Chapter 46: Extras #4 – Not An Act

"Have a seat Mara," Professor Rosato said as soon as I stepped into his office.

I sat down in one of the plastic chairs across from him, after making sure my invisible tail was lined up to slip through the gap at the back. If this wasn't my end-of-year assessment with him I'd have assumed I was in trouble again, considering the frown on his face and the way he was sitting sort of stiffly in his seat.

Except after the performances over the weekend I knew I wasn't in trouble. Our little play got the best reviews out of the four, everyone loved our work, and I already knew the others in my troupe got good feedback from the prof. I was the last one to speak with him but I figured I was finally going to get a decent mark for the first time ever. After a lifetime of being a solid D student, maybe I'd get myself a B. I could even hope for an A-minus but I didn't want to jinx it.

Professor Rosato looked me up and down then commented, "You and the others in your group did well over the weekend. You know I was there in the audience so I could do my evaluations from the point of view of the public. I saw all three performances, and everyone did very well. Yourself included."

"Thank you sir," I grinned. "It was a lot of fun, and yeah, I thought everyone did great. Not just our troupe but the other three were really good too."

Even though it sounded like everything was positive and I was in a good mood I noticed the prof looked kind of stern or whatever. Like he wasn't smiling and he didn't look happy. He was just watching me quietly, and after a few seconds that started to make me feel self-conscious. And a bit worried that maybe I was in trouble for some reason after all.

I finally broke the silence asking, "Was there something wrong sir?"

He sighed, "I've had a few complaints about your antics over the weekend Mara. A couple people in your group were unhappy that you surprised them with some unexpected props."

As soon as he said it I knew who it was. It had to be Gregory and Lucy. Our director was such a baby about that stuff, and Lucy just couldn't stand that someone else got the spotlight for a few seconds.

The prof continued before I could respond, "There were complaints from students in the other groups as well. And from what I saw watching from the audience, they're justified in what they had to say."

"Wait what? Why? I know what got Gregory and Lucy bent out of shape but how could that possibly upset any of the other troupes?" I asked in confusion.

Rosato frowned, "Mara the performance was a college play. The material was written by students or alumni, it was performed by students, the sets were designed and constructed by students, as were the props and even the costumes. The lighting, the sound system, the backstage work, everything was done by college students. Even the programs and advertising material was produced by students of this college."

"Yeah?" I shrugged. "And I'm a college student too, so what's the problem?"

He stated, "The problem is you smuggled in some outside props without clearing it with your director, without warning your fellow actors. And when you were questioned about those props you refused to explain where they were from. And what I saw, particularly on Sunday's performance, was not the sort of home-made or store-bought costume props you could source yourself. Those were high-end professional quality. The tail was moving Mara, there's no way that wasn't done without an accomplice."

"Unless you got those props from a student at this college, I'm afraid I have to withhold your grade for those performances," he sighed.

The prof's voice hardened as he continued, "And as you know, those three shows were effectively your final exam. If you get a zero on that you're going to fail the year. So this is what it comes down to Miss Carter. Where did you get the props from? If it was a student here I need to know the name so I can verify their involvement. If it wasn't a student, or you refuse to provide me that information, I'm going to have to flunk you."

I found myself staring at him with wide eyes as I could hardly believe what he was saying. I'd been expecting to finally get a good grade on something. Instead I was looking at getting an F.

And after all the lectures I got from Lily and Mira and the rest of the DLP, I figured my demon mom would have something to say right now. Like an 'I told you so' or whatever. But she was completely silent. Then again she did tend to sleep all day long while I was at school, so odds were I wouldn't get the lecture till later when I was back at home.

"Well?" Professor Rosato asked. "Do you have anything to say for yourself, or are we done here?"

"They weren't props!" I blurted out. "I didn't get them from anyone, I don't even know any industry professionals or whatever."

He gave me a hard look, "Then what were they? Mara I saw a moving prosthetic tail. I know what it takes to make that happen. That kind of animatronics requires at least one, maybe two people to operate. And being able to do it during a live stage performance means you had accomplices."

"There's no accomplices, it's just me!" I insisted.

"Then tell me how you did it," he stated in that firm voice. "Explain yourself Miss Carter, or fail. Your choice."

I sighed, "It's um... Ok so what if you had a role that was for an older character? You could cast a young actor and cover them in make-up or whatever, but if you had an older actor you'd just cast them, right? Or like, a tall character? It's easiest to just cast a tall actor, instead of using a short actor then going through all the work of making them look tall."

Rosato looked impatient as he asked, "Are you going somewhere with this?"

"I'm just saying, it's easier to cast actors who fit the parts. Right?" I explained. "So um, the role was for a character who's a demon? So it makes sense to cast an actor who's maybe kind of already a demon herself?"

"There's no such thing as demons," the prof said as he rolled his eyes.

I grimaced, "There is. And I'm one. And the horns and tail weren't props, because they're real."

"But please don't tell anyone," I added quickly. "I'm supposed to keep it a secret."

My prof opened his mouth to say something, and from the angry look on his face I knew I was about to get told off since he obviously didn't believe me. So before he said anything I revealed my demon bits, and the next minute or two he just sat there staring wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open. I even had my tail sticking up and waving around like I did during the Sunday afternoon performance.

"See?" I said as I moved my tail towards him so the spade tip was ontop of his desk. "It's not a prop, I didn't get it from anyone else. Like you said, it was a college play. I'm a college student, this is a college student's tail."

"I can do wings too," I added with a grin, "But I figured that would be overkill for the play. And um, my costume didn't really have space for them at the back."

The prof still hadn't said a word. He was staring in shock at the tip of my tail as it rested on his desk, though his eyes eventually drifted up to stare at the slightly curved pointed horns sticking up ontop of my head.

After another minute or so I asked, "Um, Professor Rosato? You're not still going to flunk me are you? Like, I've answered the questions right? Proved that the horns and tail weren't from outside the college?"

"You're a real demon?" he finally asked in a half-whisper. "What do you want from us? What do you want from me? Why are you here?"

I shrugged, "I'm here for a drama diploma, same as everyone else in the class. Acting's a lot of fun, I really enjoy it."

Rosato was quiet again, and he was still staring at my horns and tail. He looked confused and freaked out, but he still hadn't said anything about my grades and I really didn't want to flunk.

"Sir?" I asked after a half minute. "You're not going to give me an F are you? Like I said, I've answered your questions and proved the tail didn't come from some industry pro or whatever."

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He finally tore his eyes away from my demon bits and gave me an odd look, "You're really just here to get a diploma?"

"Sure," I nodded. "Same as all the other students."

After a deep breath and a long sigh he seemed to take a few moments to think things over. Finally he decided, "All right. You didn't break any rules about bringing in outside props or getting external help, but you were still a disruption to your troupe Mara. Surprising your director and fellow actors like that during a live performance could get you fired from a real acting job, and that's what the play was about."

"Ignoring the er," he glanced at my demon bits again then continued, "Spurious costume situation, your acting was excellent. It would have earned you a solid A, but I'm going to have to deduct marks because of your behaviour. You'll pass, but you're not going to have the sort of grades you would have got had you not pulled that stunt."

I grimaced and slumped a bit in my chair. I was glad he wasn't going to flunk me, and really happy to hear my acting would have earned me an A, but I couldn't really argue about losing marks. I mean, I wanted to argue, but I knew that'd just get me in more trouble or whatever.

So I hid my demon bits again and sighed, "Thanks Professor Rosato. I'm sorry I upset Gregory and Lucy and whoever else complained. I just figured it would add to the performance, a little extra realism and stuff? But I didn't want to have to explain to the whole cast about being a demon, I'm supposed to keep that secret."

"Mara you appeared on stage before a few hundred people with horns and a tail," he stated. "How's that keeping it secret?"

I shrugged, "Everyone thought it was a prop or whatever."

The prof sighed and rubbed his forehead, "Right. You wanted realism but you knew people would assume it wasn't real. You can go Mara, before you give me a headache. I'll keep that you're a demon to myself, and you can expect a C-plus or B-minus grade after I've finished my re-evaluation."

"Thanks sir!" I grinned as I got to my feet. As I left his office I added, "Have a good day!"

That was the last thing I needed to do at the college, and with the meeting over I was free to head home. I already had my little backpack with me so I headed for the side exit by the parking lot as usual. My typical routine was to go invisible in the little vestibule just inside the doors, then I could have my wings appear without anyone seeing and set off for home.

Except this time there was someone hanging around in there when I arrived.

"So did he flunk you?" Lucy asked with a cold smile on her face. "Bad enough you pulled that surprise bullshit on us during the show, but getting help from some professional effects people was a big mistake."

I rolled my eyes, "It's none of your business Lucy."

She scoffed, "I know you've been trying to upstage me ever since I got cast as the star. You're such a jealous little bitch, but you'll never be half as good an actor as me."

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously Lucy," I added as I looked her in the eyes, "I didn't want your role. I wanted to play the demon. In fact when Kelly did the rewrite on that play she had me in mind for the demon all along."

"Yeah right," she sneered. "Nobody goes into acting because they want to play the loser or the bit parts. Get used to it though, because that's all you're ever going to get. Assuming you don't just drop out completely after you get that big F on your grades."

"Just get out of my way ok?" I sighed.

Instead of leaving me alone Lucy took a step closer and stated, "Not till you admit I'm the better actor. That's the only reason you had to resort to that stupid prank of yours, because it's the only way you could try and upstage me."

I rolled my eyes again, but then I got a brilliant idea that would definitely earn me another lecture later on. It was hard to keep the grin off my face as I glanced around to make sure there wasn't anyone else to see or hear what was was about to happen.

Then I revealed my horns and tail again, and I gave Lucy a cold smile as I slipped back into character.

Her eyes were wide and her mouth hanging open as she stared. She even took a couple steps back, but I advanced on her to close the gap. She ended up backing herself into a corner, and I followed her step for step till I was standing right in front of her.

Like at the last performance I had my tail up in the air with the spade tip at about eye-level, slowly swaying and undulating back and forth to keep her attention. Then in the low, confident, amused but vaguely threatening voice of my character I made her an offer.

"Tell you what Lucy," I said as I looked her in the eyes. "If I'm that big a threat to you, I'll drop acting as my major next year. I'll take whatever grade Rosato gives me as my final as a drama major. Next year I'll take something else. Visual arts, or creative writing maybe. I might minor in drama because it's fun, but I'll give it up as my major. If that's what you really want."

Her face was pale and her heart was racing as she stared. She couldn't even manage a response, so I kept going.

"All I ask in return is one little thing," my smile widened as she realized what I was getting at. "Something small, something intangible, you won't even miss it. You know what I want Lucy, you know how this plays out. You almost gave it to me on Sunday, I know you were thinking about it. So what do you say? Give me your soul, and I'll stop competing with you for acting roles."

Lucy gulped and her eyes flicked from my tail to my horns, then to my eyes, then back to my tail again. And just like on Sunday, I was positive she was actually considering it. A few more seconds passed in silence before she finally worked up the courage to speak.

"No," she said, though her voice wavered. "It's not enough. You're already washed up, you were never a threat to me. If you want my soul then make it worth my while. Guarantee I'll get any role I want, any role I audition for. Give me that, and I'll give you my soul."

I smirked and misquoted a line I'd probably heard somewhere else, "So your soul really is for sale, we're just figuring out the price?"

She gulped again but nodded, "Promise me any role I want for the rest of my life, and you can have my soul."

We were both quiet again for another few seconds, before I dropped out of character. I stepped back and shook my head, "Sorry Lucy. I can't control what other people do, just me. You keep trying for the leading woman parts, I'll be looking to play the bad girl roles. They're more fun anyways. See you later."

I had my wings appear in front of her, then left her standing there staring at me with wide eyes and her mouth hanging open again. I made myself invisible as I opened the door, then as soon as I was out in the parking lot I took to the air.

"Mara," Lily stated in my head. "You and I are going to have a talk when you get home."

"Yes mater," I cringed.

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