Dedicated to SugarTheReader for the comment last chapter. As weird as this may sound, it really made me smile, so thank you!
Picture of Call Me Cupid cast on the side --->
--
(Unedited)
And I can picture it after all these days.
And I know it's long gone,
And that magic's not here no more,
And I might be okay,
But I'm not fine at all.
~All Too Well- Taylor Swift
I wasn't been quite sure what I expected for cast photos, but a huge room bustling with people hadn't been it. Then I found out that we weren't only doing cast photos, but promotional and sneak peak pictures as well.
They had given me about three seconds to take in the neon green and pure white backgrounds before a group of stylists and makeup artists descended upon me.
I wasn't sure how I felt about strangers poking at my face with sharp objects, even if they were professionals. Then again, it's not like I really had a choice. They shoved me into a changing room with a simple shirt and jeans outfit to put on, curled my hair, then shoved me back outside. All in the spam of ten minutes.
Freaky.
"So, how do we do this?" I asked awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot. I hadn't directed the question towards anyone, but I was hoping that with the amount of people setting up, someone would answer.
And someone did. He just wasn't one of the assistants. "Well. They stand you in front of a camera and make you grin until your face falls off. Then they put us in awkward positions," he said, appearing out of nowhere.
I jerked back, almost knocking into him. "You scared me," I remarked, forcing a light tone. It's been three years. I can be mature about this and deal with it.
"Sorry, wasn't my intent, Sunshine." Now I could say my heart skipped a beat at the familiar nickname, but it didn't. Well, I'll assume it didn't, since I didn't collapse on the ground. It did do something funny though. A sort of clenching, that shouldn't have happened. He shouldn't have been able to get a reaction like that after three years with just a single word. I hadn't noticed I had let the conversation drop until he clapped his hands on my shoulder. "Boo," he whisper-yelled in my ear, drawing a quiet cry from me.
"What was that for?" I asked, blushing slightly when a couple people turned to stare at us.
"You're easy to scare," he remarked, not really answering the question.
I groaned and elbowed him, or at least, I tried to. "Why does it feel like my elbow just hit a wall?" I demanded, whipping around to stare at him wide-eyed.
He laughed. "Hollywood requires abs of steel. I thought you knew that, Sunshine." Again, the nickname threw me off guard. He was so casual about everything. It was almost like it had been before. Way before. Before the first time, back when we were actually friends. I wasn't completely sure if he was doing the same as me, forcing a light tone, but it didn't seem like it. How could he be so fine with everything? It was like none of the... Messy stuff had happened.
Or maybe he's just moved on...
"Raine, Kaden, please save the flirting for later. We want to get this done as soon as possible," Rory Thompson instructed, making me jerk away from Kaden and turn bright red. Attractive, I know. Kaden simply laughed, seeming unaffected by her comment.
"Come on," he said, grabbing my wrist and dragging me towards the white background. Not familiar at all, Raine, not familiar. My attempts at convincing myself failed. Luckily, before I did or said something stupid, we arrived in front of Kallie and he let go.
Cast photos weren't too hard. It was mostly just smiling or laughing as they positioned you under the best light. It tools a while, though, since there were so many people that needed to be photographed.
The website would only be showing the main characters, but they (I wasn't completely sure who 'they' was, but I'll assume Summer Productions or something) didn't want to have to go through this process more than once.
In the hour or so that it took to do the cast photos, I got to meet most of the cast and their roles. There were about six main characters, which were the ones they would release on the website.
Me, as Alyssa.
Kaden, as Colton.
Nadia Clint, as Keera, my best friend.
James Tyler, as Hayden, Colton's best friend and Keera's boyfriend.
Xavier Scott, as Pierce, the evil, cheating ex-boyfriend.
And lastly, Sahra Hernandez, as Ashlie, the evil client that the evil ex cheats with.
"Alright, I'll take this to the office and we should be able to have the photos ready for tomorrow," Rory Thompson said, once finished. She took the camera's memory card out and tucking it into her bag. She waved a quick goodbye before disappearing out the door.
"So are we done, then?" I asked.
Kallie grinned. "Nope, not even close. We still have the sneak peak photos, remember?" Right. Well, this should be interesting. I thought, watching as two guys brought in a ladder with paint on top. You know, the ones that are apparently bad luck to walk under?
"Alright, so, for this picture, Alyssa just saw her boyfriend cheating on her and she's running away. Colton saw everything and chased after her before pulling her under a ladder with paint so she couldn't run again without possibly getting covered in paint," Brett explained as he inserted a new memory card into the camera. Someone came over with a clear bottle of water and squeezed a couple of drops of the cool liquid into my eyes so it looked like I was crying.
"That won't actually fall on us if we accidentally hit the ladder, right?" I asked, pointing up at the bucket of paint, after they moved Kaden and me so we were standing under the ladder. Bad luck, gasp!
"As long as no one rams into it too hard, you should be fine," one of the assistants told us.
"Okay, Kaden grab her wrist, Raine, hand on his chest like you're pushing him away. Lean in a bit. Look intense..." Brett instructed.
Well, this is slightly awkward.
I was desperately trying to keep that thought from showing on my face, since I was supposed to look sad. It was awkward though. We had a total of maybe a meter, not even, under the ladder. Our faces were almost touching. I could count how many eyelashes Kaden had since we were so close.
And I was like... Baby, baby, baby oooh. Like baby, baby, baby nooo. Like baby, baby, baby oooh. I thought you'd always be mine.
Kaden screamed and dramatically fell over, narrowly missing the part of the ladder that stood behind him. "Turn it off, turn it off, my ears are bleeding!"
Kallie snorted form across the room. "You should be so glad you're not in public right now. And isn't that your phone? It's coming from your direction."
"I'm gonna kill Clark," he muttered, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his phone. Which was silent. "Raine!" he exclaimed sitting up and glaring at me accusingly.
"No, it's not me. My ringtone's password protected..." I trailed off when I pulled out my phone and found that the song was actually blasting from it. "Dammit, they figured it out."
"Whoa, Raine swears now!" Brett whisper-yelled. "Wait, Raine, curse."
"What?"
"Curse. Say 'shit'."
"No."
"Hell?"
"Seriously, Brett?"
"Crap?"
"No! I'm not cursing on demand."
"Sex?"
"That's not even a swear word!"
"Which means you can say it."
"No, because it's awkward."
Kallie laughed. "If you think saying it is awkward..."
"What?" Both Kaden and I whipped around to stare at her.
"Yeah, there might be a sex scene. Maybe," she told us with a grin. Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god. There might be a sex scene? Okay, breathe, Raine. Maybe it's with other characters. As in, not between you and Kaden.
"Now, can someone please dispose of those dreaded cellular devices?" she demanded dramatically before I could reply. I had no time to react before my phone was snatched from my hands. The same was done to Kaden.
"Kallie!" I protested, deciding to leave out mentioning the potential sex scene, because, well, that would be a bit awkward. Especially since we're in a room full of strangers who have no idea what happened.
"Don't worry, you'll get it back. It's just distracting. Now we have to set the mood again. It was great, all love-y and sexual tension."
"Well," I stuttered awkwardly. Oh my god, love-y? And sexual tension? "You know, I don't get how the mood is romantic when the background's neon green."
"We're editing the set in late. We'd be doing pictures there, but it's not quite ready."
"Wait, if this isn't the background, why are there giant red hearts plastered all over the green?"
"Oh, those are just to make things awkward." I stared at her wide-eyed. "Now, let's continue," she instructed in a tone that left no room for arguing.
Kaden and I turned back to look at each other, though it wasn't really the same. Kaden was still grimacing and I as desperately trying not to laugh at his expression.
"Come on guys, we're going for intense here. Kaden you look like you just watched someone run over Raine. Multiple times. In an eighteen wheeler. And can we get some more tears on Raine, please?" Brett yelled from behind the camera. Immediately someone came over and squeezed a couple more drops of cold liquid into my eye.
This time, when we faced each other, it was a bit easier. Kaden looked less depressed which made it easier for me to be serious.
"Okay, lean in-" Brett started. He was cut off by my oh-so-lovely ring-tone.
And I was like... Baby, baby, baby oooh. Like baby, baby, baby nooo. Like baby, baby, baby oooh. I thought you'd always be mine. Luda! When I was 13, I had my first love-
Kaden pulled away, his face twisting into a grimace. "Justin Bieber is such a mood ruiner."
***
"Okay, everyone take five!" Brett yelled, an hour later.
I pulled away from Kaden and handed the giant heart shaped lollipop to one of the waiting assistants. Don't ask, because I even don't know. I think we were onto possible movie poster photos or something. The ideas just kept getting weirder and weirder, though. It had started as an innocent hug-like pose and quickly escalated to video cameras, glitter and lollipops.
One of the assistants handed me my cell phone as I ducked into a room that was set aside for makeup and costumes. After finding an unused mirror, I tried to shake the glitter from my hair. Keyword, tried. It didn't work, there were still flecks of shiny red in my hair. I gave up after half a dozen failed attempts at picking out the tiny pieces and decided to occupy myself by playing around on my phone.
Don't blame me, I didn't really know anyone. Except Kaden, Kallie and Brett. A conversation with any of them would probably be awkward. I checked through my messages and found a new one from Shawn.
Meet me at Starbucks at five? Please? It's kind of important.
I narrowed my eyes at his cryptic message. I had just seen him yesterday, not for long, but still. Had something happened with Devon? I checked the time on my phone. Twenty until five. If I left now, I could probably catch a bus there. But I'd have to leave now and I wasn't sure if I could.
I exited the dressing room and looked around for Kallie. "Hey, I kind of have to meet a friend at five. He said it was important. I have to catch the bus to go there and I think is leaves soon. Are we done here?" I asked once I had found her.
She frowned slightly. "We have one more shot... Oh, I know! Kaden can drive you once we're done. It'll be faster than the bus."
I felt my eyes widen. Me and Kaden? In a car, alone? "Uh, no, that's okay. I can really just take the bus. Maybe we can do the shot later? Besides, I'm sure Kaden will be busy after this."
"I don't think so. Kade!" Kallie yelled, waving him over. "You busy after this?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Don't think so, why?"
"We have one more shot, but Raine needs to catch a bus to meet up with someone. Can you drive her instead of her leaving now to catch the bus?" Kallie asked.
"It's okay, really. If the shot's quick, we can get it done and I still might be able to catch the bus," I protested. Me and Kaden in a car alone after three years would not be a good thing. Even if he has moved on.
"I can drive her," Kaden volunteered, ignoring my comment.
"Great, all worked out then," Kallie said with a grin. I sighed and resisted the urge to bury my face in my hands. It wasn't that I hated Kaden or anything like that; it was just that I was almost certain it would be awkward.
The last pose wasn't hard. Kallie, or Brett, or whoever had organized the photos had turned back more to the simple side. It was basically just me standing slightly in front of him, both our bodies facing the camera, but our heads were turned towards each other. Brett had told us to lock eyes in an 'intense stare down' and have 'challenging smirks' on our faces, so it kind of had a 'game on' mood.
As soon as we finished, I ducked into the change room to change out of the outfit they had put me in and grabbed Kaden the moment he exited his change room. Shawn had said whatever it was was important, so I didn't want to be late. Especially if it had something to do with Devon. Luckily, this time when we exited the theatre, there were no screaming fan girls.
"Where's the limo?" I couldn't help but ask teasingly when we got to his car.
Kaden chuckled. "We can't always go driving around in limos. It'd be weird and conspicuous."
I snorted. "It's New York. Everything's weird and conspicuous."
The car ride wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Kaden didn't try to make small talk, and the radio filled the silence. I was still pretty relieved when we got to Starbucks, though.
"You're seeing him again? Is that why you didn't want me to drive you?" All of a sudden, his tone was cold as ice. My head snapped up and I saw Blake leaning against the side of Starbucks. What? I was supposed to meet Shawn... There was no way this could be a coincidence. And shoot. Kaden was here too, and he thought Blake and I- Why did I even care?
"What? No. I had no-" I started, feeling the strange urge to reassure him there was nothing going on between me and Blake.
"I don't care, Raine. I don't care," he told me coldly.
And for some reason, that hurt a lot more than it should have.
-READ ME-
The JB thing is not meant to offend anyone. It's just a sort of ongoing joke.
I was short on time, but I wanted to get this posted today, so sorry for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I'll check over everything tomorrow.
Vote, if you smiled during the chapter.
Comment, if you think Kaden's acting weirdly.
Fan, if you feel bad for Raine.
Teaser: What does Blake want?
Update: Friday? Latest will be Tuesday.
~JJ :)