“Is it okay if I grab your hands?” I ask.
“S-s-sure.”
I take her hands in mine and take a deep breath. “You didn’t offend me. We’re having a great conversation, okay?”
She mimics my deep breath. “We are.”
“Okay. So, tell me about the modeling, acting, and singing.”
Another deep breath. “People tell me I could be good at modeling, because I’m tall. But most people say I don’t have the right vibe to be famous.”
That gives me pause. “What’s the right vibe?”
She hums. “More calm, I guess. They say I have too much energy to be able to do interviews and stuff. They say acting takes a finesse I don’t have.”
Again, who is “they”? And where can I find them? “You know what that sounds like to me?”
“What?”
“Jealousy.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” she says, a hint of red creeping up her neck.
“I do. Anyone who tries to dim someone else’s light has no light of their own. Let them rot in the dark.”
Her hands fly to her mouth and her eyes peek behind her once again. After seemingly wrestling with herself, she finally grabs the stack of papers. “Um, I was thinking of auditioning for my school’s musical.”
“Yes! That sounds amazing. What is it?”
“Little Shop of Horrors.I really want to play Audrey.”
“Those your lines for your audition?” I motion toward the papers. It can’t be a coincidence that this girl is here running lines by herself the night after the dream I had.
“Yeah. The audition is in a couple weeks, so I’m practicing. But I don’t even know if I should do it.”
“Do you want to do it?”
“I do.”
“Then you will. Hand it over, we can run lines together.”
She perks up. “Are you serious? But weren’t you here looking for someone?”
“Looks like I found ’em.”
After ninety minutes of running lines in between Veronica prodding me with questions, she leaves to head home, while I’m the one left buzzing.
Veronica was a gift I didn’t know I needed. Once upon a time, interactions like that were everything I wanted out of this industry. In all the pain I experienced, I allowed myself to forget that.
I won’t let myself forget again.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Micah
“YOU KNOW,IT IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU TO JUST TELL MEwhere we’re going sometimes. It ain’t always gotta be a surprise,” Dani complains with her eyes closed in the passenger seat as I make another turn.
“I could. But admit it, you like the surprises.” Last night when Dani came over, she couldn’t stop gushing about her trip to the rec center and meeting Veronica. She had this renewed passion for her work that I haven’t seen in a long time. It was wonderful.
