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5) Part Two

~April~

"Today we'll be focusing on roleplay improvisation," the coach bellowed. He was short and stocky, and looked to be in his late twenties. His fashion was on point though, making me suspect that he was also gay.

Seeing as the introductions had preciously been made, we were getting right into it. Sara had left about twenty minutes ago, leaving me to face the music. So far the experience hadn't been as horrifying as I'd thought it would be.

One thing I'd definitely been wrong about was the fact that there had been signs of life inside. In fact, as I'd entered everyone had already been sitting there patiently waiting for the last few members to arrive.

"Any questions so far?" I smirked as soon as the coach said this. He was raising an eyebrow almost sassily, adding to the amusement that I felt. When he seemed satisfied that we were following, he continued to explain what roleplay improvisation was. Since I already knew the answer to that, I took those few moments as my cue to take in my surroundings.

Everything was made of wood - that was the first thing I noticed. From the floorboards to the oak beams that hung from the ceiling (it turns out the building was in fact a converted barn that had been recently extended), to the stage itself. Heck, even some of the older chairs which were stacked in the corner of the room looked to have legs made of wood. The result? It made the room look a lot darker than it was.

I zoned back in.

"You'll be paired into partners and given a mix of scenarios." He looked at us all. "I want you guys to act out these scenarios as realistically as you can without any hiccups."

Our reason for us being here I'd learned, was that we'd come to find our inner selves. By doing that, we could hopefully find out what it was that we needed to improve the quality of our lives and for some, to get the help we needed.
It would also allow us to let off some steam by projecting our emotions into intense scenarios, which I'd thought was a good idea. I'd feigned interest at first, but now after being given the details, I'd become more interested.

Right then, I decided to pay more attention because I knew it was important.

"...Sophie and Connor, you two go together. Dannie and Steve, you two go together." The coach gestured for those individuals to get up and they did. Two of the shortest girls - one with blonde hair and the other with red hair and a lip piercing, stood up to meet their partners.

"Good. Now, April and Beth, I want you two to go together..." He kept on listing off names until everyone had been paired up. "Now everyone stand in a position so that you're all approximately five feet away from each pair."

We all did as he asked.

Beth and I moved to the left so that were closer to the wall. I grinned at her. She beamed back. Beth was tall with dyed black hair, with a blue streak on one side. Despite her appearance she was actually really friendly and when she beamed I noticed that she had a cute dimple on her right cheek.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi."

Before giving us our first scenario, we were made to do some short breathing exercises to get in the 'zone.' Once we'd finished those he proceeded to tell us what the first scenario would be.

He placed a hand on his hip in thought. "You're a newly married couple with relationship problems. One of you is a workaholic, causing the other to feel as if they're unappreciated. As well as feeling this, the other of you is also convinced that they're being cheated on." There were a few immature snickers. "Make this as realistic as possible guys, I want to see you guys shine!" Definitely gay. "When you're ready, go!" The clap of his hands was our signal to start.

"YOU NEVER SLEEP WITH ME ANYMORE!" A lanky teen with dark hair - Brad I think his name was - immediately exploded. He startled us all, including his smaller partner. Immediately we all burst out laughing. The coach smirked widely before shaking his head.

"Good start, Brad." He waved his arms towards the rest of us and squealed in exaggeration, "the crowd loves you!" More snickers. We were quieted for a second. "I need you all to shine like this superstar and let out your inner drama queen!" He boomed. I couldn't help but giggle.

After a minute of laughter he clapped his hands together yet again and yelled, "Go, go, GO!" From there we all began.

"So, who do you want to be?" I asked her.

Beth smiled, twirling her dyed hair. "I can be the husband if you want." She grinned mischievously.

I nodded. "OK."

We got to work. I pretended to be doing something in the kitchen, to which Beth stepped away, a while later knocking on our invisible front door. I pretended to sigh heavily (it felt kind of good to do so) and trudged over to the 'front door.'

I opened it. "Honey! Glad to see you're back early. How was your day?" I made my facial expression interested but alert, almost as if I was waiting for 'my husband' to say something that would give away his adulterous activities.

Beth (my husband) mocked looking slightly tired and pissed. "My day was fine." She stated, sounding curt. "May I come in?" I must admit, she sounded completely different to the bouncy girl she was five minutes before we started. It was bewitching.

I frowned, pretending to be instantly suspicious. "Is something the matter?"

Closing her eyes briefly as if in irritation, she sighed before barging past me. "I'm going to bed," was all she said over her shoulder as she mimed putting down her suitcase and taking off her jacket. I pretended to purse my lips into a thin line before slamming the 'door.'

"But you haven't had your tea!" I made my voice sound almost whiny.

Suddenly, she whirled around to face me. "Will you just stop with the nagging!" Her yell was loud enough for a few pairs around us to turn their heads in interest. I was impressed. Immediately, my mind began to whirl. What should I say next?

I decided to feign a shocked expression. "Excuse me?" Taking a step closer, I prodded her in the chest (yes, prodded). "How dare you speak to me like that? You never bother with me anymore, you know that? In fact, whenever I try to bring up a conversation you blow me off! What's the matter with you? Why do you think you can talk to me like this!"

Honestly, it felt good to be yelling. I had no idea how relieving acting like this could be. Gone was my fear and stage fright. I felt like I was in my element. My character crossed their arms for emphasis, their face twisted into an ugly scowl. "You're seeing someone aren't you?" I accused.

There were a few giggles from either side of us, but I was glad that we'd still managed to capture their attention. We were doing good.

Beth feigned blinking in shock. "What the hell are you talking about?" As she faked a glance to the side in order to stifle her character's guilt, I took this as a cue. Her character was obviously lying.

I pretended to explode. "I knew it!" My screech was wild. "God, I'm so naïve! How long has it been going on for, hmm?" When she didn't reply I inched closer. "Tell me!" I prodded her in the chest again. Now the whole group was focused on us.

Instead of getting mad like I'd expected, Beth's character's eyes softened with what looked like pity before she glanced at the floor. "I'm sorry." Her voice sounded gruff. "I didn't mean for it to turn out like this."

My eyes watered. I didn't even mean for them to but somehow they did. It was like I could feel my character's fear, betrayed and hurt. god knows how I'd managed to become so involved. "I want you to leave." I whispered, as if trying to steel myself from a shed load of pain.

Beth a.k.a 'my husband' bowed her head in shame before staring at me in remorse. Her eyes looked to have watered too, but I couldn't tell for sure. "I'll be gone by tomorrow." She said. With that she walked past me out of 'the door,' leaving me centre stage.

A round of applause filled the hall as Beth came bounding over, a huge smile on her face. "You were great!" She grinned.

I smiled back. "So were you." The coach finally clapped and gave us each the thumbs up before quietening the rest group.

"Alright guys, settle down now..."

By the end of that part of the session we were all exhausted after having acted out a problematic couple as well as a teacher and student argument and a parent and teen reconciliation. Each scenario had been refreshing to play and it had cleverly broken the ice between us all, I noted. I was even considering adding a few of the group members on Facebook.

During the ten minute break I collapsed into my plastic seat, feeling much more comfortable with everyone.

Beth (which I'd learned was actually short for Bethanie), sat down beside me. "So what's your reason for being here?" She asked me. I was learning more about her as each second went by - in this case, that she was very straight to the point.

I shrugged, swinging my legs and kicking the floor beneath me. "Issues." A bit straight to the point, I know.

She twirled her hair in thought and suddenly she stopped before discreetly raising her sleeve. Dark gashes lined her wrist - each a severe contrast to her pale skin. Beneath those, I was dismayed to see that other smaller scars crisscrossed in unison.

My eyes must've widened to the size of Jupiter. "Oh my God." Realising what I'd just said, I rushed to correct myself. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that, I, er, sorry..."

"It's alright." She smiled, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. I could see just how much grief and sadness was displayed in her eyes once she'd let her guard down. This time, her pain was real; not an act. My heart clenched.

"Why did you do it?" I asked her, making sure to keep my voice down. It was probably rude, but I felt like I had to know what was causing her so much sorrow. I needed to. Around us, the small crowd hummed softly as they spoke, oblivious to our conversation.

She shrugged, not meeting my eyes. "Issues," she stated, echoing my words.

"I had a near-death experience." I blurted out. I didn't often blurt stuff like that out to strangers (like I'd said before, I wasn't a very open person), but I wanted her to open up to me. Her eyes widened, just like mine had.

"What?" She said it a bit too loudly because the whole group stopped to face us. Beth grinned sheepishly. "Sorry guys! Ignore me." She called out. Her carefree smile caused them to turn away again, suddenly uninterested.

"What happened?" She whispered this time. Her black hair scraped her shoulders looking almost blue-black in the light as she leaned forward. Her eyes were wide and focused.

"Five minutes, guys!" The coach bellowed.

"So?" She prompted.

I told her some of it. "It was a diving accident." Her surprised expression made me feel a tug. I hadn't expected the accident to happen, either...
"I was training, just like I always did, and when I dived... I must've miscalculated my jump because I fell." There was no way I could tell her what I thought had really happened. She'd think I was crazy.

Her pitiful expression said it all. "I'm sorry." Thankfully, she sounded like she meant it. I hated people who faked sympathy.

I'm sorry.

The two words I'd heard when the senior doctor had come into my hospital room that day, announcing the severe possibility of permanent paralysis. At that moment, the phrase made me shudder.

I didn't show it though. "It's OK." I told her. Even though it wasn't. She knew that.

Together we sat in serious thought before coming back as a whole group. She hadn't confessed any 'deep secrets' like I had, but the little shrivel of insight she'd given me into her life was enough food for thought for now. Beth was a nice girl and I didn't like the thought of something hurting her badly enough in her life enough to make her want to mutilate herself. It bothered me more than I'd care to admit and I hadn't even known her for that long.

When the group was over, I checked my phone for the time before waiting outside. I said goodbye to a few of the members I was more familiar with - including Beth - and stood by the entrance on my own. As soon as I saw my aunt's car, I walked up to it, opened the passenger door and climbed in.

"How was it?" Nervous frown lines formed on her face as she asked the question. I hadn't even tucked in my seat belt.

It had been better than I'd thought it would be. "It was good," I told her. "I enjoyed myself." The corner of my lips lifted. "The coach was definitely something," I said, remembering his sassy attitude. "He was a lot of fun to be around and so were the others."

I told her about all that had happened - including Brad's sudden outburst and she laughed, a 'throwing her head back carelessly' type of laugh. It made me smile. "That's good to hear." She said, giggling.

It was.

"Thank you for making me go."

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