the actress

five; in which roald anderson proves his intelligence

LEI
I tap Roald on the arm, and he snaps his gaze back to me. I briefly check where his eyes were, and find my eyes lying on Stefan.
"The test, Roald?" I say again, as I draw my eyes back towards him. He flashes me a quick, sparkly grin, and begins to speak, his voice flowing into my ears.
"It was hell, genuinely. Like, I knew it wasn't going to be a walk in the park- but come on. It's a bunch of eighteen year olds- how clever do you expect them to be?"
I look at him dryly, because he's almost definitely a genius. In return, he smiles a little- although I can tell that he's still not quite over the stress of it.
"You know what I mean, Lei."

STEFAN
There's something reserved about Roald: The way he stiffens when Lei gives him the look that tells me about just how smart this boy is; the undeniable uncertainty about being in my home; it's in his little twitches and taps- almost written on his skin. He's on edge, and Lei's combination of questioning and compliments isn't helping.
"So what did it include, this test?"
There she goes again, with the questions.
"It was set out like a school exam, you know, individual tables with little kits including everything we would need." he blinks slowly, contemplating his next words. "It started easy, simple maths-" before he can continue, Lei cuts off with "when you say simple maths, are we talking your simple, or my simple?" she laughs loudly and Roald winces a little.
"Our simple. It was like, 21st century simple. We're talking addition"
Lei raises her eyebrows in shock. I don't blame her; the director test is really hyped up, and last time I checked, it was not supposed to be that easy.
"But then, it went crazy. They really got into philosophy and that kind of thing."
As he pauses, I interject.
"How can philosophy have a right or wrong answer, though? How is that even marked?"
Roald looked me in the eyes for the first time, and frowned.
"There are many opinions, but only one is correct"
"And who decides that?"
"The officials. Please don't ask questions like that"
"Why not?" I challenge, Lei staring in the corner of my eye.

ROALD
Because I don't want you to know the answer.
And I couldn't stand Lei finding out, either.
When I took my test, and they told me I'd passed, a young, stout woman with soft hands and dark eyes told me that being a director wasn't easy. That all my morals ought to be abandoned, because I had to put families through hell. I was in charge of real life people. She told me to be frightened, but also to be brave.
I'm still not sure if I'm either of those.
But I'm trying, and I hope that one day I will.

LEI
There's an uneasy amount of tension in this room and Stefan and Roald seems unable to keep their eyes of each other.
I cough slightly, to remind them that I'm still here and that I don't particularly appreciate their eye sex or whatever the hell is going on.
Roald draws his eyes back to me, and I raise my eyebrows.
"I should get going." He announces, a thin smile on his lips.
I'd forgotten that my parents where in the room, but I'm forced to remember their presence by the smashing of a mug on the cold tile floor.
I whip round to see my mother, mortified, staring down at the smashed crockery. As she begins to cry, my father shakes his head and strides out. She continues to cry, her face in her hands. Finally, Stefan moves to her and holds her in his arms. He whispers something in her ear and pats her on the back as she wanders off; not bothering to step around the mess. Stefan bows his head and frowns.
"Yes, I think you're right, time to go now" he goes to place his hand on Roald's shoulder, but draws it down "nice to meet you"
Roald instead goes ahead and places his hand on Stefan's shoulder, nodding slightly. "you too, mate"
He wraps me in a quick hug before leaving the kitchen. I listen as the front door shuts and automatically locks.
Now he's gone, I turn to Stefan and whisper "what was that about?"
He doesn't reply, only staring behind him at the kitchen door. I turn and there stands Delaney, tall and annoyingly beautiful, with her hair cut short.
Really short.
"What ya staring at?" She glares at every one of us, especially me.
Father blinks quickly, unsure how to react.
"It looks..." Stefan struggles for words, his eyes darting about the room as if an adjective is going to pop out of the toaster.
"Beautiful" I say, almost impulsively.
"Thank you. But that wasn't my intention" Delaney might have smiled at me, but she may just have twitched. "a girl can be more than just beautiful. Father, if only you knew."
My father stiffens as he stands tall.
"What have you done?" he whispers, avoiding eye contact with us all.
"Taken control."

STEFAN
Once again, my sister has surprised us all. She does it so often that it's a wonder we still react to her various revolts. Her hair, still vibrant and wild, finishes just underneath her jawline thus forcing one to admire it's sharpness.
Unsurprisingly, however, she still manages to look like some sort of goddess- an erudite blend of Athena and Aphrodite.
That doesn't matter.
The rules are the rules, and Delaney has broken them.
It makes no difference whether she still looks beautiful, she will receive punishment. It is the principal, not the action itself.
"I'll call into the office," Father says, his face grim and grey, "I just hope that they don't punish you too severely, Delaney."
She shrugs, her shoulders just meeting the tips of her hair. "I'm going to bed" she offers nonchalantly, before spinning round and stalking away.
I take a glance at Lei, who is still sat in her seat. Her eyes are wide as she turns her head to meet my gaze. I break our stare and fold my arms.
"I'll tidy this broken plate up, eh, dad?"
He nods, his hand running through the thinning hair atop his scalp.
"Perhaps we all ought to get some rest. It's been a long day for Lei."
He looks at my other sister and gives her a reserved smile. She returns the gesture, a little nervously.
"Don't worry about the plates, Stefan. I'll sort them, and you can show Lei to her room."
I nod, and head towards the door and signal for her to follow.
She does, scurrying towards me like a mouse from a cat.

a/n| oh ffs,, I just want to get to the gay stuff but I have to get a plotline. I stg I'm only writing this for my oc otps
-erin xoxo