Chapter Text
Phoenix strode through the front doors of Los Angeles’ School for the Arts like he owned the place. He made it all of four steps before he realized that he had no idea where he was going and had to scramble to retrieve his schedule from where it was stuffed deep in his front pocket.
His first class was in room 118. He looked around him and read the room numbers: 213, 215, 217… He was on the ground floor, so why did the numbers start with 2’s?
He was startled out of his confusion by a tap on his shoulder.
“Hey there, stranger,” a short girl with long, black hair greeted him. “Judging by your expression and the way you keep triple-checking your schedule, I’d guess you’re new here. Need some help?”
“Uh, yeah, that’d be great, thanks,” Phoenix replied immediately. “Sorry, I’m just trying to find room 118? I thought it would be right here because this is the first floor when you walk in but all the numbers on this floor start with 2?”
“Oh, yeah, that’s tricky,” the girl sympathized. “Definitely tripped me up, too, back in the day. This building actually has an underground level, so you have to take the stairs down if you want to find all the rooms that start with one. They’re kind of hard to find, so I can walk with you if you want? My name’s Maya, by the way, what’s yours?”
“Thanks, Maya, that would be great,” Phoenix confirmed quickly, exhaling in relief. “My name’s Phoenix. What year are you? What are you studying?”
Maya starting walking and Phoenix followed her lead.
“I’m a sophomore and I’m focusing on performance art! I’m interested in dance, specifically cultural dance, like dances used in rituals and traditions and stuff. What about you? I mean, freshman, obviously, but you have to know what you’re interested in at least.”
“Actually, I’m a senior,” Phoenix admitted sheepishly. Maya stopped dead in her tracks.
“WHAT?!” she shrieked at just a high enough volume to turn a few heads. “That is not fair! I thought I was going to be able to be all cool by helping you find your classes for the first time and get to be all heroic but you’re a senior? I swear I’ve never seen you around before! And if you’re a senior, why did you need help finding your classes?”
At this last point, she snapped and pointed at him like she’d found a piece of incriminating evidence, expression deadly. Phoenix was almost sorry to have to correct such conviction.
“Actually, I’m a transfer,” he explained. “I was able to get all my core classes for college done at my old school, so my mom agreed to let me go here senior year to develop my art.”
Maya scowled and crossed her arms petulantly. After a couple dramatic seconds, she threw her arms up and let out a long sigh.
“I guess that makes sense,” Maya relinquished.
She seemed to realize something, then, and her expression quickly turned determined. She grabbed his shoulders suddenly, and Phoenix only narrowly stopped himself from instinctively pulling away.
“Then let me be the first one to welcome you to the school! You may be worried that things are going to be tough coming here as a senior, but it’s going to be a piece of cake! You’re going to kill it! I’ll make sure of it! I can be your personal coach! Or, I guess since you’re older than me, I can’t be your coach… your sidekick! I can be your sidekick!”
Phoenix decided he liked this kid.
“I think I’d like that,” he said, smiling genuinely.
She smiled back at him.
The bell rang.
“Shit, we have to get you to class, come on!” Maya shouted, dropping his shoulders to grab a hand instead and beginning to pull him in the direction they were going.
Phoenix couldn’t stop himself from laughing as they ran through the hallway and down the elusive stairs.
If making friends was going to be this easy, he didn’t think this semester was going to be hard at all.
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After a week of classes, Phoenix could feel himself starting to get antsy. He loved his art classes and hanging out with Maya at lunch, but he was used to having busy days filled with homework after school and he found himself with a lot more free time than he was expecting. After all, all he had to do at home was draw or paint for the most part, and considering that he loved it, his assignments didn’t take much time at all.
Coincidentally, around this same time, Phoenix noticed a new poster on the bulletin board outside his last class just as he was getting ready to leave for the day. He went up and read it:
Pride and Prejudice
A student-adapted production of the famous literary work.
Auditions Friday, September 3rd
Prepare a monologue that best displays your acting talent.
Direct all questions to Ms. Fey, Room 230
Phoenix barely contained himself from jumping up and down and pumping his fists in the air. A play would be the perfect thing to fill up his time after school! Plus, he’d always thought he’d be great at theater but had never had an opportunity to try it out. Granted, maybe trying out for a play at a high school known for its extremely rigorous and cutthroat theater program wouldn’t be the easiest first foray into the world of theater, but Phoenix was never one to shy away from a challenge.
On the bus ride home, he Googled possible options for monologues. He wanted something that was in the same time period as Pride and Prejudice, but also something that he could easily get into character for. All of the classical monologues he found were by Shakespeare and, as much as he loved Shakespeare, he didn’t feel like something that dated would make for a good monologue for something like Pride and Prejudice. All the contemporary monologues for men around his age were either too short or uninteresting. Phoenix knew he had to change something in his search criteria, so he looked at his filters and thought for a minute.
He changed the gender of his monologues from male to female and immediately started seeing all kinds of promising results. He quickly found a monologue from the play A Woman of No Importance by the character Hester about the issues of English society. Not only was it absolutely in line with the values of Pride and Prejudice, it gave Phoenix plenty of room for acting and interpretation. He bookmarked the page triumphantly and spent the rest of the ride watching YouTube videos about how to prepare a monologue.
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Four days later and Phoenix was bouncing his leg erratically under the table of his last class, running through his lines in his head and waiting for the last bell to ring. He was feeling pretty good about the whole thing, but he’d never tried out for a play before. He was nervous that once he actually went up on stage, he would choke and forget all his lines, or his blocking, or any/all of the subtle emotional changes he’d meticulously practiced.
The bell finally rang, and Phoenix was up like a shot, throwing his backpack over one shoulder and running out of his classroom. The auditorium was up a flight of stairs and on the other side of the building, so he had to book it if he wanted to nab an early time slot. Despite his resolve, however, he found the theater already full of people by the time he managed to get through the doors. He signed his name at the bottom of a long list and prayed he would be able to get out of there before dinnertime.
He collapsed into one of the seats and used the time before auditions started to take in his surroundings. It looked like the judging was going to be done by a professional-looking woman and a boy that looked like he was about Phoenix’s age. He had platinum blond hair so light that it looked white, and he was wearing a surprisingly formal dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He was holding a clipboard and looked much too serious for a high schooler. Phoenix wondered what this kid’s deal was and why he was important enough to be judging their auditions. He figured if he got cast, he’d find out soon enough.
The lights dimmed in the auditorium, signifying the beginning of auditions. Phoenix watched audition after audition and noticed some things he wasn’t expecting.
Firstly, he noticed that the adult judge was asking everybody before they even started which role they would prefer to play. Phoenix, having never auditioned before, had no idea that that was a question he’d be asked, and was freaking out silently as he tried to remember all of the characters’ names and personalities to decide which one he could play the best.
Next, he realized that he would be up against some stiff competition. Everyone that tried out looked like they’d done this before and appeared completely confident and professional. There were a lot of guys trying out for a variety of roles (although obviously the most hotly-contested role was Darcy) and Phoenix’s nerves got progressively worse with each new audition he saw. Obviously, he knew that getting a part in this play wasn’t going to be easy, but he didn’t think it would be this hard.
The last unexpected thing Phoenix encountered was the kid helping with the judging going up onstage and doing an audition himself. He introduced himself as Miles Edgeworth and stated that he would be auditioning for the role of Fitzwilliam Darcy by performing Angelo’s monologue from Measure for Measure by William Shakespeare. Phoenix sat back in his seat and got ready to see what this pretentious-looking kid could bring to the table.
He hated to say it, but this guy was good. He was miles above every other performance Phoenix had seen so far and considering that all the other performers were really freaking good, that was saying something. He had picked a great monologue for Darcy’s character, his expressions were genuine and varied, and his movements were precise and believable. Phoenix knew without a doubt that he had gotten the part by the time he’d finished. Judging by the smirk on the kid’s face as he thanked the teacher, he knew it, too. Asshole.
Phoenix was going to psychoanalyze the kid more, but he heard his name called to go next. He jolted out of his seat and made his way quickly up the stairs onto the stage.
“Phoenix Wright?” the woman asked him, starting a new page in her notepad as her young associate retook his seat next to her.
“That’s me,” Phoenix confirmed, shifting uncomfortably.
“What role are you trying out for today, Mr. Wright?” she asked, putting her pen down for a second and looking up to meet his eyes for the first time. The kid, Edgeworth, was looking at him, too, smirk still prominently on his face, as if daring him to try out for Darcy after that performance.
Phoenix was planning on Darcy before he’d seen Edgeworth’s performance, but now he wasn’t too sure. Sure, a part of him still wanted to try out for Darcy just to spite that asshole judging him, but he knew that there was no way he’d land the part. Thinking about all the other stellar performances he’d already seen, Phoenix knew he’d have to do something really unique in order to even have a remote chance of getting a part here. So, he did what he knew he could do best: he took the first crazy idea he had and ran with it.
“I’m going to be trying out for the role of Elizabeth Bennet.”
The teacher blinked at him once. Twice. Looked him over.
“Alright then, Ms. Wright—”
“No, it’s still Mr. Wright. You got it right the first time,” Phoenix assured her.
“Why are you trying out for the lead female role if you’re male, Mr. Wright?” the teacher asked, genuinely confused. Edgeworth was frowning deeply at him.
“I think I can bring something unique to the role,” Phoenix answered with much more confidence than he was feeling.
“I don’t think anyone will fight you on that one,” the teacher scoffed good-naturedly. “Very well, then. Go on. I’m intrigued.”
Edgeworth snapped his head to look at her like she was insane for humoring this obvious whack-job. She refused to meet his gaze and instead politely looked at Phoenix, hand poised in front of her clipboard and ready to take notes. After a couple seconds, Edgeworth gave it up and mimicked her posture.
“Thank you,” Phoenix acknowledged, and got ready to deliver his speech.
He thought it went pretty well! He could barely remember any of it afterward, but he felt like he remembered everything that he’d been practicing at least. He hoped that it would be good enough to beat out the girls. He knew he was at a severe disadvantage by being a guy, but he couldn’t help but feel like he’d made a good impression on the director.
He stuck around to watch the rest of the auditions out of sheer curiosity. He saw that his biggest competition was a short girl with a slight German accent who absolutely killed her Shakespearean audition.
After auditions were finally over, he stretched his arms up high over his head and got ready to head out. As he was straightening back up from picking up his backpack, he noticed someone standing beside him, lying in wait.
“Can I help you?” he asked innocently before even turning to see who it was.
“You can start by explaining that stunt you just pulled,” the voice hissed, full of malice.
“Woah, hold on, what stunt?” Phoenix asked, throwing his hands up as he turned to see the person accosting him. It was, of course, the snobby-looking kid helping in the judging.
“Trying out for the lead female role? This production isn’t a joke, Wright,” the boy spat.
“I know it isn’t!” Phoenix exclaimed. “I’m taking this as seriously as I can! I’m offended that you think my audition was so bad that it couldn’t have been serious. I’ve been practicing that thing nonstop for a week!”
“Be that as it may, your audition showed a lack of respect for all the talented female performers trying out today. That you think that you’re better than all of them shows your true egocentricity.”
“Gender doesn’t have anything to do with it!” Phoenix threw his hands up, utterly exasperated. “If I were trying to score a male part, I’d have to beat out all the talented male performers, but that doesn’t mean I’m trying to undermine all their hard work! Let the best performer win the part, regardless of gender.”
“If you care so little about gender, then why try out for the female part in the first place,” Edgeworth nearly shouted, voice convicted. “You could have much more easily tried out for a male part, but you must have thought that your gender would score you some kind of advantage!”
“Or, I could have tried out for the character I felt I could represent the best,” Phoenix refuted, trying not to let on that Edgeworth wasn’t entirely wrong. “Did you even listen to my monologue? It was practically written for Elizabeth!”
“If you were a true actor, you would be able to represent any character and not just choose the one that comes most easily to you,” Edgeworth sneered, crossing his arms.
“Ok, bullshit,” Phoenix yelled, pointing an accusing finger at him. “Then why did the director ask us what part we wanted instead of choosing for us? Why do certain actors choose to audition for certain roles instead of just taking whatever’s given to them? Sometimes certain people are better for certain parts than others. That’s the whole point of auditions in the first place!”
Edgeworth looked like the wind had been knocked out of him. His face was contorted in a scowl that looked so at home on his face it made Phoenix uncomfortable. After a couple seconds, he regained his composure and straightened his posture, adjusting his shirtsleeves and trying to appear unaffected.
“Regardless, I hope you won’t be disappointed when you find out that Franziska got the part instead of you. She delivered a spectacular performance and has a record in the drama club.”
“I agree that she had a great audition, but I don’t really think credentials should matter here, do you?” Phoenix asked.
“Oh, I disagree entirely, Wright,” Edgeworth smirked. “Especially in an institution as prestigious as this one, credentials can get you everywhere. It is the same principle as in the real world of theater and film.”
“Sure, if you ignore the fact that people can break out in big roles even if they’ve never acted before,” Phoenix argued. “What about, like, Quvenzhané Wallis? She won like, 15 awards for her very first film!”
“Awfully bold of you to put yourself on the same footing as Quvenzhané Wallis,” Edgeworth scoffed.
“After that audition, do you take me to be anything but bold?” Phoenix threw back, smile shining.
“I suppose not,” Edgeworth agreed, smirk turning into a sort of hesitant, more genuine smile.
“Well, whatever happens, you definitely got your part,” Phoenix added, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. “Honestly, that’s kinda why I didn’t try out for Darcy. Obviously, I meant all the stuff I said earlier, too, but after seeing your performance I knew I wouldn’t be able to beat you for the main male lead.”
Edgeworth seemed taken aback by the sudden praise and fidgeted uncomfortably, jamming a hand in his pocket too quickly and blushing.
“Thank you,” he said quietly, ducking his head. “Your performance was exceptional as well, as much as I deign to admit it. Of course, you still won’t get the part, but it was a noble effort.”
“Oh, of course not,” Phoenix scoffed sarcastically. “By the way, what’s your job in the whole judging process? You looked like you were pretty important.”
“I wrote the play,” Edgeworth stated proudly, chest puffing out a little. “I don’t make the final casting decisions, but I have some sway.”
“Oh wow!” Phoenix exclaimed. “That’s awesome! How long did it take for you to assemble the whole thing?”
“About three weeks of summer,” Edgeworth answered. “I’ve done more in less time.”
“That’s absolutely insane,” Phoenix replied, mouth dropping open in shock. “You can’t have slept!”
Edgeworth just shrugged.
“I did what I had to in order to finish it,” he deflected. Phoenix took it as a confirmation.
“Well, promise me you’ll get at least eight hours tonight, ok? You deserve it!” Phoenix proposed.
Edgeworth’s blush deepened, and he met Phoenix’s earnest gaze with a certain softness behind his expression.
“I’ll certainly try,” he answered noncommittally.
“Nuh-uh, not good enough,” Phoenix objected. “You have to promise me. You seem like the kind of person to put work over sleep and that isn’t going to fly, especially if you’re going to working on this play so much. Pinky promise me you’re going to get eight hours of sleep tonight.”
He stuck his pinky out and raised an eyebrow at Edgeworth, daring him not to take it. Edgeworth stared at it almost as if he didn’t know what he was supposed to be doing. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Edgeworth hesitantly brought his pinky up to grasp Phoenix’s. They shook, and Phoenix released him.
“There, now you have to sleep,” he confirmed. “No excuses. Now, I have to catch the bus, but I hope I get to see you for callbacks!”
“We’ll see,” Edgeworth scoffed, attitude coming back in full force.
“We will!” Phoenix agreed cheerily, throwing him a wave as he ducked out the door of the auditorium.
Edgeworth watched the door for a few seconds after Phoenix had left. He didn’t even notice he’d been staring until Ms. Fey came up behind him and started talking.
“He’s a character, isn’t he?” she asked.
“That he is,” Edgeworth agreed, somewhat distracted.
Ms. Fey gave him an interested look, raising an eyebrow at him. Edgeworth furrowed his eyebrows at her in confusion and she laughed, waving away whatever she was thinking before leaving in Phoenix’s path.
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That night, Edgeworth got the best night of sleep he’d gotten in seven years.