For Fake and For Real

1. It's No Big Deal

Lucy Chen arrived 10 minutes early to her chemistry test partly because she's a professional, and partly because she was curious who might be cast as her love interest...that's IF she booked the role. It was PERFECT for her. A sci-fi space book series she read as a teen was becoming a movie, and she had the chance to play her favorite character- Nova Lin. She wondered who might be playing Ricky Boone, Nova Lin's love interest, because if for no other reason, that character was her first crush, and she hoped the actor would do him justice.

She sat down in a waiting area tapping her foot and rereading the scene in front of her. This was a chemistry test, which meant she would be acting out a scene with a partner, and they would be evaluated together if the actors' chemistry was what they were looking for.

"Come on in," a woman called, peeking out of the doorway of a little room.

Lucy walked in and saw the long table where 5 people sat, a camera setup on a tripod, and two "x" marks made out of tape where she assumed she would be standing with her potential costar.

"Take the green mark," one of the men at the table directed, and Lucy complied, looking around for her scene partner.

"Sorry, I'm late," a man barged in.

"Take the blue mark," a woman said, sounding unamused.

The late man complied and took his spot, and then he looked at Lucy with a furrowed brow.

"Alright, action," another woman said.

Lucy was prepared, of course, so she recited her lines easily. What she didn't expect was the man to completely change the second someone shouted "action"- his face softened, his eyes brightened, and he flashed a million watt smile. One look in those beautiful blue eyes of his, and she felt comfortable carrying through the scene. It was kind of perfect.

"And cut!" The woman's voice rang again, and it was like a switch flipped and the man in front of her was now scowling.

"Great j-" Lucy started, but he already shouldered past her and started to walk away. Unsure why he seemed so rude, she moved as quickly as her short legs would take her to catch up with him. "Hey, wait."

He spun around, still scowling, and raised an eyebrow at her.

"I think we did great back there. We might have a shot at this."

"No, I have a shot at this, but you don't," he insisted shortly and walked out of the building.

She followed him into the parking lot. "Excuse me? I crushed that!"

"You were too smiley. Nova is supposed to be more serious. Did you even read the character description?"

"Of course I did, and I've read the books."

"Good for you," he sounded dismissive and took his motorcycle helmet off of where it was hanging on the handlebar of his black Ducati.

"You don't have to be so rude. You don't even know me."

"I know exactly who you are, Lucy Chen. You're from that dumb show about vampires."

"It's called 'Pretty Little Vampires', and it's not stupid."

"Whatever. You're not a real actor."

"And how exactly would you know?" She crossed her arms and looked in his eyes. How did she not notice before- she was standing in front of Tim Bradford. THE Tim Bradford. The bad boy action star who was always in a movie as long as she could remember. She had seen quite a few of his projects. Her favorites were the "Impossible Operation" series where rumor has it that he did his own stunts.