Young Writers Society

Thurber Washington

Jaques looked mortified that someone had spoken to him like that. Macee's hand flew up and covered her mouth, stifling a giggle. Once she regained her composer, she addressed us.

"I know this sounds kid-ish, but maybe you two should try to be nicer to each other. We haven't even started filiming and there's already so much tension. Why does everyone hate each other?"

Jaques tried, somewhat unsuccessfully to laugh the whole thing off, and continued to stare at the young woman's chest. I dunno why, but I had a sudden urge to punch him in the face. He strutted off, presumably to lick his ego's wounds. I calmly sidled over to her.

"Welcome to Hollywood."

She looked exasperated already.

"Too bad my ticket was one way."

She ordered a beer and promptly guzzled it. I was both amused and horrified to see her go at the alcohol like that. She stopped, wiping the foam from her upper lip. I tired my very hardest not to laugh at the act. Biting the inside of my cheek so as to keep from laughing, I spoke.

"Stressed?"

Tears rolled down my cheek from the combination of laughter and pain. I deftly wiped them away and stopped biting myself before she could notice. I knew I'd bitten too hard, as I could taste coppery blood.

"You have no idea. Just a lot at once. But it's everything I ever wanted, I guess."

Jaques leaned against the wall, observing us from a distance.

"You just guess? You aren't sure if this is what you wanted in life?"

She shook her head and took another long pull of the beer again. Goodness, the young woman could drink.

"Well look at it like this. Let the whole process happen. Filming, doing promo work for it while it's being edited, the eventual release and through awards season, let that happen. Once it's all over, decide how you feel about the whole thing. If you don't like it, what have you lost? Nothing. Go back to singing. Okay?"

I patted her on the shoulder and killed my scotch, debating whether or not I wanted another.

Jaques

A certain Ginger I knew left the resteraunt, and I decided being around Thurber wouldn't be in his best interest right now. I walked over to talk to Jaspar, who had drifted off a little.

"I think she expected this to go better," I said with a smile. He looked up at me curiously, and I gestured to Maee.

He nodded in realization, "I don't know what her agent was thinking."

"If we were five this might have gone better. But everyone has a history." Not one that I care to tell you about, "and sometimes things just don't work out unless yo know everything."

"I don't really get-" He obviously didn't understand.

I cut him off, "You don't have to." I looked at the blonde girl again, with a full glass of beer she was happily drinking. "She's something else. Where do you think she learned to drink like that?" I leaned up against a wall, and looked her over again. "Well at least there's one decent girl in this cast."

"You don't like Ginger?" He sounded surprised. Stupid boy, of course I didn't.

"That's an understatement."

Macee

Something about the rate at which I consumed beer seemed funny to Thurber, but I let his arely-surpressed laughs pass without a comment.

"Well look at it like this." He said, "Let the whole process happen. Filming, doing promo work for it while it's being edited, the eventual release and through awards season, let that happen. Once it's all over, decide how you feel about the whole thing. If you don't like it, what have you lost? Nothing. Go back to singing. Okay?"

I shrugged, and finished up the glass. Though I was half tempted to order another, I only felt the affects a bit. The tierdness began to get to me, but I wasn't feeling tipsy. as I drained the glass, Thuber couldn't surpress another laugh.

"I grew up around beer, " I explained, "small town girl in Georgia who grew up with beer from the bottle. My mom thought milk was over-rated anyway." And beer was fake confidence for me, besides. The little bit of wooziness gave me a voice I wouldn't have dared had otherwise.

I turned to him with a small sigh. "So what's broadway like? When I was little, that's where I wanted to go. But Mr. Roberts told me I'd do better singing solo, like not on stage. I started out on stage, then I got discovered through him-" I realized I was rambaling. "So what's broadway like?"

Thurber Washington

She drained her glass of beer, and I could no longer take it. I laughed. She explained she'd grown up around beer. That explained it. She looked at the barkeep for a moment before shifting her attention back to me.

"So what's broadway like? When I was little, that's where I wanted to go. But Mr. Roberts told me I'd do better singing solo, like not on stage. I started out on stage, then I got discovered through him-"

She stopped, having realized she'd started to ramble. I didn't mind, but it seemed as though she had.

"So what's broadway like?"

I'd need another scotch for this. I ordered one. The barkeep set it down in front of me. I took a swig and started.

"Broadway is...Broadway is tough. Now, I can't say how tough it is in relation to Hollywood, but I'm willing to bet it's right up there."

I took another sip of scotch. I was starting to feel more like me again. I no longer felt the need to be so stiff and upright, especially now that I was settling into conversation with the little blond girl in front of me.

"So, this Roberts fellow, why'd you let him deter you from Broadway?"

Jaspar

I did know who he was, true enough, and I'd been expecting him. Jaques Monarez. So he really was going to be in the movie, well. Now that was a surprise. I was somewhat amused by his lack of greeting for me, just that look of recognition in his eyes and then he turned to the other two gentlemen. Ah, it felt good to be the star. Which is why it made no sense for Jaques to be here. I'd heard that, like me, he didn't take small roles anymore, only the lead.

I settled back and let the others talk, not really interested enough to involve myself in their conversation just yet. I wanted to get a feel for them first and I soon decided I liked this Thurber guy. Especially when he started mocking Jaques. I laughed along with him but while my attention was thus distracted, I failed to notice Ginger James slip away and it was only when her agent made some apologies for her that I realised she was gone. A shame. That might have been some interesting conversation but I nodded amiably until he had left.

Then I turned back to the others. The new girl was placating the two men and rather admirably. So. There then. I liked all three of them, wasn't that pleasant? And then Jaques came over to talk with me. I found a few of the things he said to be strange and confusing. These child stars, they did like to talk about intrigue and make out that you couldn't possibly understand the world of film because you hadn't toddled around the stage in diapers. But then strangely, he said he liked Macee and not his fellow prodigy.

"Then perhaps it's a good thing she decided to leave," I said. He nodded. I realised then that neither of us had drinks and called out to the bar man to swing a couple of Jack Daniels our way.

"Cheers," Jaques said, though I couldn't tell if he was flattered or annoyed by my show of generosity. He looked on edge still though while I was starting to feel very comfortable. I'd had worst casts than this, that was for sure.

"So why the problem with Ginger? I'll admit she doesn't seem particularly welcoming, but that's no different to half the females in our line of work."

Macee

"So, this Roberts fellow, why'd you let him deter you from Broadway?" Thurber raised the question.

"It's kind of a long story," I admitted, "When I was still in high school Mr. Roberts stopped in on our high school production of West Side Story. I was playing Maria. He was a developing director, and saw a lot of potential in me. He had written a musical, and wanted me to play the lead in it. I accepted, and a few months later we began rehersals. It was a small theater that accepted his work, but it was a start. Anyway, a friend of his stopped in on one of the rehersals and heard me sing. He said he loved my voice, and reccomended me to his brother, who runs Generation Records. I wanted to staywith Mr. Roberts, but he told me to go with his friend. He was more worried about my career than his own." I gave a half-herated laugh, "One of my songs went big, and it just took off from there. I haven't spoken to him in so long, and yet I owe him so much." The last part I wass speaking more to myself than him.

"How long has it been?" He asked. I didn't get why he seemed so curious. His life was probably way more interesting than mine.

"Almost a year." I hesitated a moment, aware that Jaspar and Jaques were watching us. It bugged me a little for a reason I couldn't explain, but I did my best to ignore it. "So how did you get here?"

Jaques Monarez

"So why the problem with Ginger? I'll admit she doesn't seem particularly welcoming, but that's no different to half the females in our line of work." Ignorance was going to kill society.

"Where were you two years ago?" I laughed, "Besides not reading the tabloids?"

"So all of that was true then, even the proposal?" The wrod dug through me a little, but I quickly shook it off.

"No, not the proposal, but I thought about it," Dammit why did I say that? "Things didn't end well. If I had known she would have been in on this I wouldn't have auditioned. She's a bitch. I don't want to talk about it anymore." I took a long sip of my Jack Daniel. I needed that right now.

The air went silent for a minute as I tried to get the thought of her from my mind.

Thurber Washington

"So how did you get here?"

I swirled the scotch around in my glass for a moment. Where to start...

"Well, I used to do comedy on Broadway. I'm good at comedy. And...I dunno. After years of stage plays that are comedic, you start to want something different. Decided I wanted to do a film. A coupla folks offered me bits in small comedies. But, I dunno. I wanted to try a whole different genre. So here I am, doing a drama or slasher movie or however you wanna classify this."

The two of us just sat there. I took another sip of scotch. I could feel Monarez's and Noel's eyes drilling me in the back. Macee looked at them, seemed frustrated they were watching.

I spun around on my stool, looked Monarez in the eye, even from a distance.

"Monarez! Look away from the woman! You're distressing her! Begone, creature of shadow!"

I spun back around and addressed Macee.

"I know you told us to get along, but he annoys me."

She started to say something back when she screamed at me to turn around. It was Monarez. I think I'd succeeded in annoying him. He reared back and threw a right hook at me. I let it hit me and collapsed to the floor. Satisfied, Monarez stormed off. I stood.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?"

I rubbed my jaw, he'd barely clipped it. The club stared at me in silence.

"Darling, I am a stage actor. Learning how to make it look like you took a hit is a core part of the job. I let him feel confident and manly and dominant while simultaneously not getting hurt. I'm fine, but thanks for the concern."

Ginger James-

"Get up," Roman said. I could hear his tone, and it wasn't happy. I sat up, blinking at the harsh sunlight pouring through the open window. Roman tossed some paper on the bed and paced in front of me. Rubbing my eyes I looked down at the papers next to me, which were actually a stack of tabloids and magazines. Every cover had either my or Jaques' name splashed across it. The trashier ones had dark, grainy pictures blown up on the covers, like they'd been taken with a cell phone.

I saw a picture of Jaques with that look on his face, the one he used to get when we would fight. Then next picture was him mid swing. There was another of one of the cast members, Thurber I thought, on the ground. It must have happened after I left. I felt my heart twinge at the thought of Jaques getting so upset and making another bad impression with the media. I shouldn't have cared. Not after how it ended. But I did.

"Oh God," I sighed, running my hands through my hair, "what was he thinking?"

"You're in there too," Roman said, leaving his hands to rest on his hips.

I flipped through until I saw my red hair sticking out in the dark background. I scanned my eyes up to the headline "Jack and Gin: Bad Reunion." Jack and Gin. It had been a while since I'd seen that in the papers, our "celebrity nickname." There was a picture of Jaques standing next to me at the table, I could see the shock playing across my face. There was also a picture of me standing at the bar, talking on the phone with Darren.

"You gave him your number?" Roman asked, looking at me with that what-the-hell expression.

I rolled my eyes, "yes, I gave him my number Roman! It's not that big a deal!" I slammed the papers down and stood up, grabbing my phone, my foot getting tangled in the sheet as I did. Frustrated I kicked and tripped a little on my way to the bathroom. I turned to see Roman following and slammed the door, sliding the lock in to place.

"Ginger, it is a big deal. We don't know anything about this guy. Marni's already stressed about Jaques, she's been on the phone with Michael all day. These tabloids aren't going to stop. This whole thing is a disaster. And now we have to get your number changed and get a background check on this guy..." he trailed off. I could picture him doing that thing where he keeps one hand on his waist and rubs his forehead with the other, keeping his eyes squinted shut. I heard him sigh and knew he was reaching up to loosen his tie. He was stressed, "This movie was such a bad idea."

I opened the door and looked at Roman, "Just calm down. Let me call him, please. You can back ground check him. You can meet him. You can even come to the restaurant and sit far away and watch us like a creepy stalker. Just trust me."

"Fine. But if anything comes up on his record, I mean anything-"

"I know, I know. I told you so."

He sighed again and left the room. And I dialed.

Jasppar

There wasn't much to say after that. He didn't want to talk about the Ginger thing and I did so we'd pretty much run our words dry for the moment and I let my eyes turn to our other companions, not realising that Jaques had done the same. Apparently they took offence to our sudden attention for Macee shifted in her seat while Thurber called out theatrically for him to be gone. That was Broadway for you. They did find it ever so hard to leave the stage whispers and rolls behind. Probably a good thing too considering the next few seconds.

"What the-" I exclaimed in shock, reaching out to try and grab hold of Jaques but I was too slow and the punch was already thrown. Jaques shrugged my arms away and stormed past me and to the door. I could see his agent scrambling to catch up with him, though he did say a few quick apologies first.

"Where do you suppose that came form?" The bar man wondered as he shot Thurber a disapproving glance, probably suspecting provocation.

"Just a little misunderstanding," I said. "Between you and I-" and here I siddled up to the bar and kept my voice low so only he and our table would hear. "He's just found out he's shooting a film with the ex. It's no excuse for taking it out on our poor, innocent crew-mate here, but you see how it is."

"Yes I see." He nodded, obviously pleased that I'd shared the information with him annd then moved off to serve some other customers. I made my way back to Thurber and Macee.

"I hope the night's events haven't been enough to put you off filming for life, my dear," I said as I took a seat at the table. "But not to worry, these formal meetings are usually much less droll than this." I was of course mocking the formal speech that the upper class so often used at such events and then switched back to my normal tone. "I'm starting to get the feeling that this film is going to be all about Monarez. Now I just need to work out if it really was an unhappy accident or if this is what he planned from the start." It was slightly annoying to find that he'd had some success in stealing the lime light from myself and I knew that come morning, it would be his face all over the papers, with Ginger's, and not mine and Macee's.

Hayley Heller

It was a day that was gray and rainy, a day appropriate for staying inside. Hayley was lying on the couch in the living room of her apartment, curled up with a mug of hot chocolate, watching the rain click as it formed sheets against her windows. Despite the fact that it was mid-afternoon, the clouds and the rain made it seem so much darker. It was at times like these that anywhere you were indoors, you felt cozy, lucky. As she finished her hot chocolate and took it over to the sink, Hayley remembered that if she had gotten the role in that movie she auditioned for, she would have contacted two days ago. Hayley let out a deep sigh. She never expected to get the role anyway, but making in into the final round of callbacks with four other girls had given her hope. She wondered who did get the role; she would probably find out soon. All of the other girls were so much more talented then she, anyway, so it's not like Hayley had much of a chance. And this way, she could continue to focus on ballet.

It was then that Hayley heard her cell phone ring from inside her pocket. She took it out and saw that it was Karen Weiss, her agent that she had obtained shortly before the start of auditions; she already had an agent for ballet, Steven Hahn, but she needed a different one for acting. He and Karen were friends, and he had recommended her to Hayley. She was confused as to why she was calling now.

"Hello?"

"Miss Heller? It's Karen. I just wanted to call to inform you--"

"That I didn't get the role?" Hayley said dryly. She was not in the mood to deal with this right now. Did they think she was stupid, that she didn't gather because she hadn't been called that she didn't make it? But Karen's response nearly sent her into a shock.

"Err, no," she said. "Listen, Hayley, some papers got mixed up and we weren't able to call you until now, but I am pleased to let you know that the studio is willing to offer you a contract to appear as Livvy in this film. You got the role, in other words."

"What?"

"Filming begins very soon. If you choose to accept, I will come pick you up tomorrow and take you to the set where you can sign the contract and meet the rest of the cast as you prepare to begin filming."

"Okay." Hayley looked around the room. Would she say yes or no? It was not too late to go back. If she accepted, everything would change. Would she able to continue ballet? Would she be famous? Would she move into a new apartment? What? But it was the opportunity of lifetime, and Hayley didn't want to pass it up. She didn't want to have gotten that far for nothing. "Sure. I'll do it."

"Okay, see you tomorrow," Karen said, hanging up the phone.

And Hayley put her cell phone back into her pocket, unable to move or think. Tomorrow. That wasn't much time.

Macee

Stupid overdramatic actors. Stupid Hollywood. Stupid Jaques.

"I hope the night's events haven't been enough to put you off filming for life, my dear, But not to worry, these formal meetings are usually much less droll than this." Jaspar switched back to normal speech. "I'm starting to get the feeling that this film is going to be all about Monarez. Now I just need to work out if it really was an unhappy accident or if this is what he planned from the start."

"It seemed random," I offered half-heartedly.

"He's an actor, of course it 'seemed'." Thurber laughed at either his own comment or my stupidity. Probably the later. I looked down at my cell phone. Somehow it was nearly eleven o'clock.

"You know, I think Roslaine-she's my agent- mentioned something about the director meeting with all of us tomorow. It's getting late, I need to get home. It was really nice meeting the two of you," I sighed, "I guess I'll see you both tomorow."

They said a quick goodbye to me, and I walked outside to find the limo was still sitting there. Why would it wait all this time? That was stupid. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a few cameras flash and quickly climbed in.

"That wasn't very ladylike," Rosaline remarked.

"You've been in here the whole time?" I demanded.

"Of course. I had to be here, just in case something went wrong." She smiled, and I rolled my eyes.

"Just bring me home."

Jaques

"Monarez! Look away from the woman! You're distressing her! Begone, creature of shadow!" He had some nerve. God, we hadn't even started filming yet and he was already being overdramatic. I heard him say something to Macee,
"I know you told us to get along, but he annoys me."

That did it. He swiveled around, and I brought one along his jaw line. Then, realizing what I had done, I quickly left. Fernando pushed past me, mumbling apologies to everyone, and then he followed me out.

"Stupid. Wrong. That was WRONG, Jaques. Normally, I don't commento n your behavior too much but this was over the line. Somone probably got a picture, and it's going to be all over the press tomorow morning. What have I told you about this?"

"I had to." My tone was final. That's all I needed. Being insulted more times than I could count plus a charming run in with a certain ex of mine had set me off.

"Go home, get some sleep, we'll talk about this in the morning."



I sat around my outdoor breakfast table, drumming my fingers on the warm wood. Fernando entered, carrying a stack of papers. Most of them were my face, but one caught my eye. Jack and Gin: Bad Reunion. Wow. It had been a while since I had seen those names. I flipped the paper upside-down. I couldn't look at her face. It still hurt.

"This isn't good." Fernando stated the obvious. "She's on the covers more than you are. This isn't good."

"Does it really matter who is on there more?" I demanded. "I messed up, and now I'm paying for it." The double meaning behind my words hit me. "I mean, I punched out the guy and now I have bad publicity-"

Fernando gave me a knowing look, "I'm sure that's what you meant." I gave him a cold look, and flipped over the picture again. I scanned through the magazine, until I found the article. Two pictures of me and Ginger were plastered on the page, along with the words: WHAT HAPPENED?

One picture was of me and her, back when we were dating, smiling out in the sun. Another was taken last night. Her cold look, my angry face.

I licked my lips, and turned my mind away from the papers, "What's on the agenda for today?"

Macee Raymond

Rosaline dropped me off at home, and the limo took her away. I stood stupidly on the sidewalk, looking around. I felt so out of place, like everything I knew had just been decided for me. I walked in my new house and before long I was sound asleep on a strange bed. I dreamed of home.

The nest morning I woke up about seven, fairly early for me. I quickly put on something Rosaline would kill me for being out in public in. Ripped up jeans and a white t-shirt. Flip flops. No stupid heels.

I recall having seen a coffee shop down the street, so I went outside and began to walk. I passed a little girl and her mother on the lawn. As soon as I walked by, the mother pulled her sunglasses down and tugged at her daughters shirt, pointing at me. I stopped walking as the little girl raced towards me, despite her mother's attempts to call her back.

She ran up and hugged my legs like my little sister used to, "Macee, Macee, Macee!" She said excitedly, "I love you." I bought your CD and I loved it, I loved it so much." I bent down and looked into the little girls eyes as her mother ran out towards us. I gave the little girl a hug. God, she was so much like my sister. The little girl looked up at her mommy, and then at me.

Her mother began to apologize, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bother you. She's a fan of yours and-"

"No, it's fine." I said, the biggest smile on my face. Little girls like her made everything worth it. I felt her tugging on my pant leg.

"Would you sing for me Macee?" Her big blue eyes pleaded.

I raised an eyebrow, "What do you want me to sing?"

"A princess song." It was hard to resist that smile. I went back through my memory to my old favorite Disney songs. I ended up singing a little part of 'Part of You World' from The Little Mermaid. When I finished, she gave me a big grin. "You sing like a princess."

I thought to myself it was about time I went home and called my family. For the first time in six months, nothing mattered more.

Jaspar

I live a pretty happy life, I don't mind telling you that. I wake up, I shower. I throw some clothes on, usually just jeans and a t-shirt to be honest and then I fumble my way downstairs. There's only a switch at the top of the stairs, you see. There used to be one at the bottom too but it stopped working and I never got around to fixing it, so I just make my way down in the dark and I'm sure one of these days I'll fall and break my neck. And it will be big news for a while but then I'll pass into obscurity like so many other stars. Did you know that the stars we see have already burned out? We see their light but most of them aren't even there anymore, it's sad really.

So breakfast. I eat alone most mornings and by eat, I really do mean eat. I like a big breakfast with lots of bacon, some eggs, maybe some mushrooms and other stuff like that. It's the only meal where I can guarantee that I'm in my own house and not being watched or judged, so I eat it how I like it. Sometimes I have bagels and pile the bacon on top of those, other times I just cram everything between a few slices of bread. It's really messy and really great. I don't read the papers like most people. I leave my agent to fill me in on what I need to know and he's pretty good at sumarising the interesting articles, I'll give him that. He lives not far off and rises ridiculously early so there's always a note sitting on my doormat, amongst the other letters, mostly fan mail.

I don't like to be distracted at breakfast so I don't touch any of it until after I've eaten but then I spend an hour or so wading through the stuff. And then I work out if there's nothing else on my agenda. So I'm on to the mail now and I'm reading Dan's note first. As I expected, most of the front covers are been ruled by Jack and Gin. Daniel notes his disgust in cramped but tidy handwriting. He does pin point a few minor papers where I hit it home though and others where I got a mention a few pages in. He also tells me they want us on set already. And there's a bundle attached, wrapped in brown paper. I know before I look that it's my script.