The Ivy Lessons by J Lerman Read Free Book Online Page B

get up from our seats, and crowd towards the stationary cupboard. I hold back, waiting for everyone to get their scripts first. When the scrum is over, I go into the cupboard, and find Call of the Night beside a pile of Oscar Wilde plays.
    When we take our seats again, Marc is standing behind the lecturer ’s podium.
    ‘Go away and rehearse,’ he says, ‘and I’ll see your performances this afternoon, and tomorrow morning. I’ll put times up on the notice board outside this theatre in one hour.’
    ‘ Today and tomorrow? ’ Cecile says. ‘How are we going to learn our lines in that time?’
    Marc glares at her. ‘It’s only a few pages. Enough for you to get a feel for the part. I don’t expect you to follow the script exactly. A good actor understands the character, then improvises when necessary.’
    ‘But it’s so soon,’ says Cecile.
    Marc frowns. ‘You’ll find the real world of acting isn’t as precise and organised as you might like it to be. Auditions come out of the blue. Think of this as experiencing a little of what that’s like. You want control? Then become a teacher.’ He checks his watch. ‘I’ll see some of you later on today, in Queen’s theatre.’ With that, he strides out of the room, leaving all the students to chatter nervously.
    We file out of the classroom, and Cecile waits for me by the door. ‘That was a clever little stunt,’ she says. ‘Dropping your books like that.’
    ‘I didn’t do it on purpose,’ I say.
    ‘I’ll bet.’ She walks off.
     

Chapter 14
    Tanya appears beside me, smiling. ‘You want to go get a coffee while we wait for the times to go up? Practise our parts?’ She lowers her voice to a whisper. ‘Have I got some news about our new teacher.’ She waves at Tom, who is wheeling himself out of the theatre. ‘Coffee?’
    ‘Oh my word, that’s exactly what I need,’ says Tom, putting a hand to his head. ‘This hangover is monumental.’
    ‘News?’ I ask. ‘About Marc?’
    ‘Well. Scandal really. So? Fancy a coffee? Or would you rather go rehearse on your own?’
    ‘Not at all,’ I say. ‘I’d love to have a coffee with you.’
    ‘He’s a bit on the strict side, don’t you think?’ Tanya whispers,’ looking over my shoulder as if Marc might magically appear. ‘I mean, we all knew he was arrogant , but today was like ... whoah! If we step out of line, just a tiny bit, we’re off the course.’
    ‘He scares the life out of me,’ I admit.
    ‘Me too,’ says Tanya. She grins. ‘But maybe in a good way.’
    We head to the college cafeteria, where I see trays of eggs and bacon laid out, left over from this morning’s breakfast.
    ‘I’m starving,’ I tell Tanya, picking up a plate. ‘I was too nervous to eat anything this morning.’
    ‘Me and Tom were too hung over,’ says Tanya.
    ‘Do you guys want any breakfast?’ I ask, picking up a tray.
    ‘Not for me, darling,’ says Tom. ‘Delicate goods today.’
    ‘Just coffee for me,’ says Tanya.
    I pile up the plate with eggs, bacon, tomato, hash brown and toast. We all get coffees and take a table by the window. There’s a fir tree outside with a few magpies hoping between its branches.
    ‘So,’ I say, unable to contain my curiosity any longer. ‘What’s the news?’
    Tom pulls the Daily Mail from his khaki rucksack. ‘Check out page four.’
    I flick pages, and see a headline: Blackwell Spanks Starlet
    The pictures are all grainy and black and white, but I see the outline of two silhouettes and the gleam of bare skin. The female silhouette is bent over a bed, and the male has his hand raised over her.
    ‘Oh my god,’ I say. ‘Is that ... Mr Blackwell?’
    ‘Looks like it, doesn’t it?’ says Tanya. ‘The article says the woman is Pen Harding. You know – the porn actress.’
    ‘What he does in his private life is his own business,’ says Tom. ‘So what if he likes to play it a bit rough? Don’t we all have our sexual preferences?’
    I nod, glued to the