Tattoo // Calum Hood // au

ONE

If there's one thing RaeLynn hates, it's waking up early.  Unfortunately for her, though, she has been waking up before 6:30 every day for the previous week, and not by her choice.

Insomnia has been taking her over since she found out that she got auditions for a big movie that— if she gets the part— could be her big break in the Hollywood acting industry.  Not only is she looking forward to the possibility of becoming a well-known actress, but she is also looking forward to being able to quit her crummy job at the small coffee shop downtown— Cathleen's Coffee Café.

RaeLynn rolls over reluctantly and places her thick black glasses on the bridge of her nose and reads the time on her alarm clock— 6:17 A.M.

She sits up and stretches her arms. She might as well get up, because there is no way she'll be able to get back to sleep.

She kicks her legs over the side of the large bed and slides onto the cold, wooden floor.  The floorboards of her old apartment creak underneath her bare feet as she makes her way into the kitchen and starts a pot of coffee in the aged coffee pot.

If someone were to visit her apartment without knowing that they were, in fact, in the beautiful city of Los Angeles, California, they would probably believe they were in a less wealthy city such as her hometown of Shreveport, Louisiana, where the rest of her family still resides— which, contrary to popular belief, is not full of brainless hillbillies.  Shreveport is actually a very beautiful city. Her favorite place to go was always downtown Shreveport, where, on almost every building you see, there are beautiful murals covering many of the walls.  It's located in the part of town with the lowest income and part of the area is always full of either homeless people or the struggling residents of the nearby, rundown, government-funded apartments known as "The Projects".

Depending on where you are in the area, though, there are different kinds of people. For example: in one part of the area is a large theatre/convention center that often holds operas, banquets, and other special events. There is also a popular theatre that holds ballets, plays, and other theatrical performances.  It's most popular season has always been during Christmas, when The Nutcracker play is performed each year. Needless to say, you'd often find the wealthier class in this part of town.

You'd think that a young, budding actress such as RaeLynn would spend most of her time in the part of town with the most acting opportunities, but on the contrary. Instead, she spent the majority of her time downtown where you often find only the lower class, except for a little coffee shop/bar where many hipsters and poets enjoy visiting.

This part of the city was the only place RaeLynn felt she could truly be herself.  She has always loved giving, especially to people in need. Once a week, she would buy $5 pizzas from a popular on-the-go pizza shop known as Little Caesar's and bring them for her nice friends downtown, who can't afford to purchase such a nice meal for themselves.  She never ate the pizza— even when the people she bought it for begged her to have a piece— because she knows that, that pizza may be their only meal for the week, since people often misjudge them and ignore them simply based on their financial state.  Instead, she sat and talked with the lovely people (and learned many fascinating war stories from homeless veterans, such as a nice older gentleman who goes by the nickname, "Pops").

When she was with her family and friends, however, she was nothing like the girl that Pops and her other downtown-friends got to know.  She grew up being taught by her father not to show when people affect your emotions.  She gradually transformed from a happy-go-lucky little girl to a snobbish, sarcastic young woman who never, under any circumstances, let other people see her emotional side, because when people see what makes you angry or what makes you sad, they can easily take advantage of you (or at least, that's what her father always taught her).

Eventually, RaeLynn knew she had to leave Shreveport and her lovely friends downtown, so she finally told her 23-year-old brother, Hayden, what she had been doing with all her time away from home.  She started bringing him with her and he began to make friends with the struggling people, as well.  When she had to finally move away, she made Hayden promise to continue the weekly meals with her friends whom she had grown to love like a second family.  She hadn't had the time to check up on her parents, brother, or younger sister recently, but she sincerely hopes that they were well and that Hayden was continuing the pizza days.

RaeLynn is torn from her thoughts when a loud ring echoes through her small apartment. She walks to her bedroom and takes her old, blue iPhone 5c from its charger and makes her way back towards the kitchen.

"Hello?" RaeLynn's voice croaks into the cell phone's mic. She clears her throat and balances the small device between her shoulder and her ear as she pours coffee into her 'World's Best Sister' mug that had been gifted to her by her 13-year-old sister, Eleanor.

"Hey, Rae, it's me, Angie," the familiar voice of RaeLynn's manager, Angela, rings through the speaker.

"Hey, Angie," RaeLynn replies monotonously.

"Whoa, there, no need to get too excited," Angie chuckles sarcastically.

"Sorry, I'm just really tired.  I haven't gotten much sleep lately," RaeLynn sighs and takes a small sip from her coffee.

"Yeah, I've noticed.  You've tweeted before 7 AM every day this week," she comments. "Well, anyways, I just got an email from one of the producers of Safety Pin, and the audition has been moved up to this afternoon at three o'clock."

RaeLynn habitually spits out her drink, something she's always done when receiving huge news while drinking simultaneously. She almost yells, but she calms herself down with a heavy sigh as she takes a napkin and wipes away the mess she made.  Safety Pin is the movie that could be her big break if she makes the part. It's about two runaways who fall in love, and it's apparently based off of a song by some famous band whose song will be featured in the film, but RaeLynn was never told the name of the band.

"Why did they move it? It was supposed to be a week from now," She asks as calmly as she can.

"Wow, I was expecting a bigger reaction than that," Angie mumbles, being as she did not see RaeLynn's reaction to her previous comment. "But I'm not sure, something to do with the filming schedule."

"Okay, just send me the address," RaeLynn mutters tiredly and runs a hand over her face.

"You got it," Angela replies. "Oh, and Rae?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for being so chill about all this.  You're definitely my favorite client, but don't tell the others!"  Angela chuckles at her own comment.

"It's not a problem," RaeLynn can't help but smile, even though she knows that she wasn't very 'chill' at all. "I'll talk to you later, Ang."

"Good luck with the audition.  Call me after," Angie adds. "Bye!"

RaeLynn hangs up the phone and takes another sip of her coffee, absorbing the conversation she had just had with her manager.  Today is going to be a long day.