Title: Just plain acting
Author: Henra
Email: HenraM@tuxedomask.com 
Rated: G


  Hey all! Here's chapter two to the story.
  I'm sure you all already know the disclaimer by heart. . .so I don't 
need to say it anymore.


Chapter two

#~~~~~~~#

	   Serena threw her keys on the sofa, kicked off her shoes, and went into 
her bedroom. *Man. . .I am so glad I got through the--*
	   The phone rang. Serena almost jumped. She went over to the coffee table,
where the phone was at.
	   "Hello?" Serena asked.
	   "Hey! How was it?" the voice was quite cheery, and Serena knew 
instantly who it was.
	   "Mina. . .hi. It was terrible."
	   Mina frowned at the other end of the line. "Why? What happened?"
	   "It was Darien Gormen. He is my co-star." Serena almost winced at the 
name that came out of her mouth. She brushed away the hair in her face.
	   Mina gasped. "No!!! Seriously? Oh, Sere. . .I am so sorry."
	   "Yeah, I know. Just looking at him brings back memories, both good and 
bad." Serena sighed. 
	   "Serena? You want me to come over?" Mina was concerned. Serena smiled, 
her best friend always knew.
	   "No, it's okay, Min." Serena told her. She wanted to be alone at 
that moment.
	   "You know. . .it HAS been two years already, Sere. Maybe you should 
forget about it." Mina said softly.
	   Serena sighed once again. "I just can't! I want to, so badly to forget 
about all those things that happened back in High School. . .but I don't know 
why I can't."
	   "Serena, do you know what you need right now?"
         "What, Min?" Serena raised an eyebrow. 
         "A nap. So, go!"
	   Serena laughed. "Gee, thanks, Min. I'll talk to you tomorrow." 
	   "Not if I talk to you first. Bye, Sere." Mina hang up.
	   Serena shook her head. *I am so glad that I have a best friend like 
Mina.* she got off the bed and dug into her small backpack. She took out the 
movie script for ‘Anything for you’. Serena stared at the cover. “Ugh. . .Darien 
Gormen. Yeah, out of the whole world of actors, HE has to be my co-star. Why?" 
tears came to Serena's eyes. "Isn't it enough what he already did to me?"

~~ Flashback ~~

	   "Darien. . .what's wrong?" asked a seventeen years old Serena.
	   Darien shook his head. "Get out of my sight, Serena."
	   Serena was confused. She went to touch Darien's arm. "Darien, what's---"
	   "I SAID GET OUT OF MY SIGHT, SERENA!" Darien shouted, staring at Serena 
with fury eyes. He clenched his fists. 
	   Serena stared at him, tears threatening to come out of her eyes, but 
she held it back in. She didn’t want to look like a total fool. "Darien. . .would 
you please, just tell me what's going on? Why are you dumping me right now? 
What did I do?"
	   "Serena. . .please." Darien said quietly, not looking at her, "can 
you get out of my sight. . .my LIFE, right at this moment?"

~~ End of flashback ~~

	   Serena covered her ears, as if she could wipe away the awful memories. 
She sat down on the bed again, and with her hands on her knees that were 
bent in front of her, she began to cry. "Darien. . .why are you doing this? 
You dumped me. . .and now you are back into my life. . .Oh, God. And we are 
suppose to act in a movie together. . .I can't go through this. . .I just, can't."

#~~~~~~~#

	   "Ha, ha, Serena Junelin. . .must be a joke." Darien tried to
laugh, but knew that he was just lying to himself. "Oh, man. . .her expression when 
she saw me. . . . . .shocked and angry. I'm not surprised. She's suppose to 
hate me for what I did to her. . .but I don't WANT her to hate me. . ." Darien 
shook his head. “And I’m crazy enough to talk to myself right now.”
	   He went in the kitchen. "Anything for you. . . .yeah. . . . . .Sere, 
Sere, Sere. . ." Darien saddened. *Serena Junelin as Elizabeth Marland, 
and me, Darien Gormen, as Bryan Ferano. . .Oh, God.* Darien sighed. *You 
hate me, Serenity. . .* he suddenly smiled as he remembered something.

~~ Flashback ~~

	   "Hey, Serenity, what's up?" Darien asked as he gave Serena a kiss 
on the cheek.
	   Serena turned to him, an eyebrow raised. “Serenity? Where in the 
world did you get a name like that for me?” 
	   “Yesterday, when I was thinking about you.” Darien got closer to her 
and put his arms around her waist. He planted a kiss on her forehead.
	   Serena smiled. “Oh, really? You were thinking about me? Well, that’s 
new.” She toyed with the buttons on his t-shirt. 
	   “Hey, you know what, that actually is new. Yesterday was the first time 
I ever thought about you all through this time!” Darien said playfully. 
	   Serena got out of his embrace. She stared at him, hands on her 
hips. “Really? Well, let me tell you something----I NEVER thought about you 
before!” 
	   Darien grinned when he saw the angry little sparks in her eyes. He 
got her in his arms again. “Nah. . .you thought about me way before the 
dinosaurs were born.” 
	   Serena giggled in his arms. She turned so that her arms were around 
his neck. “Oh, Darien. . .”
	   
~~ End of flashback ~~

	   Darien smiled sadly. "If only things were like before. . .but, I 
guess it's all my fault that they aren’t." He shook his head. “Creeks, you 
had her, but you let her got away.” Darien went in his bedroom and fell down 
on the bed. He needed to think. And look over the script.

#~~~~~~~#

	   "Let's see. . .some kissing scenes, some fighting scenes. . .some 
hugging scenes. . ." Serena said to herself as she skimmed through the movie 
script. "I can go through with the fights," Serena grinned, then sighed, "but
I can't go through with the romances." she sighed again, sadly this time to herself. 

~~ Flashback ~~

	   "Darien? Where are you?" Serena asked as she looked around her in the 
park. "Darien? This isn't funny? Where are you?"
	   Serena held back her tears. *Where is he?* She looked behind a tree. 
"Darien? No. Oh, God. . .where could he be?" 
	   She brushed away a teardrop, and sat down on the bench near the lake. 
"Oh, goodness. . .where is he?"
	   Suddenly, two hands covered her blue eyes. Serena gasped and turned 
around. "Darien? Oh, my gosh! Darien!!! I was so worried!" she said as she threw 
her arms around the grinning young man. 
	   "Missed me?" Darien asked.
	   Serena stepped back. "Why are you smiling?" she gasped as she 
realized, "Oh my gosh, this was a joke, wasn't it? Darien, I was really worried! 
I thought you ----"
	   "What? Fell into the lake?" his grin got wider.
	   "Darien, that really wasn't funny, you know. I mean, I was thinking of 
calling the police, and I was about to ----"  
	   A kiss on her lips cut off Serena. Darien smiled. "I'm glad that you 
care so much about me." 
	   "Of course I do." she stared at him, and then punched his arm. Hard.
	   "Ow! What was that for?"
	   "For worrying me." She answered matter-of-factly. Serena wiped away the 
remaining tear on her face. She gazed up at Darien. 
	   "Aww. . . . . .Sere." Darien used his right hand to lift up her chin, 
and kissed her. . . . .

~~ End of flashback ~~

	   Serena sighed. "No, I can't go through with these. . . . .brings back 
too many memories. But," Serena continued to talk to herself in frustration, 
"I have to. Mr. Kustle is a very famous man. . .it's going to wreck my career 
a lot if he gets mad. And I can't afford that." she sighed once again. "I 
HAVE to go through with this."
	   She read through more pages. "Wow, looks like Lizzy is very in love 
with Bryan. . .and Bryan is also in love with her. . .only they are from two 
different worlds.” Serena murmured to herself, summarizing the story plot. 
“Bryan is a prince, and Lizzy is a servant in his palace. Hmph, I'm going to 
be Darien Creeks' servant? Oh, geez." Serena sighed and looked at the stars 
out her window. "Hmm. . . . . . the stars are shining so brightly tonight." 
she smiled. "Beautiful."



	   "Gosh, they are a pair of impossible love." Darien said to himself 
after he read through the first parts of the movie script. "She's in love with 
him, he's in love with her, but their love is absolutely forbidden." Darien 
chuckled. "Wonder how Serena's going to look if she wears a servant dress." 
*She's going to be beautiful, no matter what she wears.* Darien shook his head. 
*Ugh. She's in your mind, Creeks.* 
      His eyes shifted out to the night. "My. . . . . .the sky is sparkling 
with stars tonight. . ." he fell back into his bed. "Heaven." 
	   He sat up again. There wasn’t a smile on his face anymore. "Tomorrow 
how can we face each other? She hates my guts, and I. . . . . .I-I don't know 
what I feel for her." he looked at himself through the mirror. *How are we 
EVER going to face each other? It's all my fault.* he groaned as he put his 
face in his hands.
	   If only he could rewind time. 

#~~~~~~~#

	   "Wonderful! You both are here on time!" Mr. Kustle yelled out happily 
once he saw Serena and Darien walking into the studio together. He smiled. 
"I see that you two already got to know each other."
	   *Oh, you have no idea, Mr. Kustle. No idea at all.* Serena thought 
to herself as she tossed a look at Darien. She could tell he was thinking 
of the same thing. She breathed in, breathed out. "Actually, we are not getting
to know each other," she lied, "we just bumped into each other 
on our way up the elevator."
	   Darien nodded awkwardly. "Yeah."
	   "Okay, okay, whatever. Come on, let's get your coats, we are going on 
our field trip!" Mr. Kustle said, winking at Serena.
	   "What? Field trip?" Darien asked, not understanding.
	   "He meant we are going over to the places where we are suppose to 
shoot the movie in." Serena said, not-so-nicely.
	   "Oh. But, I haven't memorize all my lines!" Darien exclaimed.
	   "I haven't, either. We are not going to shoot it right now, Darien! 
And I thought you starred in many movies." Serena said with a hing to annoyance
in her voice.
	   Darien winced at her icy tone. He looked at Mr. Kustle, "How many 
different scenes are there, anyway? You know, how many different places are 
we going to shoot the movie at?" Darien asked.
	   "Didn't you read the script, Darien?" Serena asked before Mr. Kustle 
could answer.
	   Darien sighed. "Yes, I did."
	   "Then you should know." Serena said, looking away. So far, so good. 
She was giving him the ice treatment. And Serena could tell that he didn’t like it. 
	   "Why don't you just try to be a little bit nicer?" Darien asked. 
He couldn’t keep the sharpness in his voice out.
	   "I am being as nice as I could to you right now." she told him, 
shooting him a chilly look.
	   He sighed. "Forget what I said."
	   "Consider it completely forgotten." Serena replied. She got her coat 
and went out the door. Darien got his and followed her, head hanging down.
	   Mr. Kustle raised his eyebrows. *Interesting. Wonder if they know 
each other before.*

#~~~~~~~#

	   "Wow, this place is beautiful!" Serena exclaimed, looking around.
	   Mr. Kustle beamed. "Well, I guess that 10,000 dollars were worth it."
	   Serena grinned. She shoved her hands in her pocket and studied every 
inch of the room.
	   Darien touched a black piano in front of him. "Wow. . .what is 
this place suppose to be, anyway?"
	   "This room, is Prince Bryan's bedroom. Get comfortable, Darien, since 
you are going to be around here a lot." Mr. Kustle said.
	   "Yes, sir." Darien replied. He grinned. “I could get used to a 
beautiful place like this.”
	   Serena tried hard not to notice how handsome he looked when he smiled 
like that. Instead, she walked to the corner of the room, pretending to 
look at the painting hanging on the wall.
	   "Come on, let's go over there." Mr. Kustle stepped into another room 
that was connected to the bedroom. "This is going to be the room where the 
King and Queen are having their parties . . .and where Lizzy is taking care 
of the guests. This is going to be the scene where Lizzy and Bryan first bumped 
into each other."
	   Serena smiled, ignoring what Mr. Kustle was hinting. "This room is 
huge!"
	   "Of course. I mean, everyone will be standing around here talking 
and stuff." Darien said, as he studied the big light hanging down from the 
ceiling.
	   Serena didn’t pay any attention to him. "Mr. Kustle, where's the place 
for the scene in the forest?" 
	   Mr. Kustle smiled. "We are going to use the real woods near the 
mountains." 
	   "Near the mountains? That's really faraway." Serena said, an amazed 
look on her face as she stared at Mr. Kustle. 
	   Mr. Kustle chuckled. "Yes, it is."
	   "What about the scene where Bryan kisses Lizzy by the waterfall?" 
Darien asked, testing to see what Serena’s reaction was. 
      Serena gulped. She tried to keep her face emotionless. Serena turned to 
look at the director. 
	   "Well, there are no waterfalls around here, so we are going to make 
a fake one, of course." Mr. Kustle explained, as he walked around, surveying 
the room.
	   "Oh." Darien replied. It was the only word he could think of at that 
time to say. Serena’s face didn’t show anything, so he didn’t know how she felt 
about working with him. *I’ll test her next time.*
	   "You know, we don't have a lot of time in our hands, and so, I want 
you two to memorize your lines as quickly as you can. . .and tomorrow, you 
guys are going to meet Felicia, and Steven. . .who are starring as the queen and 
king. They were at some place else, and couldn't make it today. Or yesterday."
	   "Don't worry, I can remember my lines in a snap." Darien told him with 
a smile.
	   Mr. Kustle smiled back. "Well, you are famous for that. Serena, what 
about you?" he focused his eyes on the quiet girl. 
	   "Well, I take a little bit of time, but I'll get it." Serena said 
truthfully. *He didn’t change. Never modest.* she thought as she tossed an 
annoying look in Darien’s direction. Darien caught it and gave her a mischievous 
smile.
	   "Good. Oh, and here's some bad news. The girl who's suppose to star 
as Josephine, another servant in the castle, had an accident just several 
weeks ago. I was hoping that she could get well before we start anything, but 
now, it looks to me that she can't. So, I'm going to look for another 
talented actress, but right now, I can't seem to find anyone. Uh, you two 
know anyone?"
	   Serena and Darien shook their heads. 
	   "Oh, well. I'll find someone." Mr. Kustle shrugged. 
	   Serena then realized something. She grinned. "Wait, I know someone 
who can star as Josephine!"

#~~~~~~~#

	   "What???? You want ME to star in 'Anything for you'?" Mina shouted over 
the phone.
	   "Yes, Mina! You are perfect! Come on, please, say you'll do it." Serena 
pleaded. She toyed with the telephone line. If Mina said yes. . . . . .
	   "But, Sere, I never starred in a movie before." Mina complained. 
Serena noticed that there was a sense of curiousity in her voice. 
	   "You starred in commercials and stuff. . .come on, it's the same thing. 
It's all just an act!" Serena said smoothly, looking at the ceiling. She really 
hoped Mina would say yes. Serena crossed her fingers.
	   "Well. . .okay, I guess I can give it a try. Besides, being with 
my best friend is going to be way cool." Mina said after a long pause. Serena 
heard the happiness in her best friend’s voice. She grinned.
	   "Oh, Mina! And now I can talk to you when I don't want to face that 
Darien jerk." Serena said, relieved. *Or when I feel like I’m going to fall 
for him all over again, I can just tell Mina to tell me bad stuff about him. And
having a best friend on the set. . .oh! Maybe this movie won't turn out to be
so bad after all.* she thought to herself. 
	   "Is he that bad?"
	   "Ur. . .not exactly. He’s not that bad right now. . .yet. Every time 
I look at him, all those memories would come, and I would get sad. . .and you 
know, blah, blah, blah." Serena said, sighing. She sat against the pillows 
on her bed. 
	   "Well, if he does do something to make you even more sad and mad, 
I'll get revenge for you." Mina said playfully. 
	   Serena laughed. "Gee, thanks. Although I don’t even want to know 
how you are preaparing to do that." 
	   "Ha ha. You are going to be surprised when I actually use my trick 
on him.” Mina said, laughing over the line. 
	   "Well, I got to call Mr. Kustle to tell him that you are going to 
be filling in for that girl, and he can breath a sigh of relief." Serena told 
her best friend, smiling. *Mr. Kustle is going to be so happy!*
	   "You do that. I'll call you back later."
	   "No, why don't you come over later?"
	   "Okay! See you then, Sere."
	   "Yeah." Serena sighed and hung up. She smiled. "Having Mina is 
going to be a blast." She looked at the script lying on her bed. "Well, got 
to memorize those lines now.” Serena put her hand to her stomach. “But first, 
need to grab a snack.” 
          Serena ran downstairs, grabbed a handful of cookies from a jar in 
the kitchen, and then ran upstairs again. She put the cookies down on a napkin, 
got one in her left hand, and munched on it. “Now, I’m ready.” She used her 
right hand to flip through the pages.
	   


	   “What do you mean by gross?” Mina asked, while grabbing a handful 
of chips. 
	   “Gross, I mean, GROSS! There are a lot of kissing scenes! There’s 
even a scene where. . . . . .where. . .” Serena couldn’t even bring herself 
to say it. She looked away. 
	   Mina got curious. “Where what, Sere? Come on, tell me! I’m going 
to be in the movie, I’m going to know, anyway.” 
	   Serena bit her lip. “There’s even a scene where. . .where Lizzy 
was. . .taking a shower by the waterfall, and then. . .and then Bryan 
showed up.” She swallowed as she thought about it.
	   Mina’s eyes were almost round, but she was grinning.  “You mean. . .Bryan 
is actually going to see Lizzy naked?” 
	   “Well, Bryan did see Lizzy naked, in the story, but in the movie, I can wear
a swimsuit, a dark one, that's sort of bare in the back only. I already called
Mr. Kustle, and he explained everything in a calming voice." Serena smiled.
"Think what would happen if Darien actually. . .you know." 
	   Mina grinned. "Ha, ha, ha. I wouldn't want to imagine that." 
         Serena threw a cushion at her. "Don't even go there." She munched 
on some chips. 
	   “Anyway. . .let’s not think about that right now.” Mina said, 
turning on the tv.
	   “Yes, let’s not talk about that right now. Which reminds me. . .” 
Serena smiled as she turned to face Mina, “I got a phone call yesterday from 
Raye!”
	   Mina screamed. She calmed down and pressed the mute button the remote
control. “You are kidding!” she exclaimed. 
	   Serena shook her head. “I’m not. She called me! And it was a 
three-way calling. . .and. . .”
	   “Either Lita or Amy was also on the line?” Mina guessed, her eyes 
returning to being round.
	   “Yes!” Serena squealed. 
	   Mina screamed again. This time, Serena screamed with her. Lita, 
Amy, and Raye were their best friends throughout High School. The five of 
them went everywhere together. But after graduation, Amy went to Germany to 
study, Lita went all the way to a big city to open up her own restaurant, and 
Raye moved with her Grandpa to another faraway place. Only Mina and Serena 
stayed together. The five of them always talked on the phone after their 
separation, but it wasn’t the same. 
	   “Well, who was it anyway?” Mina asked, her eyes dancing. 
	   “It was Amy. Raye couldn’t reach Lita at that time. I think her phone 
was busy or something.” Serena answered, while stretching on the sofa. 
	   “Don’t get off on the subject.” Mina told her, rolling her eyes. “Come 
on, get to the important stuff already!” she exclaimed. The suspense was killing 
her. What they told Serena?
	   “And you won’t believe what they told me.” Serena said excitedly, her 
eyes sparkling. 
	   “What, what, what?” Mina urged, nearly hysterical. She couldn’t stand 
it anymore. 
 	   “They said they are coming to visit!” Serena told her finally, and Mina 
squealed with happiness. 
	   “When, when, when???” 
	   “Well, not until next month.” Serena said quickly. “But they are 
coming! All three of them! Can you believe it?” 
	   “My GOD!!!!!” Mina sighed. “Oh. . .I miss how it was in High School. . . . . .”
	   “Yeah, me, too. Remember how we quadruple dated in junior year?” 
Serena got a faraway look in her eyes when she thought about when she was only 
sixteen.
	   Mina giggled. “Yeah, Amy wouldn’t come along with us because she 
said that she had to go shopping with her Mom. Imagine Amy shopping!” Mina 
sighed. “If she had come along, though, it would be even more fun!” 
	   “Yeah, that was the most fun date I’d ever been on. Just you and Andrew, 
Raye and Chad, Lita and Ken, me and. . . . . .Darien.” the smile died on 
Serena’s face.
	   Mina instantly put her arms around Serena. “Think about the good 
parts, not the bad parts.” 
	   Serena pasted on a bright smile. “Yeah. I wouldn’t want to disturb this 
happy-remembering.” She put another handful of chips into her mouth. 
	   “You know, I can’t believe that they called you and not me.” Mina 
said, pouting. She stared at Serena, a funny look on her face. “What is it 
about you that people like better?”
	   Serena giggled. “I don’t know. I don’t know why they didn’t call you, 
either. But maybe they did and you were out or something.” She shrugged. 
	   “I guess.” Mina smiled. She hugged her best friend. “I just hope they 
haven’t changed over the two years.” 
	   Serena got a horrified look on her face. “Hope not!” 

#~~~~~~~#

	   “Hi, Serena. . .” Darien greeted awkwardly. He looked over what Serena 
was dressed in. A pair of baggy khaki pants, and a white tank-top. *Simple but 
beautiful.* 
	   Serena turned to stare at him, surprised. She was debating in her 
mind whether to say hi back, when Mr. Kustle’s voice broke through the air.
	   “Felicia! Steven! Hello!” 
	   Serena, Mina, and Darien turned to look at the man woman who just 
showed up. Serena studied them. The woman was about forty something, and had 
shiny red hair, with deep ocean blue eyes. There were freckles over her face, 
and she looked very amiable. The man looked like he was in his fifties. He got 
a pair of warm brown eyes, and blondish-brown hair. Serena thought that the 
guy was a definite king-like man. 
	   Mr. Kustle smiled at Serena and them. “Felicia, Steven, this is Serena, 
who will be playing Lizzy; this is Darien, who will be playing Bryan; and this 
is Mina, who will be playing Josephine, Lizzy’s best friend.” He gestured 
toward them.
	   Serena flashed them a bright smile. “Hi.” Mina giggled and nodded hello. 
Darien gave them a lopsided grin. 
	   Felicia and Steven smiled. 
	   “Oh, Charlie,” Felicia started, addressing Mr. Kustle by his first 
name, “they are the perfect actors for the characters they are playing! They are 
all so gorgeous.” 
	   Darien bowed playfully. “Thank you, madam.” 
	   Felicia laughed. “And this one’s quite humorous, too.” She looked 
around the set. “Well, when are we going to be ready to shoot?’ 
	   “As soon as everyone memorized their lines. I’d like to have this movie 
finished before October, and that means we have four months. That’s more than 
enough.” Mr. Kustle answered. He turned to look at Serena and Darien. “You guys 
at least skimmed through the script already, right?” 
	   “I already memorized the whole Act 1.” Darien said, a little proud. 
He shot a look at Serena, but she just snorted and turned away. Darien cleared 
his throat, feeling a little bit embarrassed. 
	   “That’s great! I’ll give you the scrip right now, Mina, so you can 
start reading and memorizing, too.” Mr. Kustle reached into a bag that was on a 
fake wooden table, and pulled out three copies. “Here you go, Mina, here you 
go, Felicia, and here you go. . .Steven.” 
	   Darien was lost in thoughts. So far, Serena had been giving him the 
ice treatment. Ranking on everything he said and did, and sometimes he even 
found her staring at him with chilly eyes. Not at all the sparkling, warm blue 
eyes he remembered from two years ago. There was only one thing left for him to do.
	   He would give the ice treatment back.


___________________________________________________________________
Well, the story’s not going anywhere right now, but at least it’s a start! I 
promise you things would get heat up when chapter three’s out. 
Be sure to visit my website at:
http://fly.to/Moonieround