Misfit Theater Company 2

27. LA

"Janie Myers & Tess Collins," the sign reads. A man dressed in a black suit holds it up alongside other people, presumably other drivers, and their signs by the exit of LAX.

"Wow," Mom says, "Tara really went all out."

Tara Lyons planned all of this for us. As her first unofficial client, she said that she wants to treat me and show me how wonderful LA can be.

Mom approaches the man with her hand extended. "Hello, I'm Tess Collins, and this is my daughter Janie Myers."

He smiles and lowers the sign, taking my mom's hand to shake it. "Welcome to Los Angeles. Ms. Lyons has given me instructions to bring you to her home."

"Awesome," I say, a bit louder than I intended to. But it's true: This is all so awesome and surreal. I'm in LA? And a celebrity I watched on TV for years is sending a driver to pick me up at the airport? And then I am going to her house? It's all too much to be real, except that it is.

We follow the driver out to a limousine and hop in the back seat. As soon as I'm in the back, I hear, "Surprise!"

Moth, Patti, and Thatcher are all waiting for us in the back with sparkling cider in flute glasses.

I clutch my chest with shock before scooting down the seat to hold Thatcher for the first time in a week and a half. I know it doesn't seem long, but for me, it's felt like an eternity. He is slightly more tanned from the sun out here, I suppose, but he still feels and smells like home. Strange thing to notice a smell, but it takes me back to nights in the shed, when the world wasn't any bigger than the four walls around us.

He kisses the top of my head and whispers that he's missed me. If my mom weren't here, I'd meet his eyes and fully make out with him, but she is and I'd rather die than make out with my boyfriend right in front of my mom.

Instead, I pull myself away from Thatcher to acknowledge my other friends in the limo and squeal, "You surprised me!"

"Yeah, that was the point," Moth says with a smirk.

"Off to Tara Lyon's house now," Patti sort of sings, lifting her glass. "Cheers to the misfits reuniting in LA."

"Cheers," we say in unison.

Then, true, to Mom's fashion, she shouts, "Stop... this is non-alcoholic, right?"

Patti's eyes go wide and her face becomes stern. "Yes, Ms. Collins, of course, I would never bring alcohol into a car filled with minors. This is sparkling apple cider. Is that okay?"

Mom smiles. "Yes, okay, good. Cheers."

The limo pulls out of the airport pick up lane and onto the freeways and streets of Los Angeles, the biggest city I've ever been to in my life. Instead of looking at the sights on our way, Patti utilizes the time with me by coaching me on what she knows about the script and the character I'm auditioning for.

The character's name is Selene, and she's supposed to be sixteen-years-old.

She is cautious, because she is shy.

She used to like the character Moth will be playing, named Blake.

To get Blake to notice her, Selene started talking more to one of her friends named Randall, who Thatcher is playing.

Meanwhile, Blake falls in love with Selene's friend Clara, who Patti is playing.

As Selene realizes Blake may be out of reach, she apparently gives up and stops talking to Randall and Clara, when she realizes she may have real feelings for Randall.