The Truth About Hollywood

The next morning, I woke up on the couch with my head in Mom's lap. Her hand was still tangled in my hair, and I remembered that she had been stroking it as we watched a Lifetime movie the night before. We must have both fallen asleep.

Grumbling, I glanced at the clock and realized that it was only seven in the morning. I didn't have to be at the set for another two hours, but I didn't really feel like sleeping anymore. So, instead, I got dressed and ready, and walked into the kitchen.

I was going to make my mother something nice for breakfast. It was the least I could do, since...I didn't really know exactly how much time I was going to have left with her.

With a smile, I gathered the pancake mix and took out the small griddle thing that we had to make pancakes. As I was stirring the batter, I threw in some chocolate chips as a surprise. Something told me that Mom wasn't going to be quite the same way with food anymore. Cancer could really change a person's view of something.

The pancakes sizzled on the griddle and filled the whole house with a thick, but very tasty, smell. I always managed to make the pancakes really thick and yummy, which I'd totally forgotten about.

"Honey?" Mom asked drowsily as she stepped into the kitchen, holding the side of the entryway for support. "What are you doing?"

"Making pancakes," I replied, putting another couple on the stack that I'd already made. I felt pretty proud of myself, actually, since I hadn't even burned a single one. That said something about my amazing pancake-making skills, I thought.

Mom nodded and sat down at the table. "I'll have one, please."

It pained me to realize that she really only could eat one, and she seemed to notice, but misunderstood a little. "It's not that I don't want anymore than that, babe, it's just that...I'm not sure if I can keep down any more than that."

"I know," I smiled, putting the best pancake I'd made in front of her. It was perfectly golden brown, and I wasn't absolutely positive how I had managed to succeed in doing that.

"Thank you." She ate slowly, her movements precise, as she slowly made her way through the small pancake.

After I finished off the batter (I might have made too much, since I made about twenty pancakes between three people...oops), I sat down in the chair across from Mom and started eating my own pancake.

I grinned as the melted chocolate chips warmed my mouth. I loved that feeling more than anything in the world.

Before I was done, I heard a beep from outside. Uh oh...Danny was still picking me up, even though Stephanie was going to be in the car? Oh, what a new dimension to this whole thing... Silent car rides were so awkward.

"That the boy who's been picking you up?" Mom questioned. There was a glint that I recognized in her eyes, something that I hadn't seen in a long time.

"Yeah, but he's not my boyfriend. He's just a friend. He actually has a girlfriend. She drove from New York to see him and she's sitting in there right now." At the end, my words were rushed and it was obvious that I was nervous about the whole thing.

"Well, I'm sure you're much cuter," Mom grinned. I kissed her forehead and grabbed my script before running out the door and immediately sitting in the back seat, knowing that she was going to be in the passenger's seat.

"Claire, this is Stephanie. Steph, this is Claire," Danny introduced as he started driving on the main road.

"Hi," I greeted, smiling widely.

She turned around to look at me, a grin plastered on her face. She wasn't at all what I expected...

Yes, she had the curly red hair that went down to her elbows when she was sitting, and her eyes were definitely sky-blue. But she was a little heavy, though not really fat, especially around her face. She had millions of freckles that sprinkled every speck of skin that was showing. When she smiled, I saw that her teeth were not a really bright white. It just made her so much more human.

"Nice to meet you," she replied. "Danny's said a lot about you."

"Really?" My eyebrows rose in surprise for a second before a regained my composure. Please let him not have told her that I told him that I liked him... That would have been so awkward.

"Yeah. Sounds like you're the person he's closest to out here." It sounded like there was something else to what she was saying, but I couldn't pick up exactly what it was. I was starting to get pretty damn nervous, but I worked not to let it show.

"I guess I am." Maybe I should stop spending so much time with Danny. Whatever happened to Gia? I haven't talked to her since Mom got diagnosed...holy shit, that was a long time ago...

"Just don't try to steal my man," she joked.

Danny and I both let out nervous little giggles, but she didn't seem to pick up on it. Clearly, he hadn't told her. Thank God that boy sometimes had common sense...

When we got to the studio, all three of us walking inside, though I walked a little behind them and watched as their hands intertwined and swung back in forth to some beat that was unknown by everyone who wasn't them.

We walked into the set, and immediately, Stella's jaw dropped. She hurried over to me and yanked me away harshly by my arm.

"Ow," I mumbled, rubbing the spot where now there were little nail marks and it was turning red. Ugh, I hated Stella so friggin' much...

"He has a girlfriend?!" she snapped, clearly irritated.

"Yeah," I replied, feeling a smug look take over my features. "Haven't you heard?"

"No!" She bit her lip. It struck me how that was the first time that I'd seen Stella look...vulnerable. Weak, almost. "Since when?"

Shrugging, I informed her, "Not sure. I don't think he told me. If he did, I don't remember."

Stella surveyed Steph again before regaining her snobby persona. "That's okay. She's ugly anyway. I'll be able to win him over in .5 seconds."

When she started clacking over to them, I started to laugh a little bit. She had no idea just how much Danny really loved Stephanie, and that he would never, ever go out with Stella, no matter what.

Even though I was a good twenty feet away, I could still see Steph tensing as Stella started showily flirting with Danny, continuously touching his arm, shoulder, or even occasionally, his hand. Danny was getting uncomfortable, but he was too nice of a guy to tell her to get lost.

I started walking over slowly, since I had to walk past them to get to wardrobe, but I didn't want to interrupt anything. The whole scene was pretty funny.

"Oh, uh, Claire!" Danny called out, grabbing Steph's hand and getting away from Stella. I almost died laughing at the look on Stella's face, how shocked and annoyed she was. "Why don't we show Steph wardrobe, hair, and makeup?"

"Sounds good," I chuckled. We started walking down the hallway, at first silently, but when I turned around and saw that Stella was not in hearing distance, I let out a loud laugh.

"What's so funny?" Steph inquired, raising an eyebrow at me.

"I just can't believe that she makes it so obvious that she likes Danny when you're standing right there. Could she get any shallower?"

"I don't like her too much," Steph confessed.

Danny put his arm around her and kissed her cheek, smiling a little. "No one does," he reassured.

We arrived at the wardrobe room and checked out the schedule for the day. When I saw the name of the scene, my eyes widened, and I immediately made eye contact with Danny. Then, our eyes shot to Stephanie, who was standing there with a smile, oblivious to the world around her.

No good would come of her seeing that scene.