The Truth About Hollywood

Since no one had flat-out told me what the verdict of my mother had been, I pretended that I had no idea, that I hadn't seen Dad crying at the kitchen table in the middle of the night. It was good that I was an actress. If I wasn't, I knew that the secret would have been out quickly.

When I woke up the next morning, I immediately picked up my phone and texted Danny not to pick me up. I figured that the less time we had to spend together, the better. If I was trying to get over him and continued to spend a lot of time with him, then I'd just revert to liking him, and that was not what I wanted.

why? was his reply.

I felt guilty as I typed, speaking the words as my fingers pressed the buttons, "My dad's driving me."

o ok well i guess ill c u there

Letting out a sigh of relief, I got up and ready before skipping down the stairs. I knew that I had blatantly lied about my dad driving me, which made me wonder what I was going to say if Danny saw me walking there.

Maybe he wouldn't...? If I was really, really lucky, then maybe. It was possible.

For a second, as I was taking my Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I debated seriously asking Dad if he'd drive me. Then, the image of him crying the night before popping into my head, and I shook my head, driving the thought from my mind. I was just going to have to take my chances and hope that Danny didn't see me.

I finished my breakfast in a matter of minutes before grabbing my cell phone and heading out the door. As a precaution, I pulled my hood over my head and pulled the strings tight, making myself look like a confused Eskimo.

A half hour later, I arrived at the studio and scampered to the dressing room to get my hair, makeup, and wardrobe done, and then proceeded to go to the set.

"Hey!" Danny greeted, smiling widely to show off all his perfect, white teeth. Ugh...

"Hi," I replied shortly, running a hand through my freshly straightened hair.

He gave me a confused look before he was called to the set, along with Annabelle. I sat on the side, pretending to examine my nails. Shocked, I realized that I'd chipped my nails already, even though they had just been painted less than twenty minutes before. Whoops.

"Hi, Claire," Stella greeted, her voice too smooth and sickly sweet. It was clear that she wanted something.

"Yeah?" I replied, stifling a yawn. I was careful not to let my yawn out because then she'd snap at me for being rude when, in reality, I was just extremely tired.

"I just want to warn you of something." I looked over at her and saw that her face looked strained with the fake smile that was pasted there.

"Aaaaaaaand...ACTION!" Levi called from the set, pointing. I watched for a second as Danny walked over and slammed his hands on both sides of Annabelle's head, making the slapping sound heard all around the set.

"Ow," he mumbled, rubbing the palm of his hand and laughing.

I chuckled a little myself before turning back to Stella and saying, "Alright, what do you want to warn me about?"

"Stay away from Danny. I know he's not anyone's yet, but he's going to be mine."

My stomach seized up, the blood from my hands and feet immediately left, and I started to get clammy. Oh, shit. I'm gonna puke.

After clearing my throat as inconspicuously as I could, I turned to her and replied, "Uh, you don't have to worry about that. I don't, um, I don't like him like that."

I made my voice as convincing as possible, but I assumed that she bought it so easily simply because she wanted to. She smiled a real smile and patted my knee. I struggled to keep from cringing away from her touch.

"Good. Because, as we both know, you're no competition for me anyway." She made a fast ham face (cute on a baby, not her) and got up, click-clacking her way back toward the hallway that led to the prepping stations.

"So," Danny's voice said seductively in the background, "you know if Diana likes me?"

"Get away from me!" Annabelle urged, and there was a sound of a mild struggle.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what I need to know," he replied.

I turned back to the set in time to see Annabelle scowl and say, "Let me give you a warning..."

The rest of her statement was lost to me. Instead of watching another second of the scene, I picked up my nearby script and started going over lines that were already firmly implanted in my head. Anything to keep myself from hearing another eerie line of Darwin High.

***

"So you need a ride home?" Danny asked as I was about to take a step out of the studio. I jumped out of shock, since I hadn't even heard him there at all.

"Nope. Dad's going to pick me up too."

He searched my face for a second, as if he suspected something. "Really?"

"Yeah. He has this thing where he wants to spend more time with me or something," I dismissed, waving my hand to emphasize. "It's stupid."

"No, I don't think it is... You might want to ask him about your mom though. She's been sick, hasn't she?"

"Yeah..." I trailed off really quietly. I really hoped that no one would hear this conversation.

"Well, if he suddenly wants to spend all this time with you, there might be something really bad wrong with her. You know what I mean?"

I nodded, my throat closing. Maybe he was more intuitive than I originally thought...

Danny put a hand on my shoulder and smiled. "Or maybe he's just being a weird dad. I didn't mean to worry you. I'll see you tomorrow morning, alright?"

"Um, what if-?"

"Your dad wants to drive you again? No deal. I'm bringing you, and that's final." He laughed a little before waving again and finishing the short walk to his car.

Damn...that meant that I was not going to have any excuses to make him stay away tomorrow. I waited for a few minutes before starting out of the parking lot, my hands in the pockets of my jeans as I felt the heat from the sun warming the top of my head.

There was no way around it; I had to take off my sweatshirt. I was starting to sweat a little, which was really gross. I unzipped the front and folded the sweatshirt over my arm.

I was only a mile from home when I heard a car slow down next to me. I tensed, ready for the flight tactic, since I failed at fighting, when I heard the voice.

"Your dad's bringing you home, huh?"