BEST

LUCK
JOURI AL-MESBAHI
 CHAPTER 1
The door was knocking. I opened the door and I saw nothing but a little envelope.
It had my name on it. I showed it to Mom and asked her if I could open it. She said
yes, so I opened the envelope and it had a message. It said YOU ARE INVITED TO REHEARSE A PLAY
GOING ON IN THE BROADWAY THEATRE. I couldn’t believe it! Me? Join a Broadway play? That
was so exciting! I asked Mom if I could go. She said yes and messaged Dad about
it. I felt like I was the happiest kid. I realized that I never performed in a play
before, so I was also nervous. I also missed Vietnam, where I used to live. There
were a lot of theatres in Ho Chi Minh City. Me and my family moved to New York,
NY, USA, because Mom lost her job at a coffee shop called Tab Tea & Coffee,
which is in Ho Chi Minh City. Her boss mistakenly fired her because he blamed
her for letting a pot boil for too long on purpose. She did it by accident. I hate her
boss. This guy was so rude! “Mom?” I said. “Why should I rehearse a play?” “You
were invited and I am signing you up,” Mom said. “Give me the post and I will
approve it.” I gave the post to my mom and she signed it for me. I got even more
nervous. “What day will I have to join the play?” I asked myself. “The person that
made this for us will let us know,” Mom interrupts. “Now Duyen, I need you to
take this envelope to the mailbox.” “Okay,” I said. I grabbed the envelope from
Mom’s hand and walked out to our home mailbox. I put the envelope in the
mailbox. I felt even more nervous than anyone had ever felt. I hoped the play
would not start tomorrow. The only place I would go to visit would be a New York
DJ party. I should’ve not asked to go rehearse a Broadway play coming up! I
accidentally agreed. I headed over to my dad. “Chào bố,” I said. That means ‘hey
dad’ in Vietnamese. “Ồ, chào em yêu,” said Dad. “Why should I join a Broadway
play?” I asked Dad. “Your mom and I want you to be smart,” said Dad. “You were
made disqualified when you were just about to rehearse a play at your old school.
Now you should join the Broadway theatre now.” “I remember now!” I tell myself.
“Learning and being smart! At my old school, I accidentally caused so many
damages to the school! That is why I was disqualified!”
 CHAPTER 2
It was the next day, and the envelope was back. I took the envelope from the
mailbox. It said I had to join today! I packed everything I needed and walked to the
theatre. I got inside and felt nervous. I saw a man walk by near the front door. His
outfit was a uniform. It looked like he was a member of the Broadway company. I
decided to meet him. “Hello,” I said shyly. “Why, you must be Duyen Bui,” the
man said. “My name is Michael Gart. Call me Mr. Gart.” “Nice to meet you Mr.
Gart,” I replied. I saw something that looked awful on Mr. Gart’s forehead. It had a
big bruise and there were bumps and scratches all over his cheeks. I did not know
what caused it. “By the way Mr. Gart, why do you have so many bruises and
scratches on your head?” I asked Mr. Gart. “I got attacked by the loan sharks,” Mr.
Gart replied. Poor Mr. Gart. He got his pain by loan sharks? How could I help Mr.
Gart? I wondered. “I want to tell you,” said Mr. Gart. “That I am one of the first
main rehearsal instructors in the Broadway theatre. Come on Duyen, let’s go meet
your rehearsal mates.” Mr. Gart led me to the rehearsal room and I saw a lot of
teenagers and adults. I was the youngest rehearser. All the teenagers were older
than me. “Take a seat,” said Mr. Gart. “Okay everybody, today we are rehearsing a
true tale called ‘The Legend of Sacagawea’. Who will play Sacagawea? Raise your
hand.” “ME!!!” All my rehearsal mates shouted as they raised their hands. I was
too shy to raise my hand. “Okay everyone, I will draw a paper with your first
name.” Mr. Gart said. I hoped I was not picked. At least there were hundreds of
rehearsers. “Duyen Bui,” said Mr. Gart. He drew me? That was weird. How did I
get drawn? I was surprised. I came up and grabbed my Sacagawea costume. “Now
who will be Lewis and Clark?” Mr. Gart said. He drew two men. “Mitchell Petra
and Tyler Yan,” said Mr. Gart. I saw Tyler and mitchell stand up. They went
grabbing their costumes. After Mr. Gart drew so many people to be part of the cast,
we all rehearsed the act. I was given a “The Legend of Sacagawea” actor’s script.