My loud annoying alarm rings throughout the bedroom as I turn over to shut it off. I glance at the clock that reads eight o'clock and hastily jump out of bed to get ready for my first day of shooting my new movie. After slipping on a pair of jean shorts and a pink top, I grab my phone then skip down the steps to head out. I pause as I go to shut the door and consider waking Kyle up but then again if he wants the part so badly, then he will be an adult and show up on time for filming today. I grab my car keys with my purse and make my way out to my black accord to head to the studio.
As I walk into the All-Star Industries studio and warehouse, I notice the place is already decorated with multiple props and backdrops everywhere.
"Ahh, there you are my dear."
I smile up at Marcell as he walks over to wrap me a hug.
"I see you have got everyone working hard already super early this morning."
"Yes, I do. It is important to have everything in place soon so we can start filming immediately. This movie has much more drama and will definitely take longer to film especially since we have three leading roles instead of just two this time."
"Well I am excited and cannot wait to get started."
"Me either, which reminds me, go ahead and take a seat with the rest of the cast members over there and we can start script readings as soon as everyone is here."
Looking over I smile and start walking toward where everyone is already sitting and reading over the script. Everyone seems to look up at me as I approach the table, all except for one person. I gently grin at everyone else but take the empty seat beside the one guy who seems lost in his reading.
"Trying to memorize as much as you can?"
He finally looks up from his script to show that pearly white grin of his.
"Yeah sorry I was just reading as much as I could before we start. My name is..."
"Ethan, right? Yeah, I remember you at the audition. You were really great. My name is…"
"Davina, everyone knows who you are. You are the star after all."
"Not really, I am not the only one who has a leading role in this movie, you know. Congrats on your part, you deserve it. I look forward to working with you."
His smile widens at my comment as I look down at the script in my lap. I can feel my face start to redden as the seconds go by.
'That look of his can stop any girl in her path, I am sure of it.'
"Sorry I am late everyone!"
I snap out of my thoughts to see Kyle running in from the chilly morning air.
'I knew he could not be on time on his own. He is unreliable but luckily, he is no longer my problem anymore.'
"Thanks for finally joining us Kyle. Go ahead and have a seat across from Davina and we can get started."
I try not to laugh at the sarcastic tone in Marcell's voice as I focus back on the script. Kyle gradually sits down in the chair across from me and grins. I look away from his stupid smirk and try to focus on what Marcell is saying as he stands by the end of the table.
"So most of you already have gotten to know each other early this morning but I was hoping to introduce our three leading roles and who will be playing them. First we have our newcomer to the acting world, everyone this is Ethan. He will be playing the love interest in the story."
I smile and clap my hands loudly with everyone else as Ethan stands up from his chair and waves to all of us.
"Then we have our boyfriend of the story who you all know already from the last movie, Kyle!"
I roll my eyes as Kyle stands up and bows to everyone. His eyes one by one meet with the others to catch mine as he winks and smirks at me.
'He is so full of himself that it can be very sickening sometimes.'
"And finally, but definitely not last, we have our main leading lady and star of the movie. She is very well known and we are lucky to have her working with us once more…Davina!!!"
Smiling, I stand up to stand by Marcell as I wave to everyone's beaming faces. As the applause dies down I clear my throat to speak.
"I am super excited to work with all of you on this new movie. I loved working with Marcell on our previous movie and know this one will be just as good if not better. I cannot wait to get started filming and see how well we all can come together to create such magic on and off screen. I am very interested to see how well we all work together."
My eyes connect with Ethan's as I say the last line and I can tell he is intrigued by the idea because his face starts turning a slight shade of red. I quickly turn my attention back to Marcell before anyone notices me staring too long at the new guy.
"Davina, why don't you take a seat again and we can begin to go over script lines. Depending on how that goes, we may start filming some scenes tomorrow right away."
I sit down as Marcell sits beside me and motions for us to start looking over the scripts and begin reading. Marcell starts reading the prolog as the narrator for the movie. One by one we go around the table to practice our lines and to review the structure of the story we will be telling throughout the movie. I try my best not to make unfitting faces as Kyle recites his lines.
"Aribella, I do not understand what is going on with you lately. You never want to hangout or even talk to me anymore. Did I do something wrong? Is it that other guy you mentioned the other day? Why are you spending so much time with him and not your boyfriend anyways?"
"Look Tyler, we do not hang out anymore because you are too busy with your extracurriculars. If you haven't noticed we have been drifting apart for a while anyway. Why should we force this if it is not working anymore?"
"What is that supposed to mean? Are you dumping me? It's because of that new guy, right?"
"Tyler, this has nothing to do with Evan. Yes, he is a sweet guy and I like spending time with him but this is about you and me. We are just not working out anymore, you have to see it too."
"Don't you dare walk away from me! We belong together, and you know it. He will never be good enough for you or treat you the way I can."
"Enough Tyler! I have made up my mind. I cannot keep doing this to you if my heart is not in it. I will see you around later. Have a nice day."
I take a deep breath as we skip over the next few lines to go on to the next main scene.
"Are you okay? You look like something bad has happened."
My eyes look up from the script to connect with Ethan's as I smile and continue reciting my lines to his character.
"I am better now that you are here. It has just been an exhausting day, that is all."
"Why don't you tell me what happened, maybe I can help."
"It is nothing really, I just told Tyler how we have been drifting apart and that I do not feel the same way about him that he does for me anymore. He took it pretty hard."
"I am so sorry. Does it have anything to do with all the time we have been spending together recently?"
"Not necessarily, he accused you of being the reason for me leaving him though."
"If he does not like us spending so much time together, we can stop hanging out. I would hate to ruin your relationship."
"Evan, there is no relationship between Tyler and me. Not any more. We have been drifting apart for a while now and it is not fair to stay with him if my heart is not in it anymore. I find that my heart has been given to someone else without intending to do so."
"Someone else? Who?"
I look down at my lap as I can feel my face reddened as I say the next line.
"You Evan, my heart belongs to you."
The grin on Ethan's face widens as I look back up at him. I can feel the blood rush to my face in embarrassment at my reaction to the scene.
"And then you kiss her!"
Ethan and I both break eye contact to look over at Marcell.
"That was a job well done. It seems most of you have been practicing your lines over night already. We will continue this tomorrow morning and begin filming in the afternoon. I will see you all later."
I carefully pack my script in my purse as everyone begins to leave the studio. I turn to get up and accidentally run into someone. A hand comes out to catch me as I look up into a pair of gorgeous crystal blue eyes.
"Sorry I just wanted to tell you how great you did reciting your lines. You did it perfectly."
I smile at Ethan's sweet compliment.
"You did a fantastic job as well."
"No, it was not as good as yours. I am still learning all these techniques and need to practice some more."
I laugh, "actually you did better than most people do their first time. I can definitely tell you have been practicing and rehearsing your lines, especially when we were able to do that whole scene by looking at each other rather than the scripts."
"Thank you. I have been practicing a lot because I wanted to make a good first impression on everyone."
"Well, you made a good impression on me. I look forward to continuing working with you throughout the movie."
He grins and is just about to say something else when Kyle comes back in through the studio door to interrupt our conversation.
"Hey Dee, can I get a ride home?"
I groan as he walks over to put his arm around my waist. Gripping his arm, I throw it away from me as I step out of his hold.
"Kyle, can't you see that I am talking right now."
"Yeah but I need a ride back to the house and I figured since we are both here, I could ride back with you."
"Kyle, I thought we talked about this yesterday. You are no longer my problem. You do not live with me anymore. I want you gone."
"Oh, come on Dee, you know you do not mean that."
"Yes, I actually do. I do not want anything to do with you outside of this movie."
I give Kyle a dirty look then look back at Ethan sympathetically.
"I am so sorry about this Ethan."
He smiles, "it is okay, couples disagree all the time. It is nothing I have never seen before."
"Actually, Kyle and I are not a couple. It was just a facade we had to put on for the last movie."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense. I am still new to all of this acting stuff."
"You will get the hang of it in no time. I am here to help you whenever you need or want it."
"That is nice to know. I will see you tomorrow, hope you have a great night Davina."
"You too Ethan."
I cannot do anything but grin as I watch him leave the studio.
'Ethan seems like such a nice guy. I hope he is able to fit into this acting world, I would hate to see him leave so soon.'
Kyle tries to grab my waist again as I walk away from him.
"Kyle, will you just leave me alone already?"
"Davina, you cannot get rid of me that easily. I already spoke to your mother this morning and it seems that us staying together could help this movie as well."
I silently groan, "you spoke with my mother, really? You are so desperate that you have to run to my mother and tell her about me trying to kick you out?"
"Yep, she is at the house waiting for us to get home so she can speak to you."
"I swear Kyle, you are such a child sometimes. When will you act like an adult and just grow up?"
"I told you I always get my way," he says, smirking.
I shove him aside as I get into my car to leave, regretting that I will now have to deal with my overbearing mother as soon as I arrive home. Driving home, I think about how rehearsal went today with everyone.
'It did not seem to go too bad and it seems we might actually have another great movie on our hands but the one thing I cannot deny was the feeling I got when Ethan and I recited our lines to each other. I remember my face turning red as we recited the lines of Aribella and Evan discussing their feelings. It then occurred to me that when we stopped reciting our lines it was because of the next scene which was a kissing scene. It is not uncommon to have to kiss my costars in my movies that I shoot but for some reason thinking of kissing Ethan for the movie made me feel a little nervous and shy. He is a nice guy and seems to be way different than the guys that I am used to dealing with.'
I think of comparing him to Kyle, but stop when I pull into my driveway and notice my mother's car is already here.
'I guess I might as well get this over with and see what she has to say this time.'
I grab my purse and walk into the house, waiting for her to start yelling at me like I'm a child. Dropping my purse on the counter, I notice Kyle is already sitting with my mother on the couch. I slowly creep over to sit on the chair and wait for her to begin her rant.
"So, what is this I hear you tried to kick Kyle out of the house," she asks, shooting daggers at me.
"Mom, the other movie is over now. Kyle and I do not have to continue to fake date to promote it anymore. There is no reason for him to stay here any longer."
"That is where you are wrong my dear. You and Kyle have made quite a splash in the tabloids and if you were to split up, that would create such chaos on both of your careers."
"My career will be fine whether we stay together or not and you can thank yourself for that. You have built my career so much that I am positive that one little bad tabloid is not going to ruin it but more than likely increase my career as of right now."
"Would you be willing to take that risk though?"
"I cannot pretend to be with Kyle any longer. It is a pain having to act like I actually like him all the time. I understand why you did it in the beginning but there is no reason to continue to go along with this charade."
My mother stands up from the couch now filled with rage.
"You will listen to me; Kyle will stay living here and you will continue to date for the sake of both of your careers. I built up your career and will not let you destroy it by being a selfish brat!"
I laugh, "a selfish brat? All I have ever done is abide by your rules and done what you have wanted me to do. I am not going along with it any longer. I bought this house from you with my own money so I will decide who can and cannot live here. I am done being your doormat to walk all over."
I get up to walk out of the living room but a hand grabs my arm to stop me. I look over to see Kyle standing up while he still grasps my arm.
'What is with this boy and grabbing my arm?'
"Dee come on. I have worked hard to get my career where it is today and do not want to see it get ruined by something this petty, do you? Can't we just work something out here?"
'Is he being serious? Of course, he is only thinking of himself in this situation just like he always does. How can these two just stand here and think of only themselves? Do they not understand or care how I feel in this predicament?'
I pull out of Kyle's grasp to look at both of them straight on.
"I am only going to say this once; you both need to get out of my house now. I will no longer be a doormat for you both to step on. My career is just fine and will still be even if you move out. I intend to focus on myself and what I want more in life from now on."
I look from my mother's shocked face to Kyle's gloomy expression.
"Please Dee, I have nowhere else to go. What if I promise to not pick on you no more and be a better person?"
I sigh and think about my options.
'On one hand I can be mean and say no to kick him out but on the other hand I am a kind person and find it hard to be mean to others even if that person is Kyle. Maybe I can give him a second chance to prove to me he can be better and if he cannot do it then he must leave.'
I run my hand through my hair hoping I will not regret my decision later on.
I groan, "fine Kyle, you get one more chance but on my terms this time. You can stay here since you have nowhere else to go and it'll help your image more for the movie. The only thing I have to make clear is that we are not together and if anyone asks I will tell them the same thing. I am done pretending to be with you. If you cannot show me that you can be a better person and respect me then you will leave. Do you understand?"
"Thank you so much Dee."
He wraps his arms around me in a hug as I have to swallow my disgust to let him. My mom claps her hands in excitement as she gets her way once again.
"See, now that was not so bad was it."
"You have no idea," I whisper to myself.
I step out of Kyle's hold and walk out the back door to get some space outside.
'How in the world did I cave once again to my mother's wishes? Am I that much of a coward that I would rather do what she says than face any chance of consequences? How am I going to survive living with Kyle any longer? Can I really trust him to change?'
Thinking about change, my dream from the other night pops back into my head.
'Trust? That was something that my father mentioned in my dream the other night. Can I not trust anyone around me, especially my mother or Kyle? Who can I trust then?'
My eyes roam the yard to land on the woods that reside behind my house and the rest of the block.
'Was he right when he said the wolves are my friends? Is it possible for my dream to be real? Can there be houses hidden in the woods? It has been a couple days since I have seen any sign of the pretty gray wolf anywhere. I wonder what he is up to right now.'
Quickly glancing behind me to look through the glass doors, I do not see any sign of either my mother or Kyle. I take that as a good sign and head toward the dark trees. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I look at it to notice it is only eight o'clock which gives me plenty of time to explore if I want to. I take one last look at the back of the house as I put my phone back in my pocket to make up my mind. I take a deep breath and then adventure through the obscure trees hoping to see the gray wolf again.
Carefully, I weave in and out of all the trees trying my best not to trip on the twigs that completely cover the ground. There are a couple times I almost fall but luckily, I catch myself by grasping a tree trunk before I fall completely in the mud. I keep going though, hoping to find a solution to my unanswered questions about my dream and why I keep seeing the wolves but no one else does. I am about to lose all hope when a beam of light shines up ahead and my faith returns.
'Hopefully this is what I am looking for.'
I tread slowly forward, careful of making too much noise in case I am not alone. The shining light gets brighter as I approach what seems to be the end of the tree line. I raise my hand to block the light as I come into a big accessible area.
"Wow, this cannot be real right now."
I put my hand back down as the bright light seems to dim and I notice it comes from a fire that is slowly dying over to my right side. What really seems to amaze me is not the fire but the small, wooden houses that line the other side of the trees and seem to form a circle around the whole open area.
'This is it; this is what I have been waiting to see.'
The image in front of me gives me the hope I need to think about my dream being real.
'If this is in fact correct then where is my father?'
Slowly I creep toward the nearest house and glance in the front window. The room is decorated with a red brick fireplace, wooden furniture and a small rug to cover the floor. I keep looking in through the windows but sadly there is no sign of anyone being home. Considering the other windows, it occurs to me that no one can be here right now due to how quiet it is around here at this time. I turn to leave and head back home but stop straight in my tracks. My eyes land on a coarse gray coat with sparkling icy blue eyes.
'He is here and he is real. The wolf I have seen the past couple days is back. For some reason, seeing the wolf makes me feel more at ease of being alone here in the woods.'
He nods his head at me then walks over to sit by the now blazing fire.
'How did the fire get more intense when it was just dying out when I arrived?'
Ignoring my thoughts, I step down from the wooden porch to walk over and sit beside the wolf. Gently, I reach out to pet his fur coat, making sure I am not hallucinating and that this is all real.
"I cannot believe it, you are really here. This is all real."
The gray wolf nudges my hand to lay his muzzle on my lap. Brushing his fur, I begin to relax and not be so afraid anymore.
"You know, I had a dream about you and my father the other day. It happened right here in the woods too."
His eyes come up to lock with mine as he turns his head to the side.
I laugh, "I was sure it was just a dream. My father showed up and said that I could not trust anyone in my life, not even my own mother. The only positive thing he had to say was that the wolves are my friends. I think he was specifically talking about you when he said that. Is it true, are you my friend?"
'How crazy am I to be sitting here talking to a wolf and think that he is going to understand a word I say, let alone answer me back?'
My thoughts of doubt flee fast as he looks at me and shakes my head up and down. It was a simple gesture but it makes all the difference to me. I move closer to the fire to absorb the warmth as the night air whips around us. I am not sure how long we sit there but as the sun gradually goes down, I know I have to get back to the house to get some sleep.
"I am sorry but I must go home now. I have a big day tomorrow and need a good night's sleep."
He stands up on his legs and reaches out to grab my shirt between his teeth. I get up following his action and walk with him back to the path I came from to go home. I kneel to give him a small hug and smile.
"I will see you again. Thank you."
I turn to walk up my backyard and go into the house. As I close the glass doors, I can hear a faint howling sound which I take as a good night. I reluctantly crawl into bed, hoping tomorrow will be a good day.