i hate you

05

days had passed, and part of me wanted to end the whole "ninnie" thing. everyone was shipping us, and i was getting tired of it.  all of the couple names, and that girl, miranda, on set giving me dirty looks. she is 100% percent attracted to him. my mom called me one morning when she was at work with a very concerned tone in her voice.

"nai, are you okay?" she asked me.

"yes...why?" i responded with one eyebrow raised in confusion. she took a deep breath.

"because people are messaging me through facebook and congratulating you on your relationship...with vinnie. are you sure everything's alright?" she asked. i was next to take a deep breath. my mom and i were close, so i guess i could tell her this...right?

"well, we aren't actually dating, its just for show." i explained. "what?" she said, confusion growing inside her. "well, one girl that was casted for secrets with vinnie and i, had her eye on vinnie. she still does and is super jealous of me...and i didn't know what to do...because i got jealous of her. she's not vinnie's type or anything; i think. but i had to snag him before she could. and he agreed. he said it could be good practice for the show since he's my love interest. we have to fake everything mom, and yeah, the lies get tiring, but i'm really trying to tell as little people as i can about it so the word doesn't get out. of course, vani knows, and reggie, and maria, but no one else, really. please, keep my secret." i rambled.

"nai, what you're doing is irrational, especially if you hate him as much as you say you do. so if you really are starting to develop feelings for him, or if you already have, then tell him. he needs to know so he can set the record straight." my mom replies. "in all honesty, i would've never thought you two would get together. that's why i thought something was wrong." she continues.

"i agree. i'll let him know." i say. "so you like him?" my mom says with a happy tone. "mom! no! well, i mean, i dunno...maybe?" i say before ending the conversation and hanging up. i really had some thinking to do. 

***

later, i had to get ready to go on set. i put on sweatpants and a cropped tank top that was light pink. i got in my car and started to drive to downtown houston. i had my bags packed for the hotel. avani and my mom were gonna meet me there tomorrow and stay with me because i didn't want to be alone with a bunch of random teenagers. the creators were paying for everyone's penthouses, and four people shared one, depending on their roles in the show. stars and co-stars shared one. so that meant me, vinnie, miranda, and a guy named simon, all shared a penthouse. we were shooting all scenes in texas first, then going to new york city to shoot a couple, florida for a lot of it, but the majority was in texas. 

we had to be on set by 4 p.m, because we were going over ground rules and policies today, and tomorrow at 6 a.m was when we would actually start running lines and shooting some scenes. they said they wanted vinnie and i to start practicing the kissing scenes and stuff like that to perfect it. they wanted it to be perfect on the first try, because we were starting with that tomorrow. when i heard this news, i freaked out.

*last night after the news was shared*

 my phone rang. "hello?" i said into it. "hey nai, it's amanda. we wanted to let you know that you and vinnie need to perfect your kissing scene because we're staring with that on monday. we want to get it down in one try, three at max. it takes out of your paycheck, by the way. kay, love ya. bye!" she said quicky. she hung up and i was left there, shocked and freaked out. what do i do? call vinnie? i decided to wait for vinnie to call me, but he never did. i haven't really talked to him since our date. i hope it stays that way.

*end*

when i finally got to the address of the penthouse, i unloaded my suitcase and purse. i got out of my car and locked it as i went inside the building. 

"hi, i'm nailea, under the name of tyler or amanda," i said to the receptionist. she looked at me through her thick glasses. "okay. who all is in your room? what's the purpose of your stay?" she asked. i just assumed these were security questions. "um, vinnie or vincent, miranda, and simon. and for the second question, i'm in a reality tv show being shot here." i said. "hm." she responded. she handed me a key. "top floor. number 426." she said.

i turned around and got into an elevator. it was already 3:50, and i only had ten minutes to get to set, which was five minutes away. i had to go fast. a man came from around the corner. "ma'am i can take those bags for you. what's your room number?" he asked me, grabbing my bags. "oh, thank you so much. i have to get going. my room is number 426, top floor. thank you again!" i said as i walked back to my car.

i went through the groupchat with the entire cast and crew of secrets, and looked for the address of the place we're shooting at for the table reading. (a table reading is where the entire cast goes on set with the directors, producers and creators of a show and read the script, ask questions, and go over rules if you don't know)

once i found the address, i put it into google maps and started to drive there.