Scarlet Starlet

“Luca, you have to stay!” I cried.

The rain was pouring down as if someone was maniacally throwing buckets of water from the sky. Everything was dark except for the small patches of light given by street lamps. Buildings framed in the picturesque street on both sides, trapping everything in between the chunks of concrete.

I ran barefoot over the asphalt of the street while stretching my arms out towards the person standing in front of me. The soles of my feet were aching and the cold water created goosebumps all over my body. I inhaled sharply and let out a small sob. I stopped running and one single tear fell from the corner of my eye and mixed itself with the streams of rainwater.

“Why? Give me one single reason to why I would even consider speaking to you again!” His voice was stern and tinted with desperation. I winced in pain and took a trembling step forward. The boy's face was partially covered by a black shadow, but I knew that his eyes carried both rage and sadness behind the dark veil.

Strands of my soaking wet hair had fallen in front of my face, and I brushed them back before opening my mouth to blubber out my line. “Because I'm sorry and I didn't mean to hurt you! It was all a silly game at first... but, then I really fell for you!”

The boy laughed. “Is that supposed to make me feel better, huh? I shared my darkest secrets with you and you acted like you cared – only to run off and tell all your friends about my feelings!”

“I did care about you,” I mumbled and dropped my arms to my sides and let them hang there like dead meat, “And I still do.”

The boy took a step forward and now bathed in the light coming from an old street lamp. His fringe was plastered to his forehead and his ribcage heaved up and down as he breathed. I looked at him and tried to force myself to look as sincere as humanly possible. The rain was starting to annoy me and all I wanted was to get a fluffy towel to dry myself with but I couldn't focus on that because my facial expressions would turn out looking disconnected to the scene.

“I don't believe you, Jane,” he said slowly, tasting every word before letting them leave his mouth.

I gulped down a mouthful of saliva and raised my voice, “Luca, I really am sorry. I didn't think there was more to you than your class-skipping attitude, but you proved me wrong!”

He released yet another mock laugh. “I didn't know I had something to prove, doll. You...”

I interrupted him before he had time to finish the sentence, “I love you.”

Time seemed to slow down and come to a halt as the words left my mouth. The boy's mouth hung open and everything about him made me think he was the living definition of a question mark. My stomach was growling, but I fought hard to suppress my hunger and turn the pain into something useful.

“What?” he asked and furrowed his dark eyebrows. I smiled on the inside, but looked desperate to the outside world. I flung my arms out, raising them towards the source of the rain, and started walking around in a small circle. The grand finale was coming up and I had to nail this in the first shot; if I wanted to eat anytime soon.

“That's right!” I screamed at the top of my lungs, launching myself into some sort of a lunatic frenzy. I continued to scream into the darkness with ardor. “I love this man and I'm not ashamed of it! I love Luca Randall!”

The boy, or young man is perhaps a better description, ran up to me and covered my mouth with one hand and forced my arms down with the other. He pressed his wet body against mine and I had to work hard not to cringe as the feeling of wet fabric reached my bare arms. I shuddered, but kept my focus on the performance.

“Shh!” he hushed into my ear, “You're going to wake the entire city up!”

The outlines of a smile could be seen on his face as he removed his hand from my mouth. I gasped for breath. The smell of rain and the young man's musky perfume hit my nostrils. He was so close that I could practically hear his heart beating. I laid my hand hesitantly on his shoulder and gazed straight into his dreamy green eyes.

“Do you think there is a chance you'll ever forgive me?” I asked and cocked my head to one side.

“We'll see about that.” He smirked and leaned in closer to me; his back bent because of my lack in the height-department. I grabbed the slimy tufts of his hair and pulled him in even closer before our lips were sealed in a wet kiss.

“Cut!” A voice echoed and suddenly, within the blink of an eye, the entire studio bathed in white light. I immediately pulled away from the kiss and peered over to the source of the voice. The director held a megaphone in his hands and was pacing back and forth. Buzzing cameras were being turned off and the sound of cheerful voices started to reach my eardrums.

Boom. Bang. Credits.

“Great job everyone! This is going to be a blockbuster!” the director yelled through the megaphone while grinning like a fool. I received a pat on the back from my co-actor and then he took off to hunt down some snacks. Soon, a girl from the staff came running with a towel in her hands for me and I wrapped myself in it like a larva in a cocoon.
There I stood, thinking about how I had ended up in this studio with famous people surrounding me. Everything had happened so quickly when I, Troya Wright, had become a star actress.

Everyone knew who I was but I wasn't so sure I knew myself.