Reality show

Author's Note: Hey! This is my first story, please give me any the feedback and critiques.

I woke up to the bright rays of sunlight penetrating through the window rubbing my eyes and squinting. I admired the blush pink and canary, merge in the sky creating a breathtaking scenic view from my window. A sense of excitement swept over me as I headed straight towards the window to be welcomed by fresh icy breeze. The steep ice coated mountains, their tips covered in a layer of pure white snow rest underneath the iridescent blue colours of the sky. The view was spotless, not a single cloud in the sky. I rushed to grab a warm and fuzzy sweatshirt and went into the living room to be greeted by my mum.

“I can’t believe I’m actually going! My career has escalated a huge amount!” I cheered hug my mum tightly. “I couldn’t have done it without”

“nonsense, everything you have done is by yourself. Look at you, growing so old.” I blushed a bright crimson and then went to get ready for the long journey to Los Angeles.

It was going to be a long journey from Chicago to LA, at least the longest one for me. I had read everything that I had to do to stay safe and I knew I was going to be fine.

“Bye honey!” My mum called as I stepped out of the house

“Bye mum!”

The curvy lanes were surrounded with millions of icy white branches poking out in all directions as the tires created a swirly line on the road. I had a 4-hour long flight and finally landed in Los Angeles where the weather had a drastic change into completely hot. It was finally time for my first ever screen test. I heard the soft clicks of my heels hitting the marble floor as I walk through the door the secretary told me. The walls were covered with grey and ivory wallpapers and motivational photography with silver frames. There were two small sections of offices across from each other and between them a small cubicle where a woman stood up to greet me. I felt a wave of anxiety hit me.

"Hi, welcome to the Cineworld. My name is Nicole Summers." She was a woman close to forties, short brown curly hair and somewhat overweight. She extended her hand toward me. "And you are?"

"My apologizes, I am Ashley Stone. But you can call me, Ashe." I shook her hand as gracefully as I could.

“Right this way Ma’am” Nicole gestured towards an open doorway which lead to a small theatre. There were three judges sitting very professionally. I shook hands with each one and my arms froze as I met the third judge. Our eyes locked and time stopped. It was Annie. My old friend. Her face just as astonished as mine. Everyone else in the room including Nicole looked very confused.

“do you know each other?” one of the judges asked.

“No.” Annie said.

“no…” I repeated with a sigh.

I was asked to do my screen test. It was very weird being judged by my ex-friend, but I think it went really well.

I sat in front of the bus depot alone. It was nearly midnight. Probably my fault I got a hotel so far away from the studio. The streetlamp nearby started flickering and I saw faint shadow of a girl coming towards me. She sat down next to me and then took of her hoddie. It was Annie.

“what. Are. You. Doing here!” she yelled in my face.

“It’s not my fault I came right to you! You never told me you moved from Chicago!” I replied.

“okay forget it. How long are you going to stay here?” She said a little more calmly. I could feel her anger burning inside of her and how hard she was trying to keep it in. I should’ve felt angry too the way she was acting, but I couldn’t. I felt pity instead. I felt pity for her. The fact that we were friends just proves I knew a lot about her. I even know that she had anger issues. I even knew that she couldn’t trust me anymore.

“if I get the part, I’ll be staying at least a year. If I don’t, I'm leaving within a week.”

“Okay, so all I have to do is say you did terrible. It has to be unanimous anyway right?” She said.

“no way Annie. I know you don’t like me but that doesn’t mean you do that. Tell the truth, I saw that expression on you when I was performing. You think I did good, didn’t you?”

“Fine! I did. I think the best till now. But. I think I have the right to do this after your betrayal!”

“HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU. It wasn’t a betrayal. I was framed. And you were told things against me and you believed them. After our amazing friendship, you believed some random people on the streets that I betrayed you.”

“for the last time Ashe, they had proof.”

A tear rolled down my cheek brushing my lips and dropping down on my dress.

“but Annie, you could’ve forgotten about it and we could’ve moved on”

“it wasn’t that easy Ashe. You sent me an abusive message; how could I forgive you?”

“but you didn’t even let me tell you the whole story!” I raged

“fine then. Tell it to me now”

“okay, I will.”

“remember Kevin?”

“yes, I do,” Annie said

“well Kevin wanted to play a prank on me, so he saw me typing in my password and later he got into it. HE sent that message to you.”

“Okay then, why were you secretly on my phone then?”

“because I wanted to delete that message before it got any worse.”

“wait. Are you REALLY telling the truth? I don’t know if I can believe you.”

“I swear to heaven’s sake, I’m not lying.”

Well, you were a very religious person, so maybe I can believe that.”

Both of us started giggling. Maybe all of our friendship wasn’t lost after all. Annie and I started getting along and we started hanging out again. It was fun - Just like old times.

All three of the judges (Including Annie) confirmed that I was going to play the main role and the movie ‘Reality show’. Honestly, this whole journey in LA for me was a reality show! Reuniting with my best friend. Perusing my dream job! It couldn't have gone any better.