Pat’s Story

I woke up around sunrise and went straight to the bathroom to get ready for my morning run. When I passed back through my room, I glanced at my bed. Melinda was sitting on it. I raised my eyebrows.

“Everything okay?”

She shrugged. “I couldn’t sleep.”

I took a step toward her. “You’re not supposed to be in here.”

She sent me a sly smile. “I won’t tell if you don’t. I keep thinking about that kiss last night.”

“Yeah?” I sat beside her.

She ran her hands through my hair, pulling me closer. When our lips met, I could feel a fire burning inside me. Her hands made their way under my shirt and I wanted more of her. I pulled her onto the bed, pressing my body against hers. I had just begun exploring her neck with my mouth when the alarm on my watch sounded.

I swore as I sat up. I silenced the alarm and turned back to Melinda. She wasn’t there. I was not dressed for running. I shook the dream out of my head as I made my way to the bathroom.

This time, my bed was empty as I passed by it. I took the long way downstairs, popping into Walter’s room on my way. He was lacing up his running shoes. I said nothing as we headed outside.

The path we had made around the house was shorter than the one at home. It was also much flatter than Melinda’s neighborhood. I tried to clear the dream from my head and pushed a little harder than normal.

As usual, Walter and I ran for thirty minutes. Walter had no problem keeping up. I lost track of how many laps we did, but apparently Walter didn’t. As we walked back to the house, he swore.

“That was like over four miles,” he announced.

“In thirty minutes? If we keep this up, we’ll be able to do the ten-K like Patrick Barrett.”

Saying his name reminded me of the audition I had scheduled for the morning. I swore. Unfortunately, Mom heard me.

“You better watch that mouth, young man.”

“Sorry, Mom. By any chance, did Dave call you last night?”

“No. Why?”

“I scheduled an audition for In the Running for this morning. I hope that’s okay.”

Mom nodded. “When and where?”

“ZigZag. Nine am.”

Mom frowned. “Are you comfortable going to the audition alone?”

I nodded and Mom continued. “I have to be on set by then. Walter needs to get to his studio by ten. I’ll see if your father can bring him.”

“Thanks, Mom.” I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before heading up to shower.

---

Dad had an incredible collection of cars. The last time I counted, he had over thirty spread out between our two houses. Although I really wanted to drive Ladybug, a sleek red two-seater convertible with lambo doors and black trim, I knew Dad would never let me. I was hoping he’d let me take out the other convertible, a shiny green four-seater Walter had named Grasshopper. I knew just how to negotiate. I found him in his office after Mom had already left for the studio.

“Hey, Dad? Can I borrow Ladybug?”

Dad looked at me as if I were crazy. “What makes you think I would let you anywhere near her?”

I shrugged. “It’s a gorgeous day.”

“You’re right. I think I’ll drive her today. You can take Grasshopper to your audition.”

“What about after the audition? Can I take Melinda out for a drive?”

He narrowed his eyes. “Where?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m sure she wants to see the sights.”

“I don’t know if I’m comfortable with the idea of you two running around town unsupervised.”

“Nah, it’s okay. I get it. We can stay here. I’m sure Melinda and I can find something to do. I mean, Shelia likes to watch her soaps while she cooks and cleans. But I’m sure Melinda and I can find something to entertain us.”

Dad pursed his lips, and I just knew he was remembering seeing me and Melinda asleep on the divan. I helped jog his memory.

“Maybe we can watch a movie or something. Then again, the last time we did that, we fell asleep.”

Dad looked like he wasn’t sure whether he should yell at me or laugh. He studied me as he took a sip from his coffee mug. “Fine. Text me when you figure out where you’re going. And while you’re out, you can pick up your brother. He should be done around four.”

---

I had been to ZigZag studios for a handful of auditions, but never filmed there. It was a smaller facility, with only two sound stages and an office tower. Most of the people working here filmed in other locations.

I showed my ID at the gate and the guard waved me through. Dave had texted me earlier that I should head straight to the third floor.

Someone I didn’t recognize greeted me enthusiastically and led me to an audition room. A video camera and boom mike were set up beside a table, behind which sat the casting director I had met last night. She was sitting beside a pair of balding men. I stood facing them.

“Patrick,” the woman said in her raspy voice. “Glad you could make it. I’d like to introduce you to some people. This is Martin Black. He will be directing the film. The other man is Eldon Williams.”

I smiled at the nonagenarian. “Patrick Barrett’s coach.”

The man nodded. “You’ve done your homework. I was one of the people who knew Patrick best. I wanted a part in determining who played him. And myself,” he added with a smile.

The casting director handed me a sheet of paper. “I know you’ve read the script. This is the scene we’d like you to read. Eldon will read himself.”

Even though I found that humorous, I was nervous. I skimmed through the part, recognizing it easily. It was a pivotal part of the movie. The casting director pressed a button on the camera.

“Take your time,” the film director encouraged. “When you’re ready, start at You wanted to see me.”

I took a few deep breaths, trying to imagine myself in Patrick Barrett’s shoes. He was a kid my age, visiting his coach at the end of gym class.

“You wanted to see me, Coach?” I said as nonchalantly as possible, pretending to knock on the nonexistent open door beside me.

“Yes,” the coach said flatly. “Sit down.”

“Look, if this is about Rick —”

“Patrick, I just found out that a talent scout is coming to this week’s race.”

I tried to sound forlorn. “It doesn’t matter.” I sighed. “There’s no way I’ll be able to go to college.”

“He’s from the Olympics committee.”

I went for disbelief. “The—” I purposely didn’t finish the rest of the line. Instinct told me I shouldn’t.

The coach smiled at me and nodded, saying his next line.

“They say you’ve got a shot at the Montreal games.”

I went for snotty teenager. “There’s cross-country at the Olympics?”

“They think you can run the 10K in under thirty minutes.”

I tried to look like I was struggling to do the math. I screwed up my face and pretended to count on my fingers before tossing them up slightly and shaking my head. “How many laps is that?”

“Twenty-five. It’s a little over a lap a minute.”

I gave a low whistle, then tried to sound cocky. “I bet I could do it.”

“That’s good,” the director interrupted. “You missed a line. Tell me what happened there.”

“I’m sorry. It was just a feeling I got. That I should sort of stumble on that line. I was going to do it more the . . . Olympics.” I coughed out the last word, then resumed in my normal voice. “But then I saw Coach Eldon nod, and I thought he was signaling that he was going to speak, so I held off.”

The director nodded as I spoke, but made no other comment about the performance. Instead, he began examining his phone.

“We’re doing screen tests Friday. I’d like you to be there. I’ll send the details to your agent.”

“My agent can fill you in, but I’m still in school. I’m on break this week, so Friday’s no problem, but we’ll have to work around the labor laws until the summer.”

The casting director nodded. “That shouldn’t be a problem. As for shooting, we’ve narrowed down a few locations and are looking to start around Memorial Day.”

“Again, you would need to work with my agent, and probably my mother. My last day of school is about a week later.”

The casting director nodded again. “Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice. We’ll see you Friday.”

I left the room, pleased with the audition and ready to spend the rest of the day with my girlfriend.

Melinda’s Story

Melinda’s story will resume in Episode 156.

Attention Hammerheads

Melinda is always trying to build her vocabulary. What were some words in this episode that were new to you? She will add them to her vocabulary journal.