“Everyone just relax! Let me go talk to them!” I said as I headed out to do just that.
Billy Delaney was one of the police officers.
“Hey, Billy, what can I do for you?” I asked.
“I have reports of teens peeing in the bushes. There wouldn’t happen to be underage drinking going on, would there?” he asked.
“You got it on the first try. What do I need to do to keep the football team out of jail?” I asked.
“Find everyone rides home. We’ll stay here and make sure no one who’s been drinking is driving.”
“Fair enough,” I said.
I told the band people what the deal was. They agreed to shut the party down and take care of the theater, dance and band people. The cheerleaders and football players were all drunk. I was going to need help, so I called my dad. I looked at my watch; it was only 9:30.
“Hey, Dad, I need some help. The police are at the band party, and several of the guys and cheerleaders have had a few and can’t drive home. Can you call some of the parents and see if they’ll help us with rides?”
“Have you been drinking?”
“No, sir. I have to go to Chicago tomorrow.”
Thirty minutes later, several parents showed up. The funny part was that everyone continued to drink while we waited. It got better when the booze finally caught up with them. Four drinks with teenagers almost always leads to puking. I couldn’t believe that I was holding Peggy’s hair. Normally I’d just join her because I have a weak stomach. Mom found me and started laughing.
“I guess Kyle toughened you up,” she said.
“I guess. Mom, you know Peggy,” I said as an introduction.
Mom just laughed when Peggy flipped me off. I helped her wash up and got her to my Jeep. Billy told me everyone that had been over-served was accounted for, and the police left. I was pissed at myself because last year’s team had had something similar happen. I would talk to everyone on Monday.
We arrived at the Pratt’s, and Peggy had fallen asleep on the ride home. Mrs. Pratt was watching TV when I walked in their front door.
“Hey, Peggy’s a little under the weather. I’m going to carry her upstairs. I need your help getting her ready for bed,” I said.
“Do I need to bring her water and aspirin?”
“She already puked, so she probably is a little dehydrated. Do you have any Gatorade?” I asked.
I went and got Peggy and carried her upstairs. She woke up enough to help her mom change her into a t-shirt. I was kicked out while she was changing. She took a couple of sips of Gatorade and rushed to the bathroom again. The poor girl was dry-heaving. I rubbed her back until she was done. I made her brush her teeth and take a couple of aspirin. She drank half a bottle of Gatorade. She seemed to be holding it down now, so I tucked her in. She was sound asleep before I turned off the light. I put her garbage can by the side of her bed, just in case.
Mrs. Pratt wanted details. I told her that Peggy was upset about some issues at home. I left unsaid what those problems were. I also told her about Peggy crying. She hugged me and sent me home.
Sunday October 12
KENDAL PICKED ME UP at seven. I made cinnamon rolls and brought Kendal coffee. I made myself hot tea and put it in a travel mug. I’d gotten hooked on the stuff when I went to the UK for the Range Sports photo shoot. Kendal handed me the script I would read for today’s audition. The working title was Star Academy. Lori Winnick had had a recent sci-fi hit in Disparate. She was playing the head of the academy in the film, and her character had a son named Roman. Kendal told me that they just sent the script to her. I think she really forgot to forward it to me.
I was reading for Roman. Even though there was no difference between royalty and commoners at the academy, Roman felt the difference. He was also a bit of a bad-boy ladies’ man. The part I was reading today was the seduction of Amelia. She was in Royal’s unit; Royal was the lead character. Roman would try to steal her away from Royal by seducing her.
The good news was there weren’t a lot of lines to learn. By the time we got to Chicago, I was ready to go.
WHEN WE GOT TO THE studio, I found myself seated in a hall with ten other actors. When the last two showed up, we were taken into a conference room, and a young-looking man came in.
“You’re all reading for the part of Roman. Does everyone have their script?”
One of the guys didn’t, so he gave one to him.
“You’ll be reading with Bree Steno, who’s going to be playing the part of Amelia. We’re going to do this in makeup and dress, and the audition will be videotaped. Please bring your own take to the scene. Be creative, and break a leg.”
With that, we all went to makeup and wardrobe. I watched what everyone else was doing. They were getting into futuristic-looking uniforms. Something I learned from my modeling camp in New York was that you had either to fit the part or do something different. I was the last one on the list, so I knew they would need something to jolt them into paying attention to me.
I decided to go with form-fitting shorts and t-shirt with the Star Academy logo on them. If I hadn’t been comfortable with my body, this outfit would have been a problem. I threw on a robe so the others couldn’t see what I planned to wear as I went to makeup. The other actors were going with all kinds of wild things, everything from eye patches to scars and spiked blue hair. I chose to have them just even out my skin tones and leave me as natural as possible.
It was going to be a couple of hours before I could do my scene, so I asked them if they had a gym. I went and worked out. When I came back, I found Kendal.
“You do know that outfit is almost transparent.”
“It got worse when I started to sweat. Is it too much?” I asked.
She had me turn around so she could check me from all angles. She looked a little flushed.
“Dang, I sometimes forget how good that bod looks.”
“Perfect, that was the response I was hoping to get. Can you check to see when I’m up while I go get a drink?”
She came rushing to get me.
“They’re ready,” she told me.
I followed her to the set. When I walked in, I looked around. They had a blue screen as the background and two cameras at fixed positions, and there was a cameraman with a handheld. There was a small round white table with two white chairs. I still had the towel around my neck from the workout. I just left it on. Something I’d learned to sell was sex, and I knew this looked good.
They had marks on the floor. The producer showed me where he wanted me to start, and they had it blocked off so that we wouldn’t get outside the boundaries. He then told me to get on my starting mark and they would call action and send in Amelia.
I stood so I was facing away from Amelia. I suspected that I knew who she was. I had met a Bree when I went to Stanford to see my mom during her cancer treatments. There had been a Bree who showed up at the restaurant for a photo op; she was in the vampire show that all the girls loved. I didn’t figure there were that many Brees. I wanted to surprise her when I turned around. I got set with one foot slightly raised to draw the eye to my lower half.
“Action!”
I heard Bree walk in. She stopped, and I let her look me over before I turned. I had a slight smile on my face and saw her react to me when she recognized me. It was the Bree I knew. She sat down at the table. I walked up to her, making her eye-level with my groin. She seemed to get a little nervous. I just smirked at her as I played up the role.
“So, you fancy yourself a big-game hunter?” she teased me.
I reached out and caressed her cheek to draw her eyes to mine.
“The chase is about feeling what your prey is feeling.”