“Just my real life.” I smiled slightly as the two females at the table giggled at my response.
“I know you!” The younger gentleman finally spoke. His finger pointed directly at me. His dark eyes lit up as the realization played across his face. “You’re the local hero from the Westview shooting that’s been all over the news the past six months.”
The others seated at the table took a moment to digest his accusation.
The Native American woman looked back and forth between me and my picture that was still in her hands. “It is you…”
I had been hoping that they wouldn’t recognize me, therefore, giving my acting skills a fair chance, but unfortunately, I was not that lucky. I swallowed, attempting to buy time for a good response, running my hand nervously over my short hair.
There was no point in lying now… “Yeah, that’s me.”
It was quiet for a moment while they really let my words sink in. Finally, the Native American set my picture down, scooted her chair back, and began making her way towards me. Her dark eyes were kind and she had her arms outstretched like she was going to embrace me. Luckily, I had gotten used to people wanting to invade my personal space, so I welcomed her hug.
“Thank you for what you did,” she whispered into my ear as her arms still enclosed my body.
I nodded, assuming she could feel my head movement with how close we were.
She released me and then made her way back to the rest of the casting table. “So what brought you here today?”
“Well, I enjoy acting. It’s always been my escape from reality. My girlfriend told me about an open audition for extras, and seeing as I’m not working right now, I figured I had some time.” I wondered what the rest of the extras were thinking; the ones behind me in line. Can they hear what’s going on in here?
“Okay great. Did they give you a paper?” The silver-haired gentleman asked.
I nodded, pulling the creased paper from my back pocket. It was examples of the possible one-liners they could be casting for.
“Do you want me to begin?” I was a still a novice at acting and unsure of the correct behaviors.
They all nodded in unison without a response.
“We don’t choose our future, our future chooses us.” I read the first line, pausing, unsure if I should continue or not. When it was still silent, I continued.
“You have to decide which side you are on in this war—the Liberators or the Deceivers, which one is it going to be?”
Just as my eyes landed on the third line, the blond female, who had been silent up until that very moment rose her hand in the air, halting me. “That’s enough.”
I must have blown it.
“Thanks for your time,” I said, turning on my heel to exit out the side door.
“Jace!” I heard my name, stopping me in my tracks. I doubled back to find all eyes on me, yet again.
“He’s unknown,” I heard the younger gentleman exclaim softly.
“He’s known all over the country. He’s a hero. He is our Fenton,” the Native American woman spoke with authority. “People are going to flock to see him in action, you know it, and I know it. Fate has a funny way of playing with emotions, but he is the reason I didn’t connect with any of the previous actors who auditioned for the role of Fenton.”
“He’s inexperienced. Are you serious?”
“As a heartbeat. Jace has experienced real life trauma; tragedy. He is going to be the selling point of the movie, not the script.” She approached me once again. I was looking between the lot of them, confused exactly what was being insinuated.
“Fenton who?” I asked, still unsure I was following.
“Jace, how would you like to be the star in the world’s next biggest phenomenon?”
Chapter 26: Damn Near Perfect
Since the day of my audition, it was like someone had pressed the fast forward button on my life. Everything was happening so quickly, I wasn’t sure I could keep up. Before I knew it, we had graduated, and in less than a week Peyton was to join Twisted Tour with her band. It was going to be difficult, being away from her for three months, but we had been through so much together, time was the least of my worries.
It didn’t take me more than a couple of minutes in the old church to decide that I was ready for a change; ready for a challenge. I had never heard of the Strategic Arms series before, but after I was casted as Fenton, I was urged to quickly go out and buy the books in which the movie was based. I wasn’t a big reader so Peyton quickly agreed to read the books with me—give me more incentive.
As it turned out, the Strategic Arms series was a young adult sci-fi and fantasy series which had quickly gained traction amongst its readers and in its genre. Nearly a million readers had sunk their teeth into it before the film rights were optioned. The character I had been casted for, Fenton, was the main male lead. He was in charge of the Liberators and a hard ass. I liked that he was so different from me, daring and dangerous.
Because the romance was a big part of the script, they had to find the perfect female lead who had undeniable chemistry with me. It was not an easy process. With less than a few weeks until filming began, the casting directors had still not found a perfect fit. I wondered if they would postpone filming if they couldn’t find her.
I had been given my script almost immediately and Peyton had been amazing enough to do a few run-throughs with me before she had to leave. She wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about the kissing scenes, but she understood it was simply acting.
Eli was dumbfounded that out of the thousands who auditioned, I was chosen. He said it was as if they had found a needle in a haystack. I couldn’t say I disagreed, but I was excited for the opportunity that awaited me.
“I don’t want to go…” Peyton murmured from beside me on my new bed inside my new apartment. She had been helping me run lines and dropped the script onto the bedspread.
“I don’t want you to go,” I replied honestly, pulling her in closer.
“God Jace, so much is happening…so much has already happened.” She was lying on her back, my arm behind her head, looking up at the ceiling.
“I bet you couldn’t have predicted any of this two years ago.” I glanced over at her, taking in her beauty. Her hair cascaded over her shoulders and chest and her hazel eyes sparkled. Her lips were full and round. I just wanted to kiss her until I couldn’t kiss her anymore.
She shook her head no. “I wasn’t expecting you. You surprised me.”
I broke into a wide grin. “I tend to have that effect on the female population.”
“Hey!” She hit me playfully.
I chuckled, reveling in what would be some of our last moments together.
“I’m really going to miss you, ya know.” My facial expression turned serious. Although I wasn’t looking forward to being apart for three months, I was excited for Peyton. She had worked so hard for this.
“I’m going to miss you more,” she said, nuzzling her face into my chest.
“Not possible.” I poked her in the side, causing her to tense up.
She sat up quickly, looking down at me. “Do you think we can survive this?”
At first I thought she was still joking, but one look into her worried eyes, and I knew she was having doubts. “How could you ever ask that after how much we’ve been through?” I sat up so we were now on the same eye level.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged, looking down into her lap. “Three months is a long time. You’re going to be surrounded by pretty girls and I’m going to be following my dream. What if we aren’t the same at the end of it all?”
“We probably won’t be. But, I’m going to need you to keep me grounded—to remind me where I came from.”
She sighed, obviously still bothered.
“I professed my love to you on national television…that has to count for something right?” When I saw the corners of her lips curling up into a smile, I knew I had chosen the right thing to say. “You still going t
o be my date for the premiere?” Valor, the movie I had been casted in wouldn’t even be in theatres for another year, but I liked to plan ahead.
“You really don’t think anything is going to change?” Her eyes still held worry behind them.
“I never said that…” I paused, attempting to find the right words. “You want to tell me what is really bothering you?”
“I just don’t know what you are going to see in me once you get a taste of the perfect girls from Hollywood.”
I scrunched up my nose, making an equally entertaining facial expression. “When have I ever wanted perfection?”
It was as if I had said the right words yet again. Peyton let out a long breath of air it appeared she had been holding in.
“Everything in Hollywood is fake—it’s all a joke of perfection as you would say. You have always been the realest thing in my life. I love you, Peyton Renee Lane.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck quickly. “You’re perfect. You’ll fit in wonderfully.”
I couldn’t help but scoff at her statement. “I’m far from perfect and you know that. Now come here.” I shifted our bodies so I was now on top of her, staring into her eyes deeply. I ran my fingers lightly over her eyebrows.
“I love your eyebrows—they’re always the first thing to give you away if you’re lying.” I kissed them each, one by one, tracing my finger across them after.
I moved my finger to her nose, slightly running it across the length. “I love your nose, it’s the first thing to smell trouble.”
Peyton began squirming underneath me, giggling softly. “What are you doing?”
“I’m showing you that anyone can be perfect in someone else’s eyes.” I moved my fingers down to her cheeks, trailing the back of my fingertips across it. “I love your smile. You have the most incredible pair of dimples that only shows when you’re undeniably happy.
“Like now?” she asked, smiling big and bright.
“Like now.” I kissed each cheek delicately, moving my lips dangerously close to hers.
She moved her head in an attempt to catch my lips, but I pulled away slightly, shaking my finger in front of her eyes. “Not yet.”
“I love your chin.” I traced my fingers across it seductively. “There is something incredibly sexy about it.” I kissed the middle of her chin then lightly traced her jawline with my mouth.
“Oh, just shut up and kiss me already!” Peyton grabbed my face in her hands and roughly smashed her lips against mine. When I finally kissed her back, I could feel her moan in my mouth, her body melting further into my bed. Our lips were in the ultimate wrestling match as she lightly bit my bottom lip, sucking it softly, turning me on like none other.
Her lips were eager for mine, and mine were eager for hers. Our hearts were beating wildly, in unison. I pulled away quickly, grabbing Peyton’s hand and pressing it against my chest. In turn, I pressed my palm against hers.
“What are you doing?” she asked breathlessly.
“Do you feel that?”
She nodded, still attempting to regain control of her breathing. “You’re a part of me Peyton. You have been since the day I found you.”
“I used to dream of the perfect boyfriend. I used to wish on countless stars for him. And then you showed up and changed my life forever. You weren’t perfect—you were so much more than that. You were made for me.” I kissed her hungrily then, without even knowing if she was finished. I always knew I wanted Peyton—longed for her, but she didn’t express her side of the story as often. It was nice to hear that I had made such a profound impact on her. She was my best friend, my lover, my life saver. No one could ever compare.
* * *
It wasn’t long before the casting directors for Valor found my match. Her name was Angelica Frost, and although she wasn’t exactly a novice, she wasn’t widely known either. I knew from the moment I heard her speak the first lines from her character, Trinity, that she was it. There was something about her, and while we had amazing chemistry, I could tell right off the bat we were going to be fast friends.
Peyton left for Twisted Tour and made sure to check in every couple of days. We would exchange our crazy stories about the lives we couldn’t believe we were living and spend even more time counting down the days until we would be reunited. Her band had been doing so well at the Up & Comers stage that the founder of the tour had already made plans to invite A Change in Time back the next year, to a bigger stage. Everything was falling into place in each of our lives separately, I found myself thinking back on her question, ‘How will we survive this?’ Every day that we delved deeper into our passions, every day we were separated a little bit more.
I couldn’t wait until we were back in each other’s lives on the regular. I knew it wouldn’t be long after we wrapped filming for Valor that the previews would begin to air. Things in my life were beginning to spiral at an obnoxiously fast rate…and for the first time, it was all positive. It was difficult to think of all that I had to endure the last two years to end up where I was today. I missed my mother with every fiber of my being. I could only hope she was watching from above, smiling down on me. Even with all of the mistakes I had made, I had no doubt in my mind that she would be proud of me.
Although I had lost my passion for life when I had met Peyton, she had reintroduced me to it. She was who I had to thank for getting me into acting. She was who I had to thank for giving me a reason to wake up every morning and try to be a better person. People had never understood my immediate attraction to her—but I had with every ounce of my being. I was drawn to her like a moth to a flame. And while I didn’t know exactly what the future held for us, I knew that I wanted her in my life, and I was going to do everything in my power to keep her in it.
Epilogue
Even though he tried to convince me otherwise, multiple times, I never fully felt like I was enough for Jace. Even after he saved my life multiple times, chose my life over his brother, and tackled a gunman…I still had my doubts. He was as close to perfect as I had ever come, and I still pinched myself daily, trying to convince myself it wasn’t all a dream. What took me forever to realize was, he wasn’t perfect. Not even close to it. It was a deceiving illusion. But one thing I was positive of? He was perfect for me.
Chapter Three
The Road Back to Us
The Road Back to Us
A Foundation Novel
By: Kira Adams
The Foundation Series
Pieces of Me
The Fighter
The Road Back to Us
Copyright © 2015 Krista Pakseresht. All rights reserved.
Cover design © Hilda at Dalliance Designs
Edited by Joanne LaRe Thompson
http://kristakakes.blogspot.com
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http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7179367.Kira_Adams
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons or events is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes only.
Table of Contents
Copyright
One – I Knew My Worth, and it wasn’t Some Half-Assed Relationship with a Movie Star
Two – I Let My Career and Fame Get in the Way, and I Lost the Love of My Life
Three – I’m Not a Home Wrecker
Four – What Happened to Us Against the World?
Five – I Feel Like I’ve Just Gotten out of the Boxing Ring; More Battered and Broken than When I Walked in
Six – It Felt Like Someone Reaching into My Chest and Squeezing the Life out of Me
Seven – Anything I Say Can and Will be Used Against Me
Eight – Every Cell in My Body is Telling Me
to Pull Her into Me and Never Let Go
Nine – I am Going to Chop Him Up in Tiny Pieces and Scatter Them so that No One Can Ever Piece Him Back Together Again
Ten – I Don’t Want to Exist in a World Where We Aren’t Together
Eleven – For a While there, I Had Forgotten What it Felt Like to be Looked at from those Eyes
Twelve – I Feel Like Someone is Clawing at My Brain, Their Fingernails Getting Stuck in the Flesh
Thirteen – Jace Could Say Unicorns Fart Rainbows, and all the Women and Girls in the Audience Would Still be in Awe and Fascinated with Him
Fourteen – Somehow, I Managed to Turn the Scandal of the Year into the Love Story of the Year