Besties

Have You Seen Smallville?

Becoming friends with the 6' 3" baby faced giant was surprisingly easy. True to his word, Tom bought me a cup of coffee on his next break (I had a much more relaxed schedule than him since he had a bigger role than me). While we drank the scalding liquid, we talked a little about what other stuff we'd been in and how we got into acting.

"Have you seen Smallville?" Tom asked me.

"What's that?" I blew on my coffee before taking a tentative sip.

"It's a show about Superman. But he's not exactly Superman in it. I mean, he doesn't have the suit or anything like that. But he's Superman."

"I'm actually more of a Marvel fan to DC," I admitted. "I mean, I've watched a few DC things, but I prefer Marvel to DC."

"Well, I think you should give it a try. They're in the third season right now, and you might like it."

"Smallville?" I repeated the name of the TV show for clarification.

Tom nodded, taking a drink from his own coffee.

"Why are you so determined to make me watch it?"

"I mean, you don't have to," Tom shrugged, "I just thought that maybe, if you wanted something new to watch, that you could possibly, I don't know... give it a try."

"You're in it, aren't you?" I smirked up at him.

"M-me? N-no way. Of course I'm n-" Tom cut himself off when he saw the expression on my face. "Yeah, I play Clark Kent."

"You're Superman," I giggled a little.

"What? Do you not think I look like Superman or something?"

"Oh no, you definitely have the look," I laughed. "That was just the most awkward way to promote your own show I've ever heard."

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," Tom rolled his eyes.

The tips of his ears were bright red from embarrassment and he was suddenly very interested in the cup of coffee in his hands.

"What if I told you I'd think about it?" I asked him, nudging his arm with my shoulder so he'd look back at me.

"Alright," he mumbled, blue eyes finding my hazel ones.

"Awesome. Now that we've got that out of the way, we can move on to less awkward topics of conversation," I smiled.

"Well, what about you? What other stuff have you worked on?" Tom inquired as we resumed our walk back to set.

"Nothing really major. A commercial or two, but that's about it. This is my first big project I've been a part of since moving to LA two years ago."

"Well, congratulations on landing your first major gig," Tom smiled.

"Thanks, but I'm still just an extra. I'll be on screen for, what?, five to ten seconds, maybe? It's not that big a deal."

"But it is a big deal," Tom insisted. "Most people would kill for something as simple as a walk on role in a major film like this. The fact that you're here at all is a testament to your talent. You never know, if the right person watches this movie and happens to notice your five seconds of fame, that could be your ticket to something bigger with a larger part and suddenly you're that much closer to making it big."

I was silent following Tom's mini speech. I had never really thought about it that way. I had moved to LA to pursue acting because the rest of my family was all involved in the arts in some way, shape, or form. It wasn't really something I'd originally wanted to do. My first love was kids. I had wanted to teach preschool, but when I brought that up, there was always an underlying tension in the air that I took to mean my parents wanted me to go into the "family business" instead of pursuing my own passions even though they said they'd support whatever decision I made.

"Thanks, Tom," I said after a few moments of silence.

"You're welcome, Scar," he smiled. "Now, I gotta go get ready for my next scene, but I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay."

For the second time that day, I watched him walk off, and this time I couldn't help but smile to myself as I went to find a quiet place to read my book and drink my coffee. Tom had gotten me to come out of my shell a bit more in the short time we'd spent together and talk more to him than I had to basically anyone else in the little period of time we'd spent on the movie so far. I had just gotten settled in a corner away from anyone and sat down cross legged to start reading again, when someone else approached me.

"Were you seriously hanging out with Tom Welling?" the girl asked me.

"Um... Yeah," I answered, back to my timid self.

"But you're just an extra," the girl continued. "Why would he spend time with you?"

I swallowed hard, feeling very small and insecure again. Honestly, I still didn't quite understand myself why Tom had taken notice in me earlier. I mean, he'd said he thought I could use a friend, but that still didn't exactly explain why he'd noticed and taken an interest in me of all people.

"He told me he wanted to be friends," I shrugged, voice still a bit timid since I didn't know the girl who'd come to confront me about spending time with Tom.

"He wanted to be friends with you?" the girl scoffed. "Why?"

I just shrugged again, opening my book and starting to read while continuing to drink my coffee. The girl hovered a few more minutes before losing interest and hurrying off once more. I couldn't fully concentrate on Harry Potter and his adventures with Ron and Hermione, my mind wandering off to the conversations I'd shared with Tom. As far as I was aware, it was virtually unheard of for some big name on a project to befriend a no name extra. And yet, for some bizarre twist of fate, I had been noticed by Tom Welling, Charlie Baker, and apparently Clark Kent himself. My life would most certainly never be the same again.