BAD ACTING

MAJOR

        I woke from my three-day binge and noticed a million missed calls from Leah on my phone. I walked to the kitchen, heated up water for tea, and stuffed a banana in my mouth before calling her back.

        "Hey."

        "Hey, come play at my house for a few days. You can sleep in the guest house."

        "Ok"

        "I'm laying out by the pool, get over here."

        I finished making my tea and poured it in a to-go container. I unzipped the Louis Vuitton duffle that I acquired and threw in the Dolce&Gabbana trunks, some Diesel T-shirts, Marc Jacob sandals from the Nylon shoot, and a sealed bag of medium briefs from the Diesel shoot that I discovered in the bottom of one of the boxes. In the Beatles bag, I packed a toothbrush, deodorant, and pot. Driving away from the Circus Liquor Clown and up into the hills of Sherman Oaks, I arrived at Leah's and parked beside her green Jeep Wrangler. I did not knock at the unlocked front door. I walked through the main entrance and pushed open the glass sliding door, stepping out into the backyard. I found Leah sunning by the pool in a green bikini.

        After tanning, we watched Buffy episodes inside, drinking gin and tonics. I passed out next to Leah in the guest house after midnight. The next morning I drove down the hill to teach a dance class and then returned to Leah's.

        Julia and Leah sat by the pool, and I waved on my way to the guest house to change. I jumped into the Dolce&Gabbana trunks and joined the girls in the sun.

        "Sean asked me to audition for his next project," Leah announced, sipping lemonade from a light blue bottle.

        "What is the role?" Julia asked, dipping her feet in the water.

        I sat up on my towel and crossed my legs, Indian style.

        "It's a teen-horror flick. Most of the film is already cast. The role is one of the first girls to get murdered. So its a C-list character in an A-list film."

        "That is major," I replied. I could not contain my excitement. A role in one of Sean's films could re-launch Leah's career, and open endless doors for the future.

        "I want it so bad," Leah whispered.

        "You are going to get it," I said. I wanted her to get it. This is exactly the type of movie I desperately dreamed of acting in. This could be me in a few years.

        "Read her cards and find out!" Julia giggled, kicking her feet in the water.

        "Yes! Can you please?" Leah begged, taking off her sunglasses.

        "Carrie swears you are magic." Julia teased me.

        "Guys, I only read her cards because she forced me to. Total coincidence that she landed Hit List a few months after."

        Leah pouted her lips and folded her arms.

        "Please."

        I agreed. "I don't have them with me, but we can do it Friday night.

        Leah and Julia nodded their heads, clapping their hands in victory.

*

        Thursday I taught a dance class in the morning, followed by the gym with Andrew, and then drove to the YA Studio to meet up with Leah. Karen privately coached Leah on the scenes for the screen test Leah booked the following Monday. Leah worked all morning with Karen and texted me to stop by to help them.

        "In the scene, my character kisses the male actor and then takes his clothes off. She starts to take her clothes off when she hears a noise. She leaves the guy in his underwear to check the noise. She comes back. He's dead. She gets chased. She dies." Leah quickly filled me in on the basics.

        "Ok," I said, laughing. " I so hope you get the role, this is classic."

        "Karen thinks I should actually kiss the guy on Monday and take off his clothes. Normally that type of action is faked for a screen test, but Karen wants me to do it for real."

        "If Leah takes a risk and goes full out, the role is hers. " Karen stated, calmly from her seat off stage.

        The next two hours Leah recited her lines while practicing on me.

        "Nobody is home" Leah's line.

        "What did you have in mind?" my line

        Leah kissed me slowly, tongue circling mine.

        "Do you trust me?" Leah's line.

        "Yes, I-" my line

        "Stand still," Leah's line.

        Leah took off my shirt.

        "I have waited so long for this." Leah's line.

        Leah unzipped my pants.

        "You can't tell Jennifer, swear?" Leah's line.

        Leah pulls off her top.

        "I swear." my line.

        Leah pulled down my pants, lowering to her knees.

        SOUND FROM DOWNSTAIRS

        "Did you hear that?" Leah's line. She rises, about to investigate.

        "probably just the cat, don't go!" my line

        "I don't have a cat." Leah's line.

        Leah exits.

        The first few tries I kept laughing and we started over. Karen yelled at me the third time and I contained myself from then on. By the sixteenth take, I respected Karen's methods because Leah stumbled through undressing me the first hour. The last ten attempts of the scene Leah skillfully nailed the blocking of the scene, while repeating the lines in a perfect dumb blonde character Karen molded on her.

        After two hours of being kissed and undressed Karen dismissed us, and I drove home.