Her reward for it now was that her dreams were beginning to come true. This was the first step toward the career she wanted as a screenwriter.
* * *
—
She loved all her classes and professors, whom she found fascinating. She bought all her books and the materials she needed, and went to the library to start working on her first paper.
She left the library just before closing time, and saw a tall, handsome boy with dark hair coming down the steps at the same time. He looked vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t place him. She had seen so many new faces in the past few days. She didn’t know if they were in the same class, or she had just seen him on the street, or in a hallway.
“Hi, I’m Jake Burton,” he said as they reached the street together. She looked cautious before she answered. “We’re in the same dorm. I saw you when you moved in with all your stuff.” He smiled easily at her. “I’m in the Department of Drama. What about you?” It was the famous acting school that was part of the Tisch School of the Arts.
“I’m doing screenplays, or I want to.” She smiled at him then, still hesitant.
“What’s your name?” He had to pry it out of her. In new and overwhelming circumstances, her old shyness had taken over.
“Antonia.”
“I’m from San Francisco,” he said confidently. It occurred to her that he would be a gorgeous actor one day. But she wasn’t interested in romance. She just wanted to get her bearings, get settled at school, and do a good job there. She got on her bicycle and rode away a minute later.
She saw him again at the grocery store nearest the campus two days later. He was wearing a dark blue V-neck sweater and black jeans, and black Converse high top sneakers. She’d been in the library since her last class, working on a screenplay. He wound up behind her in the checkout line, and chatted with her again. She couldn’t tell if he was hitting on her, or just being friendly, but he made conversation easy, and they talked for several minutes as they waited in line.
“How’s it going?” he asked her with a broad smile. He reminded her of a big friendly puppy wagging his tail, and she smiled at the image.
“It’s intense. They’re already giving us assignments.” She was beginning to wonder if she was good enough for the school. It was harder than she’d expected.
“They’re giving us a shitload of work too. I have two acting classes and an audition tomorrow. I thought I was ready for this. I took acting classes all through high school. Now I’m not so sure.”
“Me too,” she said, relieved to be able to say it out loud. He was the only person she knew so far, other than her roommate, who was pleasant, but Betty was out all the time, and had friends in the dorm, so Antonia hadn’t seen much of her since she’d arrived. It was a big urban campus, which made it harder to meet people, with everyone rushing around and many students living off campus.
“What’s your screenplay about?” he asked casually as they approached the cash register.
“It’s a short piece, just one scene between two men in a concentration camp, and one is about to die.”
“Wow, that’s heavy,” he said, impressed.
“I’ve never done anything like it. I like happy endings,” she said with a grin. The class was being taught by a famous Hollywood screenwriter, who was a guest lecturer for a semester.
“I’ll invite you to one of our plays, if I get a part,” he said, as she finally reached the cash register, paid for her groceries, and said goodbye. He caught up with her on the sidewalk a few minutes later and offered to carry the bag back to the dorm for her. The groceries were heavy, and she finally handed them to him, grateful for the assistance. They talked all the way back to the dorm about their classes.
His room was on the floor above hers, and he stopped at her door and handed her the grocery bag. “Do you want to have dinner sometime?”
“If I get caught up,” she said vaguely, and he nodded.
“Yeah, me too. If I get a part. They pile on the homework here. I kind of expected it, but it’s even heavier than I thought. I guess if we survive it, we’ll be ready for the real world.” She nodded and unlocked her door. Her roommate was out as usual. She thanked him again, and he waved as he headed for the stairs to his floor. There was no question, he was a good-looking boy, but she had no time for romance now. She headed straight for her desk, and got to work on her screenplay.
She didn’t see Jake again until the following week, when she was leaving the library again. He was walking by when he saw her.