How's My Acting?

[RJ Jay]

RJ let out a breath and turned to look at the ceiling, trying to pretend like he wasn't bored out of his mind. He actually loved drama class: it was one of his ways of getting some extra attention, getting in front of groups of people and showing his skills. Okay, so he happened to be a bit of a ham and a little stiff in the actual acting department, but he was still pulling a "B", which was way higher than he got in every other class.

Then he'd been paired with a girl he actually didn't know, which had had been intriguing. They'd only met long enough after class to agree to meet again at the studio after classes, so it wasn't like RJ figured out a lot about her besides: "she was pretty damn hot." That pretty well summed up all the qualities RJ looked for in a girl, though he actually wanted to do well at this project too.

Man, he hated problems like this.

Well, maybe they could see if they could get some chemistry going, really heat up the performance and all. Then RJ could get both. First though, she had to actually show. RJ frowned as his phone buzzed, pulling it out to respond to the tweet real quick before sending another message off to the girl.

hey babe, where r u? w8ting in drama room, getting anxious

[Brooklyn Carter]

hey babe, where r u? w8ting in drama room, getting anxious

Her eyes glanced down at the notification on her phone. Sighing, she unlocked it with a few swipes of a finger and replied:

sry. im on my way now, lost track of time. >.> and dnt call me babe.

Looking up from her phone, she simply sighed as she rolled her eyes. Why the hell would he be anxious? It was just an assignment. Okay, so maybe she was used stuff like this, but still, it wasn't anything to get anxious over.

Also, you'd think someone who was in a rush would have been faster than this when trying to get to their destination. Sadly, Brooklyn was rushing and she was going as fast as her legs could take her. Why couldn't she have long powerful legs like those in track?

Once she made it to the drama room, she stopped shortly, took a deep breath and finally opened the door to the drama studio, only to spot her partner. "I'm here. Sorry, I- uh, totally lost track of time." Way to pull off a great first impression, if she cared about that sort of thing. Honestly, Brooklyn had no idea of how she was supposed to feel about being partnered up with RJ. They had only just officially met after being partnered up and while all of the other girls in class pretty much drooled over him and possibly anyone else who saw videos of him on the internet... while Brooklyn didn't really care too much. Not to mention the mental images and thoughts about him that she would catch from others in class.

Let's just say she saw his face more than she wanted to, regardless if he was somewhat attractive. After grabbing her papers from class, she tossed her shoulder bag to the side. "I guess we can get started..."

[RJ Jay]

RJ chuckled at the last bit, his fingers already moving to send a response:

sure thing, hotstuff

And send. He then moved back to moving about the room, pacing nervously, hopping from time to time, alternating between dance moves and kata and anything that kept his body in motion. RJ almost couldn't help it: too long sitting still and he swore his muscles just did the twitching thing all on their own. He'd just popped for a headstand, which slid his shirt down enough to show washboard abs and the tops of his boxers, when Brooklyn arrived.

Damn, those were some nice legs. RJ shifted smiled and gave a little pushup (another trick he'd seen and could thankfully mimic), before landing and rolling up, feeling his body pop all the way back up. "No big deal," he said, adding a little brush at his nose with his thumb, swaggering slightly. He held out his hand, "Now, I'm sure you've heard all about me, and you're probably all anxious to get all up in this," he gestured at himself, "but I'm actually doing good at this, so we'll have to put all this chemistry between us for our scene," he gestured at them both, then nodded and moved back to digging around his script. "Got any ideas for a scene? I was thinking Romeo and Juliet," he turned and popped his brows a few times, adding a "tch" noise to further emphasize how very hot that would be.

[Brooklyn Carter]

Oh god, she was so not going to answer to that last text. Clearly there was no winning with this guy and she wasn't going to stress herself over it either. Clearly she was dealing a YouTube sensation or whatever they called themselves: An internet star, a celeb, a playboy, a conceited douche... whatever the case may be. At the end of the day, he was a regular person to her and with that, he would be treated as such. She wasn't someone easily won over.

Great. Now she walked in on him doing... moves, and it was freaking impressive. Not to mention the glimpse of his abs and boxers. But oh no, she wouldn't be won that easily and if he thought she could, he had another thing coming. Too bad he hadn't been thinking that... then, you know, she would have a reason to say something against it. Brooklyn stopped in front of RJ and simply looked at him as he reached out for a shake.

You have to be kidding me.

Oh god. Okay. Alright. She could deal with this. THIS, she could handle. Maybe... she wasn't too sure but Brooklyn was trying her best to convince herself that she could handle him. Even though she was hesitant, she still reached out to shake his hand and again, simply eyed him. Her expression hadn't changed much, if at all. "Yeah. I've heard enough about you. Anxious? No. Unimpressed, yes." Sighing, she eyed the papers, her eyes glanced back up at him as he popped his brows.

Someone please kill me now.

"I guess Romeo and Juliet is just fine. I brought copies of different scenes if you need one. Of course Romeo and Juliet was one of them... something we'd have to work hard on if we ever wanted it to feel and look natural in front of our audience. Can you at least manage that?"

[RJ Jay]

RJ grinned as the girl insisted that she wasn't impressed. "Give it time," he said, adding a wink. He moved over to take one of the nearby seats, turning it before plunking down. Not that sitting stopped him from fidgeting, in this case, his foot tapping out a regular beat. At least he kept attention on Brooklyn, though not strictly on what she was actually saying.

Well, mostly. He did catch enough to nod along with it. Yeah, a few different Romeo and Juliet scenes, he could totally do it. "Yeah, I wanna work hard," he said, nodding more enthusiastically this time. "So which scene did you grab? We gonna do the whole balcony scene? Or should we be practicing our kissing? Not that yours truly needs much practice."

Which naturally came with another smirk. RJ also leaned forward, trying to get a better look at the scripts that Brooklyn had brought. Yeah, he had his own copies and all, but these were being held by an attractive girl, and therefore better by association.

[Brooklyn Carter]

"Riiiiigghhtt..." She simply blinked as he winked at her. Something was telling her that this was going to be a very long day... with him. Hopefully she'd give herself enough breaks throughout it all so she didn't get too overwhelmed by the amount of 'boy toy' he was giving off. It was a lot, and she was surprised she had stayed this long without wanting to walk out.

And it had only been about ten minutes.

"Good." If he really meant it then she was with it. "I managed to grab Scene 2; Capulet's orchard, so yeah the balcony scene. I also managed to also grab the first kiss scene," She propped her hand on a hip as she looked at him. Typical. "From what I've seen, I'm sure you get enough practice everyday." As if she didn't always see him in the halls tonguing down some girl against a locker on a daily basis. C'mon now.

Not to mention she didn't have the best experience when it came to kissing... or guys for that matter. She was pretty sure she only experienced one kiss in her whole entire seventeen years of living. Just sad.

"I'm probably going to regret this but you can pick which one out of the two we'd start with. Just don't get all... weird."

[RJ Jay]

Look at that eye roll thing: that totally meant that she wanted to admit that he was awesome but was just in denial and trying to act all cool. That meant that RJ should probably act a little cool too: not jump straight to the kissing scene or at least not make her jump straight to the kissing scene. Let his magic work on her first, get her to admit that oh yeah, she totally wanted some. She wanted all the some.

He just shrugged at the mention of all the practice. "You gotta keep in good shape, never know when you're gonna be called up to the big game," he let his eyebrows bounced for a moment, then went back to nodding, nodding and turning to where he'd left his own picks on a nearby drama shelf. Regret letting him pick? Oh yeah, probably, but not in the way she figured.

"We should do the balcony scene then. It's the one that's all famous and all, and we wanna impress, right?" RJ thumbed through his copy, frowning and tilting the pages for Brooklyn to see. "Where you wanna start?"

[Brooklyn Carter]

There were just times where she wished telepathy had been a non-existent ability, like right about now. Come on, seriously? She wanted all of the some? More like all of the none. Okay?

She slightly grimaced at the fact that he had the nerve to do that eyebrow thing... that he did. "Or called up to a doctor to get checked for an STD." Who knew what was traveling around the mouths of these ridiculously active young adults at this school. Okay so if Brooklyn seemed a little prude, that's because she was... that and she didn't necessarily get to go around sleeping or making out with guys day in and day out while trying to juggle school work.

Don't confuse that with her being envious, because she wasn't.

"Cool, and yeah. Totally wanna impress." And yes, this was her actually agreeing with him. If there was one thing she could enjoy about his personality, it would have to be the fact that he wanted to make sure all eyes were on him and in theater, you needed that charisma. She stepped next to him and looked down at his copy before pointing at specific point. "Here. Where it says Enter Romeo." Brooklyn glanced around and noticed an older grand baby piano near them. Even though she knew she'd get in trouble for it, she climbed on top of it and stood. Smiling, she chuckled. She felt silly but seeing how she'd have to be on a balcony, this was kind of close. "Now, we have an atmosphere. I'm ready when you are, Romeo." She then turned her pages to the scene before glancing back down at him with an amused smirk.

[RJ Jay]

RJ held a hand up to his chest, wincing as Brooklyn implied that he wasn't clean. "Hey, babe, this fool ain't no jester, he always wraps his scepter," he added another wink, before bounding over to get that copy of the script. Soon he was flipping through, nodding along as Brooklyn spoke, agreeing with him. She poked his copy, he gave her a salute, and then he turned and moved back a few feet, figuring that he should at least start with some distance.

"You just think you're ready," he said, smirking. He rolled his shoulders again, smoothing his clothes down and adding a few brushing motions, as if flicking last bits of dust or perhaps just getting cool. He readied his script then, pulling it up so that he could sort of read it while still looking at Brooklyn. The whole take charge pop on the piano thing was pretty damn hot, after all, and they were about to make this whole room smoking.

RJ cleared his throat, and then spoke, actually doing a halfway decent if sort of racist Shakespearean style voice: "But soft!" he gestured toward Brooklyn. "What light through yonder window breaks?" he took a step toward her, raising his head and the script. "It is the east, and Juliet is the sun," he gestured toward her, before pulling the hand back, fist closing. He extended it again with the next line: "Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon," he gestured, spreading his fingers, "who is already sick with grief. That you--thou her maid ain't---art far more fair than she," he paused, squinting at the script. "Be not her maid since---" RJ clicked his tongue. "Man, this is getting weird, and I got more," he looked up, arching a brow. "Am I doing it alright? This Shakespeare stuff all just sounds weird to me, like all these thous and arts and crap," he gestured at the script, snorting.

[Brooklyn Carter]

"Good to know... I guess." Not that she cared, it was his own body. He could be as protected or unprotected as he wanted to be. She wasn't touching that scepter of his even with a 30 foot pole. And why on earth did he have to rhyme that last bit. It was as if the longer she stood next to him, the easier it was to be prepared to ignore any of his thoughts that may have surfaced. As far as she was concerned, his thoughts were a safety hazard to her health.

Romeo and Juliet had been one of her favorite plays growing up and while she seen the plays over a billion times and even took part in it more than a few, it never got old. Now she had RJ to thank for that continuing trend because for a quick run through, his acting was pretty decent. A soft smile slipped out when she took notice of his attention of movement. He didn't just stand there like most people did, he actually moved around, he was animated, it was alive.

Raising a brow, she chuckled as she went to kneel on top of the piano. "The only really lengthy part is yours, Romeo, at the beginning because you're supposed to be noticing your Juliet while she's alone, speaking to herself for those small moments. Noticing the smallest detail of the woman of your dreams, admiring them from afar but yet you're so close."

She simply sighed at RJ as her brown eyes looked at him. Her love for theater and drama may have seeped out just a bit. "I mean, you're doing just fine but this is a very small dialogue compared to the big boy stuff. You have to appreciate the plays of where the art of theater blossomed and became popular before you can understand the modern stuff, be lucky I didn't pick an ancient Greek tragedy."

She couldn't expect someone like him to appreciate something as beautiful as Shakespeare's work. Maybe they were better off doing a scene out of A Bronx Tale, or Ten Things I Hate About You. "We can always skip the rest of that dialogue and continue, or try another scene, or another play. You know, if you don't think you're comfortable with it."

[RJ Jay]

"Yeah, yeah," he said, waving a hand. "I gotcha." RJ supposed it made sense, and there were technically longer monologues and stuff. He'd actually memorized one or two for earlier classes, not that he remembered much about them any more. It all pretty much just got stored into the short term. Still, RJ knew he could pull something like this off.

So when Brooklyn continued, he couldn't help but give her something of a stink eye. "Hey," he said, rolling his shoulders, "I can totally do this stuff. It's all Shakespeare and that's a big deal, so we gotta do it." Even if RJ didn't quite understand why it was a big deal, he at least understood that it was, in fact, one. So he pulled his script up, only to lower it a few moments later, pointing. "I'm totally chill with this. I'll romance the crap out of you, and I'll even read the lines too," RJ added a wink and then cleared his throat, pulling up the script once more:

"Her vest---vest---vestial livery is but sick and green, and none but fools do wear it. Cast it off!" RJ gestured with a hand, taking another step forward. "It is my lady," the hand went up, gesturing toward Brooklyn. "OH, it is my love," hand pulled back to RJ's body. "She speaks yet she says nothing: what of that? Her eye... dis---discourses," RJ pulled the script up, nodding before continuing: "I will answer it," he took a step forward. "I am too bold, tis not to me she speaks: two of the fairest stars in all the heaven," RJ gestured toward the ceiling, "heaving some business do entreat in her eyes," he indicated Brooklyn's eyes this s e, letting more emotion slide into his voice as he slid another step forward. "To twinkle in their spheres till they return. WHat if her eyes were there, they in her head? The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars," he pulled back, lowering his head for a moment, pulling the script so he could make sure to look at it. He continued; "those stars, as daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven would through the airy region stream so bright," up to look at Brooklyn again, "that birds would sing and think it were not night. See!" he gestured again, extending a hand, palm up, "how she leans her cheek upon her hand! Oh," he almost sounded in pain, "that I were a glove upon that hand. That I might touch that... cheek."

And RJ ended with the wide, mournful, longing eyes, inwardly celebrating cuz he'd totally just nailed it.

[Brooklyn Carter]

He said he "got her" but did he really? She figured they would soon find out, not that she was betting on him to quit (because their grade depended on this performance), it was just that she wouldn't expect someone like him to understand. It was kind of like judging a book by it's cover with no real intention of wanting to open and read what was inside.

The ebony student simply eyed him when he gave her the stink eye, and didn't seem to change her expression when he winked at her also. "Oookay." Sure, he'd romance the crap out of her and read the lines, whatever. Just as long as they got through this more than enough times for him to get comfortable with it. Even she needed a warm up to get into the swing of things. Throughout the whole time Brooklyn had watched and waited and not so she could point out him messing up, no. It was so she could wait for the moment where she really felt it from him. That way if she ever needed to point out where she saw it come out of him most, she'd be able to.

What got Brooklyn the most was the fact that he was able to catch on to his mistakes a bit quicker than most. Not that she had a problem with it, it was just interesting to realize. Her eyes focused on RJ until she realized it was her turn. Talk about being lost in thought. She looked away from him as if she was in her own thoughts, daydreaming about what she and no one else would understand. Her hand placed against her cheek, in her own little world. "Ay me!" Only to sit against the edge of the piano with her legs dangling off.

[RJ Jay]

{I now f**king hate Shakespeare}

It seriously took RJ a few moments to realize that Brooklyn really had said her entire line. He kept looking down at the paper, then up at her, then back down at the script. Well, at least it did look like she'd be doing some more talking in a bit. Plus, RJ did like to hear the sound of his own voice:

"She speaks!" he added an overly dramatic jump, putting a hand to his heart. "Oh speak again, bright angel!" a gesture toward her while he loaded each and every syllable with the drama Shakespeare totally deserved. "Four thou art as--- glorious as this night, being over my head," it said o'er, but RJ figured that was just some kind of spelling mistake or something. He took another few paces closer, getting within a few feet of the piano now. "As is a winged messenger of heaven... guy seriously couldn't have just said angel?" RJ snorted, but adjusted his script again: "As is a winged messenger of heaven unto the white-upturned wondering eyes of mortals that fall back to gaze on him. When he bestrides the lazy-pacing clouds and sails upon the bosom of the air."

RJ finished with an arm extended toward Brooklyn, because that totally felt right, and he looked longingly at her, as though his heart ached to be near her... or maybe as if he really needed to take a crap; hard to tell, really.

[Brooklyn Carter]

[LOL!]

Was it bad that Brooklyn wanted to bust out laughing right after her one liner? That part always got her, and especially when the other person caught on to it. Seeing RJ look at the line and realize what was going on, made Brooklyn crack a smile. As for now, he continued and she found herself watching his every move and even raised a brow when she notice him changing a single word. Which she'd let slide for now... for now.

Okay so his comment about the winged messenger was totally not needed. Like sheesh, did everything have to be to his liking? It was freaking Shakespeare, almost every single word in this play would be overly done, if not, far from the actual meaning. Clearly RJ wasn't going to let her hear the last of it and so all she could do was roll her eyes for now.

Sighing, she looked out into the distance, as if daydreaming wasn't enough for this young Capulet. "O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?" Tilting her head a bit, she gently kicked her feet as they hung from the edge of the piano. Sighing, thinking, dreaming about what was to come. A soft smile shone upon her face as she had no idea that he was right under her nose. Literally. "Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love, and I'll no longer be a Capulet." It was simple but yet complex, Juliet was so much in love that she would swear away her last name, which had been almost as childish as it was foolish... but she had fallen.

Now only if Brooklyn could keep that in mind when thinking about RJ, which may have been more difficult than it looked.

[RJ Jay]

RJ heard the words, and he actually remembered those. Those were usually the ones that people quoted and stuff, and he had to admit that Brooklyn did a pretty good job delivering them too. It almost sounded like she actually felt something for RJ. He'd just have to work a little harder to fan the spark between them into an outright flame.

"Aside shall I--- wait a second," RJ frowned and then tapped the page. "Right, sorry," he turned slightly to the side, "shall I hear more? Or shall I speak at this?" he looked a little askance at Juliet, then scooted forward, clearly looking up at her, clearly hanging on each and every word, and sort of looking like a complete and other idiot as he did.

Well, Romeo was supposed to be a lovestruck fool, so it totally worked, right?