Suddenly Starlet

Suddenly Starlet--Chapter Three

Chapter Three

            Laney scooted the food around on her plate until she had each of the food groups a safe distance apart from the others. She was careful not to let the corn or its juices touch her mashed potatoes and kept her chicken practically on the edge of her plate.

Laney’s obsessive eating habits had started in the third grade when a boy in her class told her that if she mixed certain foods together and then ate them, that baby food would eventually grow inside her stomach. And even after her mom and dad insisted that weird hybrids of broccoli and fish wouldn’t sprout out her ears if she ate them at the same time, Laney hadn’t been able to mix her foods since. Every once in a while she’d get weird looks from people, but nowadays, pretty much everyone close to Laney knew her phobia of cross-eating.

Laney began to eat her pile of corn and glanced over at her brother as he shoveled food into his mouth. She shot him a look of disgust as he opened his mouth to reveal half the contents of his plate.

“Mom, Sam’s showing me his food again,” Laney exclaimed, dropping her fork onto her plate.

“It’s not my fault the freak can’t eat like a normal human being,” her little brother retorted, stirring his food until it became soupy.

“Sam, don’t call your sister a freak. And Laney, I tell you every night not to look at him if it bothers you,” Mrs. Herman said, cutting into her chicken.

“Dad,” Laney implored, turning to him for help.

 Mr. Herman shrugged in defeat, as he glanced at his daughter.

No help there.

Laney rolled her eyes and went back to finishing her dinner.

            “So, how was your day, hon?” her dad said, changing the topic.

            “Fine,” Laney mumbled.

            She could feel her mom’s eyes boring into her forehead and wondered how long she could ignore her stares. After a few seconds, Laney peeked up from under her eyelashes and saw the stern look on her mother’s face.

            Well, forget it. After she practically defended the little rat when he called me a freak, no way am I giving her the satisfaction of announcing my near-brush with destiny today. No siree, these lips are closed…

            “Actually, Laney had quite an interesting day today,” her mother said, breaking the silence.

            And there it goes.

            Her mom filled them in on the day’s excitement, starting with Mr. Hyperman approaching Laney at the coffee shop (her mom pausing here to mention the great coffee debate), all the way up to the conversation she’d had with the agent that afternoon.

            “So, this agent guy, Mr. Hoopermon…,” her dad started.

            “Mr. Hyperman.”

            “Excuse me—Mr. Hyperman—wants Laney for what exactly?” Mr. Herman asked and folded his hands on the table.

            “Well, he said that she has star potential,” her mother said, clearing the dishes from the table.

            “Laney? Star potential? Maybe potential for sucking,” Sam said, cracking himself up.

            “Shut up, butt-munch!”

            Mrs. Herman shot them one of her don’t-mess-with-me-or-else glances.

            “But what does that mean, exactly?” her dad asked again.

            “Well, he wants to meet with Laney again, to see if she has any natural talent for acting.”

            “But Laney’s never acted before,” her dad answered.

            “Hello, I’m right here. And yes I have acted before,” Laney interjected. “I played a card in my fifth grade’s production of ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ Remember?  You said I was the best card in the deck!” Laney crossed her arms over her chest, obviously hurt.

            “I did?” her dad asked, taking off his glasses and wiping them clean with his shirt.

            “No, not really. But see, that’s called acting,” she said, smiling. “Come on, Dad, at least try to have a little faith in me.”

            “I do, sweetie. It’s just that—do you even want to be an actress? You’ve never mentioned anything before,” he said.

            Laney sat down across from her father and mimicked him by placing her hands together, each fingertip touching the other. She looked up toward the ceiling as if making a mental list.

            “Let’s see, I’d get to travel, wear cool clothes, meet famous people and I’d be making more money than my $20 allowance from you and Mom,” she said, pausing for dramatic effect. “Yeah, tough choice. I can see why most people would turn it down.”

            Laney got up and walked over to where her mom was standing near the counter. One glance at her mom and she knew she was getting ready to take over. Just like those stupid wrestling matches her brother was always watching on TV, where one of the big muscle-bound meathead guys would tap his partner and then take his place in the ring.

            That’s right, Mom. Tag, you’re in.

            “Ralph, nothing has to be decided right now. I mean, Mr. Hyperman just wants to meet with Laney tonight. For all we know, she could be a flop,” her mom said loudly.

            Hey!

            “I guess it would be kind of rude not to meet with the man,” Laney’s dad said, scratching his head and getting up from the table.      

            “Of course it would. And you can ask him all the questions you want while we’re at the game,” Laney piped in, knowing he’d already caved.

            Laney watched as her mom walked with her father toward the living room. Mrs. Herman glanced back at her and gave her a thumbs up.

            “You owe me big time,” her mom mouthed to her, before settling in beside her dad on the big couch.

            That’s when it dawned on her.

Oh man, what have I gotten myself into?