I think I'm getting better about not having so much dialogue in my stories.
Sorry for the long wait, and sorry about all my stories, really. Go to my MDRAJ story for insight why.
Disclaimer: blah blah blah, I bet these are just a myth anyway.
I'm also sorry this chapter will be so boring. Just character and story development.
"And…cut! Good job, Rich," Rachel said, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she brought the coffee to her lips. She had changed clothes, after having the klutzy cameraman Wally spill her first cup on her. She now wore a pair of low-rise black jeans and a black tank-top underneath a see-through black lace blouse that buttoned at the neck. "Alright Gar, you did manage not to screw up or steal all the attention in that one, so we'll use it. You can go and mingle, now."
Sticking his tongue out, Gar made his way to the stairs, only to be stopped by Tara before he reached them. She put a hand on his arm and flashed him a smile.
"Look Gar, I know you're a great person so I won't care if you don't pick me," she said, throwing her hair back.
Gar looked grateful and smiled back at her. "Thanks; it's good to know there isn't too much pressure."
"Oh, I would never pressure you!" She gushed, wrapping her hands around his arms.
---
"Gimme that," Jinx growled, snatching away the lighter and cigarette from Rachel. She waved it around in front of Rachel's face. "First of all, we're in someone else's house and it's terribly rude, and second of all, it'll kill you and all of us. Namely me, since I have to put up with you so much!"
Rachel folded her arms and snorted. As she did so, her body slightly turned and she found herself watching Gar chatting away with Terra. Good, that's good! She told herself, We want interaction, he should like them. He should, he should. He should flirt, he should smile in that way that lits up the room, he should make fun of her in that way you know is playful, he should—
"You're staring, Rachel," Jinx taunted, waving a finger in her face.
"Am not," Rachel snapped back. "I was observing how he interacted with the girls, not staring."
Jinx winked. "Whatever you say—but then, if you don't mind me asking, why were you scowling while you," she held up her fingers, making quotes around the word, "observing?"
"Simple," Rachel said, sticking her chin in the air. When she didn't continue, Jen's eyebrow raised cockily. Luckily for our heroine, Rachel was a quick thinker, "I hate that outfit Tara's wearing! Absolutely dreadful. Horrible little cocktail gown."
"But its blue," Jen argued. "And isn't blue your favorite color?"
"But look at the back on that thing! It's only centimeters above her ass."
"What about the dress you wore to those awards in Canada? That had a pretty low back," Jen pointed out.
Grabbing a champagne class, Rachel turned on her heel. "I need a smoke."
"Fine!" Jen called after her. "But when you die of lung cancer, I get your money!"
---
Rachel leaned against the wall, preparing to light the cigarette, when a voice spoke out to her left, "That's the second time I've caught you. You're on my property, so no smoking."
She continued to raise it to her lips until it was forcefully ripped from her hands. "No smoking," he repeated slowly, pushing her against the wall. Rachel felt helpless and hated it. She wriggled in his arms, trying to be free of the stare his eyes sent down on her. I never noticed how green his eyes are, she mused.
"Well sor-ry. I thought you would've been too busy chatting it up with the bi—girls to notice."
"Wrong," he said, grinning. "I was watching you all night; just to be sure you wouldn't sneak out to smoke. I'm gonna rip you of your habit; maybe get you to laugh once or twice too."
"Good luck with that. You do realize that I don't like you at all, so what out of that evidence led you to think would I laugh with you? I might at you, but that's completely different from laughing with you."
"I don't think that! I think you secretly have intimate fantasies about me, watch me from afar, completely jealous of every other girl in the room who has my attention. It's so obvious Rachel, come on," he said in an overdramatic voice.
"Don't flatter yourself," She hissed, kicking him in the shin. He doubled over, clutching his hurt leg.
---
Jen poked her head around the building, smiling as she saw Rachel. "Hey there Miss Thang," She said, sitting against the wall with her friend.
"What did you just call me?" Rachel asked, appalled.
"Never mind," Jen laughed. She counted off her fingers. "They're looking for you all over, you know. Karen, the make-up artist we hired, can't find her blush set, our lighting is completely screwed up for the elimination round, and Wally's sound…thingy is missing."
"He's an idiot," Rachel said bluntly.
"Kind of cute though," Jen added. She paused a beat, watching Rachel twiddle with the cigarette pack in her hands.
"Gar has me on radar with these things. You'd think his senses are magnified ten fold," Rachel explained bitterly.
Changing the subject, Jen shook her head out of her loose ponytail and said, "It's a funny thing, though. Because I thought—I know, silly me—that directors were supposed to, oh, I don't know…direct people? Rachel, what's with you? You're way offline today."
"I know," Rachel sighed. "I just can't focus. This is what I hate about this kind of reality TV. I mean, the girls are gorgeous, any man we have on set is drooling or drowning in his own testosterone level, and something always seems to go wrong."
"But you're around me all the time and I'm gorgeous," Jen pointed out. "No problem then."
"Yes but luckily, your ego is big enough to remind me why I should work hard and have no social life. With Gar and Kori and Vic and all these people its too hard not to try and be social."
"You say it like it's a bad thing."
"It is a bad thing."
"Whatever," Jen stuck out her tongue in defeat, but she still had a mission. "I don't care how antisocial and Emo you try to be, there comes a point in every girl's life when—"
"Dear god no, not this talk again…" Rachel began.
"—shut up," Jen barked. "…She must live up to her expectations and stop hell from freezing over. It's chaos in there! I'm scared to go back, Mommy. Turn on my night-light baby, 'cause the monster's out of the closet."
"Why are you off camera with me? You should be up there, hamming it up." Rachel asked, sliding her forehead into her palm.
"What, and waste my super-cal-afiscious-expi-ala-docious acting talents on you?"
"That makes no sense," Rachel sighed.
"Said the doctor, but all knew what happened to him!"
"I can't stand you anymore; I'm leaving," Raven said, standing up. As she stormed off, Jen kicked her flip-flops off her feet and slipped a pair of headphones into her ears. A smile tugged at her lips as she saw the cigarette pack had been left where Rachel had sat.
---
"Kori? Kori, is that you?" Rich called, seeing auburn locks turn around a corner. She turned, immediately regretting doing so. She looked horrible, by her standards. In a purple mini-dress that hugged her curves like that, it was hard to look bad. "Wow, Kori Anders! What are you doing here?"
"Richard," Kori greeted sharply. "I happen to work here; I'm Gar's stylist."
"No kidding," He laughed, placing his sunglasses on the top of his head. "I'm—"
"The host, I know," Kori interjected. She looked anywhere but his eyes. "Congratulations, although I have to say you had the odds slightly in your favor. By knowing both the main star of the show and his manager, it would be difficult not to get the job."
Rich frowned, quickening his pace to keep up with her. "Kori, what's wrong?"
"Nothing is wrong," She hissed. She walked faster, feeling the dangly earrings bounce around at her jaw. He grabbed at her elbow, causing her to spin back and face him.
"Why are you ignoring me like this? Kori, what happened to you?"
"You!" She turned and shrieked, jabbing a finger at his chest. "You happened, Richard! I don't care how young we were or how naïve, it still happened. You can't go on acting like it didn't!"
"Kori," he pleaded. "Kori, come on, be reasonable. We were seventeen!"
She snatched her arm from him and continued down the hall, hating herself for letting the bitter, salty tears roll down her cheeks. They, like the memories of teenage temptation and passion, stained forever.
---
"Okay man, are you ready? Breathe in, breathe out. It's okay if you want a glass of water or something to calm your stomach; it's perfectly reasonable if you're a little nervous. I mean, it is a really big deal—"
"Victor!" Gar laughed, swiping his friend's hand away. "I'm not going through labor; relax!" He shot him a final glare and turned away from his friend, adjusting his bow tie in the mirror. "Do I have to wear a tie?" He whined. From behind them spoke a feminine voice:
"Hmm," Kori made a sound from her throat. She waved her finger in a circle. "Do a spin for me. It's a little too formal for your style, but—"
"Kori what are you doing here? When did you—were you crying?"
"No," She replied harshly. "Come on, spin." He spun slowly, rolling his eyes and grumbling. "Yeah, I see what you mean. You'll never be comfortable. Take your shirt off."
Vic's jaw dropped. "Kori…"
"Oh, shove it," She snapped. Vic immediately took a step back and raised his hands in defense. Kori retreated into Gar's closet and returned with a purple button up shirt. She threw it and it hit him square in the head. "Put it on," Kori commanded.
Gar obeyed, but left it unbuttoned. "I've got a good half hour before the elimination, I'm gonna go get a bite to eat," He said. Kori called after him, yelling something about stains and new shirts, but he was already too far down the hall to comprehend it all. As he walked, he felt a presence collide with his shoulder. It wasn't a strong force, but obviously female. He knew Kori was back in the room and the other girls were preparing themselves, so that left a few choices.
He doubted it was Karen, the make-up girl, as she was taller than him and definitely stronger and there was no way he could knock her over. That left him with Jen, Crystal, the lighting girl, and Rachel. He looked down to see who he'd knocked into, and was surprised it was two out of three.
"Sorry Rachel," He exclaimed, bending down to help her up. She shot him a sharp glance, but took his hand anyway. She brushed off her lace blouse and straightened the glasses she wore only occasionally, whereas Jen, who had been with her, leaned against the wall and watched them, smirking approvingly.
"Nice shirt," Jen observed. Gar blushed and his hand found its way to the back of his neck.
"Yeah, shut up," He said, but yet still made no movement to button it up.
"What are you wearing? I thought we agreed on a tux and tie?" Rachel exclaimed, eyeing his still not-brushed hair and bare feet.
"Ah, but I got permission from the other Mother Superior," Gar explained, holding his pointer finger up at the ceiling.
"That doesn't explain your un-brushed hair, bare feet, and unbuttoned shirt—"
"Yeah, by the way, I like the four-pack. Do you shave your chest?" Jen interrupted, tilting her head.
"Jen!" Rachel cried.
"Why no, actually," Gar said, playing along. "It's just sooo naturally smooth. It's strange, because I've never touched a razor in my life; even when I was on the swim team—"
"Everyone shut up!" Raven screeched, throwing both of her arms out as if she was trying to stop an outburst between the two. "You," she pointed at Gar, "get that smirk off your face and go get fucking ready!" Jen snickered. "And you," she turned on Jen, "stop laughing at my problems and confusing me with meaningless—what you call—Confucianism's!"
As soon as Rachel's back was turned to them, Jen stuck out her tongue, crossed her eyes, and put the thumbs of her spread out hands on her temples at Rachel. Gar giggled and Rachel screamed, "Quit it, Jen!"
I love writing Jen. Even if thats not necessarily her on the show, as she's more independant and strong, and not so wild, I like having at least one rebel character. Meh.
I'm sorry it sucked so bad. Next chapter will be spicier, with the elimination round and the introduction of France. (I love France, btw)
I hope you found something you liked, and I'd love it if you reviewed. ;D
By the way, 100 reviews at 3 chapters? You guys rock!