Behind the Scenes

Chapter 2

Rosa

The cafeteria at Performance Collaborative Academy is dim and moody. It would be almost intimate if it weren't for the fact that I am clearly the only fat girl in this whole school, and I know virtually no one. It's my fourth day here, and so far the only people I've met are Caleb's classmates, and that was yesterday. I haven't seen any of them today.

I'm sitting at a table off in a corner, reading some Sherlock Holmes when two trays scrape across from mine. I glance up to see a familiar face. Kate Farmer. Her blonde hair is curlier than I remember it, but she's still adorable and almost perfect. I've met her in passing over the summers I've spent here. She's with another girl I don't recognize at all, but she feels almost as familiar as Caleb. Kate Farmer's hanging out with a fellow fat girl.

"Hey, Rosa!" Kate smiles at me and slides into a chair. Her friend follows suit. "Caleb told me you'd be here this year. I'm so excited!" She straightens her tray and nods toward the other girl. "This is my friend, Sarah. She's music track, too."

"Hi, Sarah. I'm Rosa." I smile and she smiles back. "I'm art track. I'm also invisible to everyone but you two, which is kind of incredible."

They both laugh.

"Yeah, I remember that feeling." Sarah says. She's broad and muscular, built chunky, not just fat fat. Her oval face is striking— fair skin, gray eyes, black framed glasses and black hair. I like her. "It gets better. At least you know Caleb, right? I mean, if you're gonna know anyone here, Caleb Valdez would probably be my top pick."

"He's my cousin. So while I understand your meaning, it's a little different for me." I laugh. As if on cue, Caleb walks into the cafeteria. I know what Sarah's talking about, because my cousin is the best looking guy at this school. Not only that, he's a genuinely nice guy who knows what he wants in life and he can speak Spanish fluently. But to me? He's just Caleb— my best cousin and my best friend.

He swaggers over to our table and sits next to me, draping an arm behind me and tipping his chair back a little.

"I've got your script." He says. "Hey, Kate. Hey, Sarah." He sits up right and fishes through his bag, pulling out a Manila folder. "Victor wrote it."

"Overnight?" I can't imagine writing a short film script in less than twenty-four hours.

He nods, "That's sort of who he is as a person."

I take the folder from him and leaf through the pages. I grab a highlighter from my bag and start marking my lines.

"Ryan talked to you?" He asks. I nod, assuming he's talking about the backup plan.

"Yeah. We're meeting up this afternoon. Having the script this soon is super helpful."

"You're doing a film together?" Sarah pipes up.

"With Ryan Sellers?" Kate asks.

"Yeah. It's for Contemporary Filmmaking. Victor Sobol and Matthew Avery are on the team, too." Caleb answers. "Rosa's our guest appearance."

"That's such a cool class." Sarah says dreamily.

"Matthew Avery, huh?" Kate sounds unimpressed, and Caleb smiles.

"Hence the backup plan." He says.

"I mean," Kate looks at me now, "Matt Avery is incredibly cute, but he knows it. I'd rather have Ryan."

"Geez. Settle down." I laugh, "I'm acting. It's a movie."

"I agree with Kate." Caleb says. This elicits giggles from both of the other girls, but Caleb's still looking at me like he's trying to communicate something. "What are you guys meeting up for?"