“Too bad,” she says. “But you can tell your friend that I’m here for them.”

“Thanks,” I say.

“You ready?” she asks, just as the bell rings. I could stay here all day, but I don’t want the wrath of Mr. Daniels if I’m late to class.

Before we get to the main corridor, Juliet points at a display box full of clay faces. “Check those out,” she says proudly. “Every sophomore sculpture class does a self-portrait. The best ones live forever in this box.”

“I’ll guess which one’s yours,” I say, then study the faces, eventually pointing to the one with happy eyes and a smile. “There you are,” I say confidently.

“August, no,” she says, almost offended. “It’s that one.” She points to the face that’s screaming, with eyes filled with terror. “That’s me.”

I look at Juliet. “That’s how you feel, really?”

She shrugs. “Sometimes.”

Maybe Juliet isn’t as comfortable as I thought. I take a closer look at the sculpture. “It’s dark and sad, but beautiful.”

“Like me,” she says.

I make it to class right at the bell. The only empty desks are in the back row. I’ll take it—as far away as possible from the eyeline of Mr. Daniels, who is at his desk flipping through a notebook. The room gets quiet, waiting for him to begin. He stands up, his white button-up shirt puffy under his scholarly vest. “Everyone up. Let’s get warmed up. Up, up, up you go.”

We stand by our desks and do stretches, movement exercises, humming, lip bubbles, and tongue twisters. It’s nice to get the body moving, but this means we will be performing for the class. “Now sit,” he directs. “Let’s continue discussing the Stanislavski method. Today we will focus on identifying your character’s objective in scenes. Don’t get too comfortable in that chair—we will be working on a scene in a few.”

My heart jumps into my throat. This will be my first time acting in front of the class. I’m equally nervous and excited. First impressions are important. Everyone will remember this performance. I need to prove myself to this school, and to Mr. Daniels.

He continues, “The objective is your character’s motive in the scene. What they want, what they need. Your actions all work toward that objective. Make sense?”

A couple of hands go up, but Mr. Daniels ignores them. “Now, let’s get some stage time in, shall we? You and your partner will perform a scene. As you prepare, identify your character’s objective. I want to see that in your performance. You’ll have ten minutes before we begin. Your scene partner’s name is at the top of the script,” he says, then hands the stack of papers to Anna. She hops up and walks the aisles, passing out papers and saying hellos.