Beyond the Stars

Scene Two

I wake up the next morning to silence. No alarms, no knocking at the doors, no phone calls from the lobby of my hotel telling me that I am needed somewhere. Nothing. And it is perfect.

Opening my eyes, I sigh and try to soak in the silence. It was never like this in Hollywood because I was always super busy, what with all the filming of Royal Renegade and the press conferences and the meetings. I grab my phone off of my nightstand; it's 11:28. Wow. I guess I really needed the sleep.

Eventually, I will myself to get up and change into a pair of black sweatpants and a tank top. After pulling my hair into a messy bun, I drag myself downstairs and into the kitchen, where I find a sticky note on the fridge.

Hayden,

We had to leave early for work. We hope you sleep in and have a relaxing first day back. Don't wait up for us tonight because we're working the late shift along with our regular shift. We love you!

Mom & Dad

I sigh. Sure, I am used to their insane work schedule and I have been for a while, but I would still like to see them more. I hate it that they have to start before I wake up and get back when I am asleep. They even work weekends! Ah, well. It is not like I can do anything about it.

I search for something good to eat for breakfast. Of course, there is only the usual healthy crap that my parents always buy. They will never change. I sigh and settle on a glass of orange juice, a bowl of strawberries, and an untoasted bagel with cream cheese.

Standing on my tippy toes, I search around in one of the high cabinets until I find a breakfast tray. I place all of my food on the tray and walk into the living room, where I carefully set the tray onto the coffee table and flop onto the couch. After flipping through a bunch of channels, I realize that I really do not know any of the shows that are on now because I never had the time to watch TV when I was working on the movie. In the end, I decide on some comedy show.

Almost two hours later, my phone rings. I look at the caller ID. It's Lacey.

I press the "accept call" button and say, "Hey, Lace!"

"Hey, girl. Kat and Anna and I were wondering if you wanted to go shopping with us in a half hour!"

I hesitate—I have never really liked going out to shop when you can simply go online and buy things without even leaving the comfort of your home. Lacey comprehends what my hesitation means and practically loses it.

"Please come with us, Hayden!" she pleads desperately. "We haven't seen you in forever, and this way we can catch up some more and get some super cute clothes for school on Tuesday."

I sigh, knowing there is no way I can get out of this. "Fine. I'll see you in a half hour."

She squeals and I roll my eyes. "Thank you! We'll see you then."

She hangs up on me like she always does and I head upstairs to change into a better outfit.

Exactly 27 minutes later, I am dressed and ready to go. I am wearing a white scoop neck tee shirt that is tucked into a bright blue skater skirt that has white polka dots on it and reaches the middle of my thighs. I have on a pair of white flats and some simple makeup that took forever to put on because I am terrible at applying eyeliner.

A minute later, the doorbell rings. That is one of the many things I love about Lacey. She always rushes everybody and makes sure that we are never late, sometimes arriving early like right now. I check my appearance one last time in the mirror and grab a blue purse from my closet before heading downstairs and opening the door to reveal my smiling best friend.