The Moon, The Sun, and Everything Else

Dying In LA

Kirstie rubbed her eyes, that were red from strain, as she looked over at her vibrating phone. "Hello?" She asked.

"Hey, Kit. How's L.A. treating you?" One of her best friends from back home, Kevin, asked.

"Oh, hey, Kev." Kirstie sat back in her chair. "And it's treating me very well."

"I take that as you really love it there, huh?" He asked.

"I love it just as much as I always thought I would." Kirstie admitted.

"So, you're saying that you never want to come home?" Kevin asked.

"No, I want to come home, and see everyone sometime, I just...I just need to figure out what L.A. really has in store for me."

"Well, that's fair." Kevin chuckled lightly. "Also, word on the street is that you got yourself a guy. Is this true?"

Kirstie laughed. "Yeah, it's true. His name's Avi, and he's really sweet."

"Glad he's treating you just as well as  Cali is, Love." Kevin said. He then proceeded to apologize for the fact he had an audition within the hour, and then had to go.

"Bye, Kev. Good luck."

"You too. Stay safe over there. You'll go far, Kid."

Kirstie smiled to herself as the call was disconnected. She looked over to the framed picture of herself, Kevin, Mitch, and Scott the day before she left for LA. In all honesty, she did miss home, but she also was so in love with California that she couldn't even consider never coming back.

"Hey, I'm back!" She heard a voice call from the front door.

"In the office!" Kirstie called back, recognizing the voice as Avi's.

"Hey, Sweetheart." Avi said, coming into the office.

"Hey." Kirstie greeted her boyfriend back. She spun around in her swivel chair as Avi leaned down and kissed her lips. "How did the shoot go today?" Kirstie stood up and followed Avi back to the kitchenette.

"Not well." He sighed, sitting down at the table.

"Really? What happened?" Kirstie asked, turning her head to face Avi as she stood on her tippy toes to reach a bottle of whiskey in a tall cabinet. She turned her attention back to the bottle as she finally reached it. Kirstie poured Avi a straight glass of the alcohol, and sat it on the table before him.

"Thanks." He said, quietly. Kirstie put the bottle away and shut the cabinet, before she sat down.

"Now, what happened?"

Avi took a sip of his drink before speaking. "Well, for starters, they fired me." Avi smirked, taking another swallow of whiskey.

"They fired you? Why?" Kirstie asked, confused.

"I apparently broke contract by going and working on that movie." With one last tilt of his head, all the alcohol was gone from the glass.

"That's stupid, though. They only said they needed you for five shoots, and this is your fifth. You fulfilled your contract."

"Well, that's what they said. The fine print told a whole other story." Avi rolled his eyes. "My God, this is so stupid!" He exclaimed, slamming his glass onto the table. Avi stood up and ran his hands through his hair, knocking his gray beanie to the floor.

"Hey, hey, it'll be okay. It'll be fine. You're working on a movie now, that was just one modeling job, it's fine." Kirstie explained, standing up as well.

Avi chuckled a somewhat painful chuckle before turning to face his girlfriend. "You don't get it, do you?"

"I don't get what?" She tilted her head.

"You think that just because you're a pretty girl with a smirk, that every company and agency will just hand you a job. It doesn't work like that, Kirstin!" Avi yelled. Kirstie just stood there, appalled. "Things don't just get handed to you here, Kirstin!"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you're so naive to the Hell that this city is dragging all of us through! It won't "be fine"! It won't "be okay"! My name could be slashed now, I could get blacklisted! You don't get it!" Avi shouted.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." Kirstie apologized.

The room was washed over with an awkward silence, before Avi mumbled, "I need some space tonight." He grabbed his jacket and left the apartment, leaving Kirstie there, alone.

She considered calling Kevin back, or maybe Scott or Mitch, but Kirstie knew Kevin had his audition, and Scott and Mitch were probably working on things for their new album. They had recently started a group called Superfruit. Kirstie sighed, putting the glass into the dishwasher to be cleaned later. She ventured to the bedroom and slipped on a hoodie of Avi's before crawling under the covers. She had no plans to go to sleep right then, but she just needed to think.

Maybe she was too naive for this place. Maybe she was in over her head. Maybe the sun was blinding her a bit too much.

As she laid there, Kirstie realized that a city she'd been in love with since she was a child had some pretty twisted true colors. She realized that Avi was right. She wouldn't be able to survive.

For once in the few months, almost a year, she'd come to California, she didn't feel like she was living. She felt like she was dying in L.A.