By acting

9

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The serenity of the weekend filled the air as the road emptied of its usual jumble of loud cars. The young teacher was driving through the countryside, soft music resounding against the passenger compartment as she carefully managed her way towards her childhood town in her old red Chevy pickup. As she passed the sign announcing "Worthing" in big black letters, a wave of repressed feelings came back in full force. Everything seemed nostalgic, the elegant girl in her worn-down truck crossing the town toward the coast where she took residency. Perhaps, the only difference was that she was older, not the feverish teenager trying so hard to prove a point but a mature young woman lost in adulthood.
She had found her car waiting for her in the chilly airport's parking lot that morning, an old friend of hers, Jayden, had brought it the day before knowing full well that she would want independence. She remembered all too well the day she got that truck, her family was wealthy enough to buy any car she wished but young Alexia insisted on that particular car, the epitome of her sitcom-induced teenage dream. She remembered vividly how her brother always joked about that, calling her a "farm girl".  She painfully smiled at that last memory.
The roads grew busier as she neared downtown, recognizable shops and houses filling her sight before she ultimately parked before the faded facade of an overflowing flower shop.
The young woman looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror, taking a deep breath before going out of the car, bag in one hand. She made her way inside swiftly, her high heels clicking against the hardwood flooring, already knowing exactly what she wanted. She grouped a considerable amount of pink, white, and purple Irises into a bouquet before bringing the flowers to the familiar face behind the counter. The old man smiled at her kindly, slowly taking the flowers from her hand in order to wrap them in delicate paper. The shop owner acknowledged the choice of flower, his face wrapping into a frown for a short second. "It's nice to see you again, Alexandra." He spoke in a husky voice, hands shaking slightly. " You too, William." She gazed at his face, at the crow feet wrinkles accentuating his eyes, which appeared due to a life of happiness and caring. She remembered how she would always see him smile when she passed by the flower shop every day on her way to school.
They chatted for a lot longer, catching up on years worth of events. It was nice having someone to talk to, someone who knew her story while not being her parents.

Everything felt too much, the lights, sounds, sensations. She felt like she was going to explode there on the glistening pavement in front of all those people. She didn't know what caused her panic, one second she was finishing her final oral and the next she was gasping for air while escaping the building. She had pretty much a normal day until then, waking up early, spending the morning on set, and then rushing toward her university. Nothing out of the ordinary, really. Yet she was standing there, completely still as her mind raced into an intelligible mess. She knew that staying there wouldn't help much, so she forced her way to the quietness of her car, slumping against her seat as she started the playlist she had conceived especially for moments like that. Hiding behind expensive sunglasses, bobbing her head to the pop music filling the air, Amy made her way
into downtown Los Angeles. Between hip bars and fancy restaurants, the gold-headed girl entered the seemingly out-of-place quiet coffee shop, one she had found one day after a long night of clubbing after a failed date (which made her realize that she definitely was a lesbian by the way), and it had immediately became her heaven of peace.
But, even stepping into her favorite coffee shop didn't help with the uncomfortable tightness incarcerating her body.
Before she even had the time to dwell on the strangeness of the moment, she was pulled out of her worry by an unexpected voice behind her.
"Hello. What can I get you today?" An unknown man behind the counter asked her, he seemed young and full of life, the happiness radiating out of his tall frame successfully pulling a smile on the young actress' face.
Amy gave him her order, the drink in her hand not even a minute later as she strolled her way to the secluded corner behind huge oak bookcases. The blonde spent the next hour listening to music while reading, sipping on her hot drink from time to time. But no matter how calm everything was, her head was loud, full of worry crashing like vast waves against the shore at the forefront of her mind.
In desperate times like this, Amy would call her best friend Jessica so The brunette could distract her by ranting about her intriguing life. But this time, it was different. Her pointer finger lingered on the scientist's contact for a long while before she suddenly changed her mind and dialed the number of a certain actress. Her heart thumped vividly against her chest as she waited, eager to feel Scarlett's voice filling her head, pushing effortlessly all the worry away.
"Hello Angel, are you ok?" She felt immediate relief as the older woman answered the phone, her heart melting as she could hear the slight worry seeping through her husky voice.
And suddenly, silence, no more swirl of grey thoughts, just a wildly beating heart.