The Truth Within

Chapter 2

The school day was absolute hell, even though I did manage to avoid the bullies, my ex's friends for a while, until I got out of my last class for the day. I was looking down at my phone, reading a post about Love in the Air, gasping when I felt my phone fly out of my hand as I tripped over someone's leg. I wince in pain and look up, freezing as I see Kim and Yai, my ex-boyfriend's friends, aka my bullies and their goons.

"Look Yai, the poor bastard is hurt~" Kim smirks, "How about we help him?" with that, he kicks me in the stomach hard. I cough in pain as Yai nods. "Yeah, let's help him!" He laughs, pulls me up, and punches me, making sure not to hit my face too much so that he doesn't get into trouble. I whimper in pain, wanting this torture to end already. They continue beating me up until they get bored and decide to leave. I lay there in pain until I can move without wincing too much. I get up and limp toward my phone. Picking it up, I frown as I noticed the screen had cracked. Even though this was an old phone and gave me an excuse to get a new one, I didn't have the money to buy a new one. I sigh softly and call an uber and head back to my apartment. Once I'm home, I lay in bed and cry myself to sleep, not bothering to have dinner or to take a shower.

I woke up to my manager calling me. I groan and answer the phone. "Hello?" I sleepily mumble. "Swadee nong~," My Manager smiles, "I was just calling to let you know that you have quite a few interviews and photoshoots, and workshops scheduled over the next few days~" I hum softly "Thank you for telling me P'".

"No problem Kiddo," she hums happily, "Now get up and start getting ready. I'm coming to pick you up." I frown, wanting to sleep more, "Why?". "For your first interview, silly, you and the rest of the cast will be revealed to the public!". I sigh softly, "Fine." She says she'll be here in an hour and hangs up. I glance at the time and groan as it was barely 5 AM. I get out of bed and take a quick shower to wake myself up, and change into a comfy but work-appropriate outfit before looking at my reflection in the mirror. I frown, seeing some bruises on my neck and peeking out from under my shirt. Grabbing some concealer, I cover my bruises while making sure that the concealer isn't too noticeable, either.

I pull on my watch and mess with my still slightly damp hair while eating a granola bar and drinking some water. Hearing my manager honking, I grab my cracked phone, wallet, and house keys before stepping out and locking the door. I walk over to the car and get in, greeting my manager. She pulls out of the parking lot and drives to the location where the interview was. I try to calm my nerves as we get closer and closer to the location. Feeling my phone buzzing repeatedly, I look to see I had been added to a Love in the Air group chat with other actors and once with just p' Peat, p' Boss, and Fort.

I decided not to say anything in the chat and just read what the others were saying. They went from talking about pets and if they had any to what animals everyone looked like, and started arguing about it. I read the messages, forgetting how nervous I just was.

Fort: P'Peat, you have to be part dog, cause you look like a puppy~

Peat: Me?! A puppy?! If anything, you look like a wounded puppy!

Fort: I do not!

Boss: You both are wounded puppies, I'm a tiger and Noeul is a Bunny, end of discussion.

Fort: You? a tiger?! HA as if🤣

Peat: You're not a tiger, but I agree that Noeul is a cute, cuddly bunny who must be protected at all times!

I stop looking at the messages and pout. I don't look like a bunny... do I? I sigh softly as my manager parks the car and I get out. I wait for her before walking inside and greeting everyone. The others welcome me before a makeup artist takes me away to get me ready for the interview. I still while the makeup artist does my hair and makeup. Once they're done, I get up and move closer to my manager and notice the makeup artist talking to Boss and glancing in my direction. She didn't see any bruises, right? I pray that she didn't notice any while doing my makeup.

After a few minutes, the four main actors, Peat, Fort, Boss, and I, are led onto the set. My nerves start acting up again. I fidget with my fingers as I try to calm myself down while the others introduce themselves. I notice a comforting hand had been placed on my thigh. Glancing down at it, I notice its Boss's hand and it surprisingly helped calm my nerves. I look up and smile softly when it's my turn. "Hi, I'm Noeul, and I play Rain~". With the introductions out of the way, the Interview had officially started.