Author's Note: Not much to say this time. The cast listing doesn't really matter for this chapter either, and I think this fic will indeed take more than three or four chapters to be completed. Now, on with the fic! Cast listing, uh, no new characters. And only two you have to worry about; Popuri (Ruby) and Ann (Marian, Ruby's best friend).
Ruby Red in Mineral Town
The Movie Change
(Ann's POV)
"Popuri, I love you, will you marry me?"
"...Oh Cliff! I love you too! I can't wait to be your wife!"
"We'll be together forever Popuri, that's the only thing in this world I would ever as for."
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you Cliff..." The two of them embraced.
Suddenly, THUD! OW! Something (or someone) had snapped me awake. What the hell?
"Rise and shine Ann," Gray grinned from behind his cap. He was poised with a pillow.
"Augh..." I yawned. It was just a dream! Just a dream! Cliff doesn't love Popuri, he loves... um, I don't care who he loves. Forcing those thoughts out of my mind, I directed my attention to my brother. "Why did you do that?"
"I don't know," he tossed the pillow back on my bed. "It looked like you were having a bad dream."
"I was not!" I shrieked defensively.
"And, uh, it's time to get up for your morning chores." He pointed at my clock. It read five o'clock in the morning. Sigh, even though I'm an actress in a major motion picture (it's neither but SH!), my family still insists that I make time to help with the farm work.
I got out of bed, got dressed, brushed my teeth, washed my face, had some breakfast and milked the cow and sheared the sheep while Gray brushed and spoke to them. He seems to have no problem talking to animals. It confused me a little bit. Of course, he speaks to his family like a normal person, but not much is said to anyone else.
Once I was done, I raced to the towns square, the initial morning meeting place for everyone involved in the movie. My chores had made me one of the last ones there, but nothing was happening. Well, not nothing. The Mayor and his associates were not present, just a bunch of crewmen and actors left standing as confused as I was.
"Ann!" Karen waved me over. "Do you know what's going on?"
I looked down at my watch. Filming should have commenced by now. "I have no clue. Where's the Mayor?"
"We don't know! We don't know anything!" Karen groaned.
I surveyed the area. Most of the people were chatting amongst each other, some were playing cards and the young ones were playing tag.
"Hey," I began nervously. "Uh, where are Cliff and Popuri?"
"Cliff and Popuri? They're not here? But they were a minute ago!" Karen jumped up to see over the crowd. "I don't know, maybe the Mayor called them in or something, that is assuming the Mayor is still alive."
I shivered. Being totally out of control made me uneasy. We found Elli and Maria soon after. Karen, Elli and Maria conveniently forgot about Popuri, but I didn't. Where could she be? Was it just a coincidence that she and Cliff weren't around? And even worse, was my nightmare coming true? (Okay so I admitted that I like Cliff... so what? It's not the end of the world!)
"Let's kill some time," Karen whipped out a deck of cards. "Why don't we play some innocent poker?"
"Sure," we all chimed in. Playing poker for money is legal here... at least the Mayor never said it was illegal. But it's not too commonly done so there's never any trouble.
We each anted 10g and Karen shuffled, then dealt the cards. My cards, well, sucked. But I tried my very best to not make any movements on my face.
"...Raise," Maria said mechanically, tossing in a coin. Oh man.
"Call," I said quickly, following suit and giving up 10g.
Now here's the thing about this game. Karen and Maria are really good at it. You're probably thinking, 'Yeah, I can believe that Karen's good at gambling but MARIA!'. But it's true! She's had years to practice her calm, cool demeanour. And Karen's a pretty good actress, giving those two the ability to become Poker Queen. But they would never say anything about that; it's all about bluffing.
"...Raise," Maria tossed two other coins into the... hey, how did that pile of money suddenly get so big? I began to perspire.
Was it a good idea to call it again? My cards were so bad; 3H, 7D, 8H, JackD and AceS. Hm... maybe I could...
"Raise." I threw in my fair share.
"Oh..." Elli studied her hand. "I... this is getting to be too much money. I have to fold." She threw down her cards. Yes! One down, two to go.
"Raise," Karen said calmly, flipping two coins in.
"All right, I'm calling so we can finally draw," Maria pushed a single coin in.
"Okay," I agreed, doing the same.
"No, but-"Karen protested. "Fine, I'll call."
Elli picked up the remainder of the deck, shuffled it again and dealt it accordingly to our needs. I kept my ace and swapped the rest. Huh, well that didn't work...
"Ann, let me tell you something about poker. Not as a competitor, but as your friend," Karen swivelled on her seat to face me. "First of all, when you call then raise, it makes us assume that you don't really have good cards. Then when you swap all your cards except for one, that confirms it."
What was she saying; that I suck at poker? Okay maybe I do. But think outside the box here. "Well, if that's what you believe." Let her second guess her theory. When you doubt yourself, it's hard to do anything efficiently. "I raise."
Karen snarled at me. "Raise."
Maria looked from her left to her right nervously. "U-uh, call."
"Raise!"
Karen leaned over to Maria and whispered something in her ear. "Call."
"Call," Maria repeated.
Oh my God. I just lost over 100g. Damn my ability to play poker competently! In frustration I threw down my cards. "You're right Karen, I suck at this game."
"No, I didn't say that," said Karen. "I mean, your tactic could of worked if Maria and I were trying to do the same thing," she grinned and swept in her reward. Karen had won with her two pair over Maria's pair.
"Forget this!" I said dramatically. "I'm not playing anymore!" I don't know why, but I just wanted them to pay attention to me.
"We aren't either," Maria laughed. Huh? She pointed behind me, where the Mayor stood on a chair. He was waving his arms in the air frantically to get our attention.
Rick booed and hissed at him. "Where the hell were you all this time?"
Oh no, not again. "Shaddup Rick," I barked. (A/N: Sorry about Rick's personality disorder... I just figured if anyone in the town was going to be a dumbass, then it should be Rick! MWAH!)
Again, our Mayor ignored my cousin. "Greetings everyone," he began uncertainly. "We... I won't mince words. We do have a situation that we all need to handle."
My heart began to beat right out of my chest. What was going on? I didn't like the sound of this one bit.
"...Our movie is already severely over-budget-"Rick lets out an puerile 'Ha-ha!' "-So I, along with some of the officials affiliated with this project, as well as our two stars, had a long discussion about it this morning."
Oh! So that's where Popuri and Cliff went! Oh thank God! I thought they might of, well, lived out my worst fantasy (well, I don't want to have to marry my own brother! AHH!).
"We have come to a conclusion, which we all hope is convenient and goes to your best interests. We have decided to..." he paused dramatically. "...Cut the script down."
I blinked. How can he do that?
"Updated copies of the rest of the film will be available tomorrow morning. Today we will continue on with what we had scheduled today. Uh... since it is almost afternoon, we will be doing Act Three Scene Two first then go back to Act Three Scene One. All right, everyone get ready to start!"
Everyone began to shuffle off the town's square. I was in Act Three Scene One, which took place in Karen's room (it was supposed to act as my character's bedroom). I slowly made my way out to the vineyard. Karen approached me.
"Hi Ann, how are you feeling?" Karen grinned widely.
I shrugged. "I guess it's okay. As long as the movie doesn't suck or isn't to abrupt after these changes."
Karen's eyes clouded over. "I'm talking about Popuri and Cliff's scene!"
Those two names in the same sentence gave me a shiver up and down my spine. "W... what are you talking about?" I said pathetically.
"Oh Ann," Karen put her arm on my shoulder. "There's no need for any jealousy. Don't worry, Popuri and Cliff don't mix well together... unlike you and Cliff."
Ew, that sounded kind of sick. "Karen, c'mon. Get over your fantasy."
"What fantasy? I have no fantasy. Just the quiet thought that you and Cliff could be happy together and you and I could be cousins-in-law."
I didn't want to start anything again so I didn't open my mouth for the rest of the walk. Karen seemed a little distraught by that, so mission accomplished. I waited patiently outside while the crewmen rearranged refurnished the room. Once they were complete, I stepped in and took my place on the bed, on top of the bedsheet. I still had to wait for Popuri to finish up her scene, so I grabbed a magazine and started flipping through the pages.
Of course, no moment alone would be complete without Karen dropping by to harass you.
She climbed up her bedroom stairs and took a seat on her bed beside me. "Do you think my room looks okay? I always thought everything in my room seemed a little too... scattered. But I kind of like how the crew people arranged the furniture."
"Uh... yeah." My eyes never left the pages.
"So, uh, Popuri will be coming up soon."
I put down the magazine and fixed my eyes at her. "What?"
"What kind of things are you going to ask her? You know, about your boyfriend, soon to be hus-"
"Karen, get out!" I pointed down to the stairs.
"But it's my room-"
"Out!"
She gave me a bit of a huff, but didn't put up any kind of fight. "All right, good luck with your scene." And... she left! If I had known that would work, I would of done it a long time ago.
Popuri came up, along with a bunch of cameramen and the Mayor soon after. She didn't seem hesitant or nervous like I thought she might have been.
"Hey Popuri," I greeted her as she ascended up the steps. It was ME who hesitated. "Um, how was your scene?"
Suddenly, her face turned red. "Uh... it was okay." She cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Okay, so I walk up the steps and we start conversing."
"Right," I slid the magazine under Karen's bed (it's not that kind of magazine! Yuck! It's just that Mayor Thomas doesn't want to pay all the fees to use that copyrighted material), and picked up the heavy hardcover novel I was supposed to be engrossed in during the beginning of the scene. "Ready."
"All right," Mayor Thomas looked at me, then at Popuri. "Ready? Okay... Action!"
Popuri went back to the bottom of the steps, then began to walk up while the camera men began to shoot.
Popuri ran up to 'my' bed and plopped down. "You will never guess what my crazy parents did to me today!"
I put the book in my lap. "Oh my God Popuri, what happened?"
"They tried to marry me off with the Whiteman boy!" Popuri grimaced. "I can't believe them!"
"The Whiteman boy? Really?" I grinned. "In retrospect, he IS very cute and very rich."
"I don't care!" Popuri snapped. "I'm not ready to get married yet! Besides, I don't want to marry someone who I don't know a damn thing about."
"Well, if you don't want to marry him, I'd gladly take him," I volunteered, the playful grin still plastered on my face.
"Marian! You're not helping!"
"Sorry."
Popuri rolled over on her back and buried her face with a pillow, then tossed the pillow angrily to the side. "What am I going to do?"
"I suppose you could fake a marriage," I suggested.
"Well, uh," Popuri rubbed her chin in thought. "But then what happens if I actually find someone I do want to marry? My parents would never forgive if I got divorced."
"What if your loving 'husband' accidentally 'dies'?"
Again, Popuri pondered that. "But what if my parents see him walking around? They'll either die of a heart attack or disown me. Contrary to popular belief, I do love them a lot. Besides, I don't want Kent growing up without their parents."
I chuckled. "You think too much, Ruby. All right then, what if you just actually find someone to marry before you fall unfortunately to a handsome husband with mountains of cash? With all seriousness, I'm not totally against you marrying the Whiteman boy. You're very lucky there's a consensus between him, your parents and his parents."
Her eyes glowered at me. "How could you say that!"
"Again, sorry."
Popuri sat up. "I think the only solution that won't make my parents hate me is to get legitimately married with someone."
"All right, that's the spirit!" I cheered. "Anyone in mind?"
"No one," Popuri sighed. "We all know every bachelor in town, and none of them really appeal to me. I'm sure it's the same on their side."
"No one? At all? Ruby, you're going to have to try harder than that. Hell, what if the Whiteman boy likes you?"
"Stoppit!" Popuri gave me a playful shove.
"Come on, there has to be someone! Anyone!"
Popuri cocked her head to the side in thought. "Well... maybe... okay, there might be someone. But I don't know anything about him."
"Oh, who is it!" I squealed.
"Uh... I don't even know his name. I've bumped into him twice today. But I don't think I had such a great impression on him. Both times I kind of... lashed out at him because, well, I'm still angry about Todd."
"Forget about that loser Todd, maybe you should make a move on his boy!"
"I don't know about that," Popuri slid off 'my' bed. "Uh, I think I should go now. Thanks, you've made me feel a little better."
"Aw, c'mon Ruby, don't lie," I joked. "All right. Bye." We gave each other a quick hug and she began to descend down the stairs.
I puffed out a sigh of relief when I was sure she was out of earshot. "Thank God she really doesn't like the Whiteman boy. I'm still working on him."
"...And cut! Good job, that's a wrap for the day."
I eager to get back to the farm and see our family's animals, but Popuri had other plans for me.
"Uh, do you want to grab a slice of cake of pie or something? My treat." She smiled sweetly.
That made me a little suspicious. But I gave in and accepted the invitation. The walk to the bakery was relatively uneventful, until we reached the building.
"You know..." Popuri began as she held the door open for me. "Cliff's a good guy."
My eyes widened and I took a step back. "W...what? Oh no Popuri, not you too!"
"I'm just saying, that's all... because you know, he's actually a great person to talk to. He's not just some weird freak lurking around the mountains. He's a lot deeper than that."
What? What the hell was she talking about? "Huh?" was all I could say. I sat down at the bakery table in disbelief as Popuri fetched the cake. She slid mine in front of my nose. It really smelled delicious. But I didn't feel hungry at the moment.
"Um, Popuri... how do you know?" Oh my God, my dream... was it just a dream?
"Yesterday, we were rehearsing some of our scenes and we got to talking. Ann, you're a pretty lucky lady."
"What are you talking about!" I demanded.
"Um... nothing!" she looked a little afraid. "Let's just enjoy some good cake huh?" she shovelled in a forkful of cake into her mouth.
I knew exactly what she was talking about... I think. Why does everyone bring it up? I don't bother her about Gray, and he's my BROTHER! Maybe it was time to confront this boy and straighten this matter out once and for all. I couldn't stand all the teasing, all the gossip anymore.
Wow, I took so long to update! Oh, coz I was playing Sim City 3000 too much, so I didn't work on it a lot. I did the first half like, on Sunday (two Sundays ago) and I finished the rest today. Geez, I'm getting lazier, and it's not even time to go to school yet (no, I CAN'T GO BACK! Tears). Oh well, this fic is wrapping up so enjoy the rest! I estimate two chapters remaining. One for the completion of the movie, then one for... the storyline wrap up. Yeah. Well, as always, thanks for reading this and please r/r!
