"Late again I see, Mr. Hood." Her voice crackled through the air like the wayward crack of a whip, Ms. Burns stood up from her perch in the front row of the auditorium.
I ended up back where I started. Except I didn't have the sarcastic confidence from before, my acting skills had dried up quicker than desert when I returned. I became one of the stage crew pretty quickly, I didn't mind being in the shadows as much anymore.
I wanted to roll my eyes at the hag, "I've been here the entire time."
"Then why do I have you marked absent on the attendance?" She snapped, flaunting the piece of paper in my face as if it had some residual meaning.
"I can vouch for him." A voice spoke up, the person behind it gave the evil witch a smile that could power the sun.
"Of course, of course. Now I remember," she gushed, erasing the fat A that accompanied my name on the list she added a scratchy check mark in its place. "Thanks for the reminder Luke."
Okay, maybe things weren't exactly the same as where I started.
I pretended to gag when Ms. Burns turned away and Luke let out a laugh. "Where would I be without you?"
"Well, judging by the trajectory of the moon and the sun..." Luke began, putting on a small act as he thought. He stroked his fake beard before replying detention.
I shook my head with a laugh, shoving him lightly and causing him to trip over his baby deer legs and end up thrown into one of the auditorium seats upside down.
My mom had told me if I wasn't doing acting full time then I had to go back to school, I have no idea why Luke enrolled too but I didn't mind the company.
The bell sounded and I helped Luke stand up, it was a difficult task and he nearly kicked me in the head at one point but he promised to pay for lunch today so I wasn't about to leave him behind.
Things were going pretty well, Luke had all but moved into my house at this point but everyone seemed to adore the dorky blond. He was a surprisingly good friend when it came down to what happened and after the near brawl him and Michael had it wasn't that much of a shock that he pretty much left the movie business.
Either than a few odd acting jobs that I only accepted because Ashton had sent me the scripts, I was pretty much out too. Fame wasn't all it was cracked up to be, behind the curtain of popularity there was a world of aggression and bad choices that I didn't want to be a part of.
Michael, on the other hand, tended to live up to his bad boy rep. When I finally had the nerve to confront the guy about the way he was acting he cracked a smirk that he flashed the ladies often and added a quick Welcome to Hollywood kid before finally getting into a limo.
I knew that not all actors were that bad but Michael kind of put me off high class social events. He didn't seem to mind losing Luke as a best friend either, after two weeks of being his best friend I couldn't see why, I'd miss Luke if he even left for a weekend. Apparently Michael took a lot of things for granted, Luke and I were just two of the many.
My sister had dumped him a couple days ago but Michael didn't mind, he had a line up of boys and girls to pick from, he was truly an asshole movie star that took advantage of his fame any chance he got.
I didn't want to end up like that, Luke actually promised to punch me in the face of it happened, I didn't attend movie premieres or red carpets. I got Luke to accept my Leo for me because I just really didn't want to go. That's kind of where he tried to pick a fight with Michael for the third time but didn't get to throw a punch before security was breaking them up.
Maybe I felt a little bad for Michael, even though I wouldn't talk to him if he showed up at my door, he looked pretty miserable all the time and had bags under his eyes that were so prominent that even makeup had a hard time covering it up.
Luke didn't feel sorry, he was pretty unforgiving whenever Michael was brought up. Luke never felt sorry.
In my opinion, love was stupid anyway. Maybe sometime in the future, Michael and I will meet up again and be friends. Or as Luke liked to say, Michael will lean in for a kiss and Luke will fly in out of nowhere and karate chop him in the balls and then him and I will get ice cream.
Whatever the future brings, it's up there. In the stars, some foreign language that everyone's long forgotten. I'll just have to follow the signs.
And the signs say--along with an agreed rumble of my stomach--that I need lunch.
A lot of stuff happened between Michael and I since then but all of it had blown over finally.
"Calum Hood to the office please, Calum Hood to the office."
"Is your mum picking us up early?" Luke asked, already detouring to the office, I gave a shrug in reply because she hadn't said anything this morning.
The walk to the office was short and I didn't exactly have to walk in to know why I'd been called down to the office.
Leaning against the secretary's desk with a pair of aviators high on his nose that reflected mine and Luke's reflection stood a very bored looking Ashton.
A grin quickly appeared on his lips when he saw us arrive. He pulled Luke into a hug first and then threw an arm around me, already directing us toward the front door.
"Sorry to show up on such short notice but Haley asked for you specifically and you really can't say no to her." Ashton greeted, not one to beat around the bush.
"Nice to see you too," I mutter sarcastically, although not all that surprised that he showed up personally.
Haley was a big time director, missing an opportunity like this would be like trying to disarm a bomb with a grenade and a half eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich, you might as well enjoy your last meal. Saying no to Haley didn't actually result in death, maybe the death of your career but otherwise unscathed.
I'd met Haley a few times, she happened to be great friends with Luke and he gave her the amiable nickname Cactus. As it turned out, Luke really liked small potted plants.
"Did you send the script?" I asked, trying to remember whether or not something came in the mail.
"I did, two weeks ago. I was trying to give you time to read it over but it became clear that you hadn't gotten it a few days ago. So here I am." I guess you could say Ashton was a middle man of sorts, he had connections with all kinds of producers and directors.
He pulled a folder out of his jacket like he was straight out of a spy movie and handed it to me with such fluidity that I almost began doubting my own skills as an actor.
The layout was simple, the cover revealed that the movie was called Clockwork. The first few lines revealed that it was more or less a romance from the Renaissance, it seemed pretty straightforward, something you'd expect from a heterosexual couple. Girl loves boy, boy shows interest in girl, girl finds out she likes another boy too, girl has to choose.
"What do you think?" Ashton asked as soon as I closed the folder and tucked it under an arm.
"Renaissance is the powdered wig era, right?" I ask with a frown, did they really think it would go over well with my skin tone? I know people back then didn't shower much but giant white wigs were a tad bit ridiculous.
"Ah," Ashton muttered, tapping his fingers against his thigh as he thought it over.
"Yes, but--" he shouted the last word to interrupt my refusal. "--it's a modern take, the fact of the matter is that today doesn't have massive balls where people dress up in puffy dresses and frilly tuxedos. Girls crave this kind of romance, dude, just go with it. I promise Haley already said there wouldn't be any powdered wigs."
"Fuck, fine." I caved, maybe the script would get more interesting further in.
Things got way more interesting.