Kate fell flat on the ground.
No one laughed, but the silence that followed made her wish the ground would open to swallow her.
"Kate, are you okay?" The boy who spoke up for her, gasped and hurried over to help her up.
She gently shrugged his hand off once she was on her feet.
However, she didn't stop him from patting off the dust on her clothes and trying to straighten her crumpled uniform.
"It was nothing. Anyone can fall." Though no one asked, she laughed dryly to ward off the awkward air around her.
She always carried herself with such grace and elegance that there was hardly ever a speck of dust on her shoes, let alone this much dirt on her.
But her bad luck seemed to come in bounds today. First, she lost her role to Zoey, and now she'd embarrassed herself by tripping.
She hadn't tripped since she was five. Could this…
She raised her eyes, settling them on Zoey, who was now looking down at the flyer again, all smiles.
Her gaze darkened.
Pretending to read something on the flyer to hide her real reason for laughing… she had done that several times in the past.
This country bumpkin was laughing at her in silence!
Eugenia glanced at the time on her watch and bobbed her head in agreement, "Alright, then. I've made up my mind to give everyone an equal chance to prove themselves. So let's see what you've got, Kate."
Kate tensed, "What? No, Professor Hartwell You don't have to feel guilty about this. I've been the female lead in numerous dramas already. I don't mind being an extra this one time."
She was just about to head toward the extras when the boy pulled her back, his brows knitting into a tight frown as he chided her.
"Don't be ridiculous, Kate. I've seen how much you practiced for this role. You spent hours reading it for days, for months."
"You can't just give up on something so great as the festival drama because you feel guilty for what your sister had to go through."
His words instantly sparked a reaction amongst her classmates.
"Wait, is that why you're hesitant about this?"
"Hey, what happened wasn't your fault. It was the hospital's. Now that I know that's the case, I won't let you let her play the female lead if you don't audition!"
"Yeah, right. She knows how guilty taking her place makes you, so she's banking on it while throwing you under the bus."
"What kind of sister even is she? You've been nice to her all morning, but she has no regard for you!"
Kate's eyes watered seeing how they got more riled up the more they spoke.
Yeah. She didn't have to feel sorry for herself.
Her being an extra would be seen as her sacrificing for her sister.
She'd be seen as a bigger hero if she went through with this. Who knows—once the festival organizers found out she gave up her role for her long-lost sister, they might even award her for something.
But even if they didn't, the other contestants would see her as a self-sacrificing sister.
With an image like that, she'd rise to the top of the entertainment industry in no time.
Holding out her hands, she waved it around trying to calm them, "Guys, stop. This is the least I can do for Sister to lessen my guilt toward—"
The words instantly died in her throat when Zoey cut in gently, "You're so good to me, and I feel bad seeing how you're giving up auditioning for me, so I want you to know it doesn't matter to me who plays the role of Brielle Sloane."
"I mean, back in the countryside, I worried about some things, but here, I don't have to. Whether I go to the festival or not, I'll still be the daughter of the Smith family."
She couldn't help but sigh at the end, out of pity for herself.
But Kate mistook it for pity toward her and fumed.
However, she didn't get to stew for long as the boy beside her laughed excitedly and gently nudged her forward.
"There you have it! Don't even think twice just because she's your sister!"
Kate inhaled sharply, her eyes darting across the expectant faces of her classmates.
Eugenia thinned her lips and raised her timer, "Just like Zoey, you'll have three minutes to present the exact same scene she did. Your time starts now."
One, two… ten seconds passed, and Kate didn't move from where she stood.
Her classmates, however, had complete faith in her.
This was someone who'd been the female lead of every drama since she joined the class.
They were not only certain she'd pull it off, they were certain she'd even outshine the country bumpkin called her Zoey.
Meanwhile, Kate was in a dilemma.
What she had planned to do was far beneath Zoey's performance.
But what if she…
She dropped to her knees with a thud, awkwardly bending over, arms stretched forward to show she was holding someone up.
"B-Big brother, what is this?"
In her desperate attempt to copy Zoey, she failed to relax, resulting in a stiff and unnatural posture.
And with such posture, she struggled to hold up Brielle Sloane's imaginary brother.
The tension built in her back and she slouched to relieve the pain, quickly forgetting Brielle was supposed to be in self-denial, smiling faintly as she rocked her brother to wake up.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
The timer went off all of a sudden, startling everyone.
Her classmates glanced at each other in confusion.
Some took out their phones to check the time. Realizing three minutes had really passed, they grew perplexed.
"It's three minutes already and she hasn't even done anything?"
"Zoey performed the whole scene in less than three minutes and she only joined our school today. How did Kate, of all people, do so badly?"
"Didn't she spend hours every day for months preparing to act as Brielle Sloane? I'm sure it was just a teaser."
"Kate?" Eugenia called out, her voice flat. "That was your audition, wasn't it?"
Kate's lips parted, but no sound came out.
Then, from the back of the room, a slow, solitary clap echoed.
Everyone turned.
Zoey was smiling.