“I had rather hear my dog bark at a crow than a man swear he loves me.”
The words came faster now, sharper, easier to sit in. I found myself moving without thinking, a small shift forward, my hands lifting slightly as I spoke.
It wasn’t polished, and it definitely wasn’t perfect, but it felt alive in a way the first attempt hadn’t.
I wasn’t trying to get it right.
I was just saying it.
“You always end with a jade’s trick: I know you of old.”
The last line landed cleanly, my breath still steady. Silence followed.
Director Cho leaned back slightly, studying me. “Let’s try one more,” she continued. “Margaret. Something lighter.”
I took the next set of pages, glancing over them. Margaret was easier, less guarded, less… heavy.
And maybe that was just the point. When I started this time, I didn’t force it. The part didn’t make me feel as self-conscious or awkward.
I let the lines come naturally, let myself relax into them, let a smile tug at my mouth without questioning it.
My voice lifted, softened, and for the first time, I wasn’t thinking about how I looked or how I sounded or whether they liked me.
I just… existed in it.
And when I finished, I didn’t rush to fill the silence.
I just stood there, breathing, waiting.
Director Cho exchanged a glance with the others, then nodded slowly.
“Thank you, Selena.”
I nodded back, already half turning toward the door, bracing myself for the polite dismissal.
“Wait.”
I stopped.
Turned back.
Cho leaned forward, her gaze steady.
“You don’t appear to have any training,” she started.
I winced internally.
“But you adapt quickly, and when you trust your instincts…” She paused, a faint, almost satisfied smile touching her lips. “You’re a natural.”
For a second, I just stared at her.
Not quite believing I’d heard that right.
“Work on trusting that,” she finished. “We’ll be in touch.”
“Okay,” I said, my voice quieter than I’d intended, but steady.
When I stepped back into the hallway, the noise hit me all at once: voices, footsteps, people moving past like nothing had just happened.
