Beyond the Stars

Scene Three

After I make a quick stop at Target—where I buy school supplies for the first day of school tomorrow—and the grocery store—where I pick up lots and lots of junk food—I drive my new car over to Lacey's house. I text her when I am out front and she is out the door in seconds.

She opens the car door with a grin on her face and plops down on the passenger seat. "This car is absolutely amazing, Hayden!"

I smile. "Isn't it?"

Lacey runs her hands over the leather interior with a mix of awe and jealousy on her face. Then, she turns to me and bluntly says, "I hate you."

My eyes widen. "What? Why?"

"I hate you because this car is yours and not mine," she states jokingly.

Laughing, I shake my head at her. "Don't do that to me. I thought you were serious for a second."

"Who said I wasn't?" I open my mouth to speak but she continues. "But this car is really amazing. It's got that cool map screen thing and black leather seats! How much does this cost?"

I frown. "Does it matter?"

She raises an eyebrow. "I was just asking. I want to know."

I sigh and mumble my answer.

"What did you say?"

"It was $30,000..."

Lacey covers her mouth with her hand. "That's a lot of money."

"Yeah. Anyway. Let's go do something," I suggest, trying to move away from the subject.

"Ooh, I know! Let's see a movie."

"Sure. Call Kat and Anna on the way to see if they can come."

∞

On the way there, Kat and Annabelle ooh and aah over the new car like Lacey did. When we get there, the girls' first choice is to see Royal Renegade, but I do not need to see the movie that I star in for the millionth time, so we go with their second choice, which is a romantic tearjerker. 

As we walk out of the movie theatre after the credits roll, Lacey exclaims, "That was such an amazing movie! I couldn't stop crying."

Kat sniffles and says, "Same here."

"It was the best movie of the summer!" Annabelle says. She glances over at me and hurries to correct her words. "I mean, well, except for your movie, of course, Hayden."

I roll my eyes. "I don't care if you like another movie better than mine, Anna. It's totally fine."

She looks relieved. "What did you think of the movie?"

"It was good."

I am totally lying. It was a terrible movie that disappointed me because the trailer and the posters looked so promising. The scenes were awkwardly staged and the dialogue was terribly boring. The writers were trying way too hard. However, I know how much my friends like it, so I do not need to burst their bubble by pointing out the film's many flaws.

Apparently, all of my work in the acting business has payed off because they believe me and keep rambling on about their favorite parts. We eat lunch at a small cafe in town before we head over to Kat's house to hang out and talk about our first day of school tomorrow. 

They tell me all about what I missed during sophomore year and the cute guys and this one hilarious prank played on the history teacher. I listen intently and am sad to hear about all the great things I missed out on when I was in Hollywood.