Bella Acker was taken aback by the words, "Oh, wait. Sorry, I didn't know we needed to sign in." As she spoke, she jogged forward.
The staff member glanced at her and frowned slightly, "We don't hire underage child workers."
"Pfft!" Laughter erupted behind her, free of malice.
Bella's cheeks flushed red, feeling a bit embarrassed, "I'm already twenty years old."
"Twenty years old?" The staff member gave her another once-over, thinking she still looked like a middle school student, but since he was busy, he didn't probe further. He handed her a pen, saying, "Sign your name under this."
"Thank you." Bella quickly took the notebook and wrote her name at the end.
The staff member stood by and watched, nodding slightly. She looked young, but her handwriting was neat and pretty.
"Done." Bella finished writing her name and handed the notebook back.
"Alright, line up in the back and wait for your number to be called." The staff member took the notebook, nodded at her, and started calling out, "Number one, Leila Lawson."
"That's me." A girl in a winter dress stepped forward, a bit nervously, and followed the staff member into the audition room.
Bella stepped back next to Sandra Woods. Sandra grabbed her hand, "Bella, are you nervous? I'm so nervous."
"Yeah, a little." Bella nodded in deep agreement. Although she had done a lot of psychological preparation, she still felt a bit weak-kneed with nerves as the audition loomed.
Before long, Leila Lawson emerged, a clear look of disappointment on her face, evidently having been directly passed over.
Seeing her like that made the others even more nervous.
The staff member seemed used to such things and came out expressionless, continuing to call numbers.
One by one, the girls went in to audition, and one by one, they came out looking disappointed. Bella was the last one, and she was so anxious her palms had begun to sweat.
"Number fifty-nine, Sandra Woods."
"Sandra, it's your turn, good luck." Bella made a fist in encouragement.
Sandra took a deep breath, "I'm going in, see you in a bit." With that, she stepped forward and entered the audition room with the staff.
This time it took a bit longer, which meant there was a lot more hope.
After a good twenty minutes or so, Sandra finally came out from the audition room.
"Bella, the director asked me to fill out a form and wait for news." Sandra walked quickly to Bella, grabbing her wrist with joy she could hardly conceal.
Her chances of being chosen were already quite high, which meant fewer opportunities for the remaining girls who hadn't auditioned yet. Nonetheless, none were willing to give up, following the staff member in when called.
Inside the audition room, the director, screenwriter, and two investors had watched a variety of performances from many girls, and their patience was nearly exhausted.
One of the investors asked, "How many more haven't auditioned yet? I think we should go with that Sandra Woods, the drama school student from earlier. With her formal training, there's some guarantee in her acting skills, and she's Archer Quinn's junior. Archer mentioned her to me a couple of days ago, maybe we should do him a favor."
The director was silent for a moment after hearing this. He also had a good impression of Sandra Woods's acting skills. After thinking it over, he asked the staff, "How many are left outside who haven't auditioned?"
"Only one left." The staff checked the sign-in sheet, seeing only the last name unchecked.
"Then let her come in." The director nodded, given she was the last, it wouldn't take much more time.
"Alright." The staff came out, announcing, "Bella Acker, it's your turn."