Page 19 of Sawyer

Ivy

Electric.

There’s no other word for it.

Reading Catherine to Sawyer’s Heathcliff made me feel…electric.

I beam at him, seeing him in a new light—seeing Heathcliff, the furious, frustrated, devoted orphan, who loves Catherine more than his own soul. My god, what a rush.

Bruce tells us we can take our seats and calls Wyatt, Layla, Vera, and two other people up to the stage to read another scene. As they get started, I peek at Sawyer over my shoulder to find him burning a hole in the back of my head with his eyes. I don’t let the intensity of his gaze fluster me this time. I stare back until he rolls his eyes and shifts his attention to the stage.

Two can play this game, I think.I can be just as intense and brooding as you.

Wyatt and Layla are no match for Sawyer’s and my Heathcliff and Catherine, but with some coaching, they’ll be able to pull off siblings Edgar and Isabella, and Vera reads a surprisingly excellent Nelly, which is an important part, as the whole story is told from Nelly’s point of view. All those years answering the phone for police dispatch give Vera a clear, resonant tone that works well in the theater.

I’m surprised to realize that this could actually be a pretty decent show. In Skagway. Who knew?

Bruce claps for the group on stage with enthusiasm, whispering something to McKenna Stewart, who’s taking notes beside him. Asking Wyatt and Layla to shift gears to Edgar and Isabella, he invites Sawyer and me back on stage to reprise Heathcliff and Catherine.

Sawyer’s more subdued in his reading this time, although, in fairness, the scene mostly calls for him to look betrayed by me and pissed off at everyone else, so it works. And Wyatt,with his broad Australian accent, nails the part of Edgar Linton, charming me with winks and grins while Layla looks suitably disapproving as his sister.

After a few more audition scenes, Bruce confers with McKenna and Reeve, telling us all to “take ten” while they finalize the cast list. Sawyer stands up and stalks down the aisle toward the exit, and I find myself jumping up from my seat to follow him outside. I’m positive we’re about to be cast as Heathcliff and Catherine, which means we’re going to need to figure out a way to work together over the next two months. I need (to at least try) to broker some peace with him.

I find him outside on the boardwalk, staring up at the sky.

“Stargazing?”

He looks at me over his shoulder.

“Yeah.”

I take a step closer to him.

“I bet we get cast as Heathcliff and Catherine.”

He shrugs.

“I didn’t know you were such a good actor.”

“Yeah,” he says, turning back to the sky. “That’s because you’ve never seen me act. I’ve always been real with you.”

My heart skips a beat, memories of the summer before last making my toes curl inside of my sneakers.

“Sawyer…”

He doesn’t say anything. He just stands with his back to me, staring up at the stars.

“I’m sorry,” I murmur.

After a beat, he turns to look at me.

“For what, exactly? Pretending to be into me that summer?Textingme goodbye after you left? Ignoring my calls once you were back at school? Or—Oh! I know!—coming back to Skagway engaged to your douchebag fiancé without giving me a head’s up?”

Okay. Let’s go.

“I wasn’t pretending to be into you. I was a coward for texting you goodbye, but I couldn’t bear to do it in person. Same with ignoring your calls. And last I checked, you’ve never met Clark, so keep your nasty opinions of him to yourself.”

His eyes widen at my quick-fire answers, various emotions passing over his face as he processes my words.

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