Aidan Wayne - Stage Presents

Stage Presents

by

Aidan Wayne

Aidan Wayne 2019

*

First edition published June 2019 with Dreamspinner Press

All Rights Reserved

T his is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without the written permission of the author and where permitted by law. Reviewers may quote brief passages in a review.

Cover art: Tiferet Design

Its dislike at first sightor first emailfor two girls who are accepted into the Disney College Program and get assigned as roommates.

Dana has worked hard, and she sees this opportunity with a Fortune 500 company as her first step toward becoming a successful businesswoman. In contrast, Ashlee is a Georgia peach whos led a sheltered life that has left her shallow, vapid, and ignorantor so Dana thinks.

Ashlees dream of becoming a princess is about to come true! Shes been preparing all her life, dancing since she was three, and she plans to use this chance to boost her performing career. On the other hand, Dana is cynical, even if she is kind of pretty.... But whats up with the whole trans thing?

Can enemies become friends and then more as each girl gradually sees whats beneath the surface?

Table of Contents

Chapter One

H I!! IM ASHLEE! IM going to be your new roomie for the Disney College Program! Isnt it so cool that we get to do this? I cant wait! I love Disney so much. My family has been going for vacation since I was little. And the movies are so good, obviously :)

Im glad that Im not doing a completely blind rooming, you know? Its nice to kind of get to know the person youre going to be living with for five months. Where are you from? Im from Georgia. My parents and I are going to drive over to Florida. Are you driving or flying?

Do you know what job youre getting assigned yet? I dont know yet, but I auditioned to be a character performer. Ill know if I get it in a couple of weeks, before its time to go to Florida. I really, really hope I get it. I wont, you know, love being in a big hot suit all day, but I love performing. Im super hoping that I get to be a face character. All of us were talking during the audition and they said that its SO hard to do. Like they measure your noses or something crazy like that. I didnt get my nose measured, but they did take me aside and like, look at my face? And they also asked if I could speak without the Southern accent. Which I can! And they seemed happy about that?

I think I aced the dance portion at least. Ive been dancing since I was three, so I better have. Anyway, tell me a little about you! I cant wait to meet you in person!

~*~Ashlee

D ANA READ the email shed gotten from the Disney housing program and then read it again. Ashlee. With two e s. Who used a lot of exclamation marks and emoticons and has been dancing since she was three years old and wrote emails that sounded peppy.

Ashlee was probably blonde, conventionally beautiful, and wore short shorts and tank tops without feeling self-conscious.

Dana already had to try not to hate her. She knew she was guilty of judging people before they could judge her and who she was. Ashlee didnt deserve that. Right? After all, she sounded nice. Right?

Dana read the email one more time, sighed, and tried to think of something to write back.

Hi Ashlee, Im Dana. Im looking forward to the college program too. Im going to be in Merchandising. Or Merchantainment, since thats what Disney calls it. I dont know which park Im going to be at yet though.

Ive actually never been to Disney before, so this will be my first time. I think itll be cool to see how things work in a big corporation like that. Im thinking of majoring in marketing or business, so I hope Ill be able to learn a lot while Im down there.

Im from Ohio. Its pretty cold right now, and we keep getting a ton of snow, so Florida will be a nice change. Im going to fly down. Itll be my first time on a plane too. Im a little nervous.

Dana bit her lip. What else could she say? Ashlee had practically written an essay.

I hope you get the character performer thing. That sounds like it could be a lot of fun.

Itll be nice to meet you in person too.

-Dana

H I DANA! YOUVE NEVER been to Disney before? Wow! It is such a great place. Not to be sappy, but it is definitely magical. Youll totally love it. And Merchantainment sounds like it could be cool, right? Isnt that working in the shops? Youll probably get to wear a cute uniform!

Its also pretty great that you already have a major in mind. Im undecided. Im actually kind of hoping that if I get a character performer job at Disney that Ill just like... be able to stay and become full-time as a parade performer or something. I really, really want to be a dancer or something as my job and Disney would be such an awesome way to do that.

Youve really never been on a plane? Its so not a big deal, dont be nervous! You just get there, check your bags, go through security, and then wait until its time to fly. Honestly the security is the worst part. I hate having to, you know, take off my shoes and make sure my laptop is out of its bag and stuff. And if youre doing just a trip with a carry-on, fitting your makeup and stuff in that tiny bag is the worst!

Ive never been to Ohio, but I just looked it up and WOW you werent kidding about snow. Ive never even seen snow in person before, I cant imagine dealing with a foot of it. And 11 degrees? That is FREEZING. I would totally die.

I am still waiting to hear about the character performer auditions and how it went. I know Im supposed to hear back before the program starts so I should hear something soon! Ill tell you as soon as I know.

I hope youre having a good day!

~*~Ashlee

A SHLEE SENT off her email and then flopped back onto her bed. She really hoped she and Dana got along. After all, they were going to be roomies. For five whole months. At Disney World. She still couldnt believe that shed been accepted to go, and that she had a shot at being a character performer. And maybe (cross her fingers hoping) a face character. After all, who wouldnt want to be a Disney Princess?

Ashlee was sort of used to people liking her, but that was in Georgia, in high school, and then in the first semester of college where you got to flutter around and meet everyone and make friends. She was the first to admit that she was totally a social butterfly. So it would be so nice if she and Dana hit it off. Being able to live with a bestie for the DCP experience? That was pretty much the dream.