"Congratulations Miss. Waverly. We would love to offer you the leading role in 'Desert Fire' as Faye Morris. We will begin shooting the pilot for the series February fourth of 2008. Please contact your agent for locations and times. Again, congratulations, and we look forward to working with you."
"And that was the message Mr. Hines left. I'll call him and get the rest of the information for you, and get back to you Bria."
"Thanks Rhonda."
"Congrats on getting the part."
"Thanks. Talk to you soon." As soon as Bria hung up the phone, she let out a long loud scream. Since she was alone in her car, she didn't care. And then she turned up her cd player, and blasted 'Crazy Beautiful' as she thought more of her plan.

---

"You did great tonight Bria, as usual."
"Thanks Lily. I'm glad you could make it after all."
"I just bribed Mark to let me leave early."
"Well, thanks. Tell Mark he's very nice."
"Right. That coming from me would be a pick up line." Bria laughed as she and Lily walked down the hall behind the stage. Her performance had gone smoothly, everyone had found out, thanks to Mr. Dight, that she had gotten the part with the new show 'Desert Fire', so everyone was basically kissing her ass. Eager to leave, she left the building and got into her vehicle. As soon as Lily was in too, Bria peeled out of the parking lot.
"So have you thought any more about your "plan"?"
"Yeah, and you can't tell anyone. I'll call you often to let you know how it's going."
"When are you leaving again?"
"Tomorrow morning."
"You are so crazy. I can't believe you're actually do this."
"Just think of how much experience I'll get, and how I'll be able to hone my skills as an actress." Bria lifted her chin haughtilly.
"I know, but to involve them?"
"That's what it's all about."
"But what if they find out it's all a lie?"
"I'm not trying to marry them, just get to know them sooner than later. Like after I'm famous." Lily shook her head and smiled.
"Okay, but they seem to nice. Innocent, more like. I think you're going to smear their feelings all over the place." Bria smiled wickedly.
"Then maybe I'll give them some inspiration. I just kind of wish I was being filmed so when I'm done I could win an award. I get the feeling I'll be earning an Oscar in the process."

At five am her alarm shrilled. Bria turned it off, already awake. Her mind had been racing for the past hour, and the only thing that had kept her in bed was knowing that she wouldn't be sleeping in her bed again for at least two weeks. Jumping out of bed, making it behind herself, she got into the shower. Mentally going over her checklist of things to bring, she checked them off as she double checked that she'd packed them the night before. She was so excited, it was her first time ever doing something where she needed to completely depend on herself for everything. Getting out of the shower, she dried off then dressed. Applying her makeup, she quietly sang 'Runaway Run'. She let her hair air dry as she left the bathroom for her room and began throwing the last of her necessities in her large duffle bag. All her shower stuff, make up, a new Nora Roberts novel, and the rest filled with clothes, she stuffed all her saved cash, bank card and ID in her front pocket of her jeans, tossed a blue hoodie on, and made her way to the door.
"You're really going to do this." Lily said, coming out of her room in a purple robe, matching slippers and tousled blond hair.
"Yeah. Don't try to talk me out of it either. And swear again that you're not going to tell anyone."
"Bria, I swear again I won't tell anyone. Did you remember your phone and your charger?" Bria patted her pocket on her hoodie.
"Yes. I'll call you when I stop for the night."
"Promise?"
"Promise. See you later, Lily."
"Be safe, please." Lily had a gut feeling that Bria would have to do some nasty things to get where she was going, but knew that she would get there in one piece, and reach her goal. That's just who Bria was. Too bad she had to go about it this way.
"I will." They gave eachother a hug, and Bria closed the apartment door behind her. Pulling out her iPod earbuds, she put them in and started the music as she strolled down to the corner of the block and began to walk. She didn't want to stick her thumb out here, there were too many people she knew that would see her, then say something they knew nothing about. She figured she'd walk a couple of miles, until her feet hurt, she was too tired, or far enough away to catch a ride. She knew she had to get far enough out to start seeing semi's. And they didn't come this way.
As she was walking, an old red pickup truck rolled up slowly along side her.
As the window slid down, an old Mexican man shouted in heavilly accented English, "You need a ride?" Bria stopped, turned, and smiled warmly. Instantly the old man smiled too.
"Why, I would love a ride." She said in her best southern accent. It was time to get into character, one she had already decided to try. One that would help her on her new show. He stopped the truck completely and opened the door. "Thank you so much. My name is Bria." She held out a hand. The man took it, hesitated, then shook it gently.
"Hello Bria, I'm Jose. Where are you going?" He said slowly.
"Home. I'm afraid I didn't succeed in my attempts to become famous, so I'm returning to my small home town in Georgia."
"Georgia?" He looked slightly confused. "I'm not going that far today." He said, looking like he was trying to first place where Georgia was, and then calculate the distance from LA to Georgia.
"It's okay, neither am I. I was hoping to catch a semi driver somewhere along the way. I took a road trip awhile ago, and I saw a lot of semi's from Oklahoma, and that's relatively close to Georgia."
The old man nodded. "I can take you to the ten freeway junction."
"Oh, could you?" She batted her eyelashes up at him, giving him a shy smile. "I'd appreciate that a whole bunch." The man smiled again, showing a missing top left tooth. Inwardly Bria cringed, but kept a straight sunny face. "So Mr. Jose, do you have a family?"

Two long, torturous hours later, she was standing in the parking lot of a Love's Truck Stop. As Taylor would say, "Love's. The Wal-mart of truck stops." It made Bria smile. She had listened politely to Jose's story of his life, coming to the States from Mexico, leaving his wife and kids behind, sending them money when he could, and five years later he was able to bring them up from Mexico. What she didn't say was that he should have stayed there. Instead, she pretended to be eternally grateful. As she wandered between the trucks parked in the large lot, she glanced at her phone. It was almost nine o'clock. She looked for a nice looking truck with Oklahoma plates and an origin in Oklahoma on the door of the cab. Finally spotting one, she hung out on the front bumper of the semi, waiting for the driver to either wake up or to come out from the store. Her stomach did a flip when she saw a young black man jogging towards the truck. Squaring her shoulders, she plastered a smile on her face as the man approached, then stopped a few feet in front of her. He looked her up and down, then waited expectantly.
"Can I help you? Are you lost?" He only stood a couple inches taller than her, and she was at five eight in flat shoes. As she replied, she assessed him. Dark skin, well groomed and dressed, especially for a trucker. If this was his truck.
"Is this your rig?" She asked, drawling slowly. Maybe it wasn't. He didn't look like the typical trucker.
"Sure is. Can I help you?" He repeated.
"I hope so. See, I'm trying to get home. I tried my luck in LA, but..." she drifted off, looking down at her fingers sadly.
"So you need a ride." She looked up at him hopefully, trying out the puppy dog look. Pouting lips, big eyes. "I'll take that as a yes. Where are you going?"
"Oklahoma," She said, adding a bit of pleading to her voice. He smiled.
"Well miss, I'm not allowed to have passengers in my rig-"
"I'll hide in the bunk, and stay quiet as a mouse." She interjected quickly. He looked her over again. She knew what he was thinking when the gleam came in his eye. "I'll make it worth your while." She smiled slowly, running her tongue over her upper lip, then cought it with her teeth as she watched his mind spin.
"Alright. Hurry though. If they see you get in..." But she was already around the cab waiting for him to open the door. Once they were in, he continued, "I have to make a stop in Tuscon on the way, so you will have to stay in the bunk, maybe even under some covers."
"Okay."
"What part of Oklahoma are you going to, exactly?"
"Tulsa."
"You don't sound like you're from Tulsa."
"My family moved there right before I left for LA. I was born and raised in Georgia, then they moved to Tulsa. I spent a month there before I decided I didn't like it and wanted to go to LA."
"What part of Georgia?"
"A little town outside of Atlanta, Campbellton."
"Cool. I'm originally from Atlanta too. My name's Greg, by the way."
"I'm Bria. Nice to meet you."
"You too, Bria. Pretty name."
"Thanks. How long have you been driving for?"

Chapter Three