give me your MASK , - - - [rin]

Her icy blue stare was critical as it fixed on the lone figure at the front of the room, no doubt only adding to the anxiety that Raine was feeling. Rin was not kind enough to turn her head away, she couldn't do that even if she'd been the compassionate sort that would have wanted to. She was the teacher, it was her job to analyse and criticize the work and performances of her students. This particular student was one that she'd had her eye on for a while. See, she was a special case in a class where Rin did not often get special cases. She either liked or hated most of her students based on their attitudes and they were either good or bad actors and actresses, enough said. Raine was a mixture. Rin had no problems with her in terms of attitude but her acting performances in front of the class had been sub-par at best. She stammered over the words and fell silent even as the theatre teacher watched and she went back to her seat without finishing the monologue at all. "Quiet," she sharply warned a group of obnoxious students that had a habit of laughing at anyone and everyone if they made the slightest falter. It seemed they'd learned through constant detentions and reprimands that testing her wasn't a very good idea, for the silence she'd demanded fell almost immediately after the word left her lips.

Good.

Her expression was unreadable and her tone matched it as she said levelly, "See me after class, Miss Ellison." She was going to be having a talk with her about this one. She'd let it slide thus far because she'd assumed that Raine really was terrible at acting and had only taken the class to test it out—something that Rin hated—but now she had reason to believe otherwise. She'd given plenty of time to prepare for this because it counted for a decent part of her students' grades. It was not a simple 'for fun' monologue but an important one that was designed to test their memorization and performance skills all in one. Raine had most certainly failed it, for she hadn't been able to finish even with all of the stammering. "You're up next," she told a boy in the third row, just as toneless as before. She might not have sounded enthusiastic but if Rin had anything going for her in this job it was that she knew what she was doing. Her attention was turned away from Raine for the time being as she focused on the boy's performance, critical stare missing nothing as she jotted down notes on his performance. "That's it for the day," she said at last. "You'll be getting the results of your grades on Monday." The bell rang and she considered her class dismissed. However, she could not yet leave with them to enjoy a cup of coffee and a hot lunch, for she had a student to deal with.

She watched her not unlike the raven for which Raine had given her the nickname, eyes less beady but just as scrutinizing. "I did." The words were simple. She paused to decide on her choice of words but it was not very long before she opened her mouth once more. "You realise that you're failing." It wasn't said gently nor really as a question at all. She figured that Raine was intelligent enough to realise that a constant failure to perform properly in front of her peers would lead to a lower grade. "Why take this class?" It was better to be blunt than to try her hand at kindness. Rin was not an incredibly kind nor compassionate person by default. However, there was some kind of talent within Raine that she was not oblivious to. The girl just never used it, something that baffled her teacher. "I'm not going to pretend that the others are all fantastic actors but at very least the majority don't look like they're going to faint every time they get up on stage or stand in front of the class." Most people knew of their own stage fright issues. It wasn't like they were things that would only become apparent in the twelfth grade. She wasn't going to give Raine the benefit of the doubt and assume that she'd only just discovered them. "What are you looking for from this?" She meant the class experience and figured Raine would know that.

Caterina didn't understand people with unrealistic dreams. An aspiring actress with stage fright? It didn't make any sense to her and so she found it hard to truly empathise with her student as she was told something that she'd half-expected anyway. A lot of students took the class thinking that they could become the next Broadway star or A-list actor. Perhaps her own failure had made her cynical but she knew that life didn't always work out that way. Stars were rare and not everyone was cut out to be one, least of all a girl that froze up every time she looked a crowd in the eye. It was only slightly different on a set. There were still the crew, your fellow stars to witness any fumble you might make. Then she noticed something, a small detail in what had been said. Rin thanked her perception for that moment. "Wanted," she repeated slowly, as if tasting it on her tongue. Past-tense, like things have changed. Raine had not said I want but I wanted. Does that mean she's seen sense? You'd have to be pretty thick to assume you could be an actress if you couldn't act in front of people, in her opinion. If Raine understood that then they might be able to get somewhere. The teacher had little tolerance for idiocy and might have dismissed her student right then and there if Raine had tried to insist she had a strong chance.

The Water student went on to explain her problem with stage fright, a problem that had been made fairly apparent by her poor performance in the class. Rin listened carefully without interruption, though her brows lifted ever so slightly. "So your fear has nothing to do with a lack of memorization skills. All right. What exactly are you afraid of?" Rin had witnessed stage fright many times but having never been a victim herself, any experience she had was second-hand. She didn't think she could provide the girl with a magical solution to all of her problems and so she wondered what Raine expected to gain from the class, if anything at all. She could detect the desperation in the girls voice and while she was not the type to feel bad for people, she didn't sneer or talk down to her. Rin enjoyed acting, she did not ridicule those who felt the same unless they wronged her or incensed her in some way. "I take it you've tried all the classics," she said with an almost dry, humorous tone. "Frankly I don't see how picturing a class in their underwear is meant to help but I've never had the problem so I suppose to each their own. Then there's practising in front of a mirror, or your family, but in the end I don't see that preparing you to perform in front of strangers." Family tended to be a lot more supportive and forgiving of flaws and a mirror was a mirror. It was a reflection of yourself and she didn't see what that would help with except perhaps the proper facial expressions and form. Raine didn't sound like she had a problem with form, she had a problem with stage fright. Mirrors didn't fix that.

"I know I'm never going to be an actress." Those were the words that the drama teacher had been waiting for. An acknowledgement that it was a lost cause so that Caterina didn't become the bad guy for telling her the same thing. Not that she would have a problem with crushing dreams but she really hated when people got melodramatic with her. She listened to the rest of what the girl had to say and remained silent, twirling a pen between her fingers in thought. "Unfortunately, acting is something done in front of an audience," she said. Her tone was blunt and not soft with compassion. On the other hand, she wasn't scowling or leering either. She was thinking. Setting the pen down carefully, she said, "The school doesn't offer a class for management and direction. Not in high school, at any rate. Most of the managing is done by the teachers until you hit college and you can't get an acting degree if you can't act." The truth tended to sting, just as it had stung when Rin was forced to leave college in her junior year due to a bad attendance record. Sometimes she dreamed of going back but she knew that until she had a more stable financial situation it would not be much of an option. All her money went toward the asylum and the apartment she lived in, now. "However, I'd be willing to cut you a deal. Better to let you do what you're good at than watch you fumble around for the rest of the year." She tucked her red hair behind her ear and got a schedule from her desk, glancing over it. "Tuesday is a theatre day. If you meet me after school on Monday, I can give you a run down on things and then you can have the part of manager the next day. It may or may not work out, of course, but I'd be willing to give you a shot." A chance with Rin was a rare thing to receive but she thought Raine deserved one.