Page 39 of First Impressions of You

“I don’t give a shit if you look bad.” It’s not true. I do. I really want him to look bad. “I just want to go and apologize for being late.”

He opens his mouth to respond but thinks better of it. Shaking his hand, he turns around and starts walking in the opposite direction.

Whatever.

When I get to the theater, Winter’s already there, and I have no idea how. But I don’t ask. And I don’t ask why he was waiting for me outside, either.

The entire cast and the director are gathered in a rehearsal room, and they all look our way when we walk in. They were clearly in the middle of something, the disruption pulling everyone’s attention away from what they were doing, but it isn’t me they’re looking at. It’s Winter.

Every pair of eyes in the room is immediately drawn to him, like moths to a flame. Even the air shifts. The only person who doesn’t seem affected by Winter’s presence is Cam, who smiles and waves at me. I give him a shy smile in return.

“Get back to the exercise, guys,” Emily orders before walking to us. Slowly, the groups resume their talking, and the quietness of the room fades into a chaotic cacophony of voices. “What happened?”

“I’m sorry, Em. I thought call time was a quarter past nine, and I told Luiza so yesterday,” Winter lies so easily I’m a second too late to understand what he’s doing. He’s taking the blame for the both of us.

“Look, Davis, I know how you feel about this,” she whispers, but the terse tone of her voice makes it sound loud as a yell to my ears. “But I need you to take this seriously.”

“I will,” he promises.

She looks at me then, and all I can do is give her a quick apology for being late, which she accepts easily, believing the blame is on Winter.

Emily looks much more approachable today than she did on the day of the auditions. She’s wearing a jumpsuit with short, flowy sleeves, and a messy ponytail that makes her look casual and friendly.

I wasn’t sure how I should dress for this. I know there’ll be running in my scenes, so I chose to put on some comfortable clothes. The best I could do that wasn’t gym shorts was a pair of black cotton gaucho pants and a tank top in the same color.

I finally take a good look at the room and realize it looks pretty much the same as the one they used as a waiting room during auditions about a month ago, except that one was on the ground floor and this one’s on the top floor. With its grey carpet and basic-looking desks, the room looks more like a cheap college classroom than a well-respected theater.

“Guys, thank you all for doing the warmup exercises,” Emily calls everyone’s attention to her, standing in front of the U-shaped set of tables. Winter and I quickly find the last two empty chairs, which happen to be side by side. “I’m really excited for this project, and I’m sure we have the best cast for it right here in this room. Your auditions blew me away, and you wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe in your talent. Every single one of you.

“Let’s get started. We’ll do a read-through of the play, just to warm up our engines, and then we’ll do a brainstorming session to discuss the script and how we’re approaching it from each character’s perspective. I want you to know that I’m open to your opinions. Your suggestions are always welcome.”

I risk a glance Winter’s way to see what he thinks of Emily’s openness to receiving ideas from such inexperienced actors only to find him already looking at me.

“I’ll read the directions and the narrator,” Emily explains, picking up the script in front of her. I do the same with the one in front of me. “Luiza, you’re up first.”

I take a deep breath, look down at the pages in my hands, and immerse myself completely in the life of Princess Melina.

Having a part with only a few scenes during the first act means a whole lot of waiting for me. When the time comes for Arthur to rescue Melina about halfway through the play, I can’t wait to get back in the game.

After I’m back, we finish reading everything way too quickly, and then we’re sent on a break before we have to come back for another pass of the text.

I don’t imagine we’ll have crafts every day for rehearsal, but today being our first day, we’re met with a banquet as soon as we leave the rehearsal room.

I grab an apple and a chocolate chip cookie and make my way to a window at the end of the corridor, skipping the coffee even though I could really use some. I don’t see any milk around, and I’ve learned my lesson a long time ago about trying to drink American coffee without it.

“Can I ask you a question?”

Looking up, I find Winter standing in front of me. His eyes dance between me and something out the window. He looks uncomfortable, but I don’t feel like making it easier for him. I only arch my brows in response.

He takes it as a yes. He opens his mouth but closes it without saying anything. Then he takes a breath before trying again. “I… You…” He rakes a hand through his hair. “Can you move, please?”

“What?”

He places both hands on my shoulders, like he did a few days ago at the fitting room, and moves me away from the window.

“What the fuck, Winter?” I shrug his hands off me, trying to ignore how my skin quickly responds to his touch.

“This is glass.” He points to the window where I was leaning. “And we’re very fucking high up. You fall, you die.”

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