Ch-25

"It's okay, Cole. My name is Dr. Malcolm Crowe." Malcolm interrupted my muttering of a Latin phrase while I remained crouched on a church bench, playing with toy soldiers. I gave him a sidelong glance but remained quiet.

"I was supposed to meet today. Sorry, I missed our appointment." With that Malcolm slowly sat in the seat in front of me. I kept playing with the soldiers, fully in character, and placed a few on the edge of the bench.

"Your eye frames." Malcolm pointed out, "They don't seem to have any lenses in them?"

"They're my dad's. The lenses hurt my eyes." I answered softly, looking up a little from my place on the desk.

"I knew there was a valid reason." Malcolm grinned at me.

"CUT!" A loud sound echoed in the otherwise silent church.

"Cole, you're doing great, but if you could add a little more vulnerability to your character it would be great. Malcolm, you need to tone down your expression. You cannot smile at Cole too much. You have to come across as a serious but caring guy." Night pointed out to me and Bruce.

I heaved a sigh of relief. When the director shouted Cut, I was almost sure I would be rebuked. Thankfully, it is just a minor issue.

"Got it," Bruce nodded with a thumbs up to Night. I nodded along.

"Let's do it again," Night announced, "Start with, 'I knew there was a valid reason.' Everything before that is good…. And…. Action!"

"I knew there was a valid reason," Malcolm said in a more neutral tone this time with a slight smile on his face.

I looked down at my lap in contemplation, adding more of the 'vulnerability' factor. I can understand from Cole's POV because he has realized that the man in front of him is a ghost. So a little fear is also acceptable.

"What were you talking about with your soldiers when I came in? Day…" Malcolm trailed off but I interrupted him at the same time.

"De profundis clamo ad te domine. It's called Latin. It's a language." I said while laying my soldiers down on the bench. The camera zoomed in on my forearm which became visible as my sleeve slid up. It is sporting several small bruises and scars.

Malcolm notices it but doesn't say anything about it but continues his original line of questioning, "Do all your soldiers speak Latin?"

"No, just one."

After a few moments of silence, I asked innocently, "Are you a good doctor?"

Malcolm smiled and said, "Well… I used to be. I won an award once from the mayor. It had an expensive frame."

That last part wasn't in the script and was improvised by Bruce. I decided to ignore it for the moment and continue with the dialogue. If it is too unrealistic, either the director will say 'Cut' or edit it out in the post-production.

"That's good." I stood up and collected my soldiers in my pockets. I started walking away but stopped mid-sentence, and asked, "I'm gonna see you again, right?"

"If that's okay with you," Malcolm answered.

Without saying anything else, I walked towards the entrance where many little Holy statues were kept. Before moving out, I snatched one statue of Jesus discreetly, stowed it in my messenger bag, and then stepped out of the church.

"CUT!" I heard a faint sound from within the church and I came back inside to check the progress of the scene.

"Well done Cole!" Night beamed at me, "You did wonderfully. Malcolm, you did great as well. Now we just need some close-up shots from different angles. We'll tell you which lines to repeat."

I nodded as I understood his intentions. It rarely happens that when two people are speaking with each other in a scene that they exchange dialogues in continuity. Many times, one person speaks all their lines in succession, and then comes the time for the other person. This happens to avoid changing camera angles again and again and save time as well.

Then there was the shooting method used in big-budget production films where they either set up two different cameras or shoot the scene from one perspective first, recording all the lines from both perspectives and then shooting other small scenes showing other characters' microexpressions later.

Shyamalan was going for the latter approach for this scene.

Understanding that, I went back to sit at my designated spot on the bench and waited for my instructions.

(Break)

When all that was done, I finally had to go and have a study session with my tutor in my trailer. It was more troublesome than I had hoped for. I regret not passing high school early.

I plopped down on the living room couch dramatically, "That was so tiresome."

"You love doing that don't you?" Mum who stood beside me asked

"Doing what?" I asked in confusion.

She pointed towards the couch I was occupying, "Sitting down on the couch as if you've just run a marathon. Especially after a day of shooting, and then saying, 'That was tiresome' or something like that."

I hadn't noticed that. Still, I didn't find any problem with that, so I shrugged, "And?"

Mum rolled her eyes, "Oh come on. Sometimes you act as if you're decades older than you are."

"Mum," I decided to change the topic away from my behavioral habits. "Can I do an accelerated study program or something? Schoolwork is tedious. I'm taking private classes anyway and even my tutor agrees that I know more than I should for my age. He is going to recommend higher-level material in the next class." I gave her the best puppy-dog eyes I could manage.

She bent down a little, looked me straight in the eyes, making me a little uncomfortable, and said, "I know the level of your EQ, so those eyes won't work on me."

Dammit! I winced internally at that statement.

"That said," Kathy continued, "You raise valid points. Your father and I have already discussed the issue. I knew you would ask for it sooner or later when we heard that you would be getting a personal tutor. As long as you keep your grades up, we can allow you to finish up to two grades in one year."

I would take what I get. While I would have loved to finish High school in a year or two at most, with two grades a year, I can be done with it by the time I'm 14. That's much better than finishing school at 18-19 as most people do.

"Thank you!" I beamed at Mum who returned my smile. Comfortable silence ensued between us as we silently sat on the couch. I placed my head on her lap as she started combing my thick locks with her fingers.

Ah. This is paradise. I wish I could stay in this moment forever, just lying on my mother's lap, slowly being lulled into the peace of oblivion.

Unfortunately, the serene moment was broken by the loud piano sound that began reverberating through the house. I opened my eyes in a little frustration and asked Mum, "What's that noise?"

"That must be Toni," She shrugged her shoulders, "Remember we don't live alone here, Troy."

"Ugh, and I was having such a good time here," I groaned audibly.

Mum pushed me away from her lap, "You'll get lazy if you relax too much. Go and do something productive like your homework."

I sat up and asked, "And what will you do?"

"I'll call your dad. Maybe he is free right now." She answered, standing up and moving towards the phone.

I felt a little guilty as I had inadvertently parted them for two whole months because of my work. Mum and Dad mostly did writing work from home so they didn't have to travel for work much. Unfortunately, being an actor, I am very likely to go to different locations, either for shooting scenes or for promoting the movie. As long as I am a minor, it is likely that either of my parents would accompany me along to all these places.

I shook those thoughts from my head and decided to do something 'productive' as Kathy had pointed out. Not being one to do needless homework, I decided to investigate the strange sounds coming from the direction of the backyard.

When I reached there, I was mesmerized by the view in front of me. My on-screen mother was dancing elegantly to the music playing on the vinyl record on the patio.

Each step was measured. Each lift, jump, and twirl was perfectly nuanced. It was like witnessing a master display their art and crushing every hope of anyone ever getting closer to them in any form or shape.

I don't dance. At least not in this life. But even if I start today, I don't think I can ever move with the grace she was just casually displaying in front of me.

"Hey!" A shout broke me out of my trance and I saw that Toni had stopped dancing and was now standing in front of me with a grin after turning down the music, "You know it's rude to stare at someone without announcing your presence."

I gulped as I saw her figure in her tight ballet dress with her little frock doing hardly anything to hide her curvaceous body. Thank the fucking God I am not going through puberty right now or it would make the next two months more than uncomfortable.

I turned my head away from her slightly and said in a low tone, "Like it is impolite to play loud music when you're not alone in the house?"

Yeah, I know it was rather soothing music (It was ballet music, that too piano, for crying out loud) but it ruined my perfect moment with Mum. You know when you are all grown up and don't remember most of your childhood memories but there is that one scene that you vividly remember and want to go back to to relive the moment.

It was that kind of moment that she ruined. So of course I was a little miffed with her.

She huffed a little at my insinuation, "Oh so did I disturb Milord? I am so sorry for your lordship. I didn't realize that ballet music could be disturbing your peace."

She did a mock curtsy right in front of me.

"You don't have to be such a bi- mean about it," I quickly amended myself. If Mum heard it, that would be the end of all my gaming privileges that she had reluctantly allowed.

Her grin widened if that was even possible, "Did you almost swear at me? Called me the bad term for a female dog?"

I facepalmed myself in my head. Being a kid is such a drag sometimes.

"No, I didn't. I called you mean. It is no swear word or bad word at all. And you were being mean." I pouted at her.

She laughed out loud at my reaction, "Wow, that was so good. Oh my God. Your reaction."

"Hey!" I shouted at her indignantly, "Why does everyone keep teasing me?"

She bent down at her waist and pulled my cheeks, "Because you're so cute."

I pushed away her hands in frustration, "Wish I could say the same thing about you. You're the total opposite of cute." That increased her laughter.

"And your ballet sucks. A one-legged dog can do it better than that." I crossed my hands over my chest as I announced that.

Was I being petty? In hindsight, yes. But she was getting on my nerves.

"Oh really?" Toni asked in a deceptively calm voice.

"Yes! Absolutely. Anyone can learn to spin like you do easily." I knew I was lying through my teeth but I just wanted to get her mad.

"Then you won't have a problem learning pirouette in, say, two weeks?" Toni challenged with an upturn of her lips.

Uh-oh. What the fuck is even a pirouette? Knowing her grin, it must be something difficult.

"Of course I can," I said with uncertainty.

"Just to clarify, this is a pirouette," saying that Toni went up on the toes of her left leg while bending her right leg at a perfect right angle and again did one of the best ballet spins I had witnessed in person.

Suddenly it clicked in my head. Like most times, I received a memory in my head where I am seeing the intricacies of different dance forms, specifically ballet in this case. Now I feel stupid not knowing what a pirouette is.

"I don't have shoes to practice in," I stalled. While I do seem to conveniently recall a memory from my past life, that doesn't mean I am eager to prove her wrong.

"Don't worry about small things like that," She rubbed my hair with a shit-eating grin evident on her face, "You can borrow my extra pair. It's free size so it should fit you. Wait here, I'll bring them for you."

Why the fuck did I have to be a kid about this whole debacle? I was supposed to be the mature one, wasn't I? But I cannot back out of this challenge without losing face.

In hindsight, I totally could. Being a kid, it could be seen as throwing a tantrum or something along the lines and Toni would likely forget about it in a few days at most had I just apologized. Unfortunately, the sin of pride came in the way of a quick resolution to the little dispute.

Toni came back a few minutes later and handed me her spare shoes.

"Two weeks." She reiterates.

"Two weeks," I affirmed with a determined nod. Now that I have accepted the challenge, I will win it. I'm not one to back down from one. No matter how difficult it might be.

"Do you want some pointers?" Toni asked with that ever-present grin on her stupid mug.

"As if," I scoffed, "Like I said, anyone can learn it. I will learn it without your help."

I felt like punching myself hard in the face at that moment. The best person to guide me was standing right before me and offering her help but my pride was bigger than Mt. Everest.

"Have it your way then," Toni said, pointing towards the area she was practicing in.

I knew better than to make my first attempt (or any attempt for that matter) in front of her. So I clutched the ballet shoes tightly as I stormed inside the house towards my room. I ignored the amused laughter coming from the backyard.

Dropping the shoes in a corner, I lay down on my bed, contemplating my choices right now. Regret filled my being with my actions. I know that being a newbie actor, and a kid at that, I was bound to face a little hazing from the crew but my reaction to that was unacceptable. I always think of myself as an uber-mature person, but lately, I am hardly acting as one.

It's like, the kid in me wants to be a kid for real and the mature part of me is being curbed.

Now was not the time to mope, but to win a bet.

I got up from the bed with determination filling me up and quickly put on the shoes I had been graciously given by Toni and did some quick stretches. From what I remember, the most important part of ballet is standing on your toes. The initial classes all focus on you eventually being able to stand on your toes without support for an extended period. And if I cannot stand on my toes then forget about doing a pirouette.

To begin with, I went up on my toes and tried to balance my body while keeping my legs bent slightly at the knees. I quickly lost my balance and went down on my heel.

I sighed dejectedly. Despite some surprisingly coincidental memories from my past life about ballet, it will take longer to get proficient in it than I had expected.

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