Spotlight

04

04

Tristan had no idea how to get back to my house, so I made him take the long way so that we could talk.

Thankfully, without asking, he pulled into the In-n-Out drive thru, as we sat behind numerous cars.

After moments of silence he groaned, pulling down his window as we could see that we were slowly approaching the speaker box ready to order.

"Just whatever you're getting," I said.

He looked at me, his eyes intensely staring into me. His eyes were so attentive; I couldn't look away.

"Just a cheeseburger then, not a meal – I won't eat all of it."

He slowly put his foot off the break, and we rolled forward to the order box, where a young girls voice spoke to us.

"Welcome to In-n-Out, how can I take your order?"

"Hey uh, can I just have a ... cheeseburger meal," he smirked, looking at me, "with a vanilla shake. And then the same again, but with a small coke for the second one."

She repeated the order as Tristan removed his wallet from his jean pocket, before driving forward to the next window.

The girl stopped when she saw us pull up, and her face turned a light shade of pink, as she proceeded to take someone's order through the headset. I smiled, realizing she must have been a fan of Tristan's. He paid quickly and before I knew it, our food was ready at the next window. He collected the bag and sat it in the compartment between the two of us, and slid the drinks in the drink holder.

I reached for the bag, when he slapped my hand away.

"What?" I cried.

"Just hold on," he said as he turned back onto the street and we drove for a few minutes until we reached Walmart.

"What are we doing..."

"Shut up Mae," he laughed, "You really do question everything!"

We drove to the very end of the carpark where the light from the sign did not shine, and he put his car into park and grabbed the bag with his right hand, opening the car door with his left hand. I sat in the darkness of his car for a moment, and then followed him outside.

"What are you doing?" I asked, seeing him climb onto the roof of his car and place down the bag. He pulled a straw out of the bag and slid it into his drink, taking one quick sip.

"Are you just going to stand there watching me, or are you going to come up?" he dangled the bag to me, and I climbed up on the bonnet, and sat with my legs over the windshield, my feet resting on the bonnet. He was facing the opposite way, with our shoulders touching.

In the silence, he took a mouthful of his drink and put it back down onto the roof of the car.

We had both finished eating moments ago, so now it was time to talk.

"Why are you here?" I asked, cutting straight to the chase.

He swiveled around so that we were facing the same direction and looked down at his hands. When he fumbled with his hands like he was doing now, I knew something was wrong – or that he had something to tell me.

"It's been a long year as you can tell."

"Obviously," I groaned.

"So a couple of days ago, before I came here actually, there was a missed call on my phone that went to my voicemail."

"How is this relevant?" I interrupted.

"Just be quiet."

I closed my mouth.

"So this company called me and my manager and they were desperate about this television series that they'd come up with, and they thought that they struck gold with the idea. Then what they said was interesting, because they wanted you to audition. They asked me to get my girlfriend to audition, but problem was – you weren't – I mean, aren't my girlfriend."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Basically, I don't know what you have planned for the next three or four years of your life, but this series is exactly the kind of thing that can get you noticed in the industry."

"I don't want to be an actress. I've never acted one day in my life."

"But you have, Mae. Every day we were together you acted like nothing was happening to everyone, you acted day after day."

"So you came all this way to tell me that you want me to go back to Hollywood to have my own t.v. show?"

"Yes... well no. I also wanted to see you."

"What's the show supposed to be about?"

"It's your typical like high school drama, but the main character falls in love with a celebrity."

I looked at him shocked.

"So basically it's a T.V show about my life?"

"Yeah," he laughed, "you can guess where the idea came from."

"I don't know Tristan; I've never acted before. I don't know anything about the actress life."

"You don't have to."

"A t.v. series is a big commitment."

"You're right it is. But so is everything in life, and you won't ever know until you give it a chance."

"When do they want to meet with me?" I asked, scrunching up the empty bag in my fist.

"Probably as soon as Monday." He shoved a chip into his open mouth.

My heart felt a sudden drop, knowing that Monday was only two days away. I didn't know if I wanted to, or if I knew what the industry was like but something inside of me wanted to try something different.

Then it hit me, I had a summer job at my university that would probably turn into an internship. I couldn't drop everything that simply to stupidly go to Hollywood for job that wasn't even certain. I also started Monday morning.

"I can't do it," I blurted out.

"Why?"

"I start my summer job on Monday at Stanford."

"Stanford is in California Mae, you know that right? Hollywood is probably a good five to six hour drive from Stanford. You can easily do that."

I thought back to my home where all my bags were ready and packed for Monday. I was catching a three p.m. flight on Sunday afternoon and then starting the next morning.

"I don't know Tristan, it's so sudden to put all this on me at once..."

"You know what? I reckon the casting agent can see you tomorrow morning if we catch a flight now."

"Now?" I asked, my heart plummeting into my stomach. I wasn't ready to leave Miami for good, not just yet. I had made so many memories here.

My head was hurting, and I wasn't sure if it was from the alcohol I consumed earlier, or the fact that Tristan had put me on the spot like this. I couldn't think. I jumped off the roof of the car onto the concrete of the carpark and paced back and forth.

He jumped off moments later and grabbed my forearm.

"We can leave now Mae. Just say the word and I can organize a flight."

I looked into his eyes, seeing the blue again, that I saw for so long last summer.

I didn't know what to do, basically picking a life worth of decisions.

In.

One.

Moment.

My heart stopped.

"Okay," I stopped. "Let's go back to Los Angeles."

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I'm sorry this is like a filler chapter but there's just SO MUCH TO COME ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !