get lonely with me || tom holland

two: the one with the chemistry test

Iris was ten years old when she landed her first acting job. She still remembers the audition tape she did for that movie, the months long auditions she went through alone and with the cast, and more than anything, she remembers how thrilled she was when she got the role.

Her first acting job was, coincidentally, for a romantic comedy. The same movie genre she auditioned for a couple of weeks ago.

The audition went alright - not the best she'd done which she kicked herself for it - so she was surprised when she received a call from her agent telling her that there's a possibility that she might get the role of Sabrina Woods. The character that Iris fell in love with the moment she read the book and when she found out that it's being adapted to a movie, she knew she had to be in it. As luck would have it, the casting director contacted Iris' agent and told her that she wanted Iris to come in for a chemistry read with the actor who will be playing Leon James.

So here she is, heart thumping in her chest as she waits for her name to be called out. She's told earlier today that she will be up against Layla King for the role of Sabrina Woods. If she wasn't nervous earlier, she definitely is now. She's seen several of Layla King's movies and she's amazing. Layla can play any roles thrown at her and Iris doesn't doubt that she'd be able to play the role of Sabrina Woods perfectly too.

"Don't think too much and don't think about her," Iris' mom tells her once she's finished telling her that she and Layla are going for the same role. Her mom has always been the person she turns to when she needs a boost of confidence or when she just needs someone to talk to. Right now, she needs a bit of both.

"But she's amazing. How can I not think of her?"

"You're amazing too." Iris rolls her eyes at her mom's statement. "Don't roll your eyes at me."

Mouth falling open, Iris pulls her phone away from her ear to look at the screen and to make sure that she didn't accidentally choose a video call rather than a normal phone call - that happened once before. Okay, twice. "How'd you-"

"I know you and I know you were rolling your eyes at me."

Iris lets out a small laugh. Yeah that sounds like her mom, alright. She seems to have a sixth sense when it comes to this thing. "Well, you're only telling me that I'm amazing because I'm your daughter."

"You know that's not true."

Iris remembers the abundance of times when her mom would tell her if she's not doing a good job or if she's not doing the character's justice when she's running her lines. She also remembers that one time when she told her mom that she wanted to be in a horror movie and instead of supporting her, her mom laughed at her and told her that she could never be in one because chances are, she'd be getting nightmares for weeks. Which was, fine, the truth.

"Okay, yeah, you're right."

Her mom gives her a hum of approval, happy to be told she's right, before saying, "Just do your best, okay, sweetheart?"

"Okay," Iris replies with a nod even though her mom can't see her. But she knows she can feel her nodding.

"Text me or call me when you're done with the audition."

"Okay."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

As soon as the phone call ends, Iris feels a lot less nervous than she was a few minutes ago. This is why she loves talking to her mom - she always knows what to say to make her feel better.

Putting her phone away, Iris picks up the script to go over the lines again. It's not a surprise that she's memorised it by now. Running the lines is all she does ever since she received the script from her agent. She stopped doing it when she thought she blew the audition but as soon as she was told that she's being called for a chemistry test with the lead actor, she picked up the script again - much to her younger brother's dismay. Ben was not happy when he had to go over Leon's lines again and again with his sister but Iris likes to think that he has no complaining rights when she's helped him a lot with his schoolwork and that, in her opinion, is way worse.