ᴏᴀᴋʟᴇʏ ᴄᴀʀʀɪʟʟᴏ was discovered at fourteen years old, being praised as a musical prodigy by the media ever since. His fame had only increased until now. At nineteen old, he's the most remarkable musician of his age, and he's only getting started. At...
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ɴᴏʟᴀɴ ᴍᴜʟʟᴇɴ
Oakley and I were spending more time together than I thought we would. He actually asked me to hang out every free spot he could find in our schedules, and despite being tired after having a shit tonne of photo sessions, interviews, and meetings, I had this terrible habit where I couldn't say no to people I considered friendly. Because why would I say no to someone simply trying to be kind to me?
Today was one of those perfect examples. I had my chemistry read, and it went fine. In fact, both the director and casting director seemed content with our performance, and the intimacy coordinator said we'd be easy to work with. And I was pretty happy with Maria too, as she conveyed a lot of dedication, yet kept it professional.
"Hey, you're friends with Kylan, right?" Maria asked as we were both walking towards our cars in the parking lot. I stopped dead in my tracks, and she turned around, apparently not noticing how I'd completely stiffened up at her question. Instead, she just stood there, waiting for me to give her an answer.
"Not exactly friends," I told her. "But we know each other." I slowly continued walking, and once I caught up to her, she did too.
"Well, he asked me to ask you out for a little cast bonding dinner."
And this was where I should've said no. But Maria had been friendly, which meant 'no' wasn't in my vocabulary.
"Sure," I said instead with a tight-lipped smile. I knew I was going to regret this later. "When is it?"
"Tuesday at seven. You know that fancy restaurant oddly close to that cemetery?"
"The Diamond Palate?"
"I'm pretty sure, yeah. You think you'll make it?" She stopped at a dark blue, somewhat basic Toyota, which I assumed was hers as she pulled her keys out of her purse.
"Of course," I told her, regretting it immediately. But I needed to at least stay consistent. "You'll be there too?"
She nodded and smiled. "Yeah. I'll be there."
And the day came way too soon. Because before I knew it, it was Tuesday, and by some miracle, my mom hadn't scheduled anything else in for me at seven. I didn't have a reason not to go.
"But if you don't want to go, why are you there?" Ava asked me. I had called her in a panic, still sitting in the parking lot five minutes early. I didn't know who else was in the cast, but I'd assumed some of the people waving at me from their cars were some of them.
"Because I couldn't say no," I told her. And it would be weird. Kylan and I were supposedly friends. We weren't, but for whatever twisted reason of his, he decided to tell Maria we were. I hadn't even known he was cast before she told me.
