“We’ve got everyone, yeah?” Reed asked.
“Dana, do you need pages?” Bryce checked.
“No, I’m okay,” she said.
“Already off-book? It’s not even theater, either. What a pro,” Reed noted.
Dana stood against the wall with a bunch of extras and actors who would play the police officers, and she was glad it was an easy scene for her: only a few lines and mostly just her looking nervous, which was appropriate because shewasactually nervous.
“Let’s run it,” Reed said.
When everything was set up and Reed yelled, ‘Action!’ which was the officer’s cue to say something, Dana’s vision blurred.
“Dana?”
“Huh?” she asked.
“Your line,” Reed said.
“Oh, right,” she replied. Then, she looked at the officer and said, “Hi. I was just in the bar. I didn’t do anything.”
“Stand against the wall,” he replied.
“Let’s stop there,” Reed instructed. “Can we…”
Reed kept talking, but Dana didn’t hear her. The morning had been a crazy whirlwind of people talking to her,asking questions, making various demands of her, and her mind was struggling to keep up. Dana was more than nervous. She was panicked, and it was only her first day. How was she supposed to do this for real if she couldn’t even do it in an easy rehearsal?
“Hey.”
Dana’s vision cleared up almost immediately when she saw Samara standing in front of her.
“You’re not in this scene,” Dana said to her.
“Yeah, I know. I just saw you,” Samara replied. “Can I borrow her for a second?”
Dana turned to see that Samara was talking to Reed now.
“Sure. We’ll take ten.”
A second later, Dana was being pulled by Samara, and she didn’t know where. Then, Jana appeared in front of them.
“I’ve got this,” Samara said to her, and Jana backed away.
They ended up back at the row of trailers, and Samara followed her up the stairs to Dana’s new on-set home.
“Hey, you okay?” Samara checked.
“I’m…” Dana’s breath intensified, and she realized she couldn’t quite catch it.
“You’re okay,” Samara said softly, rubbing her hands up and down Dana’s arms. “Dana, you’re okay.”
“I’m not. I can’t… do this. I don’t know what… They have questions… I don’t know the answers.”
“Hey, sit down for me,” Samara told her.
Dana then ended up on the sofa, with Samara crammed in next to her.
“Do something for me. Let’s do a little breathing exercise, okay?”
