Page 46 of Give In To Love
“Weird. I can’t remember the last time someone called me. I’m surprised he answered. I usually let it roll to voicemail if I don’t know the number.”
“Same.”
“You guys doing anything for Halloween tomorrow? Do you think TJ’s feeling up to it?”
“One of the guys from the theater department’s having a party. TJ’s been looking forward to it for weeks, so I’m sure he’ll muster up the strength to go.”
“But you’re going with, right?”
“Yeah. We’re going as Charlie and Nick fromHeartstopper.”
He cringed playfully. “You guys are so gross.”
My cheeks flamed, but I couldn’t help but smile. “It was TJ’s idea.”
“Oh, I have no doubt of that. He’s obsessed with that show.”
“I’m partial to the graphic novels.”
“Hey, guys,” TJ said, dropping back into his seat, looking a little thunderstruck.
“That was quick,” I said, eyebrows raised in question.
“Yeah. It was weird.” He dragged a hand through his shaggy hair. “So this lady said she’s a theater agent who works in Chicago and New York. Says she saw a video someone posted on TikTok of part of my performance inRent. She wants me to fly out to meet with her.”
“No shit?” Tyler asked.
“It can’t be legit, can it? This isn’t a thing that happens to people in real life, right? It’s gotta be some sort of scheme.”
“Did she give you her name? Or her agency? Can you Google her?”
He whipped his phone out and began typing, his thumbs furiously flying over the screen while his eyebrows rose higher and higher up his forehead.
“Holy shit. I think…I think she might be legit.” He sniffled, then looked up, eyes flashing from mine to Tyler’s and back down to his phone, that same stunned expression on his face. “I think I need to go talk to Dr. Fisher. Pretty sure she has office hours right now and she’s got some contacts from back in the day. I’m gonna go see if she thinks this is legit.” He stood and kissed me on the forehead. “I’m back to teaching classes at the studio tonight. I’ll see you after?”
“Yeah. I have to work, but I’m off at nine.”
“See you tonight.”
And then he was gone, leaving Tyler and me staring after him.
21
TJ
It wasclose to ten o’clock by the time I pulled into the parking lot of the dorm building. I was utterly exhausted. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally. I wanted nothing more than to climb into bed with Jimmy and crash.
I had managed to catch Dr. Fisher just as she was heading out to teach a class, but she promised to look into the legitimacy of the agent who had contacted me. Before coming to Omaha to teach, she’d worked as an actor and director in both the New York and Chicago areas and was still in contact with quite a few folks in the business. I had a class with her tomorrow and hoped she might have more information for me by then.
In the meantime, I couldn’t stop myself from running through all the possibilities of what this potential opportunity could mean for my future. I’d spent a good portion of my life just vibing my way through. I took the wins and losses as they came, always sure there was something better on the horizon, without worrying too much one way or another. I chose to live in the here and now and enjoy the life I was living rather than hoping for another life that hadn’t yet come to be.
A year ago, I wouldn’t have questioned any of this. I would have been excited, likely annoying everyone around me as I babbled about catching the eye of an agent and the doors that might be opened as a result. Now, with just a little over a semester left between me and graduation, I couldn’t help but wonder if it was worth throwing away the last three and a half years of work. But damn, could I really ignore this gift?
People in mid-sized cities in the middle of the country, like Omaha, didn’t randomly get approached by agents. I could go through with student teaching next semester, graduate, get my degree, and then try to get an agent, but would it be too late? What if this was my only chance, and I didn’t take it?
And what about Jimmy? If I was honest, my relationship with him was at the heart of my conflicted feelings, even above and beyond my concerns about graduating. Teaching dance classes tonight had provided a good distraction from my worries, but the thought of how this might affectushad been ever-present in the background. I hadn’t been fully able to push them away.
Yes, our relationship was new, so maybe it was foolish, but I could see a future with him. One with a house and pets and maybe even kids. It was a future I’d never really given a lot of thought to—I’d always had plenty of time to worry about those things later—but it was a future I was beginning to realize I really, really wanted. Would it still exist if I moved to New York? Could I convince Jimmy to come with me?
