I was nervous. More nervous than I had been in a long time. My aunt had done the stage design for many films for director, Francis Ford Coppola. Francis had taken a liking to me, always saying my fiery and passionate attitude would get me far in life. Now I was heading to watch the upcoming film, "Stand by me" in the making to help me further my education on film production. As a fifteen year old girl, I knew more about what I wanted to do with my life than most teenagers did. I wanted to teach film history. A college professor to be exact. My name is Jordan Maynes. Most people call me Jay though. I was born December 25, 1970. I've lived in northern California my whole life. A town a few miles outside of Lake Tahoe is where I had called home. Though my parents rented around wherever I needed to go when I would go on these trips to study like this one in the summer time. I'd lived a pretty generic life. My dad, Robert Maynes was part owner of a construction and electric company and my mom, Danielle Maynes was the business office manager at an insurance company. I had a little brother, Matthew Maynes, a cat named Elvis, and a dog named Willie Nelson. Both of my pets are named after the singers as you may have guessed. Life was never really all that hard. Sure, I'd had a few chores like any other kid. And sure I'd get a job every summer helping my dad dig ditches at my dad's work. But other than that, my hobbies included hunting, fishing, and camping. I was all about girl power, but I was no man hater if that's what you're thinking. My family was very conservative. And so was I. No one thought that I was conservative just because of my family. I had a mind of my own. I believed what I wanted to believe no matter how anyone else felt about it. Because I never believed in anything without a reason. I had always been able to accept other people's opinions that opposed my own with grace and understanding. It was one of my strong points. I was baptized Catholic. But found myself to feel just plain Christian. I believed in Jesus, I believed that God created the Heavens and the earth. I didn't believe in all the extra stuff that came with the specific religions. Though I was passionate about my very simple Christian beliefs. I never agreed with the way some religious people shoved their religion down other people's throats. I was a firm believer that everyone was entitled to their own opinion, whether you agreed with it or not.
"Mr. Reiner has sent me to bring you to him, Ms. Maynes." A perky blonde with her hair in a bun beamed. She seemed overly excited. But that was okay. I was overly excited to meet Rob Reiner. He was a great director. I'd read "The Body", the book which this new film was based off of and I knew Rob was just the right director for this film.
As I followed the blonde, I thought about the cast. Rumor had it Corey Feldman was in the film. And I had just adored him in "The Goonies". As we entered a sound stage, I saw meat head himself in the front row. I gulped hard. What had I ever done to deserve to meet a famous guy like that?
"Jordan! Come here! Come here! I've been so excited to meet you!" Rob Reiner… excited to meet me? I really wanted to know what I had done to deserve this now.
"Call me Jay, please. Y-you're exited to meet me?" I stuttered out. Get it together! I told myself. He's a person just like you! Rob met me half way, a smile plastered on his face.
"Yes! From what Francis says, you're definitely a girl worth meeting." Rob grinned towards me.
"Oh, really? What does he say?" I giggled nervously.
"Too much to tell. To cut it short, he says you're a fervent little thing about everything you do. We don't have many fifteen year olds like that." Rob complimented me. I just smiled. Frances was one of the nicest men I had ever met in my entire life. He gave me opportunities like this just because he knew it would help me in life. I always knew I'd be eternally grateful to the man.
"Come here, we'll be leaving for the set soon. We're meeting all the actors down there. Donald Southerland's son is in the film." My jaw dropped. THE Donald Southerland?! How much crazier could life even get? I was a very blessed kid to say the least.
"Okay Mr. Reiner. I'll be taking notes on what I see out of the actors and directing and screenplay and setting and all that jazz if that's okay." Rob nodded and led me out to a White Cadillac.
After pulling into a woodsy area, Rob got out of the car. I took the hint and got out myself.
"This is Jerry O'Connell, he'll be playing Vern." Rob said after we made it to a certain part of the area where a camera crew was set up. I looked up to see a pudgy kid who was eleven or so. He had brown hair and light blue eyes.
"Hi there! You're Jordan, right? I've heard all about you. You're like a family or something to Frances Ford Coppola, didn't you say that, Rob?" Jerry babbled. Jerry was like the character of Vern even in real life. He was gonna make a great friend, I thought to myself. I gave him a friendly smile, making him turn a light shade of pink.
"Over there is Corey Feldman. He's playing Teddy Duchamp. You probably know him from-"
"The Goonies! I heard a rumor he was gonna be in this movie!" I said excitedly. Rob laughed at my enthusiasm. He was such a nice guy. I already knew this was going to be an unforgettable time.
"Over at the food table is Wil Wheaton, he's playing Gordie." Rob informed.
"Oh and that's River Phoenix." He pointed to the boy leaning against a tree house. He was cute. He had a buzz cut and a really nice tan. He was a looker alright.
"They're all good boys. Don't be afraid to talk to them." Rob said before walking away. I gulped, these were the big times. Jerry smiled at me.
"Let me introduce you to the other boys. He said, starting to walk. I quickly followed, eager to meet them. We first walked up to Wil. Jerry tapped him on the shoulder.
"Morning Jerry." Wil said before taking another bite of his doughnut. Jerry pointed at me. Wil's eyes widened.
"You're that girl Rob was telling us about, aren't you? I'm Wil." He stuck his hand out for me to shake. I took it gladly, smiling at him. He blushed just the way Jerry had. Why were they blushing?
"Let's go meet Corey, okay Jordan?" Wil said to me, we made our way over to Corey, who was practicing his lines 'A pile of shit has a thousand eyes' I thought I heard him mumble, followed by a laugh. Wil called him, interrupting his lines. Corey turned and glared at Wil and Jerry, I stood behind them.
"Could you not see I was practicing my lines? Script in hand!" Corey waved the thick stack of stapled papers around irritably. I stepped forward and waved at Corey. Jerry spoke up.
"This Jordan. Oh wait, do you prefer Jordan or something else?" Jerry turned to me. I nodded my head, like I said earlier, I preferred to be called Jay. I used to get told that my parents really wanted a boy so they named me Jordan, a boy's name. The sad part was, when I asked my mom if she wanted a boy or a girl, she said she had wanted a boy.
"I go by Jay. Spelled, J-A-Y." I smiled at all of them.
"I'm Corey." I grinned happily. I stuck my hand out for him to shake, he shook it almost too quickly. I arched an eyebrow.
"Alright, let's take her to go meet River." Corey said. We made our way over to the tree house where River still stood. He was very concentrated on his work. He didn't even seem to hear Wil call his name. Corey snatched River's script from him.
"We have someone we want you to meet, River." Jerry said to him. River looked up finally, revealing a pair of gorgeous green eyes. It took me a second to get a hold of myself. He was… beautiful. One of the most gorgeous people I had ever seen in my life.
"This is Jordan. The one Rob was telling us about yesterday. She likes to be called Jay though." Corey introduced me. River eyed me for a moment, looking me up and down. He read my teal shirt. Two rifles were on it and the shirt read "Hunt like a girl". He stared at me for a moment before snatching his script back from Wil and looking down at it, not saying a word. My jaw dropped. What an ass hole. The boys and I began to walk away at the same time.
"What a fucking dick." I spat, not caring if he heard. What a waste of good looks. The boys almost looked scared of me.
"What, never seen a girl with a foul mouth?" I laughed. They looked absolutely shocked. Geez, they should meet my grandmother if they think my mouth is bad, I thought to myself.
"Sorry… you're just kind of a bad ass…." Wil murmured. I laughed a bit. It wasn't the first time I'd gotten that. I considered it a compliment. If you thought I was gonna grow up to be a stay at home mom who had dinner ready for her husband as soon as he got home, you were dead wrong.
"Why, because I hunt? Or because I talk the way I want to?" I asked. They looked at me in awe.
"B-both." Jerry gulped. I just laughed.
It was lunch time now and my mom had packed me a lunch. I was given a bag of chips, beef jerky, a pear, and left over pulled pork from the dinner the night before.
"Jay that smells really good. Did your dad make that or something?" Corey asked. We were all sat at a picnic table that was painted green. Including River. I looked at Corey.
"Yeah it's pulled pork It's from the hog I killed about two weeks ago." I replied, earning a disgusted look from River. I glared at him. I seriously wanted to know what his problem was.
"Can I try some Jay?" Wil asked. I smiled and nodded, handing him the other half of the sandwich. As soon as his teeth sank into the French bread, he shut his eyes.
"Jay that's one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted in my life." Wil said, taking another bite.
"Hey do you think I could.." Wil pointed to the sandwhich. I nodded, letting out a breathy laugh.
"Hey can we try some Wil?" Jerry asked. Wil nodded and passed the sandwich to Jerry. Jerry quickly bit into the sandwich. He gave me a thumbs up before taking another bite.
"Leave some for me!" Corey snatched the sandwich away from Jerry and gulped down a bite.
"I'll bring you each a sandwich tomorrow if you want. We have plenty of meat left. That is if you guys want it." They all nodded their heads furiously, making me laugh. River glared at me.
"I'm sure the hog was just as enthusiastic when you murdered it." River rolled his eyes. I scoffed.
"Ever heard of animal population balance?" I snapped. His eyes widened, then narrowed. This was going to be a show down. We both knew it.
"Ever heard of animal cruelty?" He fired back. I growled under my breath. This was pissing me off now.
"Ever heard of a difference in opinion and or lifestyle?" He was taken aback by this. I arched an eyebrow. How'd he like me now? I looked away from him and took another bite of my sandwich, ignoring him the rest of the lunch time. In fact I didn't say another word to any of them.
"Thank you for the ride home Mr. Reiner." I smiled. He chuckled before telling me it was okay to call him Rob and drove away. I walked up my driveway and into the house. My mom was doing work at the computer and my dad was playing catch with my little brother.
"Hey, how was it? Was it interesting? Let's see the notes you took!" my mom said excitedly. She was always just as excited as me when I got these opportunities.
"I didn't take very many, mom. They were mostly working on lighting for a scene in this tree house in a secluded woodsy area. No acting today." She smiled, but didn't answer. She just went back to her work. I went down the hall and to my bedroom. Today had been so long, but I still wanted to go back the next day to watch them sound test for what would work in the tree house. I put my face into the cool sheeted pillow that laid on my bed.
"Jay! It's for you!" I heard my mom yell from the dining room.
"Tell whoever it is to call my line!" I groaned. I hated it when my friends called my regular home phone. If I was going to talk to you then I wanted to talk to you in the privacy of my room, not in front of my whole family like some sort of free show. I heard my mom recite my number to whoever was on the other end of the line. Who was calling me? All my other friends had my phone number in their phone books, that is if they didn't know it by heart. My phone line started to ring. I lifted my face off my pillow and grabbed it quickly off the nightstand.
"Hello?" I said trying not to sound annoyed.
River- Hey there
Jay- Is this River?
River- It very much is.
Jay- Why are you calling me? Wait how'd you even get my number?
River- Your mother just gave it to me a second ago.
Jay- Well how'd you get my home number?
River- You don't need to know.
Jay- Whatever River. I have to go, b-
River- No, wait! Please! Um… what are you doing?
Jay- What do you have up your sleeve? Why am I on the phone with you?
River- Because I called you.
Jay- You're pissing me off and I'm going to hang up on you.
River- NO! Um… I just wanted to call and say I'm sorry for being rude.
Jay- Gee, thank you. I'll take that oh so sincere apology to heart.
River- I'm serious… My parents are disappointed in me. They are rarely ever disappointed in me. I realize I was terribly rude to you and I feel awful. They want you to come over for dinner, maybe tomorrow night.
Jay- No offense but I kind of hate you.
River- And that's okay. My parents are staying in some sort of time share thing in the next town over, my mom will take us over and my mom will drive you home.
Jay- I.. fine. I'll come. But I still hate you.
River- And that's still okay. I'll see you tomorrow, darling.
And with that he hung up. Wait, did he call me darling?