Becoming Ready

Chapter 19 - Behind the Scenes Drama

As she sat in the hair and makeup chair, Charlie looked over her lines one last time. The 'hair and makeup' department was made up of just two students who had a talent for styling and watched plenty of Youtube tutorials, but nevertheless, they made her look good.

She hadn't seen River yet, but he was probably late, like he always was. Thankfully guys took less time to get ready than girls, although now that she thought about it, River seemed like the kind of guy who spent a lot of time on his hair.

An hour passed, and he still hadn't shown up. Charlie was starting to get seriously irritated. Being late was one thing, being over an hour late was seriously disrespectful. Professor Roth was just as mad as she was, if not more. Everyone had taken time out of their busy schedules, whether it was taking off work or putting aside studying, to be here. And they couldn't start without the leading man.

By the time River walked in, Charlie was so mad she could hardly think. She watched as Professor Roth rebuked him in front of the crew. He stood there, not arguing back, just nodding. It was the first time she saw him drop his self-assured manner. It didn't matter though, when he walked over to her, she was still livid. The fact that he was still ridiculously handsome despite being disheveled was also irritating. He looked like he hadn't gotten any sleep the night before. Why was he out all night, and was he even going to take this project seriously?

"Where were you!?" she hissed.

"It's not your concern," he tried to wave her off.

She widened her eyes. "Are you serious? You're over an hour late and you can't even tell me why?"

He hadn't even looked at her yet. "Roth just chewed me out in front of everyone. I don't need this from you, as well," he said, taking off his jacket and looking through his wardrobe rack.

"Oh really? Well, I don't need to sit around and wait for you all day for the rest of this production. I have to take off work to be here, and if we can't get this done on schedule because of you, that means you're the one costing me money," she fumed. "Me and god knows who else! And for what, so you can stay out all night? Are you even still sober?"

He turned on her. Now that he was closer, she could see something resembling pain behind his eyes. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

"Enlighten me then," she softened. "I just want to know what happened to you."

He stiffened and she saw him clench his jaw. Whatever it was, he wasn't going to tell her. "Like I said, it's not your concern."

That felt like a slap in the face to her. "So, you want to know all my secrets, but when it comes time for you to share..."

"You'll get over it," he turned away, his tone dismissive.

She was shocked at his attitude. "Could you be any more disrespectful?"

This seemed to be the last straw for him. "Could you? You're a Freshman for god's sake. You don't get to talk to me like this."

She threw her hands up. "What does my age have to do with it?! I'm a person, you're a person. Who cares about seniority?"

"I do, and I'm not going to be spoken to like this by some little brat," he spat.

"YOU'RE the brat!" she yelled, spinning on her heels and walking away. She realized then that they had an audience, the whole cast and crew was watching. They all tried to pretend to look busy when she turned around.

She walked down the street to get some air, still absolutely furious. She replayed the argument over and over in her head, changing the ending so she won each time. It didn't make her feel any better.

What pissed her off the most wasn't just how dismissive River had been acting, but the fact that he didn't tell her what happened. He looked like he had been through something... but he wasn't hungover, so he couldn't have relapsed.

She and River had been hanging out, rehearsing and getting to know each other just like Professor Roth had asked, and they had gotten closer. She had told him a lot of things, things that she wouldn't share with just anyone. And now he couldn't even tell her where he had been?

Finally, she walked back to set, even though she was still mad. She sat at a table with Leigh, who hadn't gotten a part in the film but was part of the crew.

"Told you he was a f***boy," Leigh sighed.

"I know," Charlie grumbled.

Leigh handed her a pastry from the small plate of food she had. "I'm sure he was probably out late last night on a date, or something."

"Yeah, or something," Charlie agreed, still thinking about how he wouldn't tell her. She took a bite of the mini cheese danish and started to calm down a bit. Maybe there as a good reason why River didn't want to tell her. And really, it wasn't any of her business. He was her costar, not her boyfriend.

About fifteen minutes later she felt a strong pair of arms circle her shoulders from behind.

"I'm sorry Charlie, will you forgive me?" River's voice said in her ear, pleading but still playful.

She rolled her eyes at his tone, even though he couldn't see it. She shook her head.

"Pleeease," he said, trying to sweet-talk her.

As annoyed as she was at him for calling her a brat, he was very disarming. She felt herself melt slightly.

"Fine," she agreed, trying to shrug him off. "I forgive you, but only because we're already behind schedule."

He let go of her, and she turned around and stood up. He was grinning, and despite the fact that she fought it, a smile creeped its way onto her face as well.

"You're the worst," she laughed.

"You don't really believe that." He pulled her into another hug.

Cheers from the crew rang out as they embraced. Professor Roth came over and put his hands on their shoulders when they broke apart.

"Let's shoot a movie, shall we?" he smiled. 

***Do you wonder where River was? Also, now that filming has begun, how do you think this will affect Charlie and Shawn's relationship?