~x~ Chapter 52 ~x~
There was a small pause as the tension in the room skyrocketed for a moment, but before the pause became too unnatural, TK spoke with a calm and unfazed tone of voice. The way she spoke was as though the question was perfectly normal just like any of the previous questions and Lisa could definitely see the young actress as a professional person rather than just a young girl with a talent in acting.
"I'm sorry to disappoint anyone who wanted to know the answer to that question but the information is confidential I'm afraid. The only thing that I can say was there was a small problem that caused Eric not to be able to be a part of this project." TK gave a half smile. Her tone of voice was completely natural and normal. There was even a light hint of apology in her voice when she spoke.
"Well, I suppose that everyone has their circumstances, right? Lisa commented with an understanding tone. "How have your friends and family reacted to this exciting development in your life? It must've been quite a shock when you told them what you were going to do, right?"
"My friends are lovely, they're so supportive of me and I do miss them but we still keep in touch which is great." TK smiled. "I love my friends and family for backing me up on this. I think support from people important to you is one of the most crucial things in life and nothing could ever replace it."
"That is quite a profound comment you made there, Rayne." Lisa laughed. "Just one last question. Now that we know Alexandra Yvanov does indeed have a daughter, does that mean that we can finally know who her mysterious husband is? There has been so much mystery about her marriage and whether she'd had a child or not ever since she became a world renowned director. Can you give us just a little insight on what your father is like for us?"
This time, everything did indeed seem to stop. This was the one question that TK hadn't been prepared for at all. Carlisle had mentioned in passing that such a question might come up but that it would be highly unlikely to happen. She felt her heart stop and her stomach sink and her mind simply blanked. She didn't know what to think let alone what to say.
Carlisle, who had been listening on the conversation instantly jumped up from his seat and stared at TK in concern. He knew that he'd mentioned to her once before that a question about her family may come up but he'd thought that the media would focus mainly on her and her mother rather than other family members. He silently muttered a curse at his foolishness for not giving her prior warning.
The director was aware that there was something odd about the relationship between the young girl and her father. He didn't know the details and apparently neither had Alexandra. However, both directors knew that there was something wrong. Carlisle remembered that whenever Alexandra had asked about Terrance Knight, TK would always either change the subject or give a vague answer. He had known that the question might throw her, just as the one about Eric might, but he never would've guessed that it would affect her so much and to actually make her girl give that kind of blank expression.
Hastily, he tried to think of a solution that might get TK out of the room. Before he could come up with an excuse to get her out of there, he saw Konstantin and Jake each take her hand to give it a reassuring squeeze.
TK blinked and snapped out of her stupor. She took a deep shuddery breath that luckily didn't reach the microphone so the sound wasn't on air. She glanced up at the two of them and saw the worry in their eyes.
Konstantin and Jake both knew that there was something wrong with TK whenever her father was involved. Neither of them dared ask the young girl about it as it wasn't any of their business but they knew that whatever the problem was, it affected the young girl and always caused a dark shadow to fall on her. The emptiness that shone in her eyes as she glanced up at them stunned them and Jake wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and to whisper sweet, reassuring words into her ear. He knew that he couldn't do that, otherwise their relationship would be exposed, so he simply gave her a warm smile, hoping to get what he wanted to say across to her.
He was relieved when she gave his hand a gentle squeeze in return and gave him a small smile. "I don't think we'll be able to reveal much about my father, he's quite a busy person you see and both my mum and I would love to be able to keep our family away from the paparazzi."
"Is he a doting man?" Lisa asked, not realising just how much distress the talk about the young girl's father it was causing. "Is he lonely now that you're broadening your horizons and spending so much time away from home?"
"Lonely? Well, I suppose so." TK thought about it for a moment and realised that that might have been the truth. She thought back to how he was behaving that morning and how he didn't want her to go. She didn't know whether that was part of his obsession with keeping her beside him, or whether he was actually a lonely man. It would explain why he was always with a woman after all.
"Well then, this concludes our interview with the main cast of the Vampire Academy movie! If you want to know more about Alexandra and Rayne, stay with Capital for an exclusive interview of the mother and daughter on Thursday morning! Thank you very much for joining us on the show."
"Thank you for listening to us." Karen chimed cheerfully.
When it was over, the cast each shook Lisa's hand and thanked her before heading out into the corridor to meet Carlisle.
"Rayne." Carlisle called out to her when he noticed that she still seemed to have that pensive, faraway look about her.
"Uh-huh?" she responded naturally and stared at him.
"Are you okay?" he asked cautiously.
"I'll be fine," she nodded.
Everyone noticed that she didn't say that she was fine but that she was going to be. Karen wanted to ask her what was wrong, but the expression on the younger girl's face seem to shout 'Don't ask!' so she thought better of it and kept the question to herself. Harrison's hand found hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. Karen looked up at her boyfriend and smiled appreciatively up at him for his concern. She could see that he was worried about TK as well. They all were. The blank expression they'd seen on the girl's face wasn't something they'd seen before and they didn't even know that she was capable of having such an expression either. Considering TK was a usually positive and bubbly person, it was somewhat terrifying for them to see such a dark shadow in the young girl's eyes especially when a close family member seemed to be the cause.
"Oh! What time is it?" TK asked with such sudden cheerfulness that it threw everyone off guard. The life was back in her eyes and she seemed normal again, it was as though the emptiness hadn't been there to begin with.
"Just gone half one, why?" James told her with an inquisitive tone.
"Who wants to make a surprise visit to my school?" she beamed. "I do!" TK threw her hands into the air in excitement and everyone else just stared at each other before glancing back at her and they all broke into laughter.
"You know, Rayne, you're a little hard to keep up with sometimes." Kelly patted the younger girl's shoulder.
"Am I? My bad." TK grinned cheekily. She turned to face Carlisle and first gave him a reassuring smile before becoming childish again. "So, can we?"
"As far as I'm concerned, you all have free reign for the rest of the day until the interview tomorrow so I have no control over what you guys do so long as you don't get convicted of anything," he chuckled and gave a shrug.
"Awesome! Raiding my school it is!" she cheered and jumped up in glee. "What have you got planned for the rest of today, Mister Director?"
"I have a few things to go through about our schedule this week."
"Will you be able to join us for dinner in Putney?" she tilted her head to the side.
"I should be able to."
"Brill, I'll call them for a reservation and set it for six. That'll give us time to eat, then visit the café which is on route back to the hotel anyway," she ticked off with her fingers. "See you later, Mister Director. Who's coming with me?"
"Count us all in," the teenagers chimed. They all wanted to know what type of school she used to go to and to meet her friends.
"KJ?" TK asked curiously.
"I'll go. That way, I can step in before you torture your teachers too much," he told her with a lightly teasing tone.
"Hey! I resent that! I didn't torture my teachers… much…" she trailed off sheepishly. "Do you have travel cards for the week?"
"Yeah, we all got one yesterday." Jake nodded.
"Then let's go!" she beamed and led the way to the bus stop.
Several people on the streets stopped and did a double take whenever they passed the cast and the group had unintentionally attracted a crowd just by being there out in the open. Already some people recognised the young actors having seen them before acting minor roles. Karen and Konstantin caught the most attention at first but then others began to recognise TK as well as Alexandra Yvanov's daughter and soon people were asking for autographs.
The group were glad when they finally boarded the bus but they were still receiving awed looks from the passengers as they sat at the back of the bus. TK couldn't help fidgeting nervously while being stared at by the strangers. It had never happened before when she used to travel around London and she knew that she would have to get used to having people watch her whenever she was out in the public.
TK's school was located near Belgravia and on the outside, it looked more like expensive housing rather than a school but once the group stepped through the front gates and past the fountain leading up to the building, they began to notice some of the playing fields that had been hidden by the tall hedges. As soon as TK walked past the front door of the building, the receptionist glanced up and surprise flashed through the receptionist's face.
"Tamara?" she stared in shock as the group walked up to the desk.
"Hi, I'm back for a few days and thought that I'd make a visit. Could you pretend that you didn't see us and not tell the teachers yet?" TK asked cheekily.
"Of course," the receptionist nodded, knowing what the young girl was up to having heard stories in the staff room about the things that TK would do while she was still a pupil at the school.
The group followed TK through the old styled corridors with notice boards spread everywhere. The young girl pointed and gestured with her hands as she gave her friends a small tour of the school. They left the main building and TK headed to the creative block knowing that at least one of her friends would be having a lesson in that building at that moment.
She was proven right when she glanced through the large windows showing the art rooms and she spotted Hannah right away. As though feeling TK's gaze, the other girl glanced up towards the window and she nearly fell off the ladder in shock.
"TK!" Hannah screamed, causing the other ten people in the classroom to turn their heads to look at Hannah in surprise. Then they all followed the direction that she was looking at and spotted TK and the other cast members. Ignoring the fact that they were in the middle of a lesson, Hannah jumped down and dashed out of the classroom to give her friend a tight hug. "What are you doing here? I thought you had work to do?"
"I did, we finished so here I am." TK grinned and hugged her friend back. "How's the art work going?"
"It's only the beginning of the year so that's not what we're stressing over at the moment. Actually, right now we're working on the set of the end of term production." Hannah explained to the girl. Then she glanced past TK at the people who were with her and her eyes bulged. "TK… are they?"
"Hannah, meet the main cast of the VA film."
"Oh wow…" Hannah breathed in shock and just stared at the others.
"TK, you've really got to stop shocking people into a stupor." Tricia sighed as she slapped Hannah in the back.
"Nice to see you too, Triche." TK laughed and tugged her into a hug. She looked at the teacher and gave a friendly wave as she stepped into the art room. "Hey, Mr. Denforth. Sorry to disturb your class."
"Honestly, I had expected that you might do this at some point, but I didn't think that you'd be back so soon. You didn't get kicked out of the production, did you?" he chuckled.
"Hey! Why does everyone seem to think that first?" TK pouted in protest. "I didn't get kicked out hence I'm with my friends from the cast. It's good to see that you hadn't forgotten about me, Mr. Denforth."
"It's hard to forget the student who vandalised various corridors on an annual basis, Tamara." Mr. Denforth sighed.
"Vandalising corridors?" Jake glanced down at her in amusement.
"Hey, some of the corridors were really plain and boring and desperately needed redecorating so I stole paint from the art department and restyled some of the plain walls."
"Tamara, there's actually a drama lesson going on in the mini theatre upstairs."
"That's your not-so-subtle hint of telling me go bug someone else, isn't it?" TK arched her brows at her old art teacher.
"Yes. If Miss Hendle wants her set to be completed in time for the production, then we're going to need every spare moment we have especially now that we've lost an extra helping hand who loves putting in extra hours on the set."
"Sorry about that, Mr. Denforth, but drama was calling for me it seems." TK laughed as she patted her teacher in the back. "I'll go and surprise Miss Hendle then. See you later, sir."
"Don't rein havoc on your way there, Tamara. We all know what you're like."
"I'll try my best," she laughed again before leading her friends up the back staircase towards the mini theatre.
"Were you some kind of a rebel at this school, Ray?" Harrison asked curiously.
"I wouldn't go so far as to say that I was a rebel. That's a bit of an exaggeration." TK grimaced.
"But you weren't a model student either, were you?"
"I got good grades, but I didn't always follow the rules," the young girl smiled. "School isn't fun without a bit of havoc every now and then."
"That is definitely true." James laughed. "I remember when I used to play pranks all the time around the school. They were all harmless of course like starting a food fight or things like that."
"Water fights in the summer are definitely the best although it does mess with the uniform." TK agreed. "I haven't had a food fight for a while though."
"I'm sure the staff are probably thankful for that." Konstantin chuckled. "I'm not surprised that you like food fights, Rayne, you certainly do seem the type."
"Why, thank you, I'll take that as a compliment," she beamed. "Weren't you the same when you were at school? There must've been some mucking around for you when you were a pupil."
"No one's a saint here, Rayne, even I had my moments of not obeying the rules." Konstantin commented dryly.
"Oh? Care to share any stories, KJ?" she glanced at him with wide, curious eyes.
"My stories aren't that interesting."
"We'll be the judge of that." TK shook her finger at him. "You can't not tell us now that you've said something like that."
"We used to have certain tasks that we had to do. It was an old school tradition for us. Whoever completed the most tasks before they left got the most merit. The tasks ranged from getting something from the school in the middle of the night to sneaking into the nearby girls' dormitories at night and getting someone that belonged to the head girl at the time. The list was endless."
"And how many of those tasks did you manage to do and how many times were you caught?"
"I managed fourteen of the fifteen tasks and I wasn't caught once," he smiled mischievously, a smile that showed that he was just as human and just as playful as the rest of them.
"Nicely done! What was the task that you couldn't do?"
Konstantin stared at the group who was staring back at him expectantly. "Stealing pants," he whispered so quietly that they almost didn't hear him but Kelly, who had been standing closest to him at the time, heard and promptly burst into laughter.
"Kelly?" TK frowned.
"So, you managed to break into the girls' dorms and temporarily take something that belonged to the head girl at the time but you weren't able to steal a pair of pants?" Kelly wheezed.
"There is quite a big difference." Konstantin told her indignantly. "When I snuck into the girls' dorm, I just asked to borrow something that belonged to the head girl to her face and it was just a ribbon that she always wore. It is nothing in comparison to stealing pants."
"You really are a little old fashioned, aren't you?" TK grinned at him. "But I guess you are the gentleman type of guy so I don't really blame you."
"It doesn't have anything to do with having a gentlemanly personality. No decent male would go steal pants from a girl, it's unseemly and perverse."
"Is that so? Well I suppose my school never had that kind of challenges so I don't really know what the boys at this school are really capable of doing."
"Your school had tasks as well?" Jake tilted his head with interest.
"Well sure, I'm pretty sure every school has something of the sort." TK shrugged.
"What the riskiest thing you've done here?"
"Riskiest as in closest to being caught or as in the most dangerous?" she arched her brows.
"Some of your tasks were dangerous?"
"Well sure, I climbed the tower," she shrugged.
"The tower?"
"I'll point it out later when we get outside. We basically climb the tower and engrave our name and favourite symbol onto the brick. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't as difficult as I'd thought it would be. There were actually quite a lot of hand and foot holes to hold onto."
"You climbed from the outside?"
"Well yeah, otherwise it wouldn't be much of a challenge at all, would it?"
"What if you'd fallen? You would've died!"
"That's why only very few people have ever done it." TK shrugged. "I was good at climbing and very confident with my climbing skills."
"Honestly, do you know fear at all?" Harrison sighed.
"Of course I do. Everyone knows some semblance of fear," she scoffed.
"Rayne… how much longer is it until we get to the classroom? These stairs feel like they're endless." Karen complained.
"Oh, we're here." TK smiled and turned into a corridor and held the door for everyone as they stepped into another corridor.
She led them through to the end where there was a small theatre with raised seats and lights set up on bars attached to the ceiling. On the stage were several acting students rehearsing scenes to their own devised play. The group crept in and simply took a seat at the back to watch and they couldn't believe how hard the students worked in order to perfect the scenes. After about fifteen minutes, one of the students on stage noticed them and screamed while pointing.
Everyone one stage turned to face the back of the seats as did the teacher and as soon as the middle aged woman spotted TK, she let out a furious holler and glared at her.
"Tamara Knight! How dare you do this to me!" Miss Hendle screamed as she pointed and glared at the young girl.
"Hey, Miss Hendle." TK smiled and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.
"You get down here right now!"
"Yes, ma'am!" she squealed and jumped over the seats so that she could get to the stage as soon as she could. As soon as she was within range, TK found herself being hit by a thick paper script. "Miss Hendle!"
"You horrible girl! How could you not tell me about this? How could you leave before my major production?"
"I'm sorry." TK tried to appease her and held her hands out defensively as she shied away from her former teacher's hits. "It wasn't intentional, I promise. Besides, I was just at the art department and they seemed to be doing just fine to me. You look well, Miss Hendle. Is that a gorgeous engagement ring I see?"
"Don't try to avoid the subject!" Miss Hendle glared and placed her hands on her hips in anger. "As punishment you can introduce us to your friends here and tell us all about just how this happened."
"Aye, aye, captain." TK saluted and gestured for her friends to come down. All the seniors gathered on stage and took a seat on the set or on the floor in awe as the cast members introduced themselves.
"TK?" Milo called out in surprise as she appeared from back stage holding a handmade costume. "I thought it might've been you. No one else could make her shout like that."
"Yo, Milo." TK smiled. "How's the costume going?"
"It's driving me insane! The frills and the lace and all the layers!"
"You love it really, Milo." TK laughed patted the older girl on the shoulder.
