all day at school so I don’t see the need to talk about it online in the evening. This time, though, I punch Mia’s name into the search to see if anyone has mentioned her. Three hits since this afternoon, including Check out the new hottie. I flip the computer shut and slide up the volume on the song playing. Secret heart. I sit up again quickly and peer suspiciously at my play list. This very secret that you’re trying to conceal/Is the very same one that you’re dying to reveal. This has been a strange day. When I see you looking at me, I say something about the crap people post with a noise that was supposed to be blasé but sounded possessed. My abruptness is fortunately eclipsed by the cat coming into the room and hopping up onto the bed with a purr. She pushes her head into the palm of your hand, giving me a moment to wonder what it is about some people, and why I should feel protective of a person I hardly know. Holly (Golightly) flops onto her back and I watch you stir her tabby fur, remembering the day she first came home and we let her squirm in our cupped hands.
You check the time. Nearly 8:00.
YOU
Crap. Gotta go!
You grab your shoes.
ME
Time flies when you’re with me …
You zip your smile into the neck of your hoodie. You’re busy this year, always something to do. I’m not sure I like it. We used to hang out for hours.
ME
What’s tonight? Karate?
You nod, heading to the door. I came with you to a few classes last year. I had dreams of being a spy—martial arts an obvious prerequisite—but there’s a lot of stretching and you get pink and sweaty. I realized that what I actually want is to be a spy in movies where there is never pinkness or sweat. So you could say that I want to be an actress. I hand you your stack of books at the door.
YOU
See you tomorrow.
You salute and bound downstairs.
SCHOOL THEATER. TUESDAY AFTERNOON.
We’re here for our first real class with Mia. As I gaze at the arch that sweeps above the stage and at the lights on the deep plum curtains drawn closed, the theater feels alive, full of expectation. It’s exciting to walk down the aisle, sidestepping into a row of seats. Mia sits at the front of the stage in a circle of light.
MIA
Purpose.
I sit forward to be closer.
Everything we do is the pursuit of an objective. Some are fulfilled in seconds, some take a lifetime, but there’s a reason for every action, so let that purpose propel you from one moment to the next.
She takes an orange from her pocket.
Remember how it felt running with your eyes closed? You had to be in the moment.
She throws the orange unexpectedly to Kate in the second row. Kate’s hand shoots out to catch it, startling her and making Mia laugh.
MIA
Excellent! Be receptive to your impulses.
Kate throws it back, Mia smiling, engaged.
See how you’re all now rooted in this moment.
She pretends to throw it a few times before sending it toward Tony. She smiles again and so do I.
Your intention to catch the orange triggered your response to reach out.
He returns the throw and she tucks the orange back in her pocket.
You wouldn’t catch an orange that no one threw. That would be weird! Keep that in mind onstage so you’re never speaking or moving without a reason. Stand up because you need to. No pacing, no musical chairs or hugging furniture. And no crazy gesturing.
I laugh so much at her demonstration that some people stare. My post-laugh sigh is still tapering off as she disappears into the wings. After a moment, the curtains open and we’re looking at a single desk and chair center stage, exactly the same as the ones in any classroom. Mia reappears.
MIA
First, you’re just going to be you. Let’s get past any self-consciousness and the thought of being watched. Put a fourth wall between yourself and the audience. I’d like you each to come up and spend two minutes onstage, as if you were by yourself. Sounds easy enough, right?
She presses her hands together.
Imagine you’re the first into class. Arrive exactly as you would. Create the classroom in your mind and try to believe that you have two minutes alone at your desk before anyone else comes in. Engage with a task you would realistically be doing.
She smiles, running her eyes around the