If Only You Knew

“Everyone! We have less than three hours to shoot five more scenes! Work with me here! Take twenty minutes for lunch then you better be ready to do the next scenes perfectly. So help me if anyone messes up…” Mike Anderson trailed off as a reporter walked in; guess he needed to maintain his reputation as the nicest director ever. If only they knew the truth. All the staff members and actors scrambled to get to their lunch break that was cut nearly thirty minutes short.

Since the reporter wasn’t here to talk to me, I was free to go to lunch. On my way to my dressing room (it should be known as an all-purpose room) I stopped by the snack cart and grabbed a plate. I left with a plate of goldfish, pretzels and a turkey sandwich. While I ate I reviewed my lines for the next few scenes.

About ten minutes into my lunch break there was a pounding on my door. Without even waiting for permission to come in, the door was opened.

“What are you doing!?” yelled Shayne Logan.

“I’m on lunch break just like everyone else. Aren’t you supposed to be doing an interview?” I asked calmly trying to figure out why my co-star was yelling.

“I was doing one of those five minutes interviews, but that’s not the point! Mike is at the restaurant set going berserk ‘cause you’re not there!”

“But it’s only ten minutes into my break! I still have like five more minutes before I need to get ready.” This couldn’t be happening!

“Well, he decided to cut it short. You need to get down there now!” Shayne pulled my off the couch and ran with me to the school set.

“We’re here!” I announced breathlessly.

“You were supposed to be here five minutes ago,” came Mike’s cold voice.

“You gave us a twenty minutes break,” I said just as icily. “How was I supposed to know that twenty minutes actually translated out to five minutes or ‘go get ready for the next scene since you’re on in five.’”

“Listen here little missy-“

“Who’s little?” I asked enraged. “If I remember correctly when you were hiring for this job you made sure that everyone was 15 or older and taller than five foot four.”

“How dare you.” Mike was madder than I’ve ever seen him, but I didn’t care.

“How dare I?”

“Yes, how dare you! How dare you just walked into my office thinking you had a chance at getting a part in my show!”

“Well I did get the part, and I have a two year contract! What are you going to do, back out of it?” I turned on my heels and stomped over to Natasha and Nikki.

“Maybe I will! I’m taking you out of the next episode!” Mike stormed.

“Oh, really? And how exactly is that going to help your show?” I asked, keeping my voice flat; I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing how upset I was about not being in the next episode.

“Nobody cares about you. You’re a little nobody,” Mike said while walking up to me.

“No I’m not. If I’m a nobody how would you explain all the interviews I’ve gotten?”

“Pity interviews,” came his cold, simple remark.

“What about If Only’s publicity? You’d be getting bad publicity for sacking one of the main roles. But wait, you always say that all publicity is good publicity, so I guess you’ll get what’s coming towards you!”

“No one will know that you’re gone.”

“Good luck covering that up,” I scoffed. Natasha touched up my makeup and Nikki did my hair.

“Get in position, NOW!” Mike barked. I took my seat on one of the diner’s chairs and got ready for,

“Action!”

The Smoothy Way

Friday at Five-Thirty

Shay is sitting at a table waiting for Bryce to show up. She looks at her watch and sees that it’s 5:30pm. He is 30 minutes late. She sighs and puts her head down for a few seconds and then gets up to leave when a classmate walks up to her.

William Cooley: Hey Shayla! What’s up?

William sits down at the table with Shay.

Shay: ~sighs the word~ Nothing.

William: Are you sure? ~ Leans forward~

Shay: One hundred percent sure.

William: ~skeptically~ Uh huh? That explains why you were looking over your shoulder every other minute. Who are you waiting for?

Shay: Bryce. ~Looks over shoulder towards the door~

William: He’s not worth your time.

Shay: ~Defensively~ And why do you say that?

William: Because I know him and because you’ve been here, waiting for him, for half an hour. No guy should make a girl wait, especially not you.

Shay: ~Quietly~ I still think he’s worth it.

William: Why?

Shay: Because, when I told him my parents didn’t let me date, he talked to my father face-to-face and got permission to date me.

William: ~Puts hands up in defeat~ All right, all right! You win! Would you like a smoothie?

Shay: No, I need to get going.

William: You’re trying to avoid me aren’t you?

Shay: No! It’s just-

William: You don’t want to be seen with me.

Shay: No!

William: Face it, it’s true.

Shay: ~Darkly~ No. It. Is. Not.

William: ~Waves hand~ Whatever.

Shay: Listen William Cooley! ~Stands up~ I am NOT like those girls who think only of their reputation!

William: I never said-

Shay: Yeah, but you implied it. ~Leaves the diner~

Camera switches over to William and fades.