The Truth About Hollywood

I couldn't take too much time to wonder and worry about what the hell my parents were up to because I had some troubles of my own. We were way behind schedule for filming, and it was time for crunching.

The week went by slowly, since we were all literally dragging our feet to finish the filming. I had absolutely no idea how we'd gotten so behind, but we had managed it somehow.

When we finally finished, I shuffled down to wardrobe slowly, changing mechanically. What I really wanted was to go home and collapse. We had been working pretty long hours, more than I was used to, so it was kind of hard. Thankfully, it was over for now though. And even if our show got picked up, we'd know what not to do so that falling behind wasn't going to happen in the future.

"Okay, gang, before you clear out!" Levi yelled. So close. My hands were already on the door, ready to shove it open and throw myself to the ground outside, praising the lord. "One week from today, next Friday, come here and we'll view the full episode together before we send it off to the network to see if it gets approved."

We all let out an excited cheer before resuming what we were doing. For me, that meant walking out the door.

It was bright outside, and I winced immediately as my pupils reacted, shrinking to near nothingness. After blinking a couple times to regain my vision, I saw Dad's SUV and beelined for it.

We made some small talk while driving back to the house. Something about him didn't look quite right, like he was just as wiped as I was. That didn't make any sense though, since he was actually working less than he usually did. Shouldn't he look more rested, if anything? Thought so.

A few minutes later, we pulled into the driveway. In a burst, I exclaimed, "Dad, why don't you tell me what's wrong already?"

Dad rarely got angry at me, but I could see the fire blazing behind his eyes. "Claire, I'm the adult, and you're the child. Don't start telling me what to do. You will be told what is going on when your mother and I think it's right."

I started to get angry. What my parents didn't understand was that I wasn't just a child anymore. I was nearly an adult. Two more years, and I was legal to live on my own, to get married.

Instead of arguing this point, however, and getting Dad even angrier at me, I got out of the car and went immediately to my room. I heard him calling after me, telling me to stop being so immature, but in my mind, the immature thing would have been to stand there, screaming and yelling at him until he grounded me. Walking away was the mature thing, the smart thing.

When I closed the door behind me of my room, I bit my lip. This was getting more annoying every day, not knowing anything about what was going on around me. It overwhelmed me so much that I thought I was going to cry. I hated that feeling.

Trying as hard as I could to forget about everything, I turned on the TV and started watching one of those E! Investigates shows, one about kids younger than eighteen who killed people viciously.

It kind of disturbed me a little, but it was also interesting at the same time, so I couldn't stop watching it. Eventually, I drifted to sleep hearing about a boy who broke into his friend's house and killed his friend's parents.

***

When I woke up in the morning, I blinked a couple of times, confused. The TV showed Kardashian sisters running and screaming all over the place, so I shut it off quickly. I wasn't one for those kinds of reality shows. After glancing at the clock, I realized that it was ten in the morning. I'd slept for twelve hours...yikes.

My phone next to my head buzzed, so I picked it up, yawning.

It was Gia's third text of the day. She was an early riser, and she always expected everyone else to be the same way. So, her first text at seven thirty, asked me if I wanted to hang out that day. The second, at ten minutes to nine, asked me if I was ever going to answer her. And the one that had just come told me that if I didn't answer, she was going to come to my house and get my lazy ass out of bed.

Sighing loudly to myself, I answered that she could come over whenever her little heart desired, but she didn't have to wake me up because I was already awake.

A couple minutes later, I threw my phone on my bed and went to the bathroom, got dressed, and did all that fun stuff so I'd be ready whenever Gia decided to show up. When I got downstairs, I noticed a small piece of paper on the table with my father's handwriting.

Claire,
Your mother and I left to go run some errands. We should be back around two. Your mom just told me not to tell you where she hid the pancake mix. (It's in the second cupboard to the right of the fridge). I love you and will see you later.

Love,
Dad

Smiling widely, I went on a search through the kitchen for the pancake mix and finally found it in the very back, trying to hide behind large boxes of all-natural granola cereals. It couldn't hide from me though. Well, as long as I knew where it was.

I started making the mix excitedly and heard the front door open. Gia's voice screamed, "IT'S JUST ME, NOT A MURDERER!"

Though she was being sarcastic, I kind of appreciated the gesture. When I was home alone, every little noise made me freeze, stop breathing, and listen for the sound to happen again. Even when I went back to doing what I had been, my heart still raced and I kept an ear out for another sound, when the process would happen again.

"Ooooo," Gia's voice cooed as she walked into the kitchen, seeing what I was making. "Make sure you make enough for me too."

I nodded. "Of course I will. So that means I have to make enough for ten people, right?"

"Ha. Ha." She rolled her eyes. It shocked me how much Gia could consume and not gain a single ounce. She hovered around ninety pounds, and no matter how much she tried to gain weight, she just couldn't. Thankfully, she wasn't the kind of thin that people could see her ribs or any bones sticking out. That'd be gross.

A while later, the two of us were drowning our pancakes in syrup and eating quickly, before Mom came back. After we cleaned up, we darted upstairs, laying out on my bed.

"So do you think they'll pick up your pilot?" Gia questioned as she stared at the ceiling.

I shrugged, though she couldn't see me. "It's not really my pilot. Lots of people are involved. But I hope they do. I'll get a better idea next week when I see the actual show. I'm excited for that."

"So any of the guys cute?" Gia giggled, bumping me jokingly with her shoulder.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm not there to go guy hunting," I reminded her. Despite my hardest though, the thought of Danny popped into my head. Blushing slightly, I pushed it away.

"Hmmm? Who are you thinking about?" Gia knew me well, and she could tell that the wheels were turning inside my head.

"No one," I tried to lie. She narrowed her eyes at me, waiting for an answer. "It's just a guy that works with me. He's nice."

"Nice, is he?" Gia egged on. "Have any pictures?"

"No. But I have him on tape."

"OH MY GOD! SHOW ME!" she exclaimed, jumping up from the bed and trying to drag me. I ended up losing my balance and falling head first on my hardwood floor.

"Ow," I whined, holding my head. "How about we just talk about Tom? How's that working out for you?"

"I haven't talked to him recently."

"I think you should talk to him more and then you guys can grow up and have kids and it'll be cute."

Gia stared at me for a second before sighing and grabbing my arm again. "Nice job trying to change the subject."

"I'm serious though," I defended.

"I don't care if you're serious or not. Get the video." I started grumbling as I got up from the bed and hooked my camera up to the TV and selected the video.

The beginning was just me showing around the set and then, later, Danny came on. "Oh my God! Is that him?!" Gia was ecstatic.

"Yeah."

"He's adorable!" I rolled my eyes, which didn't go unnoticed. "I'm not kidding. Oh, and he's funny too! Great pick, Claire."

"Um...Did I actually pick him?"

"Your eyes say that you did, so yup." She turned back to the screen, then glanced at me. "You guys would make a good couple."

Another eye roll. "I don't like him, Gia. So just shut up."

But I knew what a lie felt like.