Walking down the crowded hallway, Trace glanced quickly at her watch. She had planned on being a little early for class, but her current boyfriend, Bruce, had had other plans. He had insisted on her staying a little while longer, and being a weak willed individual, she had agreed. As she thought back on the situation, Trace smiled slyly, and decided that the decision had been a better one on her part.
Nearing the door to the room, she glanced once more at her schedule. Then, to no one in particular, she spoke. "Yep. This is it. Room 101, Drama101. I still can not believe I am doing this."
At that moment, Shadoe and Aly had walked up and taken a place behind Trace, just outside the room.
"You better believe it," Shadoe said, "cause you are here and there is nothing you can do about it now."
Trace turned, and seeing her two dear friends, smiled warmly. "Whatever possessed me to let you two talk me into a drama class to begin with?" she asked. The two girls looked at one another, then turned to Trace smiling.
"Because," Aly answered, "you had one more elective to satisify for your semester requirements, in the arts, and that creative writing course you were so bent on taking was full."
Trace just looked at Aly, shaking her head. "Aly," she giggled, "does the term 'retorical question' have any meaning to you?" All three girls suddenly let out a collective round of laughter. Then, turning, they all three crossed the threshold of the doorway into the room.
The room was crowded with students, most of them engaged in various forms of conversations or arguments. Thinking it may be best to take a seat off to themselves, they ventured to the back of the room, and sat down. As they casually chatted amongst themselves, they were approached by three other individuals. Trace looked up, and smiled.
"What are you all doing here?" she asked. Standing there before her were North, Aries, and N5. "I thought you all had signed up for the creative writing course?" N5 huffed, and slamming her books down on the desk behind Trace, plopped down.
"They gave us some kind of story about overloaded classes and not having enough room, or something or other," N5 said angrily.
"Yeah, and they said they had to go by class ranking for those that registered, starting with the Seniors, and since we are only Freshman," North said, "that means weare low on the totem pole."
Aries took a seat next to Aly, and joined in. "Yeah, and left us high and dry with no art elective. Then, when we went to sign up for another course, this was the only one available," she explained, "so here we are."
Trace smiled, and looked around her. "This will be great!! It will be like having all of the CLHQ gang here. Well, of course Is and Sherry aren't here, but they were smart enough to get this elective out of the way in summer school."
All six girls nodded and mumbled in agreement. As they sat there, and continued casually chatting, they did not notice that the course instuctor had entered the room. All of a sudden, there was a loud thud, that reverberated throughout the room, and off the walls.
As everyone recovered, after having jumped out of their skin, the rooms entire attention was focused on the front of the room.
"Okay ladies and gentlemen, settle down," the instructor said. "We have a little something special for you today." A low murmur went throughout the room, as the students whispered amid themselves about what the instructor could be eluding to.
"As you may have heard, we usually start the first day with us introducing ourselves, and getting to know each other a little. But, I was able to convince a fellow thespian to speak to the class, and this was the only day he had available." The instructor paused, for effect, then continued.
"You may recognize him from the television series LA FEMME NIKITA. He is a series regular, and we should feel honored that he has agreed to speak to us. So, without further adieu," the instructor raised his arm, and pointing it to the door, smiled.
The entire room of students collectively held their breaths, as the guest speaker entered the room.
The guest speaker walked into the room, and assumed a position at the front of the room. After a few moments, a combined exhale could be heard throughout the room, as all the students, not realizing they had, let out the breath they had been holding.
The speaker flashed a warm smile, and after a few moments had passed, launched into his speech. He talked of how he came to be in the business of acting, how he worked long and hard hours, but how much he enjoyed his craft. He warned his listeners about the fact that if they chose to be in the public eye, such as with acting, that they would have to sacrifice a part of their public life. He commented on how this had been the hardest part for him, but the pros more than outweighed the cons.
As Trace listened to the speaker, she couldn't help but notice how well he related to his listeners. He kept them all entranced, and after what only felt like a few moments, the period was over, and the instructor dismissed them.
As the students filed out of the room, Trace stopped at the door, and waited for the rest of her friends. Shadoe and Aly met up with Trace, and they all three headed out into the crowded hallway. Once outside, the threesome met up with North, Aries, and N5.
"Wasn't he the most motivational speaker you have ever heard?" North asked. The group of girls around her all agreed in unison, then as a single entity, they all turned, and walked out of the building.
"Hey, I am gonna grab something to eat, anyone want to join?" Trace asked.
Each of the girls in turn declined, saying they either had class or other plans. As they all walked off, Aly turned and looked back over her shoulder.
"You gonna be okay Trace?" she questioned. Trace just nodded and smiled.
"Sure," she answered, "I will just grab something, and take it back to the room." Aly smiled in return.
"Okay, I will call you later, okay?" Trace nodded, and Aly turned and left.
As Trace walked into the cafeteria, she glanced around, to see if there was anyone there that she knew. The cafeteria was pretty much deserted, and there didn't appear to be anyone around that she could eat with. Moving up to the checkout, and paying for her salad and Mountain Dew, Trace picked up her tray, and headed towards the terrace area.
As she crossed the threshold, and out into the sun terrace area of the dining room, she looked off to her left and smiled. The speaker that had talked to her drama class was sitting in the corner, by himself. As she walked towards him, he looked up from his yogurt and smiled.
"Would you like some company?" Trace asked, timidly.
The man smiled, and gestured for her to take a seat. "Of course, sugar, sit on down."
Trace pulled out the chair, and sat her tray down. Then, sitting down
across from the man, she looked up.
"I really enjoyed your talk today. It was really inspiring and informative." Trace said.
The other man smiled, and when he did, his whole face lit up and his
eyes twinkled. "Why, thanks sugar. Are you interested in acting then?" he asked.
Trace laughed, placing her hand to her chest. "Me? Act? No!! I am in there just to fulfill a credit requirement. Although, I can appreciate how hard the craft is. But me act... not by a long shot!!"
The man laughed along with Trace, and a warm and settled feeling washed over her. As they sat there, and finished their meal, they discussed various interests and found out that they even had some interests in common. Then, after a while, the man looked at his watch, and then back up at Trace.
"Listen sugar, I hate to leave such delightful company, but I am due at the airport in less than an hour."
Trace smiled brightly, and nodded in understanding. The stranger stood up, and walking around, pulled out Trace's chair for her. Then, after taking their trays to the conveyor belt, they exited the cafeteria.
Stopping in front of the doors, the man turned to Trace, and smiled. He took her hand, and kissed it lightly on the back.
"I have enjoyed meeting you Trace. I hope that, if you are ever in Toronto, you will look me up." The man then proceeded to give Trace his address and phone number. "If nothing else, just write and keep in touch. Let me know if after taking your drama class, if you fall victim to the 'acting' bug."
Both the man and Trace laughed, and then after saying their good-byes, the man walked off. Trace, watching the man leave, turned, and ran smack dab into her friends Shadoe and Aly.
"Hey, we decided that we would have lunch with you anyway," Shadoe started, "we didn't like the idea of you eating alone." Trace smiled at the girls, then spoke.
"I wasn't alone. I had dinner with a new friend. And might I
say, he was a very good dinner companion."
Aly and Shadoe looked at one another, then back to Trace.
"Dinner," Aly asked, "with who?"
Trace looked back over her shoulder, at the figure in the distance,
transversing the parking lot. "Why, with Don of course." she replied, matter of factly.Aly and Shadoe both had a confused look on their faces.
"Don who?" Shadoe ventured.
"Why, Don Francks." Trace answered, smiling.
Aly's eyes snapped in understanding. "OH MY GAWD!! The guy who spoketo us in the Drama class?!! The guy who works with Roy Dupuis...that Don Francks?!?!?!"
"I do think that is the one," Trace teased, turning from the girls and walking down the sidewalk.
Aly and Shadoe looked to each other, then took off after Trace."You cannot leave us hanging like this," Shadoe whined, "its not fair."
"Yeah," Aly chimed in, "you have to tell us what he said."
As the three girls continued walking down the sidewalk, Aly and Shadoe trying to get Trace to 'spill the goods," Trace couldn't help but smile.
Part Two