Drama
Chapter 4: Celebrity Chaos
Leila's P.O.V.
I begin the walk back to the apartment in the cool misty evening. It’s about dinnertime, 6:07, so the sun is beginning to set, spreading bright colors across the sky. My stomach growls in hunger as I continue on my way and see restaurants and fast food places swarming with people. I just hope Madison has something made by the time I get back.
I reach the building and walk inside, waving to Lauren, the clerk at the front desk. She’s really nice and loves to chat with pretty much everyone here. She’s sweet and cares about all of us, a characteristic I love about her. I press the button on the elevator and soon it opens, carrying me up to my floor. Exiting the elevator, I walk down the hallway to my apartment, sliding my key through the door. It opens and I enter.
“Woah, it smells so good in here!” I exclaim, setting my bags on the counter as Madison gets up from watching TV, a bowl of whatever she made in her hands. I forgot to mention that she also likes to cook. I love my roommate.
“Thanks. It’s chicken parmesan lasagna,” she explains. “My friend sent me the recipe and told me to try it out, so I did, and it didn’t turn out too bad. I think.”
I laugh as I take off my shoes and set them neatly by the door. Madison goes back into the living room and I dish myself out some of her lasagna. She was right, it didn’t turn out too bad. It was amazing!
I let myself relax into the couch with this delicious lasagna and Madison turns down the TV to hear about my day. We take turns telling each other recaps of our days and it turns into a laughing competition. By the time we’re done, we’re almost rolling on the floor from laughing too hard. Madison’s college life is an interesting one.
“Well, I gotta get on homework, feel free to eat more of the lasagna,” she says, and gets up to put her dishes in the dishwasher. She disappears from my view as she begins on homework in her bedroom.
I turn up the TV and change the channel to find something interesting to watch. There are reruns of my favorite show on so I leave it play while I get up and get more lasagna. There’s about half of it left, so I cut out what I want to eat and wrap it back up, putting it in the fridge to keep it fresh and contained. While in the kitchen, I grab a glass of ice water and head back into the living room to finish eating. Soon, I’m done, and I load up the dishes in our dishwasher. It’s full, so I squirt some dishwasher soap into it and start it up. I exit the kitchen and I realize the reruns are over, so I turn the TV off and focus on studying my lines. I’ve memorized the first 4 scenes before I realize it’s about 10:00, so I begin to get ready for bed. Madison escapes from her bedroom, too, to use the bathroom and get herself ready, and by the time we’re done, it’s almost 11:00. I turn on my alarms and crash on my bed, sound asleep in 10 minutes.
3 days later
Over the past couple of days, we’ve been getting changes to our scripts and it’s making my head spin because I’ve pretty much memorized it all, but when they keep changing it, I keep forgetting my lines. Well, that’s show biz…
Spencer’s been realizing how hard of a time I’m having and she actually seems happy that I’m suffering. Whatever, I’m minding my own business. Alexa’s also having a hard time, but she’s getting the hang of it. This is only our first week, anyways.
Today we’re beginning filming, and everyone’s nerves are on edge. We can do as many takes as we need, but Mr. Conners doesn’t want too many otherwise we won’t get anywhere. We keep it together most of the morning and by lunch, we’re almost halfway done with filming what we needed to for today. As usual, I head out to lunch with Alexa and Max, another cast member who plays the role of Collin in our show. Max is a pretty nice guy. He’s done a few projects with Red Light Studios before, so he’s not completely new to the film industry as we are. He’s been telling us stories of his acting career and gossiping a little bit to us about some people in Red Light Studios. But overall, he’s the clown of our cast. He’s really funny and plays jokes on people backstage, but is completely focused when we’re filming or reading our scripts.
After lunch, we head back to the studio and we’re surprised to see the entrances flooding with screaming girls and obnoxious paparazzi. Alexa and I look around and everywhere we look, there are people everywhere.
“Max, what’s going on?” I ask him over the screaming girls.
“Tell you inside!” Max yells back, and leads us to a secret entranceway not blocked by fans and only Red Light Studios actors and certified employees know about. Max pulls us inside and leads us through a small hallway until we reach the lighted hallway where everyone’s offices are.
“Niall must be back,” Max announces to us as we walk down the hallway.
“Niall?” Alexa asks.
“Niall Horan. He was on X-Factor recently and is now in a band which is worldwide famous,” Max explains.
“Oh yeah, One Direction,” I remember.
“Yup. His uncle owns Red Light Studios here and-“
“Hurry up, you were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago!” Mr. Conners shouts as he pushes Max into the boys’ dressing room. Alexa and I shrug and enter the girls’ dressing room.
“You’re late,” Brittany, our wardrobe designer, points out as we walk in.
“Sorry, got held up outside,” I explain to her as I shake off my jacket and enter my little room to change into my outfit for the next shoot.
“Ah, is Niall back?” Sam, our hairdresser, asks.
“I guess so, that’s what Max was saying,” I hear Alexa say.
“Ah, charming young boy. Real talent,” Bella, our makeup artist, adds.
“Ow, you just got mascara in my eye!” Spencer shouts at Bella.
“Sorry,” Bella apologizes, but I can hear Spencer fuming. I chuckle as I exit my room with my outfit on.
I walk over to Sam and sit in the chair as she does my hair. There’s not too much work to be done on it, my hair is going to be down in loose, wavy curls for the next shoots.
“So why is Niall here?” I ask. “Max told me that his uncle owns the studio?”
“Yes, Niall’s uncle owns the studio and a few years ago, when Niall was old enough, around 10 years old, he asked Niall if he wanted to come visit,” Spencer tells us in her sly, know-it-all voice. “Niall gets an all-access pass and gets to watch these new shows while they’re coming together, even before the editors can edit them and the producers watch them to see if they will become a hit. Niall speaks for some of the teenage generation and if he likes the show, they’ll continue on with it until it goes through the producers process.”
“Wait, what’s the producers process?” Alexa asks, coming out of her dressing room with her outfit on.
“It’s when after we’re done with the season, we get a few months off from the set to basically do whatever we want to do. During that time, the producers go through each episode and decide whether they like it or not and if this show will be a hit. Also during that time, they will decide if we can come back to do a second season, if the show does become popular,” Spencer explains.
“Wow,” Alexa breathes. We switch seats and I head over to Bella’s chair to get my makeup on while Alexa takes my spot to get her hair done. Spencer is completely finished with her look, but she stays in the room to continue her long, elaborate story of Niall.
“So Niall also has a voice and tells producers if he would watch the show or not, based upon what he sees here, during our filming days. Usually the answer is yes, because we have some great writers here. But anyways, he usually comes here every couple of months for a few weeks. As I said before, he’s been doing that since he was about 10 years old, so I’ve gotten to know him a little bit. He seems like a real nice kid, but not my type. But then again, I haven’t seen him in a year, and considering now he’s in a band, he’s probably different and my chance might finally be here,” Spencer adds, closing her eyes in effect of dreaming.
I roll my eyes at her silly plan and Bella finishes with my makeup. I stand up and let Alexa get her makeup done, waiting by the door for her.
“Well, I’ll be on the set,” Spencer says, and exits the dressing rooms.
“She’s a real handful,” Brittany admits, rolling her eyes, too.
“We know,” Alexa and I say together. We laugh along with Brittany, Bella, and Sam and soon, her makeup is finished and we head to the set.
We are greeted by everyone else and Mr. Conners takes charge.
“We are doing scene 8, so we will need Spencer, Alexa, Leila, Max, Leeroy, Melanie, and James,” Mr. Conners lists. We move on the set into our positions and begin the scene.
James and Melanie enter the scene first and do their couple of lines, and then Spencer, Alexa and I go on and do our part.
“This isn’t right,” Alexa, as Savannah, says.
“Well what do you suppose we do? There’s nothing else we can do!” Spencer, as Jasmine, shrieks as she runs to Alexa’s side. I follow Spencer and all 3 of us look ahead above the camera.
“It’s supposed to be up ahead, but it’s a dead end. I don’t get it,” Alexa recites, acting confused.
“So I brought the shovel for no reason?” I ask, holding up the large prop in my hand.
“Well, we could keep moving and see what’s behind the dead end. Did anybody ever think of that?” Spencer suggests.
“All right, all right, we’ll keep going,” Alexa gives in.
“And CUT!” Mr. Conners yells. “Very nice, ladies. Let’s move to the other set!”
All of us shuffle across the floor to the other set that’s supposed to be what’s behind the “dead end.” We get into our positions and begin where we left off.
“Back here!” Spencer whispers, getting on her hands and knees and climbing through a plastic bush. Alexa and I follow and the little tunnel leads us to nothing.
“Jasmine, there’s nothing here,” I point out to Spencer.
“Well how was I supposed to know?!” she shouts.
“Thanks, you made me-“ A movement from the corner of my eye catches my attention and makes me lose focus. A blonde haired, blue eyed, cute, familiar guy is staring right at me, and there is no way I can break this eye contact.
I begin the walk back to the apartment in the cool misty evening. It’s about dinnertime, 6:07, so the sun is beginning to set, spreading bright colors across the sky. My stomach growls in hunger as I continue on my way and see restaurants and fast food places swarming with people. I just hope Madison has something made by the time I get back.
I reach the building and walk inside, waving to Lauren, the clerk at the front desk. She’s really nice and loves to chat with pretty much everyone here. She’s sweet and cares about all of us, a characteristic I love about her. I press the button on the elevator and soon it opens, carrying me up to my floor. Exiting the elevator, I walk down the hallway to my apartment, sliding my key through the door. It opens and I enter.
“Woah, it smells so good in here!” I exclaim, setting my bags on the counter as Madison gets up from watching TV, a bowl of whatever she made in her hands. I forgot to mention that she also likes to cook. I love my roommate.
“Thanks. It’s chicken parmesan lasagna,” she explains. “My friend sent me the recipe and told me to try it out, so I did, and it didn’t turn out too bad. I think.”
I laugh as I take off my shoes and set them neatly by the door. Madison goes back into the living room and I dish myself out some of her lasagna. She was right, it didn’t turn out too bad. It was amazing!
I let myself relax into the couch with this delicious lasagna and Madison turns down the TV to hear about my day. We take turns telling each other recaps of our days and it turns into a laughing competition. By the time we’re done, we’re almost rolling on the floor from laughing too hard. Madison’s college life is an interesting one.
“Well, I gotta get on homework, feel free to eat more of the lasagna,” she says, and gets up to put her dishes in the dishwasher. She disappears from my view as she begins on homework in her bedroom.
I turn up the TV and change the channel to find something interesting to watch. There are reruns of my favorite show on so I leave it play while I get up and get more lasagna. There’s about half of it left, so I cut out what I want to eat and wrap it back up, putting it in the fridge to keep it fresh and contained. While in the kitchen, I grab a glass of ice water and head back into the living room to finish eating. Soon, I’m done, and I load up the dishes in our dishwasher. It’s full, so I squirt some dishwasher soap into it and start it up. I exit the kitchen and I realize the reruns are over, so I turn the TV off and focus on studying my lines. I’ve memorized the first 4 scenes before I realize it’s about 10:00, so I begin to get ready for bed. Madison escapes from her bedroom, too, to use the bathroom and get herself ready, and by the time we’re done, it’s almost 11:00. I turn on my alarms and crash on my bed, sound asleep in 10 minutes.
3 days later
Over the past couple of days, we’ve been getting changes to our scripts and it’s making my head spin because I’ve pretty much memorized it all, but when they keep changing it, I keep forgetting my lines. Well, that’s show biz…
Spencer’s been realizing how hard of a time I’m having and she actually seems happy that I’m suffering. Whatever, I’m minding my own business. Alexa’s also having a hard time, but she’s getting the hang of it. This is only our first week, anyways.
Today we’re beginning filming, and everyone’s nerves are on edge. We can do as many takes as we need, but Mr. Conners doesn’t want too many otherwise we won’t get anywhere. We keep it together most of the morning and by lunch, we’re almost halfway done with filming what we needed to for today. As usual, I head out to lunch with Alexa and Max, another cast member who plays the role of Collin in our show. Max is a pretty nice guy. He’s done a few projects with Red Light Studios before, so he’s not completely new to the film industry as we are. He’s been telling us stories of his acting career and gossiping a little bit to us about some people in Red Light Studios. But overall, he’s the clown of our cast. He’s really funny and plays jokes on people backstage, but is completely focused when we’re filming or reading our scripts.
After lunch, we head back to the studio and we’re surprised to see the entrances flooding with screaming girls and obnoxious paparazzi. Alexa and I look around and everywhere we look, there are people everywhere.
“Max, what’s going on?” I ask him over the screaming girls.
“Tell you inside!” Max yells back, and leads us to a secret entranceway not blocked by fans and only Red Light Studios actors and certified employees know about. Max pulls us inside and leads us through a small hallway until we reach the lighted hallway where everyone’s offices are.
“Niall must be back,” Max announces to us as we walk down the hallway.
“Niall?” Alexa asks.
“Niall Horan. He was on X-Factor recently and is now in a band which is worldwide famous,” Max explains.
“Oh yeah, One Direction,” I remember.
“Yup. His uncle owns Red Light Studios here and-“
“Hurry up, you were supposed to be here 10 minutes ago!” Mr. Conners shouts as he pushes Max into the boys’ dressing room. Alexa and I shrug and enter the girls’ dressing room.
“You’re late,” Brittany, our wardrobe designer, points out as we walk in.
“Sorry, got held up outside,” I explain to her as I shake off my jacket and enter my little room to change into my outfit for the next shoot.
“Ah, is Niall back?” Sam, our hairdresser, asks.
“I guess so, that’s what Max was saying,” I hear Alexa say.
“Ah, charming young boy. Real talent,” Bella, our makeup artist, adds.
“Ow, you just got mascara in my eye!” Spencer shouts at Bella.
“Sorry,” Bella apologizes, but I can hear Spencer fuming. I chuckle as I exit my room with my outfit on.
I walk over to Sam and sit in the chair as she does my hair. There’s not too much work to be done on it, my hair is going to be down in loose, wavy curls for the next shoots.
“So why is Niall here?” I ask. “Max told me that his uncle owns the studio?”
“Yes, Niall’s uncle owns the studio and a few years ago, when Niall was old enough, around 10 years old, he asked Niall if he wanted to come visit,” Spencer tells us in her sly, know-it-all voice. “Niall gets an all-access pass and gets to watch these new shows while they’re coming together, even before the editors can edit them and the producers watch them to see if they will become a hit. Niall speaks for some of the teenage generation and if he likes the show, they’ll continue on with it until it goes through the producers process.”
“Wait, what’s the producers process?” Alexa asks, coming out of her dressing room with her outfit on.
“It’s when after we’re done with the season, we get a few months off from the set to basically do whatever we want to do. During that time, the producers go through each episode and decide whether they like it or not and if this show will be a hit. Also during that time, they will decide if we can come back to do a second season, if the show does become popular,” Spencer explains.
“Wow,” Alexa breathes. We switch seats and I head over to Bella’s chair to get my makeup on while Alexa takes my spot to get her hair done. Spencer is completely finished with her look, but she stays in the room to continue her long, elaborate story of Niall.
“So Niall also has a voice and tells producers if he would watch the show or not, based upon what he sees here, during our filming days. Usually the answer is yes, because we have some great writers here. But anyways, he usually comes here every couple of months for a few weeks. As I said before, he’s been doing that since he was about 10 years old, so I’ve gotten to know him a little bit. He seems like a real nice kid, but not my type. But then again, I haven’t seen him in a year, and considering now he’s in a band, he’s probably different and my chance might finally be here,” Spencer adds, closing her eyes in effect of dreaming.
I roll my eyes at her silly plan and Bella finishes with my makeup. I stand up and let Alexa get her makeup done, waiting by the door for her.
“Well, I’ll be on the set,” Spencer says, and exits the dressing rooms.
“She’s a real handful,” Brittany admits, rolling her eyes, too.
“We know,” Alexa and I say together. We laugh along with Brittany, Bella, and Sam and soon, her makeup is finished and we head to the set.
We are greeted by everyone else and Mr. Conners takes charge.
“We are doing scene 8, so we will need Spencer, Alexa, Leila, Max, Leeroy, Melanie, and James,” Mr. Conners lists. We move on the set into our positions and begin the scene.
James and Melanie enter the scene first and do their couple of lines, and then Spencer, Alexa and I go on and do our part.
“This isn’t right,” Alexa, as Savannah, says.
“Well what do you suppose we do? There’s nothing else we can do!” Spencer, as Jasmine, shrieks as she runs to Alexa’s side. I follow Spencer and all 3 of us look ahead above the camera.
“It’s supposed to be up ahead, but it’s a dead end. I don’t get it,” Alexa recites, acting confused.
“So I brought the shovel for no reason?” I ask, holding up the large prop in my hand.
“Well, we could keep moving and see what’s behind the dead end. Did anybody ever think of that?” Spencer suggests.
“All right, all right, we’ll keep going,” Alexa gives in.
“And CUT!” Mr. Conners yells. “Very nice, ladies. Let’s move to the other set!”
All of us shuffle across the floor to the other set that’s supposed to be what’s behind the “dead end.” We get into our positions and begin where we left off.
“Back here!” Spencer whispers, getting on her hands and knees and climbing through a plastic bush. Alexa and I follow and the little tunnel leads us to nothing.
“Jasmine, there’s nothing here,” I point out to Spencer.
“Well how was I supposed to know?!” she shouts.
“Thanks, you made me-“ A movement from the corner of my eye catches my attention and makes me lose focus. A blonde haired, blue eyed, cute, familiar guy is staring right at me, and there is no way I can break this eye contact.
Notes
Hey guys! Hope you're enjoying and please share this with anybody you know! Please comment and vote also!Again, I will be updating every Wednesday and Sunday for the month of January and depending on how much I get written, I'll decide if I will do the same for February or if February is just going to be once a week.
Rachel :)
Make a Sequel please.
9/13/14