Chapter Sixteen
During Ellie's first day at the Theatre School, she was overwhelmed by all of the first year classes, which included Acting Technique to Classical Text Analysis. During the course of a week, she was required to attend classes for thirty-three and a half hours, between 9 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday. Each class had its assigned number of hours, and the additional rehearsal time was at her discretion, she was told.
The first class of the day was Scene Study, where students performed a dramatic scene and then received feedback from the teacher, classmates, or each other.
Ellie was paired with a girl a few years older than her. An undercut and thick curly brown hair adorn the girl's short and plump frame. Her hair appeared unwashed for months. While watching her, Ellie was scared by her dark eyes. The girl introduced herself as Candy.
After finishing the first class, they moved on to the Acting Workshop, where they learned how to hone their skills and network with other actors, coaches, and casting directors.
Ellie was almost glad Candy wasn't in the class, but was disappointed when she came through the door, and looked straight at Ellie.
“Do you mind if I sit next to you?”
"Of course." What else could she say? You scare me? Would you mind leaving me alone?
By the end of her third class, she decided to call it a day. As she approached the car she was borrowing from Jessie, she heard her name called. She recognized it as Candy.
”Hey Ellie! Do you have a minute?" Ellie turned around with a smile. “I see you have a car,” she added. “Can you give me a ride?”
As if not too surprised by the direct question, she replied, “Where do you need to go?”
“Brighton Beach.”
"To be honest, I have no idea where that is."
"I can show you. I need to get to my babysitting job by six. I'll be in trouble if I'm late."
The idea of hiring a girl like Candy to care for a family's child or children puzzled Ellie. It was impossible for her to say no, so Candy got in the Buick.
During the trip to Brighton Beach, Candy told Ellie about her life, where she grew up, where she attended school, and about her drunken parents. She was still living at home with her parents in Long Island and saving money to buy her own place one day with the babysitting job. In her amazement, Ellie wondered how she could afford the Theatre program with just babysitting. However, she decided not to ask.
Just before six, she dropped Candy off at the house in Brighton Sixth Street. When she got home, she was exhausted. Since Brooklyn Heights wasn't too far away, she didn't get lost. When she got home, dinner was ready. As she dug in, she began telling Jessie and her dad about her first day.
While washing up, the home phone rang. When she saw that her dad and Jessie were watching TV in the family room, Ellie answered. As before, there was no one on the other side except for heavy breathing. “Whoever you are, can you please stop calling us?” she said as she slammed the phone. Jessie and James appeared next to her. She said, “It's beginning to get weird now. Somebody is messing with us. These prank calls. Shouldn’t we call the cops?”
"What good are they?” he replied, remembering how they were in Los Angeles. "What about caller ID then? Whoever that is, is probably not going to stop?"
"I am certain they will. It has been a few days since they called."