Do you know why I even introduced myself...

Do you know why I even introduced myself to you? I had been here for nearly half the semester and I hadn’t gotten the nerve up to say basically a word to anyone. I was just here. In New York. Terrified. And then that day we all had to get up in front of the class that first time and do that Volpone monologue. “Come, my Celia, let us prove, / While we can, the sports of love.” Everyone was getting up and struggling through and just trying to get the verse right. And I could barely make it make sense in my head. I got up there and mumbled it and hoped no one would notice that I didn’t really know what I was saying. I acted all “sneaky” so people would know I was talking about “hiding.” And I went back to my seat. And you got up there and you opened your mouth and you just... showed yourself. It was like it wasn’t verse, or even someone else. It was just you. You hid nothing. This thing I couldn’t even understand when it was in my mouth, and you got up there and broke my heart. And I thought, I want to know this person. This is the bravest person I’ve ever seen.