Chapter 14

"It is not funny," I seethed under my breath, nudging Fang's side for the tenth time in twenty minutes. "Look at her. She looks nothing like me."

Fang, Nudge, and I were standing behind cameras in a smaller room than the one in which we previously snacked. The RHW stood in an area in front of the cameras, a green screen providing a ceiling to floor backdrop behind her. The screen version of me read lines with various blond children, each vying for the part of my darling Angel. The five girls that auditioned so far epitomized innocence in their voices, their faces – striking resemblances to my seven-year old mind reader, but none of them seemed to be able to grasp Angel's dark side. Yes – she had one. Rarely showed it – except for those intermittent moments when she couldn't control your mind so that she could get her way.

But these girls could pull off the Angel look. Unlike the girl they hired to play me.

"I think she's beautiful," Nudge whispered to me. "And I think you're beautiful. I mean, you two are the same height and they can dye her hair to match yours." Nudge brought a thoughtful finger to her lips. "Or maybe, you could just color yours red. Oh Max! You would look great as a redhead!"
"What?!" I cried out, drawing the stares of the gaffers or key grips or whatever those light people were called and camera men and several others in the room. Fang almost laughed out loud. Thank goodness my mom escorted Iggy and Gazzy on an impromptu tour of the studio. Iggy's chortles could be heard from here to Nevada when he heard about the RHW and discovered she'd be playing me. Can only imagine how he would have reacted to that Nudge remark.

"I am not dying my hair!" I groused quietly.

"Why not? I think it would look great." Nudge played with a strand of my dirty blond hair. It had lightened up a little bit with the sun recently giving it a natural streaked look. "Actually, never mind. I like you just the way you are."

"Thank you," I heaved in mock appreciation.

"Me too," Fang whispered in my ear.

"Shouldn't Angel be in here? Shouldn't she have a say so in who plays her part? I wish they'd just let me be me. I can act and I'd be a natural. They wouldn't have to pay me. Just knowing I'd be on the big screen and everyone would be asking for my autograph." Nudge sharply turned her body toward mine. "Do you think people would like me? Would they want my autograph?"

"I think you'd make a wonderful Nudge and yes, I think the whole world would want your autograph. But I don't think we have much say so in the matter," I reminded Nudge.

"Well, then what are we doing here?"

"Input. Or so they say. I think they're just appeasing the CSM by bringing us on board. They didn't even wait to ask my advice on who'd be playing me because I would have not chosen that person. She doesn't look like me. She doesn't even sound like me."

"Angel, are you saying that you influenced that woman so she would buy you the bear?" my wannabe chirped in a shrill voice. Oh yeah, that sounds just like me.

The sixth Angel of the day replied in a low dark voice, "Celeste. And I really, really wanted Celeste. More than anything in the whole world."

Okay – now that was a teensy bit more believable.

"Who's that girl?" I asked, craning my head over the scattered assistants in front of us. "She sounds just like Angel."

"That's because she is Angel," Fang replied glumly.