"Noelle! We gotta go! The limo's waiting for us!" Claire screamed at me in the middle of our Los Angelos hotel room.
"I'm coming! I'm trying to find my heels!" I said as I walked out of room, to be welcomed by Maya sitting next to Claire, holding my black heels.
"How do we look? I mean we are your dates, we gotta look nice" Maya smiled as she smoothed down her strapless deep plum gown that had a braided bodice. Claire smoothed down her pink watercolored strapless gown as she raised an eyebrow, waiting for my answer.
"Stunning girls! What about me?" I asked as I pulled on my heels, then smoothed out my cranberry glittered, short sleeve, backless gown.
"I'd switch for you Nellie" Maya laughed, but no one else did.
"But what about Sam?" I asked pretending to be shocked and worried.
"You'll be my hoe on the side" She poked at me, causing Claire and I to giggle.
"Let's go girls" I said before we went off the the Nokia theater.
"And the Academy Award goes to...." Lea Michelle said as she opened the envelope as Chris Colfer stood next to her on stage, trying to build suspense.
"Noelle Burke for Right Place Right Time!" Chris Colfer cheered as the Nokia Theater burst into a roaring applause.
I was 24 years old and I had just won my first Oscar. I was an Oscar winner.
"Nellie!" I heard Claire and Maya scream as the hugged me, then letting my go on stage to accept the award.
Once I got on the stage that so many people I've looked up to have gone on before, I couldn't help but get a little emotional.
"Great movie Noelle, I absolutely loved it" Lea Michelle said into my ear as she hugged me.
"Very moving" Christ Colfer smiled, then letting the Oscar girl hand me my award and showing me to the microphone.
"Holy pickles" I said into the microphone, causing the many celebrities to laugh.
"I know I should keep my acceptance speech short because you technical people don't want time to run out. I should know, I've seen every Academy Award's since I was 3" I laughed.
"I was never a normal kid growing up. I was always the kid that stayed home on friday nights during highschool to watch movies and tv instead of going out doing who knows what. I wouldn't just watch the films and shows for entertainment, I would analyze them. I'd start to notice editing mistakes, camera changes, and start thinking 'Why did Steven Spielburg do that and not something else to her hair?'" Steven Speilburg laughed in the audience.
"Tv, but most importantly, movies have always been my escape."
The theater fell silent.
"So I wrote Right Place Right Time in hopes of helping some young boy or girl through something, whether that might be relationship or bullies. But most importantly, it was written to give 'different' kids like me an escape from reality. It was written in a way so that it could be relatable, so Janey howard down the street who is secretly in love with her best guy friend who has a girlfriend, can see that she's not alone in what she's feeling. It was written for those kids on social networking sites that don't get 20+ likes, tweets, and re-blogs. Most importantly, it was written for those sad moments in a teens life when they realize how alone they might be, they don't get messaged on facebook or texted first. For them it gets to the point where they don't want to put in the effort with people who don't put in any effort with them. Its for you kids " I could feel myself tear up.
"Okay, Now to the thank you's" I laughed, bringing the mood back up.
"I wanted to thank my cousin Sadie for showing her husband my first screenplay and making it into a tv-show, all of my english and media teachers throughout school because without you guys I wouldn't be able to find my voice. Thank you to my two closest friends Claire and Maya who are my dates tonight, you girls have stuck by my side for so long and have heard every start to every screenplay I've written. It may sound silly, but without your advice, I don't know if I would be here right now. Thank you to the Burke clan down in New Mexico, you guys......all I can say is that without you I wouldn't have had the confidence to keep on writing" I felt a single tear fall down my cheek as finished the last thank you.
"But there's one person that I owe every single thing to. My mom. She has had Inflammatory Breast Cancer for the past 5 months, and it's spread to her lungs. Mom, you're the strongest person I know. You taught me how to stick up for myself and how to be strong in bad times. You are my hero, role model, and my best friend. See mom? I told you you'd see me win one! This ones for you! Thank you" The theater then burst into no...not applause...but a standing ovation.
My heart filled with glee to see directors, writers, and actors such as Steven Speilburg, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Emma Stone, Brad Pitt, and George Clooney, whos movies I had grown up watching, applaud at me, a 24 year old from a small west coast town who had just one "Best Screenplay"
"Declan? What are you doing here?" I asked in shock. I'd expect anyone but him to be knocking at my parents front door in the dead of the night. It had been a couple of days since the Oscars and I've been home, but 4 months since I saw him for the last time. He had never looked so miserable before. But to be honest, I wasn't either.
"Can we talk?" He looked at me with tired eyes, as I let him in. He sat on the edge of the couch, plucking nervously at the hem of his white t shirt.
"Do you want some tea?" I asked, desperately trying to break the silence. He shook his head, but finally managed to raise his eyes from the dead spot on the wall.
"You were right about Mindy" He muttered. I nodded my head, letting him know that I was aware.
"I guess I just thought.....Mindy could replace Zoe...but she couldn't...no one can, until I met you. When I met you, the feelings I started to develope were the same as the ones I had for Zoe. But through the whole wedding and everything, I forgot about the most important thing...You"
I sat down next to him and offered him my hand, which he accepted gladly. Declan was holding onto it like it was his last hope.
"You're different Noelle. I should have told you that I loved you when you told me that you loved me. I love everything about you. Your freckless on your cheeks, the times we cooked for Charlotte while Mindy was out, your goofy laugh, your love of movies, and the way you treat Charlotte...as if she was yours" He sighed, tracing calming circles on my palms.
I remained silent, allowing him to finish.
"I loved you since you brought Charlotte back from the park, and I knew that you felt the same way. I've been waiting for you my whole life, but I was blind and seeing Mindy hit Charlotte in front of me opened my eyes. It took me too long to figure this out, so I don't expect you to take me back, but...could you at least consider having a new start with me?"
Declan sat there awkwardly, waiting for my answer. After what seemed like an hour, I nodded my head slightly.
"I'd like that very much, Dec" I whispered, squeezing his shaky hand.
