I'm in Love with my Worst Nightmare

Chapter 18

"Alright, I'll be home Friday morning." I said to my family as I dragged my bag down the hall. "Tara, you're staying to Sunday, right?" I asked.
"Yes ma'am." She smiled.
"You're so cute." Gavin kissed her. I pretended to gag.
"Good luck, sweetheart." Dad waved.

I started the four hour drive to Salt Lake City at around 10 PM, only an hour after I got the call. It was going to be a long night, but at least I didn't have to worry about traffic.

The drive was nice and quiet, but I was ready to sink into my bed and sleep. I got to my hotel earlier than I expected, but I still didn't get a good night's sleep. I had too many things on my mind.

"Avia, so glad to see you!" A tall man with a scarf around his neck came running up as I entered the set. "I'm Ryan, director of our magnificent movie here. You'll get to here about me in a bit, come come, let's go begin our cast meeting." He waved me into a room full of actors and crew and directors of different things. It was like I was in Hollywood. But I wasn't. I was in Utah.
"Let's begin, shall we? I'd like to start by giving a round of applause for the lovely Avia Butler for stepping up and gracefully filling in the role of Diane, that takes a lot of courage to bounce back and strive to act after many trials." Ryan said, as he led the room in a clapping burst. "Secondly, let's get to know who we are working with. We have some big time actors here, we have some small actors, but you av will be spending the next few months with each other, so let's find out a little about each other. Avia, start us off." Ryan said with much enthusiasm.
"Oh... Well... I am Avia, I'm 19. I have been singing and acting all my life. I love musical theater."
"No way! You're Princesstard!" One of the crew said.
"Yeah." I laughed. "My dad was a Youtuber for ten years, now he's just the cofounder of Trixin. We quit vlogging a few years back."
"That's awesome! My kids watched your vlogs every day!" The crew member said. "Big fan! Tell your family my family loves you!"
"Thanks, I'll tell 'em!" I smiled.
"Alright, great. So, um, Avia is Diane, and... Let's see... Is Ethan not here?" Ryan scanned the room.
"Who?" I asked.
"Ethan. Plays Jed Turner. He's our other lead. Not impressing me so far. Let me tell you now, if you guys are late to set too much, I won't hesitate to let you go. I'll cut him some slack today, but it's not a good first impression." Ryan seemed frustrated. "Let's go over some set rules while we're waiting. First of all, I want you to talk to Josh over there after this meeting to discuss contracts. We start filming next month, until then I expect your lines to be memorized, I want you guys to come acquainted with each other. My casts have always been like family to each other. Ok?" He wrote down notes on his clipboard. "Alright, let me tell you about myself. I'm Ryan Farley, I've been a director for seven years. This will be my first movie that will be in theaters, and I'm pretty proud, I've wanted to have a big movie produced since I was six. So that's my job for you. I'm 29, I'm married and have two children. My daughter, Kennedy, is 3; and my little guy, Wilder, is one and a half. My wife, Chelsea, will come on set as much as she can, she loves to get involved with the cast. So that's enough about me. That's about all we needed to discuss, other than individual contracts. I guess we'll meet Ethan-"
"Hey, sorry I'm late." A tall, handsome guy walked in. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, he was hot, to say the least.
"You must be Ethan." One of the cast members said.
"Yeah, what's with the attitude?" Ethan said in a rude tone.
"Ethan, glad you could join us. You and I will chat about what we discussed, but go ahead and introduce yourself now." Ryan sounded annoyed, with good reason to be.
"I feel like a six year old, why the hell should I have to introduce myself? This is a movie, not a friendship circle." He plopped down and crossed his arms.
Everyone rolled their eyes, realizing how mug of a jerk he is.
"Ok... Well... You and I will talk after. Everyone go ahead and see Josh over there to discuss contracts." Ryan sighed, most likely regretting hiring whoever chose Ethan as the lead role.
"Hey, you're a pretty girl, whatcha doing in this dump?" Ethan stroked my hair.
I slapped his hand away. "You mean the dump that you are also in?" I fired back at him.
"Ooh, a little sass, huh? I like that in a woman." He rocked on his toes.
"Shut up! I have a boyfriend, and even if I didn't, I would never go out with a jerk like you!" I insulted him.
"We'll see, babe." He winked and strutted off.
"No we won't!" I shouted. I already hated him. I remembered what Ryan said about his cast being like a family. Last time I checked, family members don't hit on each other.