"Hi." Jeyne waved as she walked into the meeting room to find only a few people inside. Tyrion Lannister, the director, sat at the head of a long table. Though short and ugly, he had a lot of cleverness and a wicked sense of humor.
"Good to see you made it on time." Mr. Lannister grinned. "Perhaps your co-stars should start sleeping on rocks."
Jeyne paused for a minute until she realized he was referring to Casterly Rock, the noisiest city west of the Trident. She giggled as she took her seat. A small name bar rested in front of her, displaying both her name and her character's name, Petunia.
Margaery, Robb, and Jon came in together, laughing probably at some joke one of the told in hall. It made Jeyne feel a little out of place to see them having fun without her, but she smiled anyway and greeted them. A little later on, the other actors trickled in one by one and the reading started.
The film began with Margaery, speaking as Jonquil form the future, narrating her character's backstory and talking about her friendship with the other maidens. It then moved to a scene with Florian and his dying father, to Septon Garon (played by Piper) having an argument with Lord Mooren (played by Blackwood). Then came Jeyne's turn, dialogue with the other girls about true love and true knights. Her accent had steadily improved, but it was unlikely to fool a native Riverlander. After four hours of reading through the script, critiquing their own and each other's performances, and messing around with possible improvisations, the read-through finished on a high note.
"Let commemorate it with a group picture." Margaery suggested. The whole cast swept behind Mr. Lannister's chair and posed. Jeyne was squished between Jon and Jyzene, but she couldn't help but grin widely. Shae and some crew members took pictures on their cell phones.
"I'm uploading this to instagram." Shae declared proudly.
Jeyne did her best not to wince and squirm as the costume designer put the finishing touches on her dress for the climax. The last few weeks had Jeyne sprinting back and forth between her costume fittings, out-of-costume rehearsals, light tests, sound tests, meetings with the director and producer, in-costume photo-shoots, public appearances and interviews. All this work and she hadn't yet done a single scene.
Pia Butterworth, the head costume designer, fixed the final accessories into place. "There, you look marvelous, if I say so myself." Petunia's final outfit had been one of the hardest pieces because it had to look equal parts sinister and tragic. "You have just the right face for this role. You look so innocent, like the babysitter people gladly leave their children with. Your job is to make them feel sorry for you, but also feel uncomfortable that they feel sorry for you."
"Wow Pia, this is amazing." Jeyne smiled.
"Now we just have to get you photographed for Mr. Lannister's final approval. Then we'll have copies made and dressed down for the fight scenes."
Jeyne nodded and followed Pia out of the dressing. Then Pia left her along to take of the other actors. The photographer examined every nook and cranny, from her shoes to her hair, all 360 degrees. By the time she was finished, Pia had returned to take her back to her dressing room.
"Alright, let's get you out of that thing." Pia smiled. Her assistants carefully shimmed Jeyne out the voluminous magenta fabric, metal wiring, and countless little trinkets. Afterwards, the make-up artist cleaned off her costume look and brushed on average, everyday make-up and undid her hair. She changed back into the new bright yellow sundress Leslyn had insisted on getting her.
On the way out, she passed Jon coming out of his dressing room wearing a costume purposefully weathered down to look torn and dirty. It must have been for one of the fight scenes.
"Jeyne, you're done?" Jon stated.
She nodded, "I was just heading out. I guess I'll see you at the hotel."
"Sure. Have a nice day." Jon chirped. "Actually, wait." Jeyne paused. "There's a party down by the Hook tonight. Do you want to come? As friends, of course."
"Yeah, that sounds great." Jeyne smiled a bit nervously. "What time?"
"Party starts at eleven."
Jeyne flinched. Most parties she attended ended at eleven. "Oh."
"Its fine if you don't want to come."
"Yeah, I've just got…stuff."
Jon shrugged, "I totally get it. See you later."
"Bye." Jeyne said lamely. She was eighteen, working, and alone in the big city with celebrities wanting to hang out with her. Why had she turned down Jon's offer? Going to late-night parties was what normal teenagers did, wasn't it?
As Jeyne exited the building, she ran into a tall, stunning redhead.
"My bad." The girl said, "I wasn't watching where I was going."
"Don't worry. I was distracted too."
"You know where I might find Robb Stark and Jon Snow? They're my brothers."
"Your…oh, you must be Sansa. I'm Jeyne. Yeah, I'm pretty sure they're right down there" She pointed down the corridor, "on your left."
Sansa Stark shook her hand, "Thanks. And it's a pleasure to meet you Jeyne."
"The pleasure's all mine."
Sansa flashed her a smile full of bright, white teeth, waved, and made her way down the corridor. Jeyne bit her lip watching her walk on in her emerald-green silk blouse and slim black slacks. Sansa Stark moved like a supermodel, confidant and graceful, her long copper braid swaying with each step. And Jeyne felt crushingly ordinary in comparison.
That evening, after calling to check in on her family (apparently Uncle Rolph really missed her; who would have thought?), Jeyne decided to take a chance. She slipped into a tiny red dress she'd never had the nerve to put on, applied generous amounts of make-up and flat-ironed out her wavy hair. Her nicest shoes, silver 4-inch heels, pinched like hell, but that was the price of looking good. She was a stunner.
Standing in front of the mirror, Jeyne worked up the courage to step outside the door and onto the boulevard, turning heads as she sashayed to the Hook.
Only...she couldn't. 'You're nothing but a big joke.' Sybell's voice rang in Jeyne's head as she bitterly kicked off her heels and tore off her jewelry. 'You don't even know where the Hook is. Do you seriously think anyone would look twice at you?' The moment had passed, Jeyne the Stunner was gone, and the shy wallflower from the Crag had taken her place. She tried not to cry as she removed her make up.
A knock at the door broke her out of her dark thoughts. Helly stood at the door wearing stripped blue pajamas, a large, half-eaten bowl of popcorn in her hand. "Margie's having a girl's night in her room. Wanna come?"
"Yeah." Jeyne answered without thinking, "Just give me a minute to change."
"Were you going out?" Helly raised an eyebrow at Jeyne's risque red dress.
She blushed, "Not anymore. Its nothing. I'll be there in a minute." Jeyne dashed inside and threw on her favorite white cotton pajamas and bunny slippers.
"Let's go." Helly chirped, practically dragging Jeyne down the hallway to the elevator, the both of them giggling.
Margaery stayed in a luxurious suite on the twenty-third floor, overlooking the above-ground-floor pool. "Finally." she cried as Leslyn let Jeyne and Helly in. "Helly, you ate all the popcorn again!"
"I'll make some more. We've got plenty." Helly waved off her complaint and went to the kitchenette for more snacks.
"Jeyne, over here." Cass waved from the couch. The couch had been pulled over to rest at the foot of the bed. Jeyne flopped onto the couch next to her. "Did you do something to your hair?"
"I though I'd try straightening it out."
"Well don't." Jyzene put in, "I know girls who would kill for your curls."
"Okay," Margaery held up two DVDs, "Age of Existence or The Worst of Me?"
"The Worst of Me! Gaerys Ternesio was so hot in it." Leslyn squealed.
Jyzene threw a pillow at her, "No way. You know I hate those cheesy foreign films."
"More than a Mycheal Baye film?" Leslyn countered.
"Both those movies suck." Cass made a face, "Don't you have anything else Margie?"
"Just Young Wolf. Do you think Robb'll mind?" Margaery raised an eyebrow.
Cass shrugged, "He's not here is he? Put it on."
The girl huddled around the flat screen television, watching Robb's first major movie. The protagonist, the heir to frozen wasteland, fought to avenge his father, but suffered betrayal that cost him his life. He'd filmed it when he was just fourteen, though he'd had minor roles in other works beforehand. Around the same time as the movie premier, the Starks had adopted Jon Snow, then a sullen thirteen-year old who'd been shuffled from foster home to foster home. It wasn't long before Jon joined his new brother in stardom. If Sybell and Gawen had let Jeyne audition for television and movie roles when she was younger, would she have become a child star like Robb, Jon and Margaery?
"Alright everybody, this is what we've all been working towards." Mr. Lannister boomed from his bullhorn. Being only a little taller that Jeyne's little brother, Mr. Lannister stood on a raised platform so everyone could see him. "First take in ten minutes. Let's gets the cameras, lights and sound ready. Actors in position. Quiet on set."
Jeyne rose from her seat; slowly so the make up artist could put the finishing touches on her look. The crew was filming all the movies indoor scenes in a studio in the city, so nothing would be performed in perfect order. The current scene actually took place almost halfway through the film. Robb and Jon weren't working just yet, but they hung around in costume, watching from behind the director's chair.
The particular bit Jeyne and Margaery filmed together only lasted around a two and half minutes, but it took six hours before Mr. Lannister was satisfied. And then the second unit director - the woman responsible for shots from the back and side - declared she hadn't gotten a good shot, adding another two hours to the filming time.
Jeyne was starting to see why this will would take a year to shoot.
She leaned back in the makeup chair as the artist stripped off layers of makeup.
"Not bad for your first day." Mr. Lannister chuckled, walking up to her on his stunted legs.
Jeyne grinned, "Yeah?"
"I'm gonna need you keep that momentum kid, you hear?" Mr. Lannister told her, "I don't mean to scare you, but it doesn't get any easier."
"Right," she nodded, "I get it."
"I'm gonna need you to bring your A-game tomorrow."
"Don't worry. I will."
Mr. Lannister smiled, nodding. "Now that's what I like to hear. Same time tomorrow Jeyne." He said walking off.
The weeks flew by quickly past Jeyne. Acting demanded more of her time and attention than she had expected. Most of Petunia's scenes were indoors, but her most significant scenes took place outside. Even if she just had to stand in the background watching Margaery work, Jeyne had to remain in character. Viewers and critics had eagle's eyes, after all.
Of course things on set weren't perfect all the time, otherwise blooper reels wouldn't exist. She stuttered, she forgot lines, she let her real accent slip through at times. But it wasn't just her; everyone had issues. Leslyn, she learned, broke every other prop she held. Blackwood had a tenancy to recite his too quickly and end up tongue-tied. Cass sometimes broke character when she was distracted.
The third month into filming, Margaery and Jeyne filmed a scene while walking down a flight of stairs.
"'...hope is fleeing, dear Petunia, and I canaaaaaah-" Margaery cried out as her foot missed a step. Tumbling down another three or four steps, she landed on her knees and elbows on the painted tile. Mr. Lannister called for filming to stop.
Jeyne leaped down to her, "Margie! Are you okay?"
"Sore." Margaery gritted as the stage assistants helped her up. She hissed, "Ankle, ankle. I think I sprained it."
One of the larger assistants lifted her into his arms and sat her down on a prop chair. Jeyne followed to her side.
"We're gonna have cut today short." Mr. Lannister announced waddling up his fallen actress and taking a look at her ankle. Already, it was swollen, red and slight crooked. Margaery bit down on her lip to keep from crying out, "Ugh, that looks pretty bad. Let's get you to a doctor."
As Jeyne got out of costume and makeup, Margaery went away to get her ankle looked out. An hour later, Jeyne and the girls went to visit her.
"Broken." Margaery told them, the painkillers slurring her words as she limped into the parking lot on crutches. A dark green cast rested on her right ankle. "It doesn't need surgery, but I have to stay off it for a few weeks."
"Shae's gonna have an ulcer." Helly whistled. "You know how much she hates deviated from the schedule."
Leslyn shrugged, "If she can't work around a disaster she has no business in the entertainment industry."
"Whatever, just take me home." Margeary whined.
Back at the hotel, Jeyne stayed with Margaery to help her take her painkillers. Magaery also called her older brother Loras to let him know what happened. Robb, thoughtful guy, went out to get her some ice cream, and Jon suggested they sign her cast.
"He's pretty nice." Margaery yawned when they were alone again.
"Robb or Jon?"
"Both of them."
"Yeah, they're good friends." Jeyne agreed.
Margaery propped herself up on her pillows. "What do you like Jeynie?"
"Uh, cheeseburgers, cats, action movies..."
"No," Margaery swatted at her playfully, "I mean, what you like? Guys? Girls?"
"Oh. Guys, definitely."
Margaery bit her lower lip, "So, you've never had a girlfriend? I prefer the fairer sex, to be honest. Promise not to tell anyone?"
"Don't worry. I won't." Jeyne swore.
"It's just so frustrating," Margaery groaned loudly, "My agent says the public will never go with it; well, except other gay people and perverts. My publicist has me on an "innocent good girl" spin, and she doesn't think parents will let their kids watch my shows and movies if they knew I was gay."
"You can't be a innocent good gay girl, I guess." Jeyne snorted.
Margaery laughed, "That was a good one. But yeah, you can't. Remember when I "dated" Renly Baratheon?"
"No; who's he?"
"A fashion designer from the Stormlands. His oldest brother's some kind of politician and the other one is in the military." Margaery explained, "Anyway, we fake-dated for like a month after Golden Grove's third season."
"Wait, I remember! He was the dark-haired one with dimples and incredible blue eyes."
Margaery nodded, "Right. He's Loras's high-school sweetheart. We were each other's beards until he and Loras came out. Two nights later, some Seven Sparrows broke into his workshop and vandalized everything. He had to pull out of fashion week because he couldn't get a whole new collection out in time."
"That's horrible." Jeyne gasped.
"Yeah, and both his brothers stopped talking to him." Margaery wrung her hands together anxiously, "Not that the Baratheons really got along before, but at least Renly used to be able to come home for the holidays."
"Does your family know you like girls?"
"Just Loras and Garlan. My oldest brother Willas is old-fashioned; I don't know how he'd take it. And my parents? Yeah, like I'd tell them anything. My grandmother wouldn't care, but she can't keep a secret to save her life."
"I can't imagine what's that like." Jeyne admitted.
Margaery gave her a pained smile, "Yeah, well I can't imagine what's its like to be straight."
They laughed together.