The Truth About Hollywood

I just sort of stood there with my mouth gaping open, my breath gone from my lungs and my eyes sticking out like something out of a cartoon. At least, that was how I figured I looked.

"What...?" I questioned, mostly out of shock. Some part of me knew that I must have heard him incorrectly.

"I know...just...get back in the car." He laughed lightly as I pulled myself back into the car and shut the door behind me.

I stared at him, waiting expectantly for him to elaborate. For example, why the hell was he telling me this now, and not when I had first told him I liked him? That would have been so much easier for my life.

"Alright...so..." He turned pink again and ran his hand through his hair to try to cover it up. I smirked, seeing how uncomfortable this whole thing was for him. "Anyway, I just..."

"Yeah, keep going. Why didn't you tell me when I poured my heart out for you? Did you want to make my life even more complicated than it already was?" My tone was light and teasing, but the questions were real.

"Okay, in my defense, when I was an ass like that, I didn't know that your mom had cancer. How's she doing, by the way?"

"Don't you dare change the subject," I laughed. The reminder of my mom put a weight on my heart, but I tried to ignore it as best as I could.

"Alright, alright." He bit his lip and ran a hand through his hair again. "So...when you told me...I was just really shocked. Like, I didn't even know what to think or what to do. Then, my second thought was of Steph. I don't want to break up with her or anything, despite how I felt about you. At the time, I was kind of struggling with it, you know? Like...I just didn't want to admit it to myself, since I already had a girlfriend."

"Makes sense," I mumbled grudgingly. He had a valid point.

"Thanks for thinking so. But I figure that I have nothing to lose now for telling you, since it's pretty obvious what I have to do. I gotta break up with Steph. It sucks, since she came from New York to see me, but it's what has to be done."

"Is it really out of the blue?" I questioned. "Like, were you guys totally fine until she made you choose between her and the show?"

Danny shrugged. "Not completely fine, obviously. She just doesn't know that it wasn't fine."

I chuckled a little before slapping my hand over my mouth, shocked that I had just laughed at her misfortune. I hadn't meant it that way at all; I just thought Danny's delivery of the joke was hysterical.

"That was mean," I said softly. "Didn't mean it like that."

He shrugged again. "It's not like she's here to feel the sting."

"True. Well, I should probably let you go do what you have to. I'll see you tomorrow morning, right?"

"Right." He grinned his soon-to-be-famous smile before I climbed out of the car and shut the door softly behind me. The grin on my face could not be suppressed (trust me, I tried) as I walked into my house.

I ran right into my room, feeling like I was gliding on air. It was a really great feeling. When I turned on my TV, a Darwin High commercial was ironically playing.

It showed me screaming at Danny, followed by our faces moving slowly toward each other before cutting right before our lips touched to a scene with Stella walking dramatically away from James while he called after her. It wasn't a commercial specifically from the pilot; it was for the show overall.

There were a couple of other shots of the other cast members with their various problems, then, the premiere date: June 25th. So close. Only a week and a couple days away. It was then that we'd learn whether the show was going to be a hit or a flop.

I watched TV for a while, changing the channel every couple of hours when a stupid show came on. Around four o'clock, I hurried down the stairs to get something to eat.

After searching for a while, I finally grabbed a couple of Oreos from a package and put one in my mouth, between my teeth. "Milk," I muttered, though it sounded like gibberish on the outside.

I poured myself a glass before I settled down at the table, humming to myself as I ate. The complete silence made me nervous, so I tried to have at least a little noise happening at all times.

"Claire?!" Dad yelled out quickly, slamming the door shut.

"What?" I answered, my voice garbled from the food in it. Laughing a little to myself, I gulped down some milk so I could talk normally again.

When Dad walked into the kitchen, his eyes were wild and crazy. "C'mon, we need to get to the hospital."

"What?" I gasped, choking a little. The two tones that I had said the same word couldn't have been more different from each other.

"Mom's...Mom's not doing so well."