opposite sides of the table, but it is one of those high top circular tables that are only designed for one or maybe two people so we are stil quite close together. I have to remind myself that this isn’t a date, because my imagination is begging me to fly into a Kim Penney Fantasy of the Day. When the waitress comes I order a tal coffee with milk and sugar and a chocolate chip muffin. Kim asks for some kind of berry tea and yogurt with granola. Even my grandma doesn’t consider yogurt and granola snack food.
“Okay.” I say once she’s started eating. “So you didn’t know what a monologue was?”
“I looked it up!” She puls a memo pad out of her purse and starts reading. “A long speech by one actor in a play, or movie, or as part of a theatrical or broadcast program.”
“Wel that is accurate .” I can’t help but chuckle at her.
“This is not funny! I have to try out tomorrow. Now I’m not ready. What wil I do?” The color is draining away from her face again. I want so badly to pul her into a hug. Just to comfort her. I have no idea why she is so very upset, but I want to make it better.
The inappropriateness and inherent uselessness of a hug are clear to me, so I hook my ankles around the legs of my stool to help keep my impulses in check and instead I just reach out and touch her hand. Just the tips of my fingers are covering hers but it is enough to quiet her mild hysterics. For just a moment we are both staring down at the table. Her hand looks tiny next to mine. Pale too, but not sickly pale just a pretty peach color that tels me she is probably serious about her sun block. Although, that would have been easy for me to guess even without the visual aid. Kim is serious about everything.
“Okay, so you can do a monologue from Much Ado About Nothing there isn’t realy a rule against it. It’s gonna be fine.”
“It isn’t a rule, but people don’t usualy do it?”
“Wel no, usualy not.” I try to keep my expression light and casual. The truth is that reading from the actual script you are auditioning for is kind of a big no-no . “Patterson might not care though.”
“I have to be in the play.” She stresses every word. She could just as easily have been saying I have to breathe in and out.
“I can tel.” This makes no sense to me; what is with her and this play? She’d never even read it until last week. “So do you want me to help you get something else ready?”
“There isn’t time!”
“Calm down.” Kim is nearing hysterics again. I take this as a good excuse to curl my fingers under hers until I am more holding her hand than touching it.
“There is time. This isn’t Broadway you know. Patterson doesn’t seem very difficult to please.”
“Seem? Don’t you know? I thought you said you’d done this before?” Kim looks at me suspiciously. Unfortunately I can’t help laughing at her again. Al that single minded determination must create quite the tunnel vision if she isn’t even aware that Patterson is new.
“I have. Lots. But Patterson in the new drama teacher. Miss Channing left at the end of last year.”
“She was the old drama teacher?”
I have beaten my laugh down to a wide smile by this point. I like that Kim is a bit of a mystery. I like that she surprises me sometimes. The best student in school and she has no idea who the drama teacher is despite her apparent new passion for theater. And what is with that anyway? “Please tel me why this is so important to you, Kim. If I don’t figure it out I won’t I’l be able to sleep tonight.”
“I doubt that me or my interests have that kind of effect on your sleeping habits.” She moves to pul her hand free, but I apply a little pressure and keep it trapped beneath mine.
“You would be very surprised.” I use my free hand to shove a piece of chocolate chip muffin into my mouth as a way to fil the awkward silence my admission created. Real slick Henries, I think to myself, she’s going to
“Okay.” I say once she’s started eating. “So you didn’t know what a monologue was?”
“I looked it up!” She puls a memo pad out of her purse and starts reading. “A long speech by one actor in a play, or movie, or as part of a theatrical or broadcast program.”
“Wel that is accurate .” I can’t help but chuckle at her.
“This is not funny! I have to try out tomorrow. Now I’m not ready. What wil I do?” The color is draining away from her face again. I want so badly to pul her into a hug. Just to comfort her. I have no idea why she is so very upset, but I want to make it better.
The inappropriateness and inherent uselessness of a hug are clear to me, so I hook my ankles around the legs of my stool to help keep my impulses in check and instead I just reach out and touch her hand. Just the tips of my fingers are covering hers but it is enough to quiet her mild hysterics. For just a moment we are both staring down at the table. Her hand looks tiny next to mine. Pale too, but not sickly pale just a pretty peach color that tels me she is probably serious about her sun block. Although, that would have been easy for me to guess even without the visual aid. Kim is serious about everything.
“Okay, so you can do a monologue from Much Ado About Nothing there isn’t realy a rule against it. It’s gonna be fine.”
“It isn’t a rule, but people don’t usualy do it?”
“Wel no, usualy not.” I try to keep my expression light and casual. The truth is that reading from the actual script you are auditioning for is kind of a big no-no . “Patterson might not care though.”
“I have to be in the play.” She stresses every word. She could just as easily have been saying I have to breathe in and out.
“I can tel.” This makes no sense to me; what is with her and this play? She’d never even read it until last week. “So do you want me to help you get something else ready?”
“There isn’t time!”
“Calm down.” Kim is nearing hysterics again. I take this as a good excuse to curl my fingers under hers until I am more holding her hand than touching it.
“There is time. This isn’t Broadway you know. Patterson doesn’t seem very difficult to please.”
“Seem? Don’t you know? I thought you said you’d done this before?” Kim looks at me suspiciously. Unfortunately I can’t help laughing at her again. Al that single minded determination must create quite the tunnel vision if she isn’t even aware that Patterson is new.
“I have. Lots. But Patterson in the new drama teacher. Miss Channing left at the end of last year.”
“She was the old drama teacher?”
I have beaten my laugh down to a wide smile by this point. I like that Kim is a bit of a mystery. I like that she surprises me sometimes. The best student in school and she has no idea who the drama teacher is despite her apparent new passion for theater. And what is with that anyway? “Please tel me why this is so important to you, Kim. If I don’t figure it out I won’t I’l be able to sleep tonight.”
“I doubt that me or my interests have that kind of effect on your sleeping habits.” She moves to pul her hand free, but I apply a little pressure and keep it trapped beneath mine.
“You would be very surprised.” I use my free hand to shove a piece of chocolate chip muffin into my mouth as a way to fil the awkward silence my admission created. Real slick Henries, I think to myself, she’s going to
Similar Books
Regency Christmas Gifts
Carla Kelly
Eden's War (A Distant Eden)
Lloyd Tackitt
Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852’1912
Donald Keene
HOT SEAL Lover (HOT SEAL Team - Book 2)
Lynn Raye Harris
The Matchmaker
Stella Gibbons
Anomaly Flats
Clayton Smith
Bionic Agent
Malcolm Rose
Releasing Kate
Cyna Kade