We worked in a contented silence until Leroy rocked up. I heard him say hi to Mum in the hall, then he was at my door, leaning against it, raising his eyebrows at Harry and saying, “Audrey has told me ALL about you.”
“Harry, Leroy. Leroy, Harry,” I said, gesturing to both of them. “And that’s not strictly true, is it, Leroy?”
He ignored me and strode in, sitting on my bed, acknowledging Harry with a camp waggle of his fingers. Sometimes I wondered just how in denial Leroy’s mum was about his sexuality. “We go to the same church by the way,” Leroy said. “Not that you would know, heathen.”
Harry was all grin and tooth. “I know. I recognize you.”
“It’s not hard, babes. Anyway, I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”
I shook my head furiously at him. “We were just working on this script.”
Harry was rolling back and forth on my office chair. “Audrey’s been amazing.”
“That’s because she is amazing.”
“Can I stay a bit longer?” Harry asked. “I won’t disturb you. But I’m totally in the flow and I’m scared if I leave, I’ll lose it.”
“That’s fine,” I said. “But we’re running lines, that won’t put you off?”
Leroy was already digging in his bag for a script. “He’ll be put off by just how talented I am.”
Harry smiled at Leroy, like he already really liked him. Which is sort of the effect Leroy has on most people. “I’m sure I can cope.” He spun round in my chair and walked it backwards to my desk.
“Good, good,” Leroy said. “Right, Audrey, we need to run through this a LOT. I didn’t have time this morning because SOME OF US still have to go to church. Anyway, can you read Sarah for me? I need to get my suave right.”
“Okay.” I picked up the spare script and turned the pages to where Leroy had marked them out with a Post-it. I didn’t feel the huge sadness I was expecting. Until the other day, thinking of Guys and Dolls had hurt me – made me mourn what could’ve been, if things hadn’t gone so wrong with Milo when I was in no way emotionally-equipped for things to go wrong with Milo. But, as I started reading, bouncing off Leroy’s lines, I didn’t feel sad. I just felt like I was helping a friend.
We read the scene set in Cuba, where Sarah drinks too much on her date with Sky. Even though it was just a run-through, I felt myself get a little lost in her. Sarah is such a fun part – all the layers of her prude onion slowly unpeeling throughout the musical. And Leroy played Sky just great. Very understated, which was a new way of seeing him. Quietly suave, a little bit messed-up. It was the opposite to how I knew Milo would read him. Ironically enough, the camp gay guy wouldn’t make Sky camp, and the straight macho guy would. When we got to “If I Were A Bell”, I even sang it, making Leroy laugh as I flopped around the bed, getting drunker and drunker. I’d forgotten we were just in my house, rehearsing. Until…
A slow clap.
I jolted out of where I was, drunk in Cuba, to find Harry applauding. Hard.
“What? What is it?” I asked, feeling dazed.
“Damn, Audrey. How are you so very good?”
Leroy winked in agreement. “I know, right? The gal can act.”
I felt myself go red. “Guys, I can’t.”
“Are you kidding me?” Harry ran his hands through his hair. “I mean, last night you were the most convincing zombie I’ve ever seen and now what? You’re suddenly the most convincing buttoned-up church girl out of her depth in Cuba?”
My blush spread past my neck, down to my chest. “That’s just what acting is…” I trailed off.
“I know that. But, honestly, Audrey. You are good.”
I was so red at this point, it’s likely you could crack an egg on my face and get it perfectly sunny side up.
“And yet she’s not even auditioning,” Leroy pointed out, clutching his heart like I’d stabbed him. “All because Milo dumped her.”
Harry’s eyes narrowed. “Is that true? You’re not doing Guys and Dolls because of that guy at the cinema last night?”
Now my whole body was red. “It’s a bit more complicated than that,” I said, feeling emotions rising that I didn’t want evoked. I took a breath and pushed them down inside myself. “Leroy? Come on, don’t lose focus. Let’s run the scene again.”
But Harry was having none of it. “Audrey, you can’t do this. You have to audition. When are they?”
“I’m not auditioning,” I said.
Leroy crossed his arms. “I still can’t believe you’re choosing a zombie film over our school play.”
I smacked him again. “I’m choosing MY SANITY over the school play.”
“And I, for one,” said Harry, “am very grateful to provide the means for Audrey’s sanity.”
Leroy levelled him with a glare. “Like you did for Cassie from church?”
And Harry didn’t laugh it off like I was expecting him to. He just looked down at the carpet.
“Okay, boys, let’s get back to work, shall we?”
But Harry stood, picking up his stuff. “Actually, I’m knackered. I didn’t sleep last night.”
“Oh…” For some reason I really didn’t want Harry to leave. “Ignore Leroy, he’s horrible to everyone.”
Leroy nodded. “True.”
“No, no, it’s not that. I really have to go.” He gathered up the rest of his papers and stuffed them into his grotty backpack. Then, before I had time to think of another comeback, he was out the door, yelling, “See you at work and it was nice meeting you,” over his shoulder, before the slam of the front door shook the whole house.
Leroy looked at me. I looked at Leroy.
“Leroy, you scared him!”
He shrugged, unbothered. “I just made a valid point about Cassie. I told you on Friday, he really hurt her! Anyway, what’s going on with you two?”
“Umm, nothing?”
“Didn’t look like nothing. Looked like something.”
I sighed. “I don’t even know him.”
“Yet you’re in his movie? What’s that about, Audrey?”
I slid down the bed, into Leroy’s weight. “It just sort of happened… And it was fun. And it made me forget about everything for a while. I saw my dad today…” The emotions from earlier flung themselves back like a boomerang. “It wasn’t great.” And, Leroy, bless him, managed to reach out and scooch me in for a hug. “And this is a good distraction, you know? I like that the cinema has nothing to do with sixth form, or Drama Club, or Milo, or the girls, or the play. Or even home. It’s a totally new thing, and I need that right now. Harry just happens to be a part of it.”
“A very fit part of it.”
“You think everyone is fit. You literally fancy everyone.”
Leroy nodded thoughtfully. “That is also true. But, well, I dunno, Audrey. I’d watch him. He was looking at you like you were more than a zombie bride.”
“He looks at EVERY girl that way.” Though I got a brief flash of the way he’d looked at me when he said “You’re not like other girls”, and I got a pinch of wanting. “Anyway, you don’t have to worry. He tried it on and I told him where to go.”
I’d done more than that. I’d essentially yelled so loud I’d probably given him permanent hearing damage.
“That’s my girl.”
“Anyway, shall we get back to this scene?”
“Yes! I NEED to beat Milo to this part. The world needs MY Sky Masterson, not his.”
We went back into our lines, going over and over them until Leroy vanished and Sky appeared. We ran lines until it got dark and Mum called up the stairs saying dinner was ready.
Leroy got his phone out to catch up on all the digital-mingling he’d missed. “I still think you need to be careful,” Leroy said, half hypnotized by his screen.
“Careful about what?”
“Harry. You keep claiming you’re dead inside but you weren’t looking at him like you were dead inside. Don’t think he would be different for you, Audrey… Oh bugger. Someone’s written a blog post claiming I misuse green shells in battle mode…”
And, as always, before I had time to retaliate, Leroy was swanning out the door, punching madly at his phone, leaving only the strong scent of his woody aftershave behind.