Summer Rain

[2] Here We Go Again

     “Company?” the first guy asked, raising a hand to stop me.

     “Open,” the second guy replied. The first guy dropped his arm and led us through the mob to the entrance. He pulled out a key and silently let us in.

     “That was weird. What auditions have that much security?” I asked Bells quietly once we were inside. Bells shrugged and stepped up to a counter.

     “Call Me Cupid?” the bored looking girl behind the counter asked. Bells nodded. “Down the right hall, second door on the left.”

     A couple moments later, we stepped into a room filled with about two dozen other people. It was probably the waiting room. Most of the girls were running through exercises. There were also a couple older people dressed in suits beside them, probably their agents or coaches, given that half of them were helping the girls, the others on their phone.

     “What is this film?” I asked, taking in the room with wide eyes. When it said auditions, I thought it would be people who were studying theatre, like me. Not aspiring actresses with agents and coaches and everything. Talk about intimidating.

     “I have no idea. I didn’t expect this,” Bells replied as we sat down in two chairs tucked in the corner.

     “What’s the movie called? Call Me Cupid?” I asked, pulling out my phone. She nodded and looked around the room, somewhat distracted. I opened the web and entered the name in Google. Whoa. It was only in the stage of auditions and it already had an official website and a couple fan sites. Okay. Maybe it was a film based off a really popular book. I clicked on the official site. Or maybe not. It was an original film. Slowly, I scrolled through until I found the plot.

     Alyssa Jacobs is the good girl matchmaker. Colton Walker is the bad boy romance advisor. They want nothing to do with each other, but when Keera, Alyssa’s best friend and Colton’s cousin finds out about their Cupid’s-Assistant activities, things get messy. Alyssa and Colton are blackmailed into making an online dating manual. It’s just two months of living together. Survivable, right?

     Wrong.

     They're absolutely determined to make each other's lives hell.

     Directed by Brett Hastings.

     Script written and co-directed by Kallie Fleming.

     I almost dropped my phone. “Bells. This is Kallie and Brett’s film,” I told her.

     For a moment, she was silent. Then she shot me a slightly guilty look.

     “You knew?” I whispered, jaw dropping slightly.

     Bells sighed. “Kallie emailed me with the flyer, asking me to come. It was also an audition, so I figured it would be for you.”

     I blinked and stayed quiet, trying to absorb all the information. It was quite likely I would see Kallie again. I was auditioning for her movie. It was also quite likely I would see Brett again as well. The thing that scared me was who else I would see.

     “Are you mad?” Bells asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

     I shook my head. “Not really. I just wished you had warned me.”

     “She was your best friend too.”

     “Yeah, three years ago. I haven’t talked to her ever since… You know.”

     About a month after I left, I had tried calling Kallie. Things were going pretty well at RHS, so I was in the mood to try again. That mood had died a bit (okay, a lot), when Kaden answered the phone. He had sounded pretty normal, neither happy nor sad, just normal. It was that that had gotten to me, though. Really, it had just been his voice and all the memories it brought back. I was tempted to hang up, then curl into a ball and cry (weak, I know, but it hurt, okay?), but I didn’t. Instead, I pasted on a smile, despite him not being able to see me, and in the brightest tone I could manage asked ‘Is Kallie there?’. For a moment, it had been silent, and I had assumed the Kaden was getting her. But I never heard my best friend’s voice. Instead, the only sound that came through was the dial tone.