I’m in Hollywood Chapter 11

“Cut ! Alright, Eric, you take a break, and get ready for the next scene.” Penny Marshall clapped her hands as the staff members busied themselves. The upcoming scene was the one where Mike, donning a large and wet suit, walked around the school hallways searching for the mysterious janitor.

It was the afternoon of the first day of shooting, the set was located at a private high school in Beverly Hills. When the school’s board learned about the script’s content, they readily agreed to attend to the filming crew for free, on the premise that the school’s name in the script had to be changed to theirs. This was a win-win situation, the crew received free s.p.a.ce which saved budget money, and the high school would gain the best kind of publicity. The crew deliberated shortly before quickly agreeing.

They had taken a lot of simple shots in the morning, so they decided to shoot the scene of Mike looking for the old janitor the afternoon.

“Eric, the way you’re dressed right now is seriously shabby, you look like one of those dirty hobos from downtown.” Drew Barrymore mocked as she sat crossed legged on a chair.

Eric certainly wouldn’t care about a thirteen-year-old girl, he indifferently replied: “Hey, Maggie, that’s no way to speak to your father.”

Drew sneered: “As an eighteen-year-old virgin ? You’re overreaching.”

Aniston came holding a towel at this time, and hearing Drew making fun of her sweetheart, she immediately retorted: “He’s still better than certain people by a hundred times.”

Drew didn’t even put Aniston in her eyes as she eyed her from head to toe. She revealed a derisive smile as she stood up from her chair and deliberately wriggled her own slender waist.

Eric had to say, this was really a low move.

Aniston’s plump figure was the achilles’ heel that boosted her low self-esteem, to make this kind of mocking gesture in front of the boy she liked, she was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. She threw away the towel she was holding and bounced towards Drew. Don’t just look at her sweet and innocent smile, Annie was a girl who worked and lived in Los Angeles alone, how would someone like her not know how to fend for herself ?

Catching a glance of an impending war, Eric quickly stopped Aniston; he took her hands and sat beside her as he affectionately bit her earlobe and whispered something to her. Feeling Eric’s breath on her slender neck, Aniston couldn’t help but giggle. She coquettishly made a fist and gently hammered his shoulder: “Eric, you’re so bad, how can you say that.”

Drew had perked her ears up but couldn’t catch what Eric had said, she wrinkled her nose and grunted as she turned around and pretended not to care.

“Eric, get ready for the next scene.”

“Be right there, Penny.” Eric patted Annie’s little hands, stood up and walked towards the set.

As for why Drew kept nitpicking at Eric, it had started this morning. Although he and Annie hadn’t really put a name on their relationship, everyone could see how close they were. Some made fun of them, some were envious, and others, like Drew, were just annoyed.

She didn’t know why but when she saw the two of them together, acting so intimate, Drew felt a sense of discomfort. Especially when she would occasionally see Aniston reveal a kind of happy womanly smile. So she kept jeering at Eric at every occasion she found, except when they were both on set. The entire crew knew that Eric and Drew were like fire and water, however, once the two of them faced the cameras, their performance was nothing short of professional, they rarely made any NG at all. Since Drew’s antics didn’t affect the shooting, Eric and Penny didn’t really mind, they had already discovered half a month ago that she was more mature than her peers.

“Hey supersized girl, what did that guy just tell you ?” Drew couldn’t take it in the end and pretended to be indifferent as she nonchalantly asked.

“You know, you’re seriously pathetic.” After Eric’s dissuasive words, Aniston had calmed down, but her speech became bolder since he wasn’t around.

“Pathetic ? Me ?” Drew was startled, she looked at Aniston with wide eyes.

“Ha ha.” Aniston’s cute chin raised slightly as she said.

“Ha, what a joke ! I’m the movie’s lead actress while you’re just an extra with a few minutes of screen time, and you still have the nerves to say that.”

Aniston stated: “So what if you’re the lead actress, you’re just your mother’s personal wallet. I’m different, I might just have a small role, but I at least have my freedom. I also have a talented and gentle boyfriend who wrote a screenplay at only eighteen years old, who is starring as an actor, and whose novel has even hit the shelves. What about you ? Your father pretends that you don’t exist and in your mother’s eyes, you’re only a tool to make money. You couldn’t take it so you started to indulge in alcohol, drugs and even ****, in an attempt to escape from reality. I saw how Eric’s lack of care towards you brought about your feelings of jealousy, you’re just a broken, hurt, and freedom-less pathetic little girl.”

BOOM –

As if a bomb had went off in her mind, Drew felt like she was standing naked in the coldest of winters.

Even if she was mature for her age, she was still only thirteen years old. Most of the girls her age would only be junior high freshmen full of curiosity and antic.i.p.ation towards their upcoming first love. Aniston’s words had torn open all the wounds that Drew had desperately tried to keep buried.

Seeing Drew become silent, Aniston displayed a satisfied smile. Had Eric been here, he would have done everything to prevent her from saying those unbearable words to a child.

After successfully completing several shots, Eric returned to the rest area, a little surprised to see Drew curled up in the corner with her small head buried in her arms. Curious, he asked: “Annie, how come the two of you are so quiet ?”

Aniston proudly replied: “I beat her with words, she was unable to refute and was rendered speechless.”

“Huh that’s amazing, Drew’s mouth can be kind of vicious and it’s not easy to deal with. Well, let’s go, do your best during your scene to leave the director a good impression.”

“I will.”

As the two people walked intimately on the set, the earlier storm seemed to have quickly pa.s.sed, but was that really the case ? …

During the following shoots, Drew had stopped teasing Eric and became unusually quiet. Eric and Aniston were engrossed in the filming and didn’t pay attention to her abnormal behavior.

“Nice, great job guys !” At the end of the day, in the middle of the last scene on the shooting schedule, Penny Marshall held a pen as she said to Eric: “We originally planned to complete everything in ten days, but judging by the pace we’re going at, it will probably not take a week. I know we’ve already discussed this during your audition, but I have to say Eric, your performance is really exceptional, do you really have no acting experience ?”

Eric laughed: “Actually Penny, I lied. I played in a lot of movies in my past life, and I seem to have retained the experience.”

“Past life ? Oh you’re talking about the Buddhism’s theory of reincarnation.” Penny Marshall took the truth as a joke, and said: “Well, it seems like your little girlfriend is getting anxious, go, and remember not to be late tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Penny.”

“See you tomorrow.”

Eric started the car, and left together with Aniston.

No one noticed the lonely figure of Drew Barrymore standing in a corner, staring at the leaving car in resentment as she muttered: “Just wait and see, Jennifer Aniston, you little b.i.t.c.h, I’ll make you look good, I’ll make you regret every single one of the words you said to me today.”