Free Acting Out by Laurie Halse Anderson Page A

excited like I thought they would be. “Don’t you want to help teach people about antifreeze poisoning?”
    Brenna speaks up. “Of course we do, Zoe. I think we’re all just nervous about the acting part.”
    I try again to make them understand. “Listen, it’s not like you have to become a character. It’s not like being in a school play. We are Vet Volunteers, explaining something very important about animal care. It’s nothing we haven’t done lots of times. Just speak clearly and be yourselves.” I look at David. “Or a calmer version of yourself.”
    “Ha!” he says, tossing a crumpled napkin at me.
    I look from Vet Volunteer to Vet Volunteer. They all look nervous.
    Then Brenna asks, “And what were you saying about the website?”
    “Last night I set up a site for us,” I say. “It’s not much, but it’s a start. We’ll post the videos and create other content. We can write up other animal tips and even post pictures of animals that are available for adoption at the clinic, like those kittens were. Gran can help. She can make sure we’ve got it all right.”
    “Well, I’m in,” Brenna says. “I think filming PSAs is a great idea. And I’ve always wanted to have a website for the Vet Volunteers.”
    “When are we going to do this? School starts back up tomorrow.” Maggie doesn’t look like she thinks this is such a good idea.
    “Today,” I reply. Everyone looks surprised. “Why not? I’ve written our first script. Once wedo one, the rest will be easier. Then we can do a couple more next week.”
    “How many of these do you want us to do?” Sunita asks. She looks all kinds of worried again. I shouldn’t be surprised, really. Sunita can be shy sometimes.
    “We can start with one or two about the dangers of antifreeze. That way we have something to look at on our website. And then we’ll do more as we come up with new topics.” My computer is finally fully booted. I turn it so everyone can see the site.
    “This looks great,” Brenna says. “I like the pictures of Sherlock and the kittens. We might want to load a few more graphics up on it. I have a lot of wildlife images on my computer at home that we can use.”
    Josh leans in to look. “I like the puppy pictures on the home page.”
    Jules says, “We should take a picture of Cuddles for the site, too.”
    “And Rover,” David chimes in.
    “Yes, all great ideas,” I say. “Now let’s start the PSAs! The first one shoots in the backyard. Let’s go.”
    We trample out to Gran’s backyard. I give Maggie, Sunita, and Brenna one script to read over and Jules, Josh, and David the other. I should have made more copies. Oh well.
    I scan the backyard for possible locations to film. Let’s see. We could do it over by the tall evergreens, or maybe right beside the porch. And the lighting is really good down by the kennel runs. We’ll try them all and pick the best ones to upload to the website. If we can at least get one done today, I can tell my mom to check it out. If all goes well, maybe I’ll even get a response from her before I go to bed tonight.
    “David, do you know how to use this?” I wave my camera.
    “Yep. I used Brian’s once when he didn’t know. Took a video of him flexing his muscles in the mirror. Not much to look at.”
    “Did he find out?” Josh asks.
    “Oh yeah. I got into some real trouble for that. But I know how to film.” David turns back to me and reaches for my camera.
    “Okay, well, let’s start over by the trees. It’ll make a nice background. Come on, everybody!” I lead the way to the farthest section of Gran’s property.
    To begin, I read the first line of the PSA in front of everyone as an example. I try to sound as natural as possible, while adding a little dramatic flair. I think it works, but the Vet Volunteers just kind of stare at me.
    But that’s ok. It’s a simple PSA. Each of us has just one line of our own, and then we’ll all read the last line in unison. Except for