𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐎𝐑 ━ 𝐞𝐣 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥²

08. acting intensive

        Everyone began talking, voicing their concerns. Phoebe tried not to take anything they said to heart. She knew that they were just worried and mostly disappointed with themselves.

        "Wildcats!" Miss Jenn got their attention. "Take heart. North High is clearly focusing on bells and whistles. Impressive but distracting. All we need is. . ."

        "Friendship?" Seb suggested.

        "No, Seb," Miss Jenn dismissed him. "All we need is to get back to basics. Emotional performances that really connect with the audience can make all the difference with these judges. And I have a plan. Which is why you've all been called here today. And that plan is. . . a weekend acting intensive."

        "Acting intensive like. . ." EJ trailed off.

        "Improv," Miss Jenn finished. "Character work. Movement exercises." Miss Jenn noticed that Gina wasn't paying attention. Hey, Gina." The girl didn't look up from her phone. "Gina." She finally looked up. "Are you here?"

        "Yeah," Gina quickly locked her phone. "Yeah."

        "We're going to really connect with our characters," Miss Jenn went on. "And impressive performances, not fancy staging or actual killer wolves, will be our key to the gold. And don't forget, we have something that North High doesn't."

        "Friendship?" Seb threw out once more.

        Miss Jenn ignored him. "A brand new original song for the Beast and the rose. Um, and, uh, how's that coming along, you guys?"

        The couple shared a look. Miss Jenn had given Nini a part in the show at Carlos's quinceañero and had the bright idea for the Beast and the rose to sing a duet. Phoebe didn't completely understand why she thought it made sense for a Beast and a rose to have a song, but she'd learned not to question Miss Jenn.

        "Ricky, you stay here with me for deep-dive Beast character work," Miss Jenn told him. "Nini, take the weekend, skip the workshop, and get a first draft of the duet down for the Beast and the rose!" She clapped her hands together excitedly. "Okay!"

        Everyone got up, ready to begin. Carlos handed out hula hoops to everyone. "Today is all about warm up games," Miss Jenn began. "The important thing is that we all. . ." Miss Jenn stopped and looked at Seb who was very intensely hula-hooping. Noticing the teacher staring at him, he let his hula hoop fall to the floor. "Focus. Strong start. Here we go, my young thespians."

        They began doing different exercises that made Phoebe and the others feel like kids again. When they went to do an exercise with the pool noodles, everyone starting messing around and Phoebe found herself in a 'sword'
fight with Ricky and EJ. She'd already killed Ricky and was working on killing EJ.

        "Okay," Miss Jenn stopped them. "Everybody, drop your noodle and pair up for a mirroring exercise."

        Phoebe looked at EJ, who dropped his pool noodle. She quickly poked him with hers before dropping it on the floor. "I win."

        "That was foul play," EJ complained.

        "You dropped your weapon, I took my chance."

        "You'd kill an unarmed man?"

        "Yeah," Phoebe nodded.

        EJ smiled and shook his head. When the mirroring exercise was over, Miss Jenn had them sit on the mats on the floor. Phoebe rested her head on EJ's chest as she listened to Miss Jenn. "So. . . what is acting, really? Acting. . . is reacting." The drama teacher threw the ball at Carlos, hitting him the face.

        "Ow," the boy exclaimed.

        "In character, Lumiere," Miss Jenn told him.

        "Ow," Carlos repeated, holding his arms up like candlesticks.

        "Ricky, could you please put your phone down and join the family?" Miss Jenn asked. She threw the ball at him, which he caught. He hummed an answer before throwing it back.

        After that, Miss Jenn had them all form a circle and toss a ball around, doing some improv as they did so. The ball ended up bouncing out of Ricky's hand and hitting Miss Jenn in the head, which was the end of that exercise.

        "Okay, Phoebe will start us off," Miss Jenn motioned to the brunette. They were doing some more improv work since the last exercise didn't go well. "And, Gina, agree with what Phoebe says and then add on. It's Yes, And people. Remember, improv works best when you are all in. If you've got one foot out the door, it does not work and the audience will smell your fear."

        Phoebe swallowed, letting Miss Jenn's words go to heart. She knew she shouldn't have, but she did. If she was going to be the Belle that everyone needed in order for them to win the Menkies, she needed to listen to every single thing Miss Jenn said.

        "Fun!" the drama teacher continued. "Let's get a suggestion from the group on a location."

        "The Louvre," EJ threw out.

        "Sure, the Louvre, okay," Miss Jenn turned back to the girls. Go ahead. You ready?" Phoebe nodded. "Okay."

        When Phoebe was younger, she used to pick up accents of TV shows she watched. She had only ever been decent at a British accent, but that came from herself and everyone around her. She put on her best French accent and said the first thing that popped into her kind. "So, Madame, I understand you're looking to purchase some art?"

        "From the Louvre?" Gina furrowed her brows.

        Phoebe had to admit, she could've thought a little harder about the scenario, but they were doing improv. Gina needed to improvise. "I am sure one as rich as you, Madame, could purchase any piece of art her heart desires." Phoebe turned, motioning to an imaginary painting. "What about this piece? Do you like it?"

        "Yeah, I'm not sure," Gina stated uncertainly.

        "What is your heart telling you?" Phoebe was getting slightly annoyed by Gina's refusal to go along with the scene.

        Gina subtly glanced and Ricky and then EJ. "I really don't know."

        "Yes, and?" Miss Jenn urged.

        Phoebe sighed and dropped her accent. "Miss Jenn, maybe you should someone else go." She didn't get the drama teacher a chance to reply before she was walking back to the mats and sitting next to EJ.

        "I'm sorry," Gina apologized.

        "It's okay," Miss Jenn reassured her. "We're learning. We're learning. There are no rules here. Except that I will need you to do it correctly. Okay, let's try a new pair as an example. Um. . . Carlos and Seb, you boys wanna try?"

        Gina looked back at Phoebe as Carlos and Seb walked to the front. "Hey, I'm sorry. I ruined the scene."

        Phoebe offered her a small smile. "It's fine." There was a certain bite to her tone that made her feel bad. She really didn't mean to be rude, but she was becoming more and more upset.

𝒎𝒆𝒍 𝒎𝒆𝒍 !!
me?? actually updating and working on this book?? what is this madness??