Play Pretend | ✓

09 | take 1

The first day of shooting went pretty well.
I filmed a scene with my onscreen sister, Jackie, right before she's supposed to be murdered. Then Tyler also filmed a sequence where he was walking down the street, talking to some shady guys. He surprisingly acted really well. I realised he wasn't popular with the directors only for his looks. He had some serious talent.
Too bad he spolied it with his personality.
After shooting was done for the day, Kiara wrapped up and hollered, "Good work, everyone! Keep it up and we'll probably be in the Oscar race next year!"
Afterwards she came over to me and grinned. "Now I'm convinced I didn't fail in choosing you, Liz. You're amazing for a debutante."
I smiled. "Thanks."
Actually I was pretty happy with the way things had turned out. I was nervous at first about being in front if the camera, but it all vanished when I started acting. I got lost in the world of Hope and her sister and Jackie helped me as well. Together we acted but it seemed so natural to me that it didn't feel like acting. This was exactly what I'd been hoping for. I just prayed to god things would go smoothly with Tyler.

****************
The next day, as I arrived at the site, I spotted Kiara waving at me. She said, "Today you'll be shooting a scene with Tyler. It's the scene where you confront him as he tells you about him going away. It's that scene which you enacted in your auditions. Think you can manage that?"
I smiled wryly. "I can, because I relate to it a lot."
And I'm sure he will too.
We got ready as the cameramen set up their equipment. My hair was in a loose ponytail and my face was made to look haggard, like I'd been crying. My eyes were lined with red, and it all looked so realistic that I couldn't help but gape at myself. Thank god I had the ability to cry on cue, otherwise all this makeup would've gone to waste.

"Scene 15, take 1, lights, camera, ACTION!"
I took a deep breath and began. I looked up at Tyler. He looked extremely attractive in his white tee and low-hung jeans. But he had this devil-may-care look on his face, like his character was supposed to have. Sky is also a jerk, just like him.
That look reminded me of the real Tyler hiding underneath, of the things he'd done to me, of the words he'd said yesterday and that day at the hotel. It all fueled my anger and emotions and I used that to my advantage.
I looked at him with a mixture of anger, helplessness and hurt.
"Please tell me you're kidding, Sky please."
Tyler shrugged. "I'm perfectly serious, love."
I slapped him, and I took this opportunity to hit him hard.
"Don't you dare call me 'love'! You, you cheat! Traitor! How can you leave me like this when I need you the most! How the hell can you do this to me, Sky? Please, don't leave me Sky, please! You know what's happened to my sister, and yet you're abandoning me like this?"
Tyler looked at me with hooded eyes and gripped my shoulders. I felt chills run down the point where his long fingers held onto my skin.
"Listen here Hope, you need to understand that this isn't what I was looking for in a relationship. I don't want baggage, Hope. And you're giving me exactly that. I can't deal with this anymore."
I looked up into his emerald eyes, and in that instant all my emotions about the real Tyler, the hurt, anger, resentment and distress I'd bottled up for so long, were clearly visible in my eyes. He must've noticed them too for he shifted slightly and looked down. He sighed. I shook my hands off him and started walking away. Midway I turned, and said in a shaky voice, just what was required, "I hope you go to hell Sky, and never come back."

"C-cut!"
Kiara stammered, her eyes wide and mouth agape. I swear I'd never seen anybody as animated as Kiara. But this time, all the other actors too had similar expressions on their faces. I frowned.
"What?"
Tyler was also looking at me weirdly.
Kiara replied, "Liz, if you go on acting like that, you'll win all the awards there are to win next year. You'll be an A-lister in no time."
I blushed. "Uh, thanks, Kiara, but I feel I still have a lot to learn."
The others also complimented me. Johann and Jackie were shaking their heads and muttering something about the next Audrey Hepburn. Hah. As if.
I said, "No really, guys. I'm still a newbie, and I hope y'all will teach me more in the months to come."
Tyler snorted from behind me, muttering "suck up". I glared at him with equal intensity, muttering "a**".

(A/N: hey, hope y'all are liking it so far! I just need to clarify something. DO NOT expect any mature content in this book. I'm not a fan of all that stuff, so my book's going to be as clean as possible. And also I don't like swearing so I won't use any swear words here. Only if absolutely needed. Sometimes it's difficult for my lead characters to keep their anger in check in front of each other, so it's natural for them then, to use a swear word or two, like Liz just did here. So no cussing here, and if absolutely necessary, I will put asterisks.

xx, R.)