Page 36 of State of Grace

“Why don’t you tell me what word you want to hear from me, and I’ll say that?” Blake continued her walk as her shoulder brushed past Alexis’s. It took a few steps before she heard Alexis’s eager footsteps hurriedly following behind her. Once again, Alexis took a few steps in front of her and walked backward to face each other again.

“I don’t want you to placate me.”

“I’m not.” It was Blake that stopped walking this time. Alexis stopped a few feet away from her and crossed her arms over her stomach. The move made her breasts move up slightly, and Blake let her eyes fall to them for a moment before returning to her green eyes. “Don’t give me that look.”

“I saw you writing notes furiously during rehearsals. I know at least one of them has to be about me.” As she lowered her eyes, Alexis’s dark blonde hair fell slightly over her face. She slowly raised her puppy dog eyes to Blake in a move that told Blake she knew precisely what she was doing.

“Ok, but remember,” Blake pointed a finger at her, “you asked for this.”

“Yay!” Clapping her hands excitedly, Alexis smiled at her and waited for her to go on.

“I thought your singing was solid. You have killer pipes, and you know how to control your range, and you hit all the notes you were supposed to.” Alexis seemed nervous under Blake’s compliments, and she shifted her weight from one foot to another, twirling the end of her long hair around her fingers. The smile on her face was so damn adorable that Blake would have gladly spent the rest of her life complimenting her if it would mean she could look at that smile forever.

“I feel a ‘but’ is coming, but I’m loving these compliments right now.”

“Well, you earned them.” Blake let her relish in the compliments a few more moments as they resumed their walking. They made a right at the next corner, and Blake assumed they’d make another one at the next corner to bring them back to Alexis’s apartment. “But…”

“Oh,” Alexis grabbed onto Blake’s arm and squeezed, “I don’t know if I’m ready.”

“You begged me to tell you, and now you don’t want to know?”

“I mean, I want to know, but I am a fragile baby bird, and I don’t want to be crushed.”

“You, Alexis Holland, are the farthest things from a fragile baby bird.” Blake knew her comment might have been overstepping, considering she still didn’t have an expansive knowledge of Alexis’s personal life. When Alexis stood straighter by her side but didn’t let go of her arm, Blake covered her hand with her own. “You seem like a badass bitch who doesn’t take shit from anyone.”

“Well, I like that version of me better than the real one.” Pulling her hand away from Blake’s, Alexis nervously popped her knuckles. This time it was Blake’s turn to walk in front of her and stop her. Alexis’s eyes narrowed for a moment as she tilted her head. “What?”

“I know that what I’m about to say might be overstepping, but I don’t get the vibe from you that you are fragile at all.” Blake reached out with both hands and took hold of the tips of Alexis’s fingers. “I get the vibe that you’ve been through some shit, but it’s made you stronger, and something’s happened in your past that’s caused you to not be able to take a compliment.”

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Tilting her head, Alexis lowered her eyes from Blake’s.

“I didn’t think so.” Winking, Blake watched Alexis’s tension disappear. Alexis pulled her hands free from Blake’s as they continued their walk down the street. “Do you still want my notes, or do you want to wait until Bryce has a chance to look over them?”

“I want them now so I can be prepared. I hate being caught off guard.”

“Noted.” Blake firmly nodded as she made a mental note. “Well, as I said, you’re an amazing singer, but your acting needs some work.” She quickly sped up her words before Alexis could say anything. “And I don’t mean major work, just some polishing. It’s clear you’ve acted before.”

“I’ve been in the ensemble for several plays before, yes.”

“And I can tell. You’re confident on the stage. But you have to engage the audience, too. You know how you kept looking at me?”

“I…I wasn’t looking at you.” Alexis scoffed and put her hand over her heart.

“Mhmm. Sure, you weren’t.” Blake played along with her. There had been innumerable times that Alexis had locked eyes with Blake through the rehearsal, and each time, Blake felt the unfamiliar feeling of butterflies in her stomach. She decided to keep that tidbit to herself for now. “Regardless, you need to do that with audience members all over the theatre. Make eye contact with them and engage them in the play. It’ll give you something to focus on that isn’t the same place on the back wall, and it’ll make the audience feel more connected to your character.”

“Got it.” Pretending to write down on a notepad in her hand, Alexis nodded firmly. Despite the humor in her actions, Blake knew she was serious and took her feedback to heart.

“Also, be sure you hit your marks the way Bryce tells you to because I noticed a couple of times your body was turned in a way that half the audience wouldn’t have been able to see your face.” Looking over at Alexis, Blake smiled as Alexis looked back at her. “You have such a pretty face; it’d be a shame if everyone couldn’t enjoy that.”

“You flatter me, but I’m not used to being the star of the play.” Alexis shrunk under the compliment as she waved Blake off with a dismissive hand. “I’m always the background girl. The one who helps the lead get the person they’re in love with or whatever.” She shrugged. “I’m not the girl who gets the lead or the person the love interest wants to be with.”

Blake’s heart hurt for Alexis. She could hear it in her voice that Alexis meant what she was saying, and Blake wanted to do anything to make her see that she was worth it, too. Someone had hurt Alexis in her past, and Blake wanted to strangle them for making Alexis believe she wasn’t worth being loved.

“Well, clearly Bryce saw something in you that made her want to cast you as the lead.”

“I was her only hope. The girl she’d wanted to cast as Elle Woods moved to New York with Andrew, our acting coach, so Bryce either had to find someone sub-par, like me, or cancel the show altogether, and the summer play is a big money draw for the theatrical company, so here we are.”

“You don’t see it, do you?”

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