Jack & Louisa: Act 1 Read Online Free PDF

face looked like she’d just swallowed a gumball.
    “You were in
Mary Poppins
?” she asked again, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
    “Yep.”
    “Well, not the original cast,” she said, shifting her weight. “I mean, what’s your last name?”
    “Goodrich.”
    “Yeah, I don’t remember seeing your name or picture in the liner notes of the cast album.”
    Wow, this girl really knew her stuff.
Liner notes?
I’d only just heard the term used this year. It was the name for the writing inside the booklet of a cast album that included cast list, lyrics, and production photos. Since music had gone digital, they were becoming a thing of the past.
    “No, I was in the closing-night cast,” I shot back. “The original Michael Banks is like a sophomore in college by now.”
    “Huh,” she said, taking a step back and looking down at her shoelaces. “You’re not trying to trick me, are you?” Her head snapped back suddenly. “Did someone tell you something about me? It’s okay. I won’t be mad, but I’d rather you just tell me now. It would save me the embarrassment of having to run home and type your name in on Playbill—”
    “Why would I try to trick you?” I blurted out. “I just moved here! I didn’t even know the name of this crummy subdivision ten minutes ago, not to mention the name of the resident theater nerd.”
    “This subdivision isn’t crummy. It’s the third nicest in Shaker Heights. The Goldbergs have a koi pond—”
    “Okay, I didn’t mean that,” I cut her off. “Look, I don’t know what to tell you. Either you can believe me or not.”
    “Hmmm,” she said, crossing her arms.
    I was speechless. It was safe to say this girl was as far from what I’d imagined anyone in Ohio to be like. Not that I didn’t expect at least
one
person in Shaker Heights to enjoy theater, but I hadn’t banked on meeting that person approximately thirty minutes after pulling up to our new home. I looked her over carefully. Her face, while scrunched and slightly sour, was cute. Her brown hair fell just below her shoulders, wavy with warm highlights suggesting hours spent in the summer sun. Also, she was short for her grade. I almost groaned with the realization—despite the fact that this girl might be a little intense for my taste, she’d actually make a pretty good Jane Banks.
I wonder if she could sing?
Her green eyes flashed, and she began biting the corner of her mouth.
    “Well, then,” she said, digging her fists into her pockets and locking my eyes with a challenging stare, “prove it.”
    Her words slapped against me.
Prove it?
Packing up my car this morning, I knew that Ohio would mean a change of scenery, different stores and a different school. I never could have guessed that it would mean having my résumé scrutinized, my professional acting career called into question.
Prove it?
What did she want me to do? Get Davina on the phone and explain to my neighbor that I was in fact the guy I claimed to be? Suddenly an idea popped into my head.
    “Fine,” I said, feeling my face getting hot.
    I stepped back from her and took a deep breath. I knew exactly what would convince her, something only a person who’d been in the show would know, something so tricky that I had to practice it in my bedroom, in the shower, and at the bus stop for a month before my first performance. I spread my feet apart on the pavement.
    “
S-U-P-E-R
,” I began to spell, my hands flying through the choreography. Each letter paired with its own unique gesture.
    “C-A-L-I-F.”
The movements got faster.
    “
R-A-G-I-L
,” I sang, twisting my body.
    “I-S-T-I-C-E-X-P.”
I whipped my arms, slicing through the thick summer air.
    “
I-A-L-I-D-O
,” I sung as the dance reached its fastest portion. My head bopped to the sharp tempo as I dotted imaginary
i
’s on my palm.
    “C-I-O-U-S,”
I finished, flicking my neck with a final cut-off.
    I dropped my arms to my sides and looked over to Louisa. The color