Page 23 of Yours, Unexpectedly

BBE (Big Bro Energy)

Fuck. What did they change my name to?

Okay so that’s Jules.

#1 Brother

How do you know? THIS could be Jules.

Because Jules is actually my favorite brother – he doesn’t give me shit like you two hooligans. He would have no idea you hijacked my phone… AGAIN.

BBE (Big Bro Energy)

It would help if you change your passcode from your birthday to something a little more secure.

#1 Brother

Oh Julien, ever the practical one.

I don’t have the time or energy to remember a random series of numbers. Maybe Gabe and Ben should just, I don’t know, respect my privacy??

Bex’s Favorite

Just tell him good morning! He was already gone when I woke up this morning and I might have been kind of hard on him when we talked after dinner last night.

Gabe… Text him yourself. I’m walking into class, gotta go byyyyeeee!

*Bex’s Favorite changed the group name to Band of Bardots*

Rolling my eyes, I slide my phone into my backpack. I’m late to class which seems like it will continue to be a trend in my life. Not even the allure of seeing my red headed Viking man is enough to get me out of bed, so you know it’s bad.

Wait. My? Where the fuck did that come from?

I shake off that thought along with the snow on my boots as I make my way into the theater. A coffee is waiting for me by my normal seat which does something to me. I was so thankful when I woke up to a text from Anders that just had the coffee cup emoji and a question mark. Obviously the answer was yes and this little routine of ours is doing a number on that organ I’ve kept on lockdown for the last several years.

Smiling into my coffee cup, I let my curls fall around my face as I inhale the bitter scent of my favorite dark roast. I look up just in time to catch Anders staring at me with the stupidest, adorable smirk on his face.

His smirks make me angry. But like, hot angry, if that's a thing. Really, his smirks make me hot and that makes me angry. I scrunch my nose and his smirk grows into a full blown grin.

Damn him. The grin is even better than the smirk.

The rest of class goes that way. Anders looks so good doing absolutely nothing, and I just watch him. We do some breathing exercises but thank God, no crazy theater games today. Anders does a quick lecture on the intention that actors need to set in a scene before assigning us our own scene to analyze with a partner.

Glancing down my row, I make eye contact with a guy sitting a few seats away. And because I apparently have zero social skills, I do a weird little gesture with my pencil, pointing it to him and then back to myself.

He raises an eyebrow but obviously gets my point, because he gathers his things and closes the gap between us. I stick my hand out like an idiot even though there’s not a ton of space.

“Hi! I’m Bex. I have no interest in acting so I will definitely be a horrible partner—thanks for coming over here anyway.”

He laughs at that as he awkwardly pulls his arm in, T-Rex style, so he can shake my hand. “Grant, nice to meet you. I have a lot of interest in acting, so you just lucked out with the partner gods.”

“Oh yeah? You’re in this class on purpose?” I ask.

A snort laugh precedes his answer. “Yes, I’m in this class on purpose. I’m a transfer so I’m having to take some of the prerequisites again, but I’m an acting major. Very much on purpose. I’m guessing you’re not?”

“Absolutely not. I am a senior social work major and ended up in this class as a last resort for a fine arts credit. But it hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be.”

At that moment, Anders walks up to us. “How’s it going guys? Any questions about the scene?”

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