Looking in Mirrors
an excerpt

They were playing “Edelweiss” again. Claire bent diligently over the piano, picking away at the keys with more enthusiasm than finesse. It was her voice, though – there was a sweet clarity when she sang which made up the difference, blending beautifully with Miranda’s. Standing just off to Claire’s left, Miranda continued to turn the pages of the sheet music with dutiful precision, but she didn’t really need to. That piece was a favorite of theirs. Lila had heard it played under countless arguments in this room over the last several months since Claire’s arrival at the Hotel Dureau.

Truth be told, it didn’t make much difference to Lila if they were playing “Edelweiss” or “On My Own” or the Hokey-Pokey. The arguments were, generally speaking, the same as well; whatever song it was they were drilling away at this time would prove a pretty counterpoint to the short-lived anger and antagonization. Sitting on the couch along the wall, legs tucked up against herself, Lila could see it coming already. The day wasn’t complete, after all, unless someone ticked Kara off somehow. It would be Wendy today.

Of course, it often was Wendy. She had arrived at the Dureau three months before, fresh out of Ohio, with a spring in her step and a song in her heart, just about enough to give the Seven Dwarfs a toothache. Whether it was the city itself or just that Wendy had never had the chance before, something had changed in her. Within a matter of weeks, the farm girl facade had dropped away to something that was at once warmer, somehow more genuine, and slightly more grounded at the same time. Lila suspected it had been there all along; Wendy had probably used her sarcastic streak to shock her schoolmates at Middle of Nowhere High, satisfied with the result a well-timed quip could produce when spoken with those rosy lips.

Then again, three months in this business could jade most girls. Audition lines grew longer, the weather turned colder and the list of callbacks offered never seemed to increase. Starry-eyed hopes gave way sooner or later. They maybe didn’t give up, but they got wiser; the sooner, the better, Lila always thought. It was easier after the initial acceptance. The ones who lost out and went home had never belonged there in the first place. Broadway only had room for the hardy.