All I get for that is a glare.
‘Don’t you think it might give me something to think about?’ I ask.
‘Why should it giveyousomething to think about?’
‘Because there’s a possibility you’ll be saying stuff like that about me one day.’
He laughs. ‘Tori, please. You’re not like the others.’ He presses me softly against the wall.
‘Val, it’s no compliment to tell a woman something like that.’
He groans. ‘Jeez, do you know how hard it is to pay you a compliment?That’s problematic, you can’t say that. . . So maybe I’d better just never say anything, but you don’t like that either.’
I open my mouth, but I’m too confused to reply.
‘Sometimes I wonder if you’re actually trying to take everything I say the wrong way.’
‘When you slag off your ex-girlfriend and I ask you not to?’
‘God, you took that the wrong way too.’ He leans down.
‘Val, stop it,’ I say, as he tries to kiss me.
‘You’re in a mood, got it.’ He pulls away. ‘The scriptwriting club is sure to help. Nice chatting to you.’ The mockery in his voice is like a stab to the chest as he gives me a sarcastic salute and vanishes into the throng.
I have to force myself to take three deep breaths before I head to my own classroom. I’ve got Mr Acevedo for English. He took over the A-level course when Mr Ward left.
The class just crawls by. My thoughts are circling around my argument with Val, and with every passing minute, my aggravation gives way to a guilty conscience. What if Val’s right and I’m oversensitive? But the stuff he said really isn’t OK.
Mr Acevedo’s teaching is way more interactive than Mr Ward’s was, but I’m still finding it hard to concentrate. When he keeps me back after class, I’m sure he noticed and wants to talk to me about it.
‘I have no desire to keep you from your well-deserved lunch break, Victoria, and I am aware that this is something of an ambush,’ Mr Acevedo begins, as soon as the others have vanished into the corridor. He emerges from behind his desk. ‘I was surprised that you didn’t audition for any of the parts.’
Oh, no . . .
‘I didn’t really feel up to it,’ I prevaricate.
‘That’s a shame,’ he says. ‘But it’s your decision. Now, what I wanted to ask you was this: could you see yourself as my assistant director? I need someone reliable to help me out.’
Assistant director?Me?
My lips are frozen, but Mr Acevedo goes on: ‘You’d be at all the rehearsals and the performance, and you and I would be responsible for making sure everything runs to plan. It’s a lot of work, of course, and you’d get merits for taking part, just like the cast. It wouldn’t do your university application any harm either.’
Mr Acevedo smiles and I’m sure he knows how much I’d like to agree. Because I threw away my chance of being on stage myself, and this way I can at least get a sniff of the theatrical air. And it would be experience, which would definitely come in handy for our play next year.
But: ‘Florence Swindells asked me to join the scriptwriting club, now that Sin— ah, Charles is playing Romeo.’
‘Oh, that’s excellent news! You’d be the go-between between the script and the cast.’ Mr Acevedo looks delighted. ‘But it would be a great deal of work, of course . . . So it’s entirely up to you to decide.’
‘You don’t think it would be a problem for me to do both, sir?’
He shakes his head. ‘Quite the contrary. You’d know what was going on and you’d be able to tackle problems directly. This year, I’m seriously considering encouraging closer cooperation between the writers and the main cast anyway. A lot of the script usually gets cut during rehearsals and we’re so short of time this year that we really can’t afford any other delays if we’re going to be ready by the summer.’
‘That makes sense.’
‘Think it over,’ Mr Acevedo says. ‘I’m calling a joint meeting of the script group and the actors for tomorrow evening. You’d be very welcome to come along.’
‘I will,’ I say firmly. I might not have thought this through entirely, but I don’t care. I only know that it’s a chance to get closer to Sinclair again so I have to take it. ‘I’ll happily take the job. If you really think I can do it.’
