“You guys don’t know what you’re in for,” Jude tells us with a grin and a shake of his head. Those charcoal-colored curls. “Working with Willa will blow your minds.” And that makes me think of what Cole said yesterday afternoon on the sea porch steps, about how you can’t prepare for Willa Culver.

Only when Jude says it, it sounds like a good thing. The way Cole said it, I wasn’t sure.

After breakfast, we all cram into a cozy little library right off the cafeteria for the first of our morning class sessions. Today’s workshop is on script analysis, and Willa’s gotten a big-name director friend from New York City to come teach. It’s normally the kind of thing I would love, but I keep getting distracted by the room itself. There’s something familiar about the dark paneling and overstuffed couches, the shelves lined with books and scripts. I breathe in the smell of polished wood and leather.

“I think I used to play in here,” I tell Lex and Val when we take a short break, and I wander over to the window to feel the thick floor-length curtains. “Hide-and-seek, maybe.”

“Who with?” Lex asks, but I shrug.

“My mother, I guess.” It’s just a feeling I have. Not a real memory.

Willa sticks her head into the library then. “Morning, lovelies!” she says, and I watch her search the room until her eyes land on me. “Avril, meet me in the cafeteria when class ends.” She smiles. “I’d like the two of us to have lunch together. If you’re up for that.”

“Sure,” I say. “That’d be good.” I feel everyone staring at me, and I hope I sound less nervous than I feel.

“Wonderful!” she tells me. She waves a hand, and I hear the jangling of silver bracelets. “Now, back to work, everybody! No rest for the wicked!”

“You’re her Eden,” Lex whispers when Willa’s gone. “I’d bet you a million dollars.”

“You might as well start learning those lines,” Val adds.

My stomach drops. I want that to be true, but then there’s so much I want from Willa. And the lead in her play is only part of it.

Our instructor comes back from the restroom, and we jump back into script analysis. But now I can’t even pretend to pay attention. I’m still thinking about this room. Those long curtains tied back with gold cords. But I’m also freaking out about eating with Willa. Just the two of us.

And about how much I want to be Eden.