Chapter Three

Chase

Yikes.

Yikes with a capital Y .

Why indeed.

Why did this feel different?

Why did I ever agree to this? Why did I ever sign up for acting in the first place?

Why was I so damned nervous?

It was just acting. And if there was one thing I could do, it was act.

So, with a resolve I didn't quite rightly feel, I stood up. "Come on, boyfriend of one year," I said to Amos. "Let's go get acquainted."

Amos straightened his folder, picked it up, and stood. He never said anything—he rarely did—and he followed me to the far corner of the room.

I sat down with my back against the wall, legs outstretched, and he did the same beside me.

There was a good foot between us, and while it wasn't awkward, it wasn't comfortable. He just wasn't an open person. He had a hard exterior that wasn't easy to break.

"You up for this?" I asked.

His eyes narrowed as he stared at his Chucks. "Sure. It's just acting, right?"

"Right."

"You work at the Bean Necessities, right? The coffee shop across the street? That's where I've seen you."

He nodded. "Yep."

And he offered nothing more, so I figured I'd just dive straight into the deep end. "So, have you ever kissed a guy before?"

He frowned, though his pale cheeks flushed a little pink. "I have, yes."

I nodded slowly. "You're gay, right? Is that what I heard?"

His dark eyes cut to mine. "You heard?"

"I'm bi," I replied. "And I've been to the LGBTQ center a few times." I didn't want to admit that I hadn't been there in a while, but still. "We talk."

"You gossip."

"No, we talk. We discuss things and we open up to each other. It's a safe place, and Ross might have mentioned you."

"Ross..." Amos sighed. "I dated Ross in my freshman year."

"He's a nice guy," I allowed. "And he never gossiped or spilled any deets. He mentioned you in passing two years ago; I think you must have been dating at the time. I don't even know why I remembered... "

Sure, Chase. Just give yourself away in the first two minutes.

You remembered because you noticed Amos, and you remembered that he was gay every single time you saw him.

Amos pulled at a thread near the hole in the knee of his jeans. "He is. We just... we're still friends, I guess. We weren't compatible for anything more."

"So have you dated anyone recently?"

He shot me a look that pretty much said what business is that of yours .

"You know, in case I gotta watch my back if the world thinks we're a thing."

Amos rolled his eyes and sighed. "No. No one recently. What about you? Still a serial non-dater to be forever playing the field?"

I wasn't sure what to make of that. Was that snarky sarcasm pure distaste? Or did I detect something else?

Keep dreaming.

He's the sarcasm king.

"Forever playing the field," I replied. Then I shrugged. "It's how I like it. I'm too young to be tied down. I want to be free to see as many people as I can, and as long as they know from the get-go that it's a one-time thing, then no one gets hurt."

He made a face. "No one's warranted a second look?"

"Look? Sure. I look all the time. But a second date?" I sighed. "Nah."

"That's kinda sad."

Sad?

I shot him a what-the-fuck look. "How is that sad? "

"You could've completely bypassed your one person, just disregarded them because of your own rules."

"My one person? Like a soulmate?" I tried not to laugh. "Do you honestly believe in that?"

Amos pressed his lips together and pulled at the loose thread in his jeans some more. "I don't know. Maybe I do." Then he shrugged. "The idea that there's one person we can connect with better than any other person, that we understand, that we gel with. I think that's true. Do I believe in the ‘one person is half my soul' kind of soulmate, and I need to find them?" He made a face. "Statistically speaking, I think that's improbable. Some people are supposed to be in our lives short term; other people forever."

Okay, wow. I wasn't expecting things to get so deep right off the bat.

He exhaled loudly. "I think it's all kinda connected with past lives and who we were, and maybe your best friend in this life was your brother in your past life. Stuff like that. I think it's all connected somehow, like our souls recognize each other. Kinda weird, and I don't know why I just said all of that, sorry."

"Don't apologize. It's a nice idea."

We were quiet then for a few seconds.

"Anyway," he went on, then cleared his throat. "So we really do need to convince the entire campus that you, the serial non-dater who never does repeats, is suddenly interested in dating one person?"

"Well..." I grimaced. "Just how good are you at acting?"

"It's not me I'm worried about. How are you going to stop flirting with everyone? You have a wandering eye and a smile that?—"

He stopped mid-sentence.

"I have a smile that what?"

He rolled his eyes. "You know damn well," he mumbled. "You totally play it up. All-American boy next door, pretty blue eyes, Colgate smile, and a killer dimple. You know exactly what you're doing when you aim that at people."

I laughed because what the fuck?

I leaned in close and fluttered my eyelashes. "You think I have pretty eyes?"

He scoffed, seemingly unaffected. "It won't work on me. I'm immune."

My grin was for naught because he wasn't looking at me. "Immune to what?"

"To the bullshit."

"Ouch. My smile and pretty eyes aren't bullshit."

"You use them to get what you want."

"That's not fair. You use your spiky James Dean vibe to keep people away."

That made him look at me. "Spiky James Dean?"

I chuckled. "Yes. You use it so people avoid you. So you don't get asked to do group projects or go to parties."

He conceded a shrug. "Because it works."

"How is that any different from what I do?"

He stared at me, his dark eyes scrutinizing. Anyone else might have looked away and apologized, but I wasn't falling for it.

"Okay, that's fair," he mumbled.

I laughed, victorious. "We're not that dissimilar. "

That made him scoff. "Pray tell, how the fuck did you come to that conclusion?"

I was still smiling. "You'll see."

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "We're supposed to be getting to know each other."

"We are."

"Like background information."

"Us or our characters?"

He opened his folder. "For the sake of simplification, it says we should just use our own family's background. Makes sense, I guess. What about you? How's your family stack up?"

"I have a younger sister. She's nine. Pretty sure she wasn't planned, but now she's the princess of the family. If you think I'm spoiled, you ain't seen nothing. My folks are still married, living their best lives in Palm Springs. What about you?"

"I'm from Phoenix. My parents split when I was five. It was amicable, I guess. They both remarried, both still kinda talk. I have two older brothers. One's an electrician, one's an accountant. And then there's me."

The way he said that last part didn't sound too happy. "Do your folks not agree with you majoring in acting in college?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "They don't mind, though I'm sure they think I'll end up doing something else and I just need to get this out of my system."

I made a face. "That sucks. I'm sorry."

"It's not so bad. My mom always wished she was a writer or a painter, and she's always doing some kind of craft. Loves books. So she can appreciate my creative side. "

"And you've always loved acting?"

"Always. I'd put on little skits at dinner when I was three. And in kindergarten I got mad because my teacher would tell me to stop pretending, but I wasn't pretending to be Hiccup Haddock. I was acting. I was Hiccup Haddock."

" How to Train Your Dragon ?"

"I loved those books."

"They were books?"

He gave me an annoyed side-glance and sighed. "What about you? Always wanted to be an actor?"

"Always. When I was younger, it was movies like Spiderman and Star Wars . The actors would get to live out those epic roles and get lightsabers for real. Then when I was a teenager, I'd see the cool actors with the great one-liners. From shows like The OC and Pretty Little Liars . Man, I loved those."

Amos squinted at me. "Those are your top two shows? Your preteen self was kinda predictable."

"Oh, okay, Mr Too Cool, what were your top two shows when you were preteen?"

" Baskets , Mr. Robot , Pose . Boardwalk Empire , Westworld , Naruto ."

" Naruto ?"

" Naruto: Shippuden is intelligent writing."

"But it's not character acting. It's animation with voice acting."

"I'm still allowing it."

"Then I can allow Rick and Morty ."

Amos cracked a smile. He actually smiled.

Kinda .

"I would also allow Rick and Morty ."

"It's hilarious." I grinned and relaxed with a sigh. Still leaning against the wall, I nodded toward where Phoebe and Jess were chatting and giggling. "I don't think those two will need to be acting much. They're already good friends."

"I think that's why Deirdre chose them." He nodded to where Max and Holly were sitting and talking. "I think she paired us all pretty well."

Oh?

"Then why us?"

"Because I'm gay; you're bi. We'd have no real issue with showing affection to a guy. It's one less obstacle for someone like Tucker or Max. I guess Deirdre thought she was doing the others a favor."

"Gee, thanks."

"You know what I mean."

I did, but still.

"It's all acting. Kissing you or anyone else—it doesn't mean anything," I said, absolutely not trying to convince myself that he was no different. Then I realized something and began flicking through the folder. "Just how far do you think we're expected to go? We're a couple that's been together for a year, right?"

"What do you mean? Like full-on sex scenes?" He made a face, though his cheeks pooled the prettiest pink. "No. Surely nothing too explicit. Holding hands, kissing, that kind of stuff. It's PG-13, right?"

"Right."

"If you're not comfortable doing that, we just have to say. They can't make us?— "

"No, it's fine," I said. "I don't have a problem with it. Do you?"

He shrugged. "Guess not. It's just acting, like you said. And anyway, if we're gonna take it to the next level, we need to get over it, right?" Then he winced. "I mean, take our acting to the next level, not the intimate scenes."

I snorted. "Yeah. We'll be fine."

He nodded, and I wondered if he had any better luck convincing himself than I did.

I didn't know why he rattled me so much.

Because you like him, idiot. Because he never fell for your charms like everyone else. He never fawned over you, never even looked your way.

And that gets under your skin more than any attempt at flirting.

"So," he hedged. "I guess we'll need to start convincing people."

I grinned at him. "Leave that to me."

He gave me one helluva mean side-eye. "Do I even want to know?"

I laughed, and when class was over and everyone filed out of the room, we were all feeling much better about the production. It was exciting, and I was looking forward to spending more time with Amos.

Real or not.

As me or as my character Dominic.

I met Tater and Jimmy at the edge of the courtyard, and seeing Amos already walking away with his head down, I seized my opportunity.

"Amos!" I yelled.

He stopped and turned, scowling .

I grinned at him. "Tomorrow."

He replied by extending his middle finger while still holding the strap of his backpack.

I laughed.

"What the hell is that?" Tater asked beside me.

That was the start of convincing the student body of Franklin U that I could be a one-man guy.

"Nothing," I said, slapping him on the back. "You know what? I'm famished, and I'm thinking we should eat at the coffee shop today."