AN: This one has a lot of quotes from Bandstand, so just a PSA letting everyone know that I don't own Bandstand or any of the lines or characters (though I wish I did)

Julia was sixteen years old when she had the worst day of her life - or at least, that's what she thought then. It was her sophomore year, and she'd been practicing her audition for the school's spring musical for over a month. She'd performed it for her mother multiple times, and she'd told her that the director would have to be out of his right mind to not cast her as the female lead. So, she'd felt pretty confident.

She'd walked in that day and given what had been the best (and second) audition she'd ever done. She hadn't missed a note, she'd stayed on rhythm the whole time, and she'd belted out the last note as though she was Judy Garland. She knew there was no way she wouldn't get the lead.

So, when she'd entered the drama department after school on the first day of rehearsal, she couldn't wait to see the cast list that had been posted. She headed straight for it and scanned the list looking for her name, expecting it to be at the top. Her heart sank when she realized the wasn't the case. One of the seniors, Betty Williams, had gotten the lead.

And to make things even worse, her name was at the bottom. Julia Adams, right there in the ensemble.

That was it. The worst thing that could have happened. She didn't have anything against the ensemble, of course, but she'd expected something more than that. She didn't cry, though. Instead, she went to the back of the room, waiting for class to start.

She'd been sulking for maybe five minutes when someone else came and sat down next to her. She looked up, and was surprised by who it was. Michael Trojan. She'd seen him around a bit, but they'd never really talked before. At least she knew he wasn't the kind of boy who'd come to make fun of her. She gave him a questioning look, and he smiled at her.

"You're Julia right?" She nodded. "I saw the cast list. I'm in ensemble, too."

Julia sighed. "I really thought I'd get the lead."

Michael shook his head, becoming serious. "Don't sing because you need to get the lead. Sing because you just need to sing."

Julia stared at him. She'd never realized it before, but that's how she felt. She needed to sing. Little did she know it then, but those words would change how she felt about her talent. She was trying to think of a response to that when Michael grinned and spoke again.

"Besides, that girl who did get the lead? She stuffs her bra with so much kleenex, one cigarette ash and she'll go up like the Hindenburg."

They laughed together at that. It was true, after all.

Julia and Michael stuck together for the rest of that production, and after it ended, they became inseparable, in and out of school. And they stayed that way until the end.