Is He Or Isn't He? by John Hall

Brandon (he was hubby number three of Camille’s five ex-husbands—so far), an investment banker. He was around more often than Camille and also had a live-in housekeeper, Justine. Camille hadn’t offered much resistance when Paige told her she wanted to live with her father.
    â€œWe want Max to stay here in New York,” Paige said. “Besides, we don’t even know if he can act.”
    Anthony nodded. “Good point. He needs to start out small and work his way up to bigger things.”
    â€œOooh! What about your screenplay?” Paige suggested. She knew Anthony was working on a screenplay and she’d read parts of it last spring. It was all about a sixteen-year-old Italian boy named Michael living in Brooklyn and working at his family’s pizzeria who realizes he’s gay.
    â€œWhat about it?”
    â€œAren’t you going to film it as part of your admissions package for UCLA?”
    â€œSo?”
    Anthony wasn’t getting where she was going. Sometimes he could be really slow.
    â€œYou’re going to have to cast the roles. You’re going to need actors and Max is an actor …”
    Paige could see that Anthony had finally connected the dots.
    Anthony ran over to Paige and gave her a hug. “Paige, you’re a genius! I’ll offer Max the lead!”
    â€œAnd having him play Michael could help us figure things out.”
    â€œHow do you mean?”
    â€œWell, Michael, your main character, is gay. Maybe Max will have a problem playing a gay guy.”
    â€œGood point. If he turns down the part, then that will tell us something. But what if he doesn’t? What if he decides to take the part? That still won’t tell us anything. A lot of straight actors have played gay. Kevin Kline in In & Out , Tom Hanks in Philadelphia, Robin Williams in The Birdcage …”
    â€œYou’re saying he’ll be secure enough in his masculinity to take the part and will see playing a gay guy as a challenge.”
    â€œYes. But the real test will come when it’s time to do the kissing scene.”
    â€œKissing scene?”
    â€œOh, that’s right,” Anthony said, as if suddenly remembering something he’d forgotten. “You haven’t read the rest of the script, have you? I’ve added this great kissing scene between Michael and Dominick, the guy he falls in love with.”
    Anthony wiggled his eyebrows at Paige. “Guess who’s going to be playing Dominick!”

chapter four
    â€œI can’t believe I don’t have any classes with Max!”
    Anthony slammed his locker door shut and waved his class schedule in Paige’s face. “Seven periods a day and not one class!”
    â€œYou do have gym with him,” Paige reminded.
    â€œGym doesn’t count. You can’t do any socializing in gym class.”
    â€œGirls can,” Paige said smugly. “All we have to do is say we’ve got our period and we’re suffering from cramps. Then we can sit in the bleachers and gossip.”
    Anthony stuck his tongue out at Paige. “Lucky you. Unfortunately, I don’t have that option. The guys in my gym class are too busy grunting and throwing some sort of ball at each other, although in my case, I’m usually running away from it. And nobody looks good in gym class. You get all hotand sweaty and wrinkly. I look my worst in gym! At least you’ve got a real class with Max.”
    â€œA.P. History. My toughest class with the toughest teacher at Peppington. What was I thinking?” Paige groaned, leaning against Anthony’s locker. “Practically all my classes are A.P. or College Introductory. I should have taken no-brainer classes like Bianca and Rachel are doing.”
    â€œWe talked about this last spring,” Anthony said. “All those advanced classes will look good on your college applications, remember?”
    â€œI know. I know. I just don’t think