We Can Survive

Chapter 1

      Alex's POV

      I sit across from my manager at a small cafe.   "Alex," Mr. Calvin says, "I'm afraid that the only acting gigs I can get for you are either small plays or romance films." I shudder at the idea of a romance movie. I'm asexual, and the idea of romance is foreign to me.     

  "What small plays can I do?" I ask Mr. Calvin. He peers down at some papers on the table in front of him.   "Hmm... just knock-off Broadway crap."   "Alright," I say, standing up. "I'll just wait until more options show up for a movie."

 Mr. Calvin nods. We say goodbye, then leave the cafe. I trudge slowly home, too poor to afford a Uber. Luckily, my apartment isn't too far from the cafe. I'm a beginning actress in Hollywood. So far, I've only been a random citizen in Age Of Ultron, and a random dead person in Game Of Thrones. I've also done many plays. In case you couldn't tell, I don't really get paid much. 

 Neither does Kai, my best friend. He paints a lot of lovers, like cutesy handholding and kissing. Kai's pretty good at it too, but being a artist, you don't really get a balanced income. So he works at a gay bar at night, and that's about where we get most of our money from. Fortunately, Kai is attractive(to most people) and he gets sweet tips from that. 

 Finally I make it home. I climb up the stairs to the 3rd floor, and walk over to the 3rd room. I open the door and step into my apartment. It's small, two bedrooms and a small bathroom and kitchen. Kai did his best to decorate the place; it actually looks pretty good. I bought all the furniture from a local thrift store. I found a cute little couch, two beds, two desks, and a crappy TV.  I walk to my room and collapse dramatically on my bed. I heard behind me a small shuffling noise, I roll around to see Kai. He stands in my doorway.    

 "Alex," Kai says with a hint of some undetectable tone to it. "Get a role in anything?" I shook my head whilst temporarily smothering myself in pillows. 

  "No." I replied shortly through the pillow. "Okay," Kai says. I could now detect the hints of sadness in Kai's voice. I stop shoving pillows on my face to look at Kai, but he left the doorway. I roll off my bed and walk out of my room. 

 I peek into the room next to mine, Kai's room. Kai is dabbing paint on an easel. I could see two girls in the painting, hugging. They were the colors of a Californian sunset. "That's looks nice," I say to Kai. He jumps a bit, then says, "Yeah, I actually have someone who wants to buy it for $500." "Wow" Is all I could say back. "So that's enough money for about a... week?" Kai jokes. I laugh. It's rather hard living in Hollywood, especially when you're a poor actress. I suddenly felt a pang of guilt.  

"I'm sorry I couldn't get any roles.." I whisper to Kai. He smiles. "Nah it's fine. We're following are dreams, there's going to be issues along the way right?" I nod. "You're right." I say, trying to sound happy. "I'll go look for some film roles online, so we can have money for next week." I say before leaving Kai's room.  

But instead of looking for roles, I go onto Instagram. "Let's see," I mutter to myself, "Lame comedy videos, Minions, Sommer Ray's butt...." I then turn off my phone whilst crawling into bed. I basically cry myself to sleep. "I'll never find a good role in a movie anyway. Why bother looking?" I say before sleep washes over me. 

 Kai's POV 

  I finish the final details on my painting. I stand back to look at it. It's actually pretty good, a lot of colors and swirls. That's what was demanded of me. I run an online store where people can request a painting of their choice, but most of the time I find myself painting adorable LGBTQ+ couples. But every now and then, some jerk will request a painting of a certain part of the male body, which then I block them.

 I'm proud of my website, really. You just don't get loads of money from it, though. Alex and I can barely afford to eat sometimes. I used to be a barista at a gay bar where there were more straight people than gay ones. I've yet to tell Alex I was fired. I accidentally gave a vodka cranberry to someone allergic to cranberries. That was a fun night.

 I turn to look at my clock. It was late, later than I thought it was. It was 2am, when I'd be heading to work. I go to Alex's room. She was out cold. I walk to her desk and pull out some stationary. I write "Went to work. Back at normal time." I then left.

 I just walk until I find myself at a small cafe. It was the cafe Alex and her manager went a lot to discuss roles. I notice it was a 24 hour cafe. I see a small paper attached to the window. "NEW WORKERS NEEDED!!! COME IN" I basically knock down the door.

 I look around the cafe to see two people sipping coffee as they glommed over their laptops. I walk to the front of the cafe to the barista. "The sign says you need workers?" The barista, a small girl with dark hair replies, "Yes. Do you have some sort of resume?" I respond, "No. But I could-" The girl cuts me off. "You don't need it. have you worked in any other cafes or..?" I shake my head. "I used to work at a gay bar about 10 minutes from here. I like to think I was an okay worker." The girl asks "Were you fired, or did you quit?" I lie. "I quit."

 I immediately regret lying. The girl smiles. "Well then, can you come into work tomorrow at 8am?" I nod. "That'll work. Thanks." THe girl smiles even bigger. "My name's Raevyn. Your name is?" I quickly answer. "Kai. I'll be here 8am, alright?" Raevyn says back, "Okay. Nice to meet you, Kai!" She smiled again and continues working. I leave the store happy. Now maybe Alex and I will be able to survive in Hollywood.