Author's Note: Hm... I don't have any of the 'movie script' outlined at all yet, but I think this fic can be completed by three or four chapters (including this one). I didn't intend to start this fic as early as I'm starting it, but since my favourite player got cut from the PGA Tour Championship, I'm not really going to watch it on TV. Sigh! The cast listing for this chapter doesn't really matter. You'll see what I mean when you read this.
Ruby Red in Mineral Town
The Discovery
(Cliff's POV... heh heh heh)
I feel so overworked. It's the second day of shooting, and I've already had enough of this. The only reason why I'm doing this is to make a good amount of money, and... um... so Ann will notice me. More for the money! Maybe the money will make Ann notice me?
It's quite a... well, nicer lifestyle, I have to admit. At least, a lot nicer than mine. I get my own trailer, which beats the hell out of living in a cave. Ann lives on a nice residence, I wonder... uh, never mind.
But it's nice. It even has a little washroom and shower. Some built-in seating, table, teeny kitchen with a microwave and a fridge, and two cots. Plus a closet to store all the free clothing I received. Despite all its pros, I don't think I'm ever going to try for another movie again.
Anyway, I was taking a shower just before I was going to slip into bed. It was only four o'clock, but I was so tired. Besides, I have to wake up twelve hours later for wardrobe and makeup. To be frank, those are the worst cons of show business. They poke, prod and treat you like a mannequin. The result is nice, obviously. But hardly worth the time of the awkwardness.
Like I said, I was showering in the tiny cubicle that is sure to force any claustrophobic person into therapy. Then I heard a knock at my door.
Cussing under my breath, I turned off the water. "Uh... just a second!" I threw on my bathrobe (making sure it was tied on tight!), stepped out and opened the door.
"Hi!" Popuri giggled, having her script in the air. "Oh sorry, was I disturbing you?"
"Uh, no," I lied, drying my wet locks with a towel. "C'mon in."
She bounced in and took a seat by the table. "I thought we could practice our next scene."
Our next scene? I don't even know what it is. "Uh, sure, okay." I guess it made sense to rehearse. I grabbed my script and flipped to Act III, Scene I. "What's it about? I didn't get a chance to read it over yet."
"Well, uh..." she blushed a bit. "It's kind of an awkward scene, so I thought we should kind of discuss it before we actually have to do it."
Oh I know why. It involves a kiss. "Don't worry, I don't think Gray will get mad."
Popuri put her hand to her mouth in surprise. "What do you mean!" she demanded. "Who said anything to you about him?"
"Karen," I answered without thinking. Now I was shocked. "I... I mean nobody!"
"Karen!" she spat the name out like it was poison. "Why would she tell you that!"
It's a long story. Karen was, as usual, asking me burning questions about Ann. The topic of Gray came up, and she just happened to mention Popuri and Gray.
"Uh... I don't know I'm sorry," I said quickly.
"...It's okay." Popuri sighed. "It's no big deal right? I mean, it's the same with you and Ann."
I scowled, really only to hide my red cheeks. "Let's not talk about this stuff, okay?"
"Okay, sorry." Popuri rustled through her script. "But do you think they would be mad?"
"Mad about what?"
"You know." She pointed to the script.
"Why would they be mad? We can't control that." I began to dry my hair with the towel again.
"Yeah, but they might be upset..." Popuri looked off to the side desolately. "Uh, anyway, so maybe we could do something about this."
"What do you mean, 'do something'?" I was suddenly insulted. "Do I disgust you!"
"No, I... it's nothing, let's just start practicing," she looked down at her script. "Just skip the beginning and get to the part where we have our first lines."
We both stood up and tried to act out our parts. It's a bit more difficult than usual because of the limited space.
"You again!" Popuri shouted and we bumped into each other (she kneed me in the chin, owie!).
"You again!" I repeated a half second later. It was supposed to be in unison, and we had to do it a couple of times before we managed to say it on cue.
"Maybe we need to consult each other when we go out," Popuri choked out, her eyes fixated on the script in front of her. "It seems like we're on a collision course with each other."
Yeah, right. My chin was still hurting. "Yeah, well I have to pick up some groceries."
"Oh, me too!"
I let a short period of time pass by before I read my next line. "...So you want to go there together or something?"
"Uh... sure, okay."
"Walk walk walk walk," I dictated our actions while the two of us marched in one spot.
"So, ah, how long with you and your friend be staying?" Popuri asked me.
"Oh, she's not my friend. She's my sister." I pretended to open the door to the supermarket (the flower shop with a bunch of counters added) and she pretended to walk in.
"Your sister huh?" we were supposed to pick up the food we needed to buy but neither of us did, since there was no food to pick up. "You two seem pretty close."
"Yeah, we are. We were born less than a year apart. I'm the older one" (A/N: That's how it's like in my family, heh heh heh.)
"So... how long do you plan to stay?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "It depends. Because... my sister... doesn't like this place but I do."
"Really, you like this place?" Popuri beamed. "It's just that the townsfolk here are always trying to get out and find something better in the big city."
"Well, I don't see why. This place is quite quaint and peaceful, except for, uh, never mind."
"You mean what happened yesterday?" Popuri forced out a giggle. "Sorry. It's just that I can get rattled easily. I'm not usually like that."
"That's okay," I glared intently into the script. "It's good for girl to hold a little bit of fires inside them." I squinted again. "Is it just me, or is there a grammar mistake in that sentence?"
"It is just you," Popuri grinned. "Because there are two mistakes." We both giggled. "But forget about it, you know what it's supposed to be." She cleared her throat and continued. "Yeah, well... I'm not really like that. I'm not a pushover either," she added.
I squinted at my script again. Popuri and I were supposed to pick up our grocery bags, and she was supposed to be having trouble with hers, having purchase too much. And my character Evan, being the 'good' guy helps her out. But how were we supposed to do it? I opened my mouth to speak but Popuri got it just in time.
"We'll just say the lines, who cares about the actions."
I didn't quite agree with that, but what were we supposed to do?
"You need some help?" I asked her mechanically.
"It's okay, I'm fine. I... yeah, it would be a big help." So I was supposed to help her with her bags home.
"You know I really do like this town," I began, the truth travelling through my character. "It's so small and private. It's like a school where everyone is friends with everyone and everything's fun."
"Yeah, our town's a lot like that. But it can be a total bore too. We either have only one or none of something. One bar. One bakery. One grocery store. One inn. One whatever. Most people in our town take the ferry across to the mainland for work and stuff. I go there a lot too, to go shopping."
"At least it's there," I pointed out. "You're not confided to this one piece of land for the rest of your life."
Popuri scoffed. "I may be able to go there, but if my parents had a say in it, I'd live here for the rest of my life."
"Why?"
"Because," she growled. "They do want to confind me. I want to go to university but they won't let me. They want me to get married, have children and that is that. They've even picked a fiancé for me! I don't get any choice in my life decisions!"
"...You don't like the boy they've chosen for you?" it was supposed to be like, an opening for Evan (my character) or something, the start of a romantic relationship I guess.
"I don't hate him, but... he's boring and we have nothing in common. But he's rich, that's all my parents care about. I don't want to marry him. But if I don't get married... I don't know what my parents will do to me. They might disown me. It's awful," Popuri let out an exaggerated sob that made me laugh.
"What's so funny?" she demanded to know.
"Nothing!" I squeaked and carried on with my line. "That's pretty harsh. I'm sure they'll understand if you want to follow your dreams. They're just in their... stumbling way trying to give you a good life." I was, of course, supposed to be feigning support for this 'rival' person. Because it's 'supposed to make you look even better'.
"Yeah," Popuri scoffed. "They're trying to give me the life they've always wanted. Boring, but simple. I don't want that though! I want to give my own life and be self-sufficient. You never know what's going to happen so you always need a back-up plan." Popuri moved toward the fridge. I raised my eyebrows but followed her. "Well, here I am. Thanks a lot. It's okay, you don't have to go inside with me. I don't think you would want to." Popuri opened the fridge door like it was a regular one. "Hey, it's empty!" Popuri giggled when she saw the contents of the fridge (or lack there of).
"AHEM!" I cleared my throat loudly to indicate that this was not important at all (note to self: get some food!). Now, turning back to our roles... "I insist," I said, and Popuri shut the fridge door. This is where we come face to face with her parents.
"Yay!" Popuri giggled again (she's certainly, uh, high spirited). "Can I be the parents in this scene? You be you and I'll be me and my parents!"
"Uh... sure," I shrugged. But it startled me that she was so eager to do this scene. What was so... giggly about it?
"Hi mama! Hi papa!" Popuri waved to a chair, then she jumped where she was waving to.
"Hi darling," she said in an unusually high-pitched voice.
She took another step. "Hello dear," the same, but this time is a bass-like tone. It was kind of funny. I chuckled. "Who is this young man?"
I was still laughing when my line came up, Popuri glared at me. "I said, 'Who is this young man?"
Oh, oops. "Uh..." I scanned the page for my line. "I'm... uh, I just-"
"He's my boyfriend," Popuri blurted after jumping to her original stop. Then she took another giant leap. "Your boyfriend?" she said in her mother's voice. Another step back to home plate. "Yep, my boyfriend." Then she jumped to where her father was supposed to be. "Okay, I'm getting a little dizzy," Popuri sputtered in her normal voice, in another fit of silly laughter.
"I'll be the dad then," I volunteered quickly. It looked kind of fun. I lowered my voice. "What's your name boy?"
I stepped back and shielded myself with my script. "Uh... Evan sir."
Another step. "How come I've never seen you around in town?"
Step, and the protection of the wad of papers. "Um... I just moved here... yester- uh, two weeks ago."
Popuri hopped beside me. "How long have you been seeing my daughter?"
She then bounced back to her original spot. "A couple of days," she said in her own character.
It was my turn to interrogate her. "How come you never told us about him!" I pretended to beat her with my script.
She snorted and leaped back near the chair. "Is this the man you were talking about marrying?" We both pretended to over over 'Ruby'.
Popuri ducked down and sat on the floor. "Because..." I put my hands on my hips. "I didn't know... I didn't think you would of approved of him. Because..."
She picked herself from off the floor and mimicked her mother. "Ruby, may I speak to you in private in the other room please?" Popuri pretended to leave the area, via the fridge. "Okay, I get to be the father now!"
This was so silly. But fun! Like a game of house. I didn't have much fun in my childhood, so this was something special.
Popuri contorted. "So," she began in a deep tone of voice. She sat down at a chair. "What do you want with Ruby?"
I feigned horror. "Um... n-nothing!"
"Do you plan on marrying her?"
"Um... if... the right opportunities come up. I... I don't know your daughter very well."
Popuri sneered at me, then tittered out of habit. "How old are you?"
"I'm... uh, I'm twenty."
"So, do you have a job? Some education?" she (playing a he) crossed her arms gruffly.
"Actually, I'm an undergraduate at the university on the mainland. I'm studying for my PhD in nuclear physics and a bachelor's degree in creative writing." Of course, my character wasn't enrolled in college at all; these were all lies.
"A PhD?" Popuri leaned back on her seat, impressed. "What do you plan to do with that?"
"... Become a nuclear safety inspector." I suppose this was intentionally ripped off that ever-so popular TV show, with Ruby's father totally blind to what 'Evan' was talking about.
"How much does a nuclear safety inspector make?"
Hm, interesting question. Who knows? "I'm not entirely sure... sir."
"What about your family?" Popuri's new temporary character wasn't amazed anymore. "Who else is living here with you?"
"Just, ah, me and my sister," I rubbed the back of my neck. "We both attend university there."
"Your sister? How do I know you're not a lady's man whose 'sister' is really one of his many girlfriends?" Popuri hopped out of the chair and scampered over to the fridge. "Okay, now I'm me and you're mom!"
"Okay," I agreed, raising my voice to an ear-piercing soprano. "Darling, who is that young man?"
"I told you before mom, he's my boyfriend."
Wow, my throat hurts already. "You're not serious, are you?" I put my hands on my hips dramatically. "Your father and I have already found you a suitable man to be happy with, to marry-"
"And to spend the rest of my life with!" Popuri finished. "Don't you think that is a choice that I should make myself?"
"No it's not," I told her in the most condescending voice I could. "Your family should be able to help you make those decisions, because not only are you and that person bonding, but so are their entire families."
"Didn't you hear what you just said out of your own mouth? You said HELP, not step in and do everything for you."
"Your father and I are only trying to give you a good life," I wiped away a pretend tear. "We love you very much, don't you know that?"
"What about Cassie?" Popuri spotlighted her 'older sister'. "Why don't you give her a good life? Why don't you try half as hard on her as you do me!"
"Of course we tried to give her a good life!" I yelped, almost screaming. "But who in their right mind would marry such a shrew? Your father and I searched the island through, and couldn't find anyone who was willing to marry her. We even offered a dowry, but there's not enough money in the world. As much as it pains me to say it, Cassie is a lost cause. At least she's smart enough to go to university."
"But mom, so am I!" Popuri pointed to herself frantically. "I want to go to school and get a good education to get a good career!"
"That's not a young lady's role," I snapped.
"You know something? I wish I were like Cassie. She was smart for being independent."
"No, don't you dare try to be like your sister!" I warned.
"Mom, I don't care anymore. I'm down to my rope's end. You and dad are... a lost cause." Popuri opened and closed the refrigerator door. "C'mon, let's go." She grabbed my arm and led me out to the trailer's exit. "Dad, I'm going out. I'll be back in a couple of hours."
"Ruby-" we both said in unison.
"I'm the dad!" I said.
"No I am!" Popuri protested. And again, we burst into another heap of uncontrollable laughter.
"Okay okay my ribs are hurting," Popuri coughed and cleared her throat. "Let's finish up."
I just nodded, with a little bit of the giggles still inside me.
"Thanks a lot for your help today with everything," Popuri said in an unusually soft manner. She gave me a kiss and chuckled.
I was still in a happy mood. I knew it was my turn in the script to... well, for us to get ready for a tongue wrestling competition (we didn't really have to French, but that's always more... illustrative isn't it?). It should have made me nervous, but I was having a lot of fun. I grabbed her spontaneously and we just did it.
A few seconds in, Popuri pulled out with an "Oh MY GOD!"
'What!" I squeaked. I looked down. Oh MY GOD!
"Sorry!" how did my bathrobe come undone? I quickly tied it up again, making sure to knot it firmly twice. "I'm so sorry!"
Popuri sniggered. "It's okay, it's not the first one I've ever seen."
At first I thought she said 'it's not the first time I've ever seen it' and I was just about to kick her out. But what she really meant was a very personal thing to say. "...Really?" Yuck, it bugged me that I wanted to know who. So I asked.
"Gray's." She giggled.
Well naturally.
"He was eighteen, and I was sixteen..." she began. "We went to the farm so he could show me a new baby calf that was just born. Besides the animals, we were all alone in the barn. One thing led to another, and..." she trailed off.
"Oh my..." I cupped my hand to my mouth. "You didn't." I sounded like a gossipy best friend but I didn't care.
"Well, we almost did. But Ann came into the barn, so we both had to hide. Though I didn't really like the fact that she kind of walked in, I'm glad she did, because it might have been something I would have regretted later on."
Hmm... this didn't sound like the Gray I hardly knew. "You got him that far? I can't even get him to say three words in a row to me."
"That's because you're a guy," Popuri concealed a laugh with a smile. "He's not into guys. Besides, I'm sure he's acting like this because he knows you like Ann. He's very protective of his little sister."
"I don't know what to do," I slumped down on a chair. "It's hopeless."
"Oh, don't say that," Popuri took a seat beside me. "Where there's a will, there's a way, right? I used to think that Gray would never ever talk to me at all after his accident."
"Accident?" I perked up. "What accident?" That would explain his behaviour. A little bump on the noggin...
"It happened about a season before his nineteen birthday. (Author's Note: I don't know if this is true coz in my first fic I said it was at sixteen... just for the sake of this fic pretend it's eighteen going on nineteen.) He was trying a relatively young horse at the horse race. He rode horses a lot at the horse races prior to this one. But this one threw him right off his back. Gray didn't just suffer massive damage to his ego or the wide humiliation, but he began to severely doubt his ability to work with animals. I guess that really rattled him. Day by day, he became more and more isolated. He finally did feel like animals trusted him again, but now his relationships with people was at a loss." Popuri sighed sadly.
"...And you still love him," I said a little too boldly.
"Yeah... I mean I don't know... uh, yeah."
"He talks to you a little bit doesn't he?" I'm sure he did. He had to of.
"Once in a while," Popuri began to sniffle. "But I miss the old Gray. Now he doesn't let me know his feelings at all. But that's not the worst part. What really hurt me is that... he didn't even want me around when he was suffering. I wanted so badly to help him. I mean, I could of saved him! We could of..." she shook her head. "You don't want to hear this."
"No, it's okay," I assured. I didn't want to sound like a jerk.
"It doesn't really matter because I've pretty much told you everything. We never officially dated, but we did have a relationship. I wish I could say the same for you. I know Ann can be a little brash-"
"A little is a huge understatement," I cut in.
"But she's a good person. I mean, once you get through some unpleasant parts."
"...I think she's starting to warm up." I was a little hesitant to talk about this kind of thing, but now I think I can trust Popuri. "This morning, she gave me this look, like she was, for once, happy to see me."
"Really? When was that?"
We continued to talk for a long time. About almost everything; from relationships to family, and whatever came to mind. It was the longest conversation I've never had with a single person.
"Oh my God!" Popuri shouted suddenly when she took a quick glance at the clock on my microwave. "It's nine o'clock! I was supposed to be home four hours ago! It's so dark, how am I supposed to get home?"
"Why don't you just sleep in your trailer?" Hers was right beside mine.
"I like my room," she said simply. "It gives me a sense of peace."
I sure envied her. I don't have my own bedroom. But with the money I get from this movie... maybe I could buy an RV or something. It would mean a lot to me to finally have a place to call my own. "You want me to walk you there?"
"Really? Sure! I mean, if you don't mind." Popuri gave me an appreciative smile. She sure is cute when she wants to be.
Our walk back to her house was pretty uneventful. We didn't talk like we did back at my trailer. Instead we just enjoyed the quiet and tranquil of the nighttime. It was an indescribable feeling; almost melancholy.
That all changed when we reached her front door. She turned to me, gave me a hug and said, "Good night, brother." Then she let herself in abruptly.
Brother? Did she really think that she could... and I could... oh man this is too much for me to think about right now. I staggered my way back to my trailer.
This chapter is mainly fluff, and inevitably pointless. Well, it has a small point. And, as usual, pretty dumb too. Well, tell me if you agree with me. I'm going to continue until this fic is done no matter what you think or I think as well. Because I'd rather have a dumb completed fic than a good incomplete one. Now, if I could get a good complete one...
