Page 65 of Method Acting

Jimmy was staring at me. “You were... cuddling? Like in his room, by yourselves?”

“Well, yeah. Where else we gonna do that?”

“But... were there cameras? I mean, aren’t you just supposed to do that in front of cameras?”

I shrugged. “Well, yeah. But it’s all practice. We need to look comfortable with each other.”

Jimmy wore a smirk. “Sounds like more than practice to me. Hey, Tater? I think Chase?—”

“Don’t call him that,” I said gently. “It’s not nice.”

Jimmy blinked. “Oh, sorry, I...” He shrugged at Tate. “Sorry, dude.”

Tate made a face. “’S okay.” But then he looked at me. “Thanks.”

Amos was right. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

“And anyway, you’re missing the point,” I said, changing the subject. “What I wanna know, is that what dating people do? Because it was kinda awesome. And if we can watch Rick and Morty, eat pizza, and have sex, then I think I’ve been going about this no-dating thing all wrong.”

“What did you think dating was?” Tate asked.

I shrugged. “I dunno. Boring monogamy and missing out on fun stuff.”

Jimmy snorted. “Holy shit, you had a revelation.”

“All I’m saying is it was fun. And maybe I wouldn’t mind doing it again.”

“Did you two . . . ?” Jimmy waggled his eyebrows at me.

“No. We just . . .”

“Cuddled?”

“Yeah, and we hold hands and put our legs over each other, and we kiss occasionally, but that’s only acting. No tongue. And to be fair, I’ve kissed him. He’s never kissed me.”

They both stared, and Jimmy’s smile became a grin. “So the fake boyfriend thing is kinda sounding real boyfriend-like to me.”

Tate nodded. “It kinda does, yeah.”

“I don’t even do half of that with the girls I date,” Jimmy added.

“You should do it,” I told him. “It’s awesome! That’s what I’m saying. I had no idea it could be... so nice. I really should try this whole dating thing for real.”

“Uh, Chase,” Tate said gently. “It sounds like you already are.”

“But we are acting,” I explained. “It’s method acting. It’s supposed to be immersive. It’s not real.”

“But you want it to be,” Tate said.

Well, shit.

“I dunno. Maybe.”

“With him? Or just in general?” Jimmy pressed. “Did you have this epiphany because of him, to be with him? Or just dating in general?”

I tried to think about that. Imagining being like that with someone else... “I dunno. I...”

Goddammit.

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