Free Finding June by Shannen Crane Camp

chemistry
awful,” Ryan agreed.
    “I can absolutely promise you that won’t be
an issue,” I reassured them as I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
Benjamin shrugged his shoulders and turned his attention back to
his phone, but Ryan apparently wasn’t giving up that easily.
    “You’re kind of conservative, aren’t you?” he
asked, the joking tone gone from his voice.
    “Yeah, something like that,” I replied,
trying not to bring up the fact that I was Mormon. It wasn’t that I
was ashamed of my religion—not by any means. Mostly I just didn’t
want to get into a religious or political argument during my very
first table read. I was used to getting weird questions from people
at school, and it had kind of trained me to know when the mention
of my religion would be a teaching opportunity or when it would
turn into an argument or an excuse to make fun of it.
    “Good for you,” he said unexpectedly, smiling
and making me feel like I had already made a friend in the
cast.
    “Thank you,” I replied, in an equally as
good-natured tone.
    Anna eventually returned to the room and took
her seat near Lukas. He looked over at her and the two began to
talk about something. I strained my ears to try to catch snippets
of the conversation but couldn’t really hear anything. I normally
wasn’t a nosey person, but when Lukas Leighton was sitting a few
feet away from me, you could bet I was going to try to hear what he
said.
    Right before one o'clock, the last two stars
on the show walked into the room together, talking in low, playful
tones. Joann Hoozer, who played Jackie the medical examiner, was in
her mid-twenties and absolutely gorgeous. She had long blonde hair,
honey brown eyes, and a smile bright enough to land airplanes on.
She was tall, skinny, and graceful, just like a movie star should
be.
    With Joann was Will Trofeos, the actual star
of the show. Everybody loved him as the hotshot detective Charles
Bagely, who had taken Lukas Leighton’s character Cutter under his
wing to teach him the art of deciphering a crime scene. He was
probably in his mid-to-late forties, though I wasn’t exactly sure
of his age. That was the thing with Hollywood—everyone looked a lot
younger than they really were. He had a thick Spanish accent, dark
skin, black hair, and chestnut eyes. For an older guy, he was
definitely good-looking.
    Joann and Will sat in the two seats right
next to Lukas, and the rest of the crew soon joined us at the
table. I was glad that Benjamin and Ryan were sitting on either
side of me. They had been so friendly already that it felt like
they were my own private moral support. Looking around the room, I
couldn’t help but notice how glamorous everyone looked. Joann was
leaning on her elbow and talking to Will, her diamond encrusted
watch catching the light perfectly as her blonde hair cascaded down
her bare shoulder in loose curls. Even Lukas, who you could tell
was trying to go for the artsy "I don’t care about wearing trendy
clothes" look, had probably spent more on his plaid shirt than I
had on my entire wardrobe.
    Something about these people just said they
were important, and I suddenly felt inadequate in the sundress I
had bought at the thrift store because I thought it made it more
"vintage." I tugged at one of the cap sleeves on my dress
uncomfortably, wishing it looked more expensive in this room
jam-packed with designer labels. Ryan and Benjamin somehow sensed
my discomfort, because they exchanged a quick glance before leaning
in to me again.
    “Just relax,” Benjamin said quietly.
    “Yeah, table reads are honestly no big deal,
all right? Half of the time we don’t even act . . . we just read
through the script like robots so that the department heads can
stop us every five seconds and tell us what kind of clothespins
they’ll need to keep the lighting right . . . or something,” Ryan
said in exasperation.
    “Most of the time we have no idea what the
crew is talking about. They have weird