's the vision we want to present. Are you comfortable with that?" Mr. Pottinger jumped in again.
                              
"I'm confused, which character am I?" Alice interrupted, not following.
                              
'"Puck." they both said in unison. Alice took a moment to absorb that, then nodded. Puck was the character both Oberon and Titania turned to when their were estranged over a changeling. He was the character that sent the lovers on their journey of discovery. There was a distinct appeal there.
                              
"I can do it." Alice agreed, already knowing that working with Lexi was going to be a task and a half.
                              
"Excellent. Now we're going to have to work closely on the choreography to make it work with the rest of the cast, but otherwise we are trusting you to self design." Mr. Pottinger informed Alice.
                              
"Wait, I'm coming up with my own choreography?" she demanded, feeling a little overwhelmed.
                              
"After friday, I have no doubt that you're more than capable." Mrs. Moodie complimented, silencing Alice's objections. It was hard to come up with choreography, let alone an entire plays worth. But they already said they felt she could do it....
                              
"Let's get started then." she agreed, looking down at the script in her hands. If she felt that dance class had been difficult before, it was going to be even harder now. First the teachers had to pause everything until the choir could be rounded up, and a representative from the band. Then there was a group discussion of how practice was going to be broken down. The dancers who had fairy parts only were to learn group choreography depending on if they were Oberon's or Titania's fairies. Then the actors had to shadow the dancers who shared a character with them. Everyone was given some creative license of the characters, as long as it worked within the vision the two performance teachers required. As smart as she was, even Alice was feeling consumed by questions and confusion, uncertainty plaguing her thoughts.
                              
Alice sat in Mr. Vega's detention, eyes wide and stunned as she stared off into space. He tapped her desk, making her blink and come back to the moment. "You alright? Looked like you stopped to think and forgot to start again." he joked.
                              
"I'm entirely incharge of coming up with a play's worth of choreography for my character in the Gala." Alice said, voice wooden.
                              
"I'm guessing that's a good thing. So why are you looking so... poleaxed?" he asked, leaning over a little.
                              
Alice looked up at him and was once again forced to remind herself that kissing him was a bad idea at school. Too many people around. But the concern in his eyes told her he cared more than any words could have. "I'm very happy. And terrified." she added in. "If this Gala draws in as much professional attention as everyone claims, not just how I dance will be judged, but the choreography itself will be judged. What if I'm not good enough?" she asked, suddenly worried.