Chapter 1
Naomi
It’s a hunnid bands in the safe, nah, I got expensive taste, Mike Amiri jeans fill em up with knots, I been on my grind every day, don’t believe in taking breaks, I ain’t stopping till we chilling at the top. I mouthed along the words with Polo G as I did my mile around the block. I was doing anything to clear my mind. Today was insane. I mean, it’s not every day you get cast as a co-star with one of Hollywood’s most famous actors.
I only auditioned as a joke. My friend, Ruby, had just got an internship on the set of the movie adaptation of The Elite. Her theater arts teacher was tight with one of the assistant directors and let us both sneak in during auditions. When they were wrapping it up, the casting director turned around and faced the almost-empty audience.
“If anyone from the audience would like to audition, you have the next 5 minutes to come to the stage,” she announced. Ruby elbowed me and looked at me with excitement in her eyes.
“Come on, you should try! You’d be perfect for the role of Atlanta,” she said encouragingly.
“Are you kidding me? Did you see some of the people auditioning? I don’t have a chance,” I protested.
“There’s like 10 people, max, in the audience. Even if it doesn’t go well, it’s not like anyone will remember it,” she pleaded. Her reasoning made sense, plus, a small part of me wondered if I could actually get the part.
“Fine, but I’m going to pick the shortest scene available,” I grumbled. I stood up and walked toward the stage.
“I’d like to audition for the role of Atlanta,” I said.
“Sure, which scene would you like to do?” the casting director’s assistant asked. I quickly scanned through the various scripts and my eyes landed on the second to last one.
“That one, please,” I said. He picked up the script and glanced over it and sighed.
“Our stand-in for Julius just left,” he said.
“Oh, that’s no problem, I can pick another one,” I reassured him. He gave me a small smile.
“If you’re willing to wait a couple of minutes, I can get someone else to act with you,” he said.
“Uh, sure, that’d be fine,” I said. I went back to my seat where Ruby was confused to see me.
“What happened?” she asked.
“Well, I chose a scene with Julius, but his stand-in just left, which means they’re calling another Julius to act with me,” I said with a shrug.
“Huh. I wonder who they’re going to bring.”
“Me, too. I just hope I don’t get stuck with someone who makes me look bad,” I said nonchalantly.
“Oh, please, you’re going to be fine,” Ruby said. Suddenly, everyone began whispering and pointing at who was coming to the door. I craned my neck to get a look at who it was and Ruby’s eyebrows shot up.
“That’s the real Julius Orion!” she whisper-shouted in my ear. My eyes widened. When the casting director’s assistant said he was going to get someone to play Julius, I certainly didn’t expect him to bring in the star himself.
“Holy crap,” I said under my breath, as the casting director’s assistant began searching the room. He caught my eye and beckoned me over. I walked over there, balling my hand into a fist so they couldn’t see my hands shaking.
“Hey, this is the actress I was telling you about. Think you could recite a couple of lines with her?” he asked. Jonathan shrugged.
“Sure, I’d be happy to,” he said. He looked over at me and flashed me a smile. I gave him a weak smile back. My heart was beating so fast. I knew I was going to mess up in front of one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, and he would probably forever remember me as the idiot who thought she had a chance at auditioning for an important role like this, and there was bound to be someone recording in the audience, and-
Breathe, I thought to myself. I took a deep breath and looked him in the eye.
“Okay, let’s do this,” I said. He grinned and held out his hand. I took it and he led me up the stars to the stage.
“Remember, it’s not how well you read the script, but how well you play the character. And you should probably unball your first. You look like you’re about to punch someone in the face,” he whispered in my ear before letting go of my hand and looking at me expectantly. I tried to relax and looked my script over. I heard Jonathan’s voice in my head; it’s not how well you read the script, but how well you play the character.
“Julius, you don’t understand! You could die if you come with me. I can’t take that risk. Please, let me do this alone,” I say. Jonathan, in character, shakes his head and looks at me with a sad smile.
“Atlanta, I’ll be damned if I let you walk into a death trap by yourself. If anything happened to you, I’d never forgive myself. I know you’re scared something will happen to me, and I am too. But I’m even more scared of something happening to you because I left you. So please, let me come with you” he pleads. I throw my hands up in exasperation.
“We both know how much Ares despises you. And let’s not forget who saved who last time. We’re not dealing with middle school bullies. We’re dealing with ancient Greek deities! That can simply wish us dead! We have a much better chance of succeeding if I do this alone,” I say, running my hands through my hair. Jonathan’s face crumbles as he realizes I’m right. I put my hands around his neck and our foreheads lightly touched.
“Can you trust that I’m going to be okay?” I whisper. He looks at me with tears in his eyes. He cradles my face and brushes my hair out of my eyes. My heart’s pounding in my chest and I pray that he can’t hear it.
“Okay,” he says shakily, a single tear streaming down the side of his face. He kisses my forehead and we let go of each other.
I could not believe all of that just happened. All of a sudden, someone started clapping slowly. I couldn’t tell who it was because of the sharp glare from the stage lights, but Jonathan took a sharp breath.
“Who’s the guy in the mullet who keeps clapping like that?” I say under my breath, mainly talking to myself.
“That’s… the author turned director of The Elite,” he whispered back. I cursed under my breath. What are the odds that I make a fool out of myself in front of my idol and a superstar within 5 minutes?
“I want you to cast her as Atlanta immediately,” he said. Huh?
“She was pretty good and I liked her dynamic with Jonathan,” the casting director agrees.
“She was the only one who didn’t stop to read her script mid-sentence,” her assistant said.
“Sure, sure, all of that’s true, but don’t you guys see it? She’s exactly what I envisioned while I was writing the books. From the short, wavy, caramel brown hair, to the lightly tanned complexion, down to the silver eyes! She is perfect!” the director exclaimed. I touched my face self-consciously. Is this man, the acclaimed author, Luca Montgomery, saying that I, an ordinary high school junior, am the perfect person to play one of my favorite characters? I try to catch Ruby’s eye in the audience, but the lights are too bright for me to see far.
“Hello? Miss? Excuse me? What’s your name?” Luca called out.
“My name’s Naomi, Naomi Regas,” I called, barely keeping the stutter out of my voice.
“Congratulations, you are officially playing Atlanta Pallas! Of course, if you accept the role,” he added hastily.
“I-I would love to accept,” I said, trying to control my breathing.
“Well, if you could come off that stage so we can talk logistics, that would be greatly appreciated,” he said with a smile. The next couple of hours were a blur. There were so many forms and contracts and agreements. Of course, with my ADHD, I didn’t have the patience to read all the fine print of the contracts, so I just skimmed through all of it and hoped I didn’t just sell my soul to the devil.
Since I was a minor, we had to get a boatload of forms signed by my parents, giving consent, which meant I finally had a chance to process everything that had happened. I had my little brother, Theo, cover for me, saying I had gone to sleep early while I snuck out the back door to go for a walk.
I was impressed with myself for being able to recount all the events of the day without going on some irrelevant tangent and not realizing it for a good amount of time. It was just something I happened to do a lot. While I was giving myself an internal high five, I heard someone calling my name.
“Naomi! Wait up!” Nico called out. Walking by Nico’s house definitely was my subconscious’ doing.
“Hey, sorry, I’ve just been trying to clear my head and completely spaced out,” I said, taking out my earbuds. He smiled.
“I’d say I understand, but I don’t think anyone understands how you feel in this situation,” he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I laughed at that.
“I don’t know, I just feel like this whole thing is a huge mistake,” I said, turning serious again.
“Hey, you know how I’m always honest with you, even if it's hard to hear?” he said, looking at me. I snorted. That’s an understatement. He’s the king of the hard truth.
“If you’re setting yourself up to tell me I’m right, I’ve just gotta say, that was smooth,” I said dryly, barely keeping my voice from wavering. He chuckled and shook his head.
“Nah, actually, I was going to say the opposite. Ruby showed me the recording. You and Jonathan were in sync. That clip alone could win the show an Emmy without it even premiering. Trust me when I say that it wasn’t a mistake. You deserve that role,” he said, squeezing my shoulder. I looked up and smiled at him.
“Thanks, Nico. I needed to hear that.”
“Well, isn’t that my job?” he said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and leaned my head back on his arm. Everything seemed to be going alright, but I was just hoping it’d last.153Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTprUWI1zg
