Unforgettable Charm

Josh Hutcherson would be playing Tyler, and I of course, was excited. Not only was he a great actor, but he was a young, attractive actor, and that would make the fact that I had to pretend to love him in the film a bit easier. I just had to make sure that I kept my actual feelings to a minimum, I knew right now all I thought about him, was that he was just an attractive young man, but I knew that if got to know him more, I might start to have romantic feelings for him, and that was something I desperately needed to avoid.

I had a job to do, I had a part to play and I had to make sure that I played it well. I knew I was over thinking things, but I had to think ahead. I had to make sure I kept it professional because he is in fact, a very attractive guy, and I don’t want to get myself in over my head. I didn't want to feel anything for him because I don’t want it to interfere with the job that I was meant to do. So that meant keeping my distance, but that might be hard considering we would be working so closely together.

Josh had just sat down, and he looked over at me, waiting for me to introduce myself. So I stood up, and made my introduction.

“Hey everyone,” I smiled and gave a small wave. “My name is Katie Jansen, and I’ll be playing Charlotte.”

Mark stood up as I sat down. “Alright everyone, we all know why we’re here, so let’s get to it.” He then turned to Greg Moore, the director. “Where would you like to start?”

“How about the very beginning, where Charlotte gets to her aunt’s house for the first time?” Mark shook his head in agreement.

“Okay, Kate, Katie, you guys can just remain seated, just read through it and let’s hope this sounds good.” He said chuckling.

Mark sat back down and give me a reassuring smile. Kate Beckinsale started saying her lines.

“Charlotte!” She exclaimed excitedly.

“Aunt Michelle!” I said, just as excited. I sat up a little straighter and more against the table, just incase I wasn’t loud enough.

“Oh it’s so good to see you, dear. Let me look at you, oh my you have grown up so much since the last time I saw you.”

“Well, it has been a few years.” I said chuckling.

We ran through our lines together for a half an hour, with the Greg, the director, telling us how exactly he wanted us to sound and do for the part. Next I started running lines with Dianna Agron.

Running lines with her was fairly easy, we went through them and the director liked how we were portraying our characters with one another. I liked going through the script with her, it wasn't hard to tell that she was someone that everyone got along with. I could tell that I would feel comfortable with her once we got to know each other more and worked together on set. I didn’t have many lines with Logan, so we moved right onto Josh.

“Alright, there's one scene in particular that I want to try first.” Greg said. “I want you guys to read through the scene where Tyler is telling Charlotte that he wants to be with her, and she refuses. Katie,” Greg looked over at me. “Remember, your audition piece? As you know we added just a few bit more lines for Josh, but other than that do what you did at your audition.” I nodded my head in understanding. “I want you guys to interact. Is that alright with you two?”

Josh spoke up. “I’m fine with it, how about you Katie?” He asked me.

“Yeah, I’m okay with that.”

“Great,” Greg said smiling. “Katie, Josh come into the middle of the room and do the lines.”

I made my way into the middle of the square, along with Josh. My heart was pounding so loudly I was afraid everyone else in the room could hear it. I hoped I was ready to act this scene out with Josh, because I had never run through this part with someone before, I always did it myself. I also didn’t want to look like a complete fool in front of everyone, and I knew I had to give it everything I had in order for everyone to take me seriously. I didn’t want them to just see me as the girl who got lucky with landing this part, once I finish the scene, I want them to think they I deserved this part, and that I had what it took. It was a long shot, sure, but I care about what these people thought of me. I didn’t want them to look down on me just because I was the newcomer, I wanted them to like me, and realize that I have talent.

Josh made his way over to me and stood in front of me and gave me a warm smile. And I smiled back, it was hard not to.

“I’m not going to tell you how to do it,” Greg started saying. “I want to see how you portray it on your own. I want you to do what feels right to you, so go ahead.

“Ready?” Josh asked me.

“Ready.”

Josh started off with his line. “Charlotte,” He stepped closer to me, merely an inch away from my face. “I want to be with you, and I know you want to be with me to, so please stop fighting with me already.” He said pleadingly. The look in his eyes were of pure sadness, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. And for a second, I almost forgot my lines were next.

“You don’t get it Tyler,” Instead of pointing, like I did in my audition, I took a step back and held my hand out in front of me, signaling for him to come any closer to me. “You and I don’t work. And we never could.”

“Damn it, Charlotte! Yes, we do. I know we do, why are you so afraid to try?” He stepped closer to me again and was about to put his hands on my face, but before he could I grabbed them and threw them away from me. I saw a flash of actual shock go through his eyes, before he recovered and took on a face of hurt.

“I’m not afraid to try,” I said with a raised voice. “I just know how this will end, one of us will have a broken heart, and believe it or not I’m trying to save both of us the hurt!” I ran my hands through my hair. “You don’t understand, Tyler. I’m not the girl for you.” I stared at him for a moment, before looking away from him and wrapping my arms around myself. “Do you know who you are? You’re Tyler Richardson, the guy every girl wants, the guy every man wants to be. You could have any girl you want, and you want me.” I let my voice start to quiver, because I knew I was going to have to start crying soon to complete the scene.

“I can’t offer you anything, Tyler. We live in separate worlds, once the summer is over you’ll forget about me, and you’ll move on.” I turned my face back to Josh, and starting letting my tears fall down my cheeks. “But I, I will always have this summer. The summer that I fell in love, and lost that love. And I’ll remember you fondly, and you’ll always be a part of me.” I let my voice break. “But I know, that all good things come to an end, even the most perfect of loves fall apart. So please,” I stepped forward. “Let me go, and leave me with the memories I have of you now, before it’s too late and it all goes wrong. Please Tyler.”

Josh stepped forward and rested his forehead against mine and shut his eyes while taking my hands into his. “I don't want to let you go.” He said softly.

“But you have to.” I said, just as softly.

Josh tilted his face up and kissed my forehead. “Goodbye Charlotte.” And then he turned and walked towards the other side of the square. That was when I decided to take a step further. I broke out into a sob, I let my tears fall quickly, and I wrapped my arms around myself and cried until I heard the director say it was the end of the scene.

I quickly looked up and wiped my tears away. Once my vision was clear again, I saw everyone who was sitting down staring at me, and I started to grow uncomfortable.

“Uh, too much?” I asked, hoping I hadn’t overdone it.

“No,” I heard Greg say. “It was perfect.” He said smiling at me.

I gave him a big smile, happy with the fact that he thought it was great. I looked around briefly and saw everyone was sitting forward in their chairs and still staring at me.

“Well, I think we’re done for today, great job everyone.” Mark said, everyone started packing up to leave, but I saw Josh walking towards me.

“You were fantastic.” He said grinning at me.

“Thanks, you were great as well.”

“Thank you, I don’t believe I’ve met you before. Let me properly introduce myself, I’m Josh.” He held out his hand for me to shake.

I took his hand in mine and greeted him. “I’m Katie.”

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Katie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before, have you been in films before?” He asked innocently.

“Um, no, I haven’t. This is my first feature film.”

“Oh, well I’m sure you’ll love it, making films are really fun.” He said giving me a wide smile. “Have you done television before?”

I chuckled. “No, I actually don’t have any experience in the entertainment industry.” I said shyly.

For a moment he was stunned, and he looked confused. “Wait, so you don’t have any experience at all with acting?” He said slowly.

“No, I don’t.”

He smiled at me. “Well, hey, that’s not a bad thing. That just means you have a lot of raw talent, which is hard to come by these days, so embrace; be proud.”

I was already starting to like him even more. “Thanks, I will.” I said smiling.

“You have no experience?” I heard Logan say from next me.

“No, none at all.” I said laughing.

“Wow, you don’t see that often.” He said smiling at me.

“No, you certainly don’t.” I said smiling shyly.

“Well, hey if you have any questions, here’s my number. I‘m always willing to help out a fellow cast mate.” He took out a card and handed it over to me. It had his name on it and cell phone number.

“Thanks, Logan.” I said politely.

“You’re welcome. Well Katie, it was really nice meeting you, and I look forward to working with you.” Logan said smiling.

“Well thank you, it was a pleasure meeting you, I’ll see you soon.” I told him.

Logan gave Josh a nod and me smile before walking out the door.

“I think he was hitting on you.” Josh said chuckling.

“What? No, he was just being friendly.”

“Well, he didn't give me his number, did he?” He said teasingly.

“He’ll probably give you his number another time, don’t be so jealous.” I said jokingly.

Josh laughed at me. “Okay, okay, I’ll keep my jealousy to myself.” We were laughing with one another when Greg came up to us.

“How’s it going you two?” He asked Josh and I.

“Great.” We both said.

“Good, listen I was hoping you two could swing by my house later tonight, I have a few things I want to try out with the two of you.”

“Sure, no problem.” Josh said.

“Okay, that’s fine.” I said.

“Wonderful, I’ll see you both tonight, the information is with your assistant’s.” He then turned around to leave.

“Well, I guess I’ll be seeing you tonight.” Josh said to me.

“Yeah, I’ll see you then” I told him.

Josh waved bye to me and then left.

My heart hasn’t stopped pounding from the minute I started the scene all the way up until now. Josh was a lot nicer then I was expecting him to be. And I hoped that I didn’t start to misinterpret his friendliness for flirting, which was something I tended to do. Which is why I made sure not think Logan was hitting on me either, despite what Josh thought. I knew Logan was just trying to be friendly, after all, I’m new to how things work in films, so I’m sure he was just offering a helping hand. And I also made sure to put any of thoughts of Josh ever flirting with me out of my mind.

I just needed to keep reminding myself that he was only a guy I worked with. No matter how attractive I found him to be. I needed to keep my personal feelings for him at bay, and let myself just get immersed into my job and not think about how I was starting to feel about him after just one day. Also, I figured that once I got to know him more, I wouldn’t think of him as more then just a friend. I know he wouldn’t think of me as more than a friend either, or more than his co-star, so I should be fine.

…Hopefully.