I arch a brow.
"Okay, I won't give it away. But I will... I'll have to think of what I'll do." She takes a deep breath, smooths her dress, and takes a seat in the middle row.
I sit next to her.
Piper's cheeks flush as the brunette sitting behind us moves forward a row.
The brunette plays cool as she leans in to introduce herself. "I'm Jane. Are you new to class?"
"Yeah." Piper presses her lips together.
Jane looks to me. "It's sweet you and your boyfriend are taking classes together."
"He's not. Well, actually, I'm uh..." Piper clears her throat. "Yes, he's really sweet, but he won't be sticking around. I might not be sticking around. I'm just trying it out."
Jane nods. "It's a good class. The best scene study class in Orange County."
Piper's eyes light up. "It's all scene study?"
"Except for warm up games," Jane says. "If you live around here, we can meet up and work on a scene together." She looks at me with interest. "Or we can meet up and talk about auditions and everything."
Piper looks from me to Jane. "Yeah, sure."
Jane pulls a business card from her pocket and places it in Piper's palm. She looks to me. "Do you mind if I steal your girlfriend?"
"Oh, I'm not... uh... I mean... you don't mind, do you?" Piper asks.
"Go ahead."
Piper scoots over enough to make room for Jane. The two of them are fast friends. They're already whispering back and forth.
They chat until the teacher rises to his feet to address everyone.
He's in his 40s with brown hair and leading man good looks. He takes in the class of twenty. His eyes fix on me for a moment, but he's not starstruck. It's more oh, a new student.
"Looks like we have some new faces. For anyone who doesn't know, I'm Adam. We'll handle the paperwork and payment after class." He looks around the room. "Everybody, find a partner and come to the front. I'll assign scenes before we start our improv."
Jane grabs Piper. "Let's do one together, huh?"
Piper shoots me a curious look.
I nod go with her.
She nods back okay.
Seeing a smile spread over Piper's cheeks make me warm all over.
Everything about acting is torture. I'm stiff as a board in warm up games. I can't remember lines. And performing—fuck that. This is a tiny theater with only twenty people, but I'm more nervous than when I get on stage to play an arena.
I know what I'm doing with my bass in my hands.
Here... all I know is that I'm fucking awful.
I'm immensely relieved to step off stage and take my seat next to Piper.
She squeezes my hand and leans in to whisper. "You seemed like you tried hard."
"I was fucking awful," I whisper back.