Page 109 of Method Acting

Not only because that scene was awesome, it was, but because it was over.

Tucker ran over and gave Max and Jenna a big hug, and Jenna was laugh-crying. Max took her face in his hands and gave her a soft kiss before tucking her into his side.

Jenna looked at Holly. “Thank you.”

She grinned at her. “You’re welcome.”

Deirdre appeared, somewhat bewildered, yet trying to maintain the outward appearance that she knew what was going on. People were still standing there, watching, so she was putting on her best stage face.

“Okay, team,” she said, trying to round us up. “Let’s take this back into the classroom.”

We all made our way back to the rehearsal hall. I slid my arm around Amos’s waist and he hung his arm around my shoulder. The happy outcome felt good, and I was proud to be a part of it, even if Deirdre was about to rip into us.

We filed in, and Amos sat on a desk so I stood between his legs and pulled his hand around my waist, threading our fingers. And we had to wait for Max to come in. He’d left Jenna at the door with a kiss and jogged in.

Deirdre signaled at the door. “Invite Jenna in, please, Max.”

Oh great.

We were all gonna cop it.

“It wasn’t her idea,” Holly volunteered. “It was my idea. She knew nothing about it.”

“Oh, I know that,” Deirdre said. “I could see by the look on her face.”

Max brought Jenna in, holding her hand. She looked like a rabbit caught in a snare, so I offered a huge smile. “It’s okay,” I told her. “Deirdre wants to bite us, but she’s legally not allowed.”

Deirdre shot me a look. “Mr. Soria. Your daily limit of that smile getting you what you want has been exceeded today. Try again tomorrow.”

I laughed, and Amos chuckled into my shoulder. “She knows you well.”

“It was all my idea,” Holly said again. “We needed to do something. My character was too meek. She clearly knew Max’s character wasn’t in love with her, and the audience knew it as well. You’ve read the comments. You heard the applause when Jenna arrived.” Holly raised her chin, not the least bit sorry. “My character needed to find some self-worth.”

“It was awesome,” Phoebe said.

Jess held up her phone. “People loved it. Already. The view count is huge.”

“It was pretty cool,” Tucker said. “Kinda like Ross’s ‘I take thee, Rachel’ scene.”

I snorted. “I dunno about that. I think Amos and I came in with incredible timing, like at the end of Avengers: Infinity Wars. We totally saved the whole scene.”

Everyone rolled their eyes.

“Okay,” Deirdre said. “Look, it wasn’t planned. But I have to applaud the improvisation and the ability to stay in character. Rolling with a mishap and making it look natural takes skill.”

Of course she’d turn it into a lesson.

“Yeah, maybe a little heads-up next time,” Max said. “When you said no, I was like uh, what the hell?”

Holly laughed. “If you’d known what I was going to do, we wouldn’t have gotten to see the real reaction. It was visceral, and we nailed it.”

We all went in for a high five. “Hell yes, we did.”

“Okay, so final scene tomorrow,” Deirdre said. She looked around the rehearsal hall. “Who wants to help the set designers turn this into a graduation after party.”

I took Amos’s hand and pulled him toward the door. “Sorry. Would love to stay and chat, but we have plans.”

“We do?” Amos mumbled.