Chapter 1

2004-11-09T18:07:00.000-08:00

It’s hot up on stage, even though the lights are off and an afternoon breeze blows through the open auditorium doors. I look at the script for Antigone in my hand and try to stop it from shaking. I read ahead to the lines I am supposed to read and I realized I am supposed to kiss the boy I am reading with. I tell myself, “This is a play and you want the part. Just do it.” Jack’s hair is perfect, blond. His eyes are blue and put forth the sincerity required. He is solid in a spotless white t-shirt. I can feel the sweat running down the backs of my legs.

He takes my hand and kisses it. His lips are soft on my hand, which I manage not to jerk away too fast. He is in ancient Greece and I am a backyard last summer where somebody kissed me and then did a lot of other things I didn’t want. Our scene is over and the drama teacher thanks us. She knows Jack from last year. He’s probably nailed the lead role. Me, I’m not so sure.

I just started school here. It’s my first public school. The girls’ bathroom smells like pee and hairspray. I feel like a ghost. I had to ask for help getting my locker open because at Tidewater Catholic, we kept our books in cubby holes – a seafoam green wooden bookcase that went from floor to ceiling in each classroom.

Julie and I got kicked out. We didn’t show up for a week. The headmistress called our parents in and said to me, “If you don’t want to be here, we don’t want you here.”

Working title: Hardcore Matinee

Chapter 1