Read Online Finding June by Shannen Crane Camp - Free Book Online Page A

thoughts of my kiss with Joseph that morning were
gone, replaced by the hypothetically traumatizing situations I
could possibly experience today.
    By the time I walked into the designated room
for that day’s table read, I was about as stable as a bowl of
Jell-O. None of the other actors were in the room when I took my
seat and began to read over the script for the millionth time.
Three long tables were set up in a U shape in the small room. There
were a few crewmembers there, and Mr. Hill gave me a quick briefing
of what we’d do today. Once he finished talking, I sat awkwardly by
myself, waiting for the other actors to trickle in.
    The first two to show up were Ryan Hex and
Benjamin Hampton, who played Rich and John on the show. They were
the notorious comic-relief detectives who got all the clever
one-liners and catchphrases that people printed on T-shirts. They
were both in their 20s and couldn’t have looked more different from
each other if they tried. Ryan had fair skin, short blonde hair,
and deep blue eyes. Benjamin, on the other hand, had dark brown
skin, brown hair, and brown eyes. Even though they looked so
different, I could tell instantly that they had great chemistry as
they bounced jokes off of each other while walking into the room.
The second they spotted me, they flanked me—Ryan with a wide,
inviting smile, and Benjamin with a sideways smirk.
    “New Girl,” Benjamin said, pointing to me. I
wasn’t really sure if this was a question or simply a statement. I
worried they were trying to put me in my place right away, but
quickly found that wasn’t the case.
    Ryan put his arm around me and gave me a
tight squeeze. “So, New Girl, I hear you’ll be joining us for a few
weeks,” he said. He shifted, putting his elbows on the table in
front of him and resting his jaw on his fist. From the intent way
Ryan and Benjamin stared at me, I could tell they were sizing me
up.
    “Yeah, I hope so,” was all I could think of
to say. How did you reply to that? Especially when you’d never met
the people before in your life? On top of just being a socially
awkward person, I was feeling a bit star-struck at meeting the cast
of Forensic Faculty . I smiled at them sweetly, trying to
look friendly even though I was scared out of my wits.
    “You’re adorable, New Girl,” Benjamin said,
also resting his elbow on the table and looking at me from the
other side. The whole situation was pretty awkward, to say the
least.
    “She’s like a reincarnated . . . oh, what’s
that girl’s name? Greta Garbo?” Ryan asked Benjamin. I knew exactly
who they were thinking of, but thought it best to just keep it to
myself and let them hash it out.
    “Greta Garbo was blonde,” Benjamin said,
looking at his friend as if he were a complete idiot. “It’s the
brunette you’re thinking of. With the big eyes.”
    “Mae West?” Ryan said.
    “Well, Mae West didn’t have big eyes she just
had . . . well . . . never mind,” Benjamin trailed off, giving me
an apprehensive look.
    “Lillian Gish?” I finally chimed in
helpfully.
    “Yes!” they exclaimed together, making me
grin at how much they were like their characters in real life.
    “So you’re our new big star in ‘Vaudeville
Vice’,” Benjamin stated in an overdramatic way, referring to the
name of the first episode I’d be in.
    “Oh yeah,” I said jokingly. “I’m the biggest
star you’ll ever see.”
    “I like the New Girl,” Benjamin said over my
head to Ryan, on my other side.
    “She’s funny,” he agreed with a grin.
    As they continued to talk over my head, the
next star to walk in caught my attention. Anna Farthing, who played
Captain Juliana Ryder, was the hard-nosed woman in power on the
show. She was in charge of everything and often hindered the actual
process of getting things done because she wanted her team to
follow the rules. Of all of the characters on the show, she was the
one I was most intimidated to meet. If she was anything like