Page 17 of Dark Tangled Truths
Jackson couldn’t exactly sneak into our performance and leave the rose without someone seeing him. He stands out as much as Damon, Hawk, and Cam do. And if he’d tried to sneak in during rehearsal, the light from the hallway would have given him away. It’s almost impossible to be sitting in the audience and not notice when the door opens and closes.
That means he’s either working with someone from my school, or someone in my school knows more than they’re letting on. How would they know aboutpretty girl? Someone could have overheard him call me that at the football game. Or even the hockey scrimmage.
It’s not like the stands were completely empty. But how would they put the pieces together, even if Jackson called me that and they overheard? How would they know he had the potential to stalk me?
Even though it was a weekend, a lot of people were carrying backpacks to do homework during breaks or when they weren’t on stage. Anyone could have brought the rose into the theater or left it there earlier.
We’ve tried to make a list of comings and goings. But we don’t know if the rose was put there during rehearsal or the beginning of the break while I was talking to Mr. Watson.
“Today you’ll be working with a scene partner.” Mr. Watson stands and goes to shut the door after Crystal rushes in. I focus on class.
He passes out scripts. “Find a partner to work with.”
I glance over the pages and see it’s characters of opposite sexes. Mia gives me a sad smile before she turns to the guy on her other side. I blow out a breath and my eyes collide with Chase’s. He smirks. Hell no, I’d do a one-woman show before doing anything with Chase Chadwick.
Mark steps between us. “How about it, director? Need a partner.”
My hero. I sigh with relief and nod at Mark. I didn’t want to get stuck with Chase, but Mark is an amazing actor who I haven’t actually acted with. So I’m a little excited about this opportunity. We walk over to a section in the audience away from the others rehearsing their lines and sit down.
He glances at my hand but doesn’t say anything about the bandages. I didn’t miss much of Sunday’s rehearsal, and even though we cut it short last night, things are going well withOthello. Obviously, what happened hasn’t held me back.
He clears his throat and asks with a raised eyebrow, “So I’ll be Rick and you’ll be Cathy?”
I smile. “We could do it opposite just to throw everyone else off.”
He chuckles. “We could, but I’m not sure how I’ll look in a skirt.” He leans in like he’s telling me a secret and loudly whispers, “Knobby knees.”
I shake my head and smother the little laugh that wants to erupt. I’ve always appreciated Mark’s seriousness for the craft, but getting to know him throughOthellohas given me an appreciation for the guy he is. He’s punctual and prepared. Smart and insightful when taking notes. He looks at his character through a lens not many can.
And when he’s not on stage, he can be funny and inspiring despite his intensity with acting.
We run through the class scene a few times, each time tweaking our performances to match the other’s. It’s the easiestscene read I’ve had to do. Mr. Watson walks the room during class and stops at each set of partners to see how they’re doing.
When it’s our turn to perform for him, he nods. “You two are excellent. It’s a shame we couldn’t have capitalized on this pairing earlier.”
“Thank you,” I say. That’s the best compliment I’ve heard during acting class.
“We all have different parts to play,” Mark says. “EvanAnn chose to follow directing. I focused on acting. We didn’t have as many opportunities before this year to work together.”
Mr. Watson asks us to run the lines again with another tweak, and then satisfied, he moves on. I kind of wish Mark had been my scene partner last year instead of Chase.
Toward the end of class, we head back to our chairs. Everyone performs their scene and then we discuss how the exercise went for our groups. When I grab my bag at the end of class, Mark comes over.
“I do think you could have continued with acting if you wanted. Not that you aren’t an amazing director, but...” He shrugs. “I wish they allowed you to do both here.”
“Thank you.” My cheeks heat at the praise I hadn’t really expected. “I’ve always thought you were brilliant too.”
He gives me a smile. “I’ll see you at rehearsal tonight.”
Mia stands and walks with me to the door. Keira waits in the hallway for me, looking at her phone. She doesn’t look up when we stop next to her.
“Did you know Mark is gay?” Mia says to me in a hushed tone. “He’s not out, but he told me last weekend when I tried to hit on him again.”
My mouth opens and closes.
“Are you supposed to tell me that?” I can’t help but ask because if he told her in confidence...
She chuckles. “I think he’d rather not have three hockey players breathing down his neck if Chase decides to poke your men with Mark.” She pauses and seems to consider for a moment before she grins. “Actually, Mark might be into that.”
