Disclaimer: I don't own this actors, obviously. I am working of what is said in various interviews. Whether or not Jackson and Ashley are dating is not determined by what is said in this fanfic. Thanks.
A/N: THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS AND STORY ALERTS! I'm glad everyone likes this as much as I do. This chapter is in ASHLEY GREENE'S POINT OF VIEW. There is no Jackson in it. Sorry! I will not be going backwards, highlighting various points in the fabricated relationship. Next chapter will be their first meeting. You know what that means! Swing dancing lessons! Woo! Stay tuned. I am going away for ten days, so I won't update ASAP. Next update will be after June 30th. Enjoy Eclipse, everyone.
Highly recommended that you listen to the song below while reading this. Just sayin'.
Let's go Surfin'
By The Drums
It all started after I landed the role. I had been on the phone with Kellan, lying on my stomach on my bed in my craptastic apartment as I flipped through the latest Seventeen. I heard my roommate blasting Christina Aguilera in the next room and ducked my head as if being closer to the ground would stop the walls from reverberating the bass of Beautiful and Lady Marmalade.
I hadn't really been paying attention, which I'm sure he figured out. "And then aliens burst into the room and they were all, 'we'll exchange your safety for a steamy three—'"
"I'm listening, Kellan," I grunted back and he laughed. I relaxed a little and pulled my cell phone from my ear, staring at the screen. I could've sworn I heard a click-in. I sighed and hopped off the bed, slipping on some worn-out ballet flats and grabbing my sunglasses, handbag, and keys before leaving the apartment.
"I don't get why you're so nervous," he continued to not make me feel any better no matter how hard he tried. Nothing against Kellan, but I was nervous and I'm sure no one would get me out of this solitary bubble until I got the call.
"Says the guy who already got the damn role," I grumbled, going down the last few steps of the pretty rundown apartment that was the most I could afford—I spent money on more important things like a laptop and coffee. I opened the front doors and shuffled to the curb, looking both ways before jaywalking my way across the street to Starbucks.
"I'm sure you'll get the call any second. You had five callbacks. Unless they're cruel, I'm pretty sure you got the part. Try and relax." That was true: they had called me back five times. I had auditioned for Bella, but when they said I didn't land that role, I had given up. That is until I got a call from my agent telling me that they wanted to see me again for another reading for a different role: Alice Cullen.
I had read Twilight and New Moon, but was in the process of the third book in the series. I felt a better connection to Alice regardless: our fashionista personalities meshed, not to mention the connection to her family. The consumed and silent romance with that Jasper character would be a stretch seeing as the most romance I had was my high school sweetheart, who had me pay for all of prom night. How romantic!
"Where are you right now?" I heard Kellan ask just as I opened the door to the local Starbucks allowing the thick aroma of coffee to consume me.
"Where do you think?" I asked with a smile as I heard him laugh. Where else did I go when I was nervous, happy, upset, or just bored? He knew me well enough to know that I needed a caffeine fix to calm my nerves.
"Of course," he answered. "Want me to meet you there?"
"Sure, if you want," I said, my eyes skimming over the menu hanging above the kitchen. I had memorized this years ago.
"Alright, I'll see you in—" Kellan began, but suddenly my mind clicked back to the present.
"Oh wait!" I interrupted him, loud enough to turn some heads. Flushing, I lowered my voice. "I have work in a half hour so…" My voice trailed off as I let a few other people in front of me to order as I waited for Kellan to think of a solution.
"I'll meet you after, when do you get off?" he asked and I glanced at the time on my phone. When did I get off? Was I working double today? I couldn't remember. My mind had been elsewhere. "How about we meet tomorrow?" he asked after I hesitated. I could hear the smile in his voice. I sighed and nodded before answering audibly.
"Yeah, I'll call you back," I said, getting back into the line that had since thinned out.
"Good luck!" he said and I sighed, my breath shaking.
"Thanks, talk to you later."
"Venti mocha frappuccino no whip?" I ordered once up to the counter. I nervously bounced on the balls of my feet. Kellan was already cast as my hopeful role's brother. He was perfect for the role—not that I'm biased or anything—but that worried me. If they had cast him so well, then maybe my height difference was going to work against me.
I moved toward the serving counter as I toyed with the straw I had picked up. Alice was 4'11" and I'm definitely not that short. Who is? Who knows, maybe they found an actress that was the spitting image of the director's vision of Alice. Then again, maybe I still had a shot. I glanced at my phone anxiously awaiting the phone call. Still nothing.
"Thanks!" I took the drink and was on my way out the door and to the Marriott Hotel for my unknown shift.
I let my mind completely psych me out and convinced myself that I was once again unsuccessful in getting the part on my way to work. I would have to go back to modeling or something… Maybe I would move back home. No, that was not going to happen. I knew what I wanted and acting was it. I would make this work.
I sat at the desk, taking my job as the hostess completely professionally. I crossed my legs and cracked open Eclipse, beginning at Chapter 13, Jasper's past. I smiled as my mind wandered and I absently pictured myself portraying the mystery man's bubbly wife. The actor would have blonde unruly hair, southern twang, and a devastatingly irresistible bad guy façade—or at least in my mind. I bit my lip, tucking one of my legs underneath me as I kept reading.
"Could you at least act like your doing something?" I heard the familiar disproving voice of my boss approach the desk and I looked up to meet his eyes.
"Whoops," I said with a smile.
"What's up with these books anyway? My girlfriend can't put them down," he said, leaning over the desk to take a look at the book, turning it over in his hands.
"Vampire romance novel," I summarized quickly, reaching my hands out, wanting to finish the chapter and my fantasy.
"Don't they sparkle or something?" he asked with a smirk. I smiled guiltily before he held the book up and narrowed his eyes. "Pretend like you're doing something productive, please," he repeated and I nodded, eagerly opening my hands for the book again.
When he walked away, I cracked open the book and delved back into the back-story of the tortured Jasper Hale. I was so consumed that I hadn't realized my phone vibrating next to me. I picked it up, not thinking twice of whom it would be, just wanting to keep reading.
"Hello?" I asked, ducking my head a little lower behind the high-top desk.
"Congratulations," I heard the familiar voice of my manager, though this time the voice was upbeat—something I hadn't heard before. "You nailed it." My headshot up, eyes wide.
"You're kidding me! What?" I squealed, earning a few stares from passersby in the elaborately decorated lobby. Did my voice echo? Uh-oh.
"Ashley," here came my boss again. "Phone down."
"You got the role of Alice in that Twilight thing you did. I'm e-mailing you the details and the script will be yours in a few days. I booked your plane to Portland, filming starts in…"
My head was buzzing as I tried to grasp everything she was saying. I got the role? Details? E-mails? Plane ticket? Yep, seems like you got the role…
"Ashley!" my boss hissed and I looked up at him a grin plastered on my face, suddenly getting painful, but my happiness numbed the discomfort. "You know better than to have personal calls during work. My office, now."
"I quit." The words left my lips before my brain could process it. What if this only lasted one movie? What if this didn't jumpstart my career? But what if it did! I could get any other job if this didn't work out, but right now I just quit my job. There will be others out there, right? Who cares!
"Excuse me?" My boss asked as I stood up and packed up my belongings, putting my book, keys, wallet, and other knickknacks in my handbag before looking around my desk. I heard my agent continue to gab about what she would be sending me and when, but didn't pay attention.
Finally looking back up at my boss, I sighed with euphoric relief. "I quit!" I said giddily. "I'm going to be an actress," I said with a confident grin as I brushed past him. I thought I heard him mumble something along the lines of, "dream big," but was too excited to care. Practically dancing out of the Marriott Hotel, I headed home to pack for my trip.
I blasted Kings of Leon and danced around the apartment. I called my parents back home in Jacksonville, Florida, proud of myself that I could finally prove that my decision to move to LA was worth it. I told my roommates; I was relieved that I would be moving away. I told them to look for a new roommate and that I wouldn't be coming back. I called a few high school friends, who all gabbed about how much they loved the books and were going to look at the cast online after I hung up.
Now I was on the phone with Kellan. He had begun with 'I told you so' remarks, but I didn't pay attention, too excited to get annoyed. I went to my laptop and while I waited for the details to reach my e-mail, I searched for the cast list that was circling the Internet.
"Nikki Reed? Whoa, All-Star cast," I said, scrolling down to see modeling pictures of Kellan and photo shopped pictures of Nikki and Kellan together.
"Yeah, Peter Facinelli and Elizabeth Reaser, have you seen the rest?" Kellan was on the other line, surfing with me. We were both curious as to whom we'd be working with. For us, any work was good work. We hadn't been in much and to see actors like Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Kristen Stewart, and Nikki Reed, I was excited.
"Rachelle Lefevre and Cam Gigandet? No way!" I grinned. They all fit the characters I had imagined. This casting director was amazing. I felt a little better, knowing that I would star with a great pool of actors.
"Hey, have you seen who plays Jasper yet?" I asked, absently flipping through different windows of IMDB pages.
"Yeah, he's an old family friend. Our parents know each other through church or something," Kellan said as my fingers tapped against the keyboard. "Jackson Rathbone."
That was my cue to Google. I quickly typed in his name and clicked on Images. "You're googling him right now, aren't you?" Kellan interrupted my search.
"Maybe…" My voice trailed off as the webpage loaded, covered in pictures of my onscreen hubby. Damn. Penetrating green eyes, unruly brown hair, crooked infectious smile.
"Dreamy, isn't he?" Kellan broke me from my silence. My answer was a sigh and he exploded into laughter. I didn't bother looking at his IMDB page as I continued staring at him. This would be fun…
"Single?" I asked more myself than Kellan as I googled random facts about him.
"Yes," Kellan answered with a laugh. "Isn't that the first thing they teach you: don't date someone you work with?"
"Who are you: my dad?" I answered back, not needing negativity to bum me out. I went to find videos of his work, wondering how he held himself: gesticulations, southern façade, and a sultry voice? God, I hope so.
"I'll leave you to being a stalker. See ya tomorrow, Ash," Kellan broke me out of my daze again and I mumbled some distracted goodbye before hanging up and getting back to work.
He was the leading man in a short-lived ABC Family series, Beautiful People. I watched a few clips of that, watching how he dipped his head, obviously uncomfortable in such a role. His voice was how I had hoped: a bit of southern drawl. I watched a few trailers of low budget horror movies he starred in and clips of him guest starring on television shows. Then I laughed as I saw Disney 411 on his resume.
His voice busted up half an octave, he grinned at the camera in a mock excitement as he interview the latest teen sensation. It was adorable.
I glanced at my phone as I got a text message. It read: "jaspers a QT! :P" I grinned and went back to my stalking. That he was…
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