Becoming Ready

Chapter 28 - The Outlaws

Soon the holidays arrived, and Christmas was everywhere. Charlie had gotten through her first semester of college, and she honestly felt like she crushed it. Taping her final scene in Film Acting 101 was a piece of cake after having shot a short film. She had always been a good writer, so her final paper for Film History 101 was definitely top marks material, as was her scene for Screenwriting. Her commercial for Commercial Acting 101 was ridiculous, but then again, so was everyone else's.

               The last day before break, Charlie passed Cassius on her way to drop off her paper. She gave him a smile as usual and kept walking.

"Hey, congratulations on that short film you made, Charlie," he called to her.

"Thanks, you heard about that?" she asked, turning to face him.

He nodded. "Yeah, everyone has. I hear it's going to be really good."

"Thanks," she said again. "We'll see."

"Merry Christmas, Charlie," he told her.

"Merry Christmas, Cassius."

               Last year, if you had told Charlie that she was going to be able to make casual conversation with Cassius in the hallway at college, she wouldn't have believed it. But life was full of surprises.

               The two-week holiday break flew by. Taylor came home from UW, which was awesome. Charlie spent the weeks mostly with her and Shawn, but also, she spent time with her family. They had the best Christmas she could remember in a long time. Maybe everything they had gone through that year together, being forced to give up so many things, made them closer. Or maybe she had begun to see them in a new light, now that she realized she was so much more like them than she thought. She had always felt like the outsider between the four of them, but not so much anymore.

               Charlie enjoyed telling her parents all about The Outlaws. How much work she put into it, but also how much fun she had making it. She even told them the story of how she auditioned, and they got a good laugh out of Professor Roth's reaction to her crappy polaroid headshot.

               She also told her sister everything about the drama with River and Kaley. Courtney already knew River from AA, so she wasn't surprised to hear about his antics. She was glad that Charlie and Shawn hadn't let it come between them.

               After the New Year, Charlie was looking forward to getting back to school. She had been working over the break, as well as going to more meetings. She had even found a sponsor to start the steps with. But getting back to being creative really excited her.

               She wasn't even back for a full day yet when she received an email from Professor Roth asking her to meet him at his office again. Just like when he told her she got the role of Sarah, the email didn't have much information. Just a time, 3:30 PM.

               When she got there, she could tell his office was packed. She walked inside and joined the other students in the room. It was almost everyone from the cast and crew of The Outlaws.

"Is everyone here?" Professor Roth asked, although there was no way to really tell.

"Yeah!" someone shouted, eager for him to get on with it.

"Okay, we might as well start," he exhaled, then took a deep breath. "I'm pleased to tell all of you that The Outlaws has been accepted into the very prestigious, very renowned Creedwater Film Festival!" he announced.

               The whole room erupted into applause. Charlie stood there, absolutely shocked. She had expected Roth to submit the film to local festivals, and maybe some bigger ones, but Creedwater was one of the most famous festivals in the country. Distributors from all the big studios attended it, specifically to buy the films that were screened there. Those films almost always ended up going to theaters and streaming services. They were also known for picking up short films and expanding them into feature length movies.

"Where are my Sarah and John?" Professor Roth asked, cheering along with the group.

               Charlie nudged her way out of the crowd and walked over to Roth's desk. People patted her on the back and congratulated her. She was still dazed but it made her smile. She looked up and saw River emerging from the crowd on the other side of the room.

               The last time she saw him, she slapped him. So things were awkward, to say the least.

"Creedwater has invited the three of us to the festival for the screening!" Professor Roth told them excitedly. "They want us to do interviews, the red carpet, the whole thing."

"Great," Charlie and River said simultaneously, but their tones told a different story.

***What do you think Charlie's gonna do? Is she gonna go to the festival, or stay in Bridgeport with Shawn?