The Truth About Hollywood

A week had passed, and I was starting to get nervous. I didn't want to show it, but there were always those small moments of weakness where I caught myself biting my nails. Sigh.

"Stop worrying," Gia told me at lunch on Friday. The cutoff time was a week. They weren't doing callbacks for this particular casting (pretty untraditional), so if I didn't get the call in the week, I was done.

"I can't help it... I want this part so badly." I bit my lip. "And I know that I screwed it up with that losing my line thing... Why am I even waiting for this part? It's not like I'm going to get it."

As I put my face in my hands, leaning on the lunch table with my elbows, Gia put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "It's okay. You just want this part really badly. And hopefully, those people noticed that and will take that into consideration."

"This is the perfect part for me. The character's personality is perfect, they're filming close by, so I won't have to move..."

"Stop. Worrying." Gia gave me a look, saying that if I didn't stop fretting, then she'd punch me. So I shut my mouth.

"Anyway, I talked to Tom yesterday," she announced, getting a goofy smile on her face.

"No way!" I exclaimed. She had liked Tom since about ninth grade, but she barely spoke to him. I've told her more times than I can fathom that he liked her too, but she always shrugged me off, asking why he'd like her. Oh, let me count the ways...

Gia was a lot prettier than she gave herself credit for, but she thought she wasn't. I never got that. She was way prettier than I was, or could ever hope to be.

"Yeah...it was real short though, barely worth mentioning. I just dropped my pencil, and he asked if it was mine, so I took it and thanked him, and he said, 'No problem.' I just get excited though..."

"I don't blame you," I smiled. The bell to end lunch rang, and we stood up.

"I guess it's time for algebra," Gia rolled her eyes. We both shared a burning hatred for any subject having to do with math. Some said that they were geometry people, others algebra people, but Gia and I... we were just plain anti-math.

***

"Any call?" I begged when I got home from school, dropping my backpack down next to the door.

Mom shook her head sadly. "Afraid not, pumpkin. Want tea?"

"Sure." When her back was turned, I ran into the kitchen and grabbed the bowl of grapes. I started popping them in my mouth. It was kind of sad, really, how if Mom had her way, I'd be anorexic...just like she was in high school. She needed to lighten up because, really, I was more like my dad in looks and personality.

He was tall (the only trait I hadn't acquired, only being five feet, three and a half inches...Five foot four, if you please) with the same brown hair and green eyes with light blue-gray specks. We both loved English, and he used to want to be an actor too.

That all changed though, when he got turned down for a part just because his family was normal. See, the people who ran the show wanted some drama, something hidden about each of its actors, and Dad had nothing. He came from a perfectly wholesome sixties family. So, even though he'd already filmed the pilot, they dropped him.

To anyone else, that might have stopped them, hearing about their dad going through that, something so shallow. But not me. I wanted to share that story so people knew how...immature Hollywood could be.

The phone rang then. It was a mad dash for the phone between Mom and me, but I ended up winning in the end. She looked angry since she didn't get to talk, and it didn't help how she'd spilled some water on herself from making the tea.

"Claire Bryant?" a man's voice on the line spoke slowly, like he was reading it. Ouch.

"Yeah, that's me." I felt like I was going to throw up any second if he didn't say what I needed to hear. Just say that I didn't get the part, that I was pathetic, I should give up the fight. It wasn't exactly what I wanted to hear, but maybe it was what I needed.

"I just called to let you know that you have...been chosen to play Diana on Darwin High." It was weird, how emotionless his voice was. Maybe he hadn't wanted to use me or something.

"Are you kidding?!" I squealed. "That's so great! Thank you so, so, soooo much. You have no clue how much this means to me!"

"Would you be able to attend a cast meeting tomorrow at noon? We're going to be at the Giant Studios building, finalize the script, do a read through, and food will be made available. You'll also get to meet your other cast members."

"I'll be there. Thank you so much again." It took all I could not to jump up and down like a small child.

"You're welcome. You've earned it." Finally, I could hear a smile. "I will see you tomorrow, Miss Bryant."

"You sure will!" I heard a click on the line, so I put the phone back in the charger.

Then, I darted into the kitchen and started hopping, no longer able to hold in my excitement. "MOM! I GOT THE PART! I GOT THE PART! I GOT THE PART!"

She shrieked and started jumping up and down with me. After a minute, we started laughing hysterically and hugging. I couldn't believe it. My first big part...and my audition hadn't even been perfect. How that worked, I wasn't sure.

"I knew you could do it, babe," Mom congratulated, kissing my forehead.

I told her the details about the gathering tomorrow, and she started freaking out about what I should wear. It took a while, but I got it through her head that it didn't matter because I had plenty of clothes, and I was going to be on a TV show, for God sakes. AHH! This was so exciting.

"This calls for celebration," Mom exclaimed, still hugging me tightly. "I think...we should make cookies."

I struggled not to gasp. Mom hated junk food...she was obviously very excited about this. Though...I couldn't really blame her...

"Okay, you go to the store and get the stuff. I gotta call Gia."

Mom did as I said, saying a fast goodbye before grabbing her purse and running out the door. I knew, as much as I dreaded it, that she was going to brag to everyone there about how her daughter was going to be a star. It was always possible that the show wouldn't get picked up though. It happened to even the best of scripts.

"Gia," I nearly shouted the second I heard her voice on the other side of the line. "I GOT THE PART!"

More screaming ensued, and the grin on my face seemed like it would never come off. Life was good.