I hope you enjoy this!
Chapter Two:
"Now pout!" the photographer shouted at Colin. "Gorgeous! Gorgeous! The camera just loves you darling!"
Colin flipped her hair and posed. Her mind really wasn't in the shoot. She knew she should consider herself lucky to have a modeling a career to fall back on if acting didn't work out, but deep down, she was just an insecure as the average woman about her body.
When she was young, her adoptive parents worried constantly about how skinny she was. Colin couldn't help how she simply couldn't seem to put weight on. Also because of her height, she was called a "bean-pole" in grammar school among other rude names. It was one of the reasons she wanted pursue acting was to avoid the teasing in conventional schooling.
She was called a "natural" and got a role in a commercial after two auditions when she was ten. After getting a walk-on role on the Disney channel when she was twelve, she then got bit roles until she became the "best friend" on a show for four years. Like other actors, she "graduated" to the CW at the age of eighteen where she got the lead role of a dorky college freshman. Since the show finished up, she'd been auditioning for a variety of roles.
"Water break!" the photographer shouted.
Colin grabbed a bottle and went to check her phone. Her agent Annie Bell had left a dozen messages for her to call. It could mean she got the part or Bell had lined up something better. She quickly dialed her number.
"All hail Lady Suprema!" Bell shouted. "Congratulations!"
Colin was in a public place, so she had to be careful about showing her reaction.
"That is great," she said.
"You are good at controlling your emotions," she said. "They're going to announce just ahead Comic-Con where you're going to make an appearance."
San Diego Comic-Con, the biggest the biggest comic book entertainment convention in the US, was in two three weeks.
"Cool," Colin said.
"You're going to be fabulous in the role," Bell said. "I just know it."
"Thanks," she said. "I've got to go."
"Enjoy your modeling session, because it going to be your last an agency model!"
"I will," she said. "Bye."
Colin hung up and walked back into the studio. Taking a deep breath, she remained cool and collected as she was jumping for joy on the inside.
…
The origin story of Lady Suprema was half Superman and half medieval melodrama. Melora Suprema was a shape-shifting princess on the alien planet Avalon. Betrothed to a cruel nobleman while in love with a commoner, she fled across the universe to live as a human. Not knowing she was pregnant, her child Rayla, grew up to be human as she had not been exposed to the elements of their home planet. When Melora, working as a Hollywood location scout, brings her college-bound daughter on one last trip, her would-be husband kills her, and Rayla's abilities activate. It was basically a space opera with the promise of sequels set on earth.
Having never read the comic until the role appeared on her radar, it was easy to see the emotional appeal of the role. Colin loved her adoptive parents dearly, but she wondered where she came from. She had a vague picture of a young blond-haired woman with blue eyes as described by her parents, but she only knew what her father might look like based on her own looks. He had to be tall with brown hair, and brown eyes, but she wondered if he had the same wavy locks as she did. Finding her birth parents was a quest she planned for one day the future. It the meantime, she needed to be a hero.
The comic was only ten years old, so there weren't too many variations of it. The character would eventually join a group of superheroines known as the Glories. Lady Suprema was the start of a whole new superhero universe and it promised to be the adventure of lifetime for Colin.
…
The following six weeks were a blur. Between strength training and cardio, Colin was doing publicity. Her "mother" was Hollywood icon Amanda Burst. The movie was already in the early stages of production and she would finally get in front of a camera in a couple weeks to play Lady Suprema.
The director, Sarah Kirsten, was all about practical effects. She wanted "real" reactions to everything. She purposely had them shoot parts of the most pivotal scene in Monument Valley, Utah, a park famous for appearing in dozens of movies.
Colin brought her assistant Mellissa along in the car while Burst rode in a separate car.
"There's a murderer on the loose around here," Mellissa said not looking up from her phone. "They're calling him the 'National Park Killer,' because of where he kills."
"As long as he's not on location, I'm not worried," Colin said as she stared out the window. The park was truly stunning. She couldn't wait to act in it.
Tents were set up in strategic locations for cooling purposes. Crew members were swarming everywhere. Arriving a few minutes early, Colin got out to explore.
She approached the edge of a small hill and looked over the edge. For a moment, she thought her heart stopped. Two men were at the base of the hill. One looked to be Hispanic while the other man was tall and had a mop of brown hair that was slightly unruly.
Colin believed in taking risks when she felt it was worth it. If she made a fool of herself, it wouldn't be the first time. She had to ask even if it was an impossible long shot.
Taking a deep breath for courage, she climbed down the hill.