#samGabeHSAU --
Gabriel gets called back. This is not as much of a big deal as it sounds, because all the guys get called back. Well, all but the tone-deaf one whose voice hasn't yet changed. But like almost every high school in the suburban Midwest, this one is severely lacking in guys willing to admit they have an interest in musical theatre. So the teachers have to work with what they've got.
Gabriel reports back to an excited Sam that when they started to try people in various combinations, like reading scenes and stuff, more often than not they had him reading the role of the show's Elvis figure, Conrad Birdie. He says he got a lot of criticism at first for playing him over the top, but once he'd gotten that taken care of, Ms. Moseley had started to pay attention to the other person in the scene more. He didn't know if that was a good thing or bad. Maybe he was forgettable?
"I doubt it," Sam tells him. "You're a lot of things, but forgettable isn't one of 'em."
"Eh, whatevers," Gabriel says, but at night he's clutching his pillow, trying not to imagine Sam's pleased face if Gabriel gets the part, or his disappointed one if he ends up in the chorus, or playing the kid brother of the ingenue charmed by Birdie, or whatever. "Fate's fate," he tells himself. "Nothing you think or do can change what happens now." But he can't help feeling like he's jinxing himself by counting his proverbial chickens. Two superstitions in direct contradiction, and Gabriel believes in both of them. Which means he's screwed and sleepless.
Zombie-walking into school the next morning, Gabriel is seized by a mute, red-faced Sam. His bleary eyes and mumbled questions don't help him comprehend or fight Sam's intent, and he ends up dragged down the hall and pushed in front of a bulletin board.
BYE BYE BIRDIE
CAST
Now he's awake. His heart starts fluttering nervously as he scans the cast list.
Albert........Victor Hendrickson
Rose.........Pamela Barnes
Kim.........Jo Harvelle
Gabriel blinks.
Conrad......Gabriel Archer
He whirls, his eyes huge discs, to see Sam beaming at him.
"I got it," he says.
Sam nods. "You got it."
"I got it." Gabriel takes a minute, then smiles shakily. "Hells, yeah!" He lifts a hand to offer a high-five.
He ends up with an armful of Sam instead, long arms wrapping around him in an enthused hug.
Gabriel just keeps grinning. Hells, ~yeah~.