Firsts & Lasts

Bonus Chapter One.

Novalee Johänson

My co-stars, Alexander and Bryan, double over in laughter at one of their bloopers. I can't help but smile as they completely lose it. "You guys have too much energy!" I complain. We've only been shooting for the past twelve hours and it's currently three in the morning. Season two of 'Life's A Mess' just aired its finale last night but we've been shooting season three for the past two weeks. I love my job and I'm happy at the success it's brought me but these long hours make me absolutely exhausted. Especially lately. I've been feeling so lazy that it's hard to get myself out of bed and to work most days.

The boys and I take a small break since we finished filming our scene about thirty minutes ago. Alex and I still have another scene to film before we're finished tonight. Bryan does too but he'll be here longer since he films his final scene with Kahyla until after Alex and I conclude ours.

"What's all this laughter?" Speak of the pretty girl. Kahyla steps into my trailer with a confused look. I roll my eyes. "Don't get them started!" I tell her. "Kay, come here, look at this!" Bryan says, patting on the couch. She smiles and follows to sit in between the boys. Alex smothers a laugh as Bryan hits play on the video. The blooper plays for the millionth time and then they're all laughing again. "Oh, God," I mumble, shaking my head. The sound of their laughter does make me laugh, so I end up joining in the fun. "Wait! Where did you get that?! The bloopers are out already?" Kahyla questions. Bryan shakes his head. "Val emailed it to me."

Val is one of our producers. Alex shoves the phone back into his pocket and Bryan stands up. "I'm gonna go take a nap, kids," he lets out a yawn, "see you later!" We all say bye as he leaves the trailer. I plop down next to Kay and Alex on the couch. Alex wipes the tears that escape his eyes from laughing too much. "Hey, can I talk to Nova alone?" Kahyla asks, turning to face Alex. He furrows his dark brows and looks at me. I shrug. He nods to Kahyla and rises off the couch. "See you later, TV girlfriend and TV girlfriend's sister," he says throwing up a peace sign and exiting my trailer. "Bye!" Kay and I say at the same time.

Kahyla lays down on the couch and puts her feet up on my lap. "I just wanted him gone so I could lay down. I'm so tired," she says, closing her eyes. "How was your scene?" I ask, sipping on my iced coffee. "Amazing, I love kissing scenes," she says, a smirk creeping onto her lips. I gasp and chuck a throw pillow at her. She laughs. "Charlie is going to be jealous," I say in a sing-song voice. Charlie is the name of Bryan's character. He and Kahyla's character, Farrah, are love interests. Originally, I wanted the part of Farrah as I saw myself in her character more. I've been playing Avalon for quite some time now though and I absolutely love her. Never did I ever think I was even going to be working on a show this popular so I'm even more grateful that I have a part in it at all.

"Charlie is a little hoe! Farrah isn't going to wait around for him," Kahyla says. I laugh. "You and Bryan have insane chemistry though," I say truthfully. Both of them are amazing actors and I swear they put their everything into their scenes together. Kahyla won't admit it but she ships her character with him a lot more than the rest of us. "Not anything compared to you and Alex, and you know I'm right!" She fires back, pointing a finger in my direction. "I agree," I say with a shrug. She grins and pulls out her phone to take a video of me for her Instagram story. "Nova, how does it feel having to dye your hair brown again?" she questions as she records me.

I pull my long hair to the front of my shoulders and fix it neatly. I dyed it again only two weeks ago and I really love it. I've never hated brown but red is my unique hair color so I do miss it sometimes. "Amazing," I say dramatically. She laughs and posts the video. While I'm a little more private about my life, Kahyla loves streaming everything about hers on social media. I let my castmates post me on their stories and social media but you'll rarely see me post on mine. I don't think I can handle all the mean comments that come with fame, yet. I've seen a couple throughout the years and even though I try not to take them to heart, I can't help it.