FEELINGS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Chapter Three

Rose felt weird the next day. This would be the day she did her first kissing scene with Jack. She knew it wouldn’t be the last kissing scene, but she was really nervous. They walked to the flower field where they would shoot this scene. Jack was wearing a sleeveless undershirt and some blue jeans. Rose was wearing a light blue simple but pretty dress. The movie took place in a small town in Texas. It was a warm, sunny day. It almost seemed perfect for this scene. Jack was standing around, waiting for Rose to come out of makeup. A lady was fixing his makeup. He saw her coming and really thought he was seeing an angel.

"Doesn’t she look beautiful?" Jack asked the lady. She turned around and looked at Rose.

"Well, yes, she does," she answered.

"She looks like an angel," Jack said. The lady smiled and agreed.

"Well, come on! Run, Rose, and keep running. We are very late, sugar," he yelled. Rose smiled and started to walk faster.

"I’m already here, Mr. Bossy," she said, and poked his belly. He laughed and pinched her arm.

"All right, Jack and Rose, or should I say, Jason and Angie, this is a very important scene. This is where Angie finally realizes her best friend, Jason, loves her. This is when Jason finally has the balls to tell his friend that he loves her. I want this scene to be perfect and beautiful. I want you two to give it all you can. That you feel an amazing love filled with pain, Jason. This is your first kiss. Make it the best. All right?" Randy asked. Jack and Rose smiled and said yes.

"All right, people. Get in your positions and get ready. Jason and Angie, make me cry! I want people to be talking about this scene for years to come!" Randy yelled. The movie crew got in position and Jack and Rose were where they were supposed to be. Rose started to make herself cry. She was supposed to be crying in this scene. Being able to make herself cry was considered part of her talent.

"All right. Is everybody where they are supposed to be? Okay! Action!" Randy yelled. Rose walked to Jack and they said their lines. She was crying while she was saying her lines. Jack hugged her like it was written in the script. He kissed her head and then kissed her eyes. He kissed her cheeks, and then there was a long pause. It was the moment where Jack kissed her. He looked into her eyes and neared his lips to hers. He slowly started to kiss her. She kissed him back. For a moment, both of them forgot about Randy and the rest of the movie crew, who were looking right at them. Rose, in her mind, wished this scene was a long one. Jack wrapped his arms around her, something that was not written in the script. He kissed her with more passion. He wished Randy wouldn’t say that word, that word that would end the scene. Rose let more tears fall from her eyes; she wrapped her arms around his neck. Not once did they let go of each other’s lips. Randy smiled. It was perfect.

"Perfect! Cut!" he yelled.

Rose and Jack didn’t let go of each other. They kept their lips close together. They had forgotten about the movie.

"Cut!" Randy yelled again. They finally let go of each other. They were breathing hard and were still hugging. He looked into her eyes, and she looked at him. They just stared at each other. To break the odd pause, Rose smiled and pinched his arm. He smiled, too, and let her go. She started to walk away. He was about to stop her, but Randy stopped them.

"I have to hand it to both of you. That was great; I loved it so much that I don’t think I need to shoot it again," he said, and patted both of them on the backs. Rose felt kind of disappointed; she really didn’t mind shooting that scene again. She looked at him and smiled. She walked away. Jack smiled at her.

He sat on a chair and started to drink some water. He couldn’t stop thinking about Rose. Lately, all he thought about was her. He was alone, but suddenly he heard a sweet voice.

"Hey." He turned around and saw that it was Rose.

"Hey, weirdo," he said, smiling.

"Can I sit with you, creep?"

"Yeah, sure. We sure call each other weird names," he said, laughing.

"Yeah, we do. It just shows our love," she said, smiling. She sat down and pinched his arm.

"Ouch! That hurts, you know. I don’t know why you love to do that," he said, laughing and grabbing his arm.

"It’s rough love, hon. It’s just rough," she said.

"Well, I don’t think I like your rough love. If that is the way you show your love, then I don’t want to know how you show your hate," he said, and she started to laugh. He laughed, as well, and watched her smile. He found that he loved the way she smiled. They were laughing when, all of a sudden, a voice interrupted them.

"Jack!" a voice called.

Jack got up from his seat and saw that it was Regina. His smile quickly turned into a frown.

"Oh, Jack, I missed you so much!" she cried, hugging him and starting to kiss him. He didn’t really hug her back. Rose felt uncomfortable and turned away. Regina started kissing Jack all over his face. Jack felt uncomfortable; he turned and looked at Rose and saw that she was looking away. He pushed Regina away and gave her a weak smile.

"Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you were in Europe," Jack said, smiling.

"Well, we weren’t going to stay over there forever! I missed you so much, Jack!" she said, and hugged him again. She turned around, looked at Rose, and gave her a critical look. Jack pulled away again and turned to Rose.

"Uh…Rose, this is my girlfriend, Regina. Regina, this is Rose, my co-star and friend," Jack said.

Regina shook Rose’s hand and stared at her; Rose looked at her and realized that she knew her.

"Hey, aren’t you Rose Bukater…St. Mary’s High School?" Regina asked.

"Yeah, that is me! Regina Thomas? I thought your last name was Roberts."

"Yeah, but I changed it after my parents divorced. But I can’t believe I didn’t remember that you are the same Rose from high school. Maybe because you have changed so much! Have you lost weight?" Regina asked.

"Yeah. I don’t know what happened; I guess I lost all my baby fat," Rose said, laughing. Jack laughed, as well.

"I didn’t know you two knew each other. Since when do you all know each other?" he asked.

"We knew each other in high school, but she moved to New York," Rose said. Jack looked at her and smiled.

During the rest of the day, Jack and Rose filmed a few scenes and Regina waited for him to get a break. She would sit next to him and flirt with him. Rose and Jack hardly talked, and she tried to make sure he saw that this didn’t bother her, even if it did. It was afternoon when Regina decided to leave the set.

"Jack, I’m leaving. This place bores me. I’m going to my hotel room. Then, later tonight, I’ll go to your place," she said, flirting, and then she kissed him and wrapped her arms around him. Rose was with her makeup artist and was looking at them. Judy looked at her and just nodded her head as she saw Rose’s face. Jack and Regina wouldn’t let go of each other. Rose angrily turned away.

I don’t even know why I’m feeling like this. They have every right to kiss. Why am I feeling like crap? Rose thought to herself. She got up, went to her trailer, and closed her door. She fell on the couch and buried her face in a pillow that was beside her. Judy opened the door and sat on a chair next to her.

"You know, it took me two hours to get your makeup perfect, and you just ruined it by putting your pretty face in that pillow," she said.

"Pretty? Ugh. Please don’t lie to me," Rose said, and sat up.

"Oh, don’t tell me you feel ugly because Jack is out there making out with that model! Who has the leading role in this movie? You, Rose. You are not ugly! You at least eat something, unlike that twig, Regina Thomas," Judy said, laughing.

"There is nothing wrong with being a model. You have to respect what they do, Judy. I really didn’t enjoy seeing her again."

"How come you didn’t tell me you knew her?"

"Well, I wasn’t sure if she was the same Regina that I knew. But I should have known it was her. All she ever told me is that one day she would be a model. She was always saying how she deserved to get her dream and that she was so pretty…ugh. I hated high school!" Rose said.

"Well, you and one point six billion other people. Wasn’t she your best friend?"

"Well, I don’t know about best. She was just my so-called friend. I was just known for being Regina’s chubby but cute friend. I hated it; she was always telling me how horrible I looked."

"What are best friends for, right? Ha ha. Look, Rose, just forget about that twig. Jack is known to be a womanizer. He’ll dump her as soon as he gets tired of looking at her bony ass…"

"Judy! Don’t say that. Besides, why do you keep bringing Jack up? I never said that it bothered me…"

"Oh, come on, Rose! I can tell you wanted to jump on Regina when she was kissing Jack! You can’t hide anything from me, girl."

"I really don’t care. I just can’t wait to finish filming in this town. After this, I won’t see Jack for a few weeks, maybe months."

"Why?"

"He is going to another place. I really don’t know where. They are going to film the war scenes, which I don’t have any part in, as you might imagine."

"Are you sure you are not going to miss him?" Judy asked, smiling.

"No…not at all. Okay, maybe a little, because he is good company and a good friend. That is it. Just a friend," Rose said. Judy was looking at her in disbelief when someone knocked on the door.

"Miss Bukater, you have five minutes," a crew member said. Rose stood up and headed for the door with Judy following her.

"What scene are you going to do?" she asked.

"We are going to finish the kissing scene. I’m supposed to be in shock because Jack…I mean, Jason, kissed me and I only see him as a friend," Rose said, and smiled.

"What a coincidence, don’t you think? Just a friend? Ha ha ha!" Judy laughed, and Rose just rolled her eyes. She opened her door and found Jack at the bottom of the trailer’s steps. He turned around, looked at her, and smiled a smile that could melt snow.

"Rosie! Where are you? I have missed you, weirdo!" he said, laughing, and helped her down the steps.

"Well, creep, you were too busy with your little girlfriend, and when I say little, I do mean little," Rose said.

"Weirdo and creep. Cute names. Very original," Judy said with a confused face. Jack and Rose looked at her and smiled.

"Don’t get mad, weirdo. I had to spend some time with my little girlfriend. But don’t worry. She has gone shopping. I promise I won’t get mad when your boyfriend comes," he said.

"I don’t have a boyfriend, creep."

"Really? I mean…oh…that is just too bad. So, that means you are very lonely?"

"No. I’m fine. I don’t need a man to be happy," Rose said, and started to walk to the set. Jack walked with her. He looked at her and smiled.

"Don’t you dare, Jack!" Rose said, walking fast away from him. Jack laughed, ran after her, and started to tickle her.

*****

After filming the scene, Rose packed her things, ready to go to Washington, D.C., where she would spend most of her time now. This didn’t make her very happy. Jack and the rest of the movie crew would leave for another town to film the war scenes. She wouldn’t see him for some time. She finished packing and walked out of her trailer. She saw Judy and walked towards her.

"Hey, Judy. I’m going to miss you these next couple of weeks," she said, and hugged her.

"Yeah. Me, too, Rose. I never thought I would become a celebrity’s friend. You are the nicest celebrity I have ever met," Judy said.

"Oh, shut up, Judy. You lie too much."

"I’m not lying. You hurt my feelings, Rose. Well, I’ll miss you, too, even though you’ll miss Jack more than you will miss me."

"Ugh! There you go again!"

"Okay…okay. I’ll shut up. But good luck without him," Judy said, and started to walk to her car. "Good-bye, Rose. Don’t get in trouble with the paparazzi," she said, and got in the car. Rose smiled and waved good-bye.

She started to walk to her car and looked back at the set. It was almost empty; most of the crew had already left. She was walking and had almost reached her car when a voice stopped her.

"Rose! Hold on." It was Jack. "Are you leaving without saying good-bye to me? I see you are," he said, and faked crying. It was funny, so Rose laughed. She walked to him and hugged him.

"Oh, goofy Jack, good-bye, and don’t get lost in the war. It’s just going to be fake, so don’t get scared," she said, laughing.

"Ha ha. Very funny. I’m going to miss you making fun of me. Will you miss me, Rose?" he asked, hugging her. She kept hugging him, as well.

"Of course, creep! I’ll miss you a whole lot! Who am I going to make fun of, call creep, and pinch?" she asked, and pinched him. He let her go and grabbed his shoulder, smiling.

"I’m going to miss you, too, weirdo! Oh, my God. We are acting like we aren’t going to see each other ever again. It’s only going to be a few weeks. Very long weeks, but only a few weeks," he said.

She looked at him and smiled. "Bye, Jack," she said, and started to walk away.

"Wait, Rose. Will you have dinner with me?" he asked.

"Don’t you have a girlfriend waiting for you?" she asked.

"She thinks I’m here until nine o’clock, and it’s 6:33. It gives us about two and a half hours to grab a burger," he said, smiling.

Rose thought about it. A burger won’t hurt, she thought. "Okay. Let’s go," she said, and he smiled, happy that she had accepted.

Chapter Four
Stories