Chương 115: Ch-108

June 2004, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

"I'm a little nervous about the shoot today, Troy," Emma said softly while sitting beside me. "I don't think this role is suitable for me."

"Nonsense," I shot down her insecurities. "It is unsuitable for you only if you think that."

Emma didn't say anything for a few moments. "I saw the replay of the first week of filming. I can see that I'm far from being the best actress."

As much as I wanted to, I couldn't disagree with that completely. While I had grown to love Emma a lot over the years, I didn't want to lie to her face. She is the sweetest, most understanding, and most supportive girlfriend a guy could ever ask for, but she wasn't the best actress. And that's fine. Not everyone has the raw talent that a few actors, like Emily Stone, possess naturally. Even Jonathan Groff and Lea Michele were much better actors than Emma.

However, that didn't mean I was stupid enough to say that to her face.

"Consider this to be a learning opportunity," I said carefully. "I'm not the best actor either. I take each day as a challenge."

"You? Not the best actor?" Emma scoffed. "Whenever I see any of your performances, I feel so inferior. You are just one year older, but your acting is so far ahead of me. I don't think I can ever catch up." She looked away from me, slight shame visible in her eyes.

I grasped her chin and lightly turned her face back to me. "And why do you feel the need to catch up with me? You are you, and I'm me. We will never be the same. And that's why I love you. Have you seen how arrogant I am? I need someone like you to ground me or I'll fly off into space with the big head I have."

"Stop making it about us," Emma said tiredly, pushing my hand away from her face. "It's not about us at all. I'm just saying that I'm not sure if this profession is suitable for me. The worst part is that because of all this [Harry Potter] fame, I don't think I'd be able to do anything else ever."

I looked at her to see if she was being genuine with her words. From what I could see, she was.

"I really didn't want to do this film right now," she continued. "I had thought I would get some acting classes to improve my skills before doing anything else besides Hermione. But you pleaded so much I couldn't say no."

Now I was feeling shitty. I didn't want this for her at all.

"You can still leave if you want," I offered. "We will reshoot all your scenes with someone else." It would be a little expensive, but the money was not more important than Emma's happiness. "I never meant to make you—"

"No," Emma cut me off. "I don't like dropping things off in between. Why do you think I didn't drop Hermione as well when your dad came to me with a contract renewal?"

"You were thinking of dropping out from [Harry Potter]?" I asked.

She shrugged, "Doesn't matter. I didn't. I will finish this film just as I will [Harry Potter], but you have to promise me that from now on, you will never ask me to do a role like this."

"Even if it's a very good Oscar-worthy role?" I asked.

"Even then," she affirmed. "I think that we need to set boundaries between our work and personal—"

"Hey guys!"

Emma and I turned in unison toward the interruption, which just happened to be Lea Michele.

"Hi, Lea," Emma greeted her with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Troy and I were just talking about the next scene. Would you like to run lines with us?"

I resisted the urge to snap at Lea and took a deep breath. I silently sent a look to Emma that said we weren't done with our talk before turning back to Lea with a forced smile. "Yeah, it would be good for everyone if we could run our lines."

"Great!" Lea beamed at me. "You are such a good actor, Troy. I know I can learn a lot from you."

I couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Why did she have to exclude Emma so blatantly right when she was having doubts about her skills?

"Yeah," Emma agreed instantly, but I could detect the hint of sarcasm in her voice. "Troy is so good, we all can learn from him."

"Why not?" I said reluctantly. "Only a fool would say no to such beautiful ladies."

"Aww," Lea cooed before snaking an arm around mine. "You are so cute. I can't believe that you're still single. I'll happily be your first if you want."

"Let's keep things professional here," I hastily separated my arm from hers. I didn't have to look at Emma to know the daggers she must be throwing at Lea with her eyes. As much as I liked having Emma around, she was right. We have to set clear personal and professional boundaries between us.

I had made a great error by inviting her to this film without considering her feelings. Maybe that's why most actors don't work with their significant other onscreen. Would I even have offered the role to Emma had I not seen the original film? I'm sure one day my foreknowledge will get me killed.

(Break)

"Action!"

Hearing the magical word, all of us went into our serious acting mode. There were seven of us sitting around a table, with hollow cups in front of us, playing the game of truth or dare. Lea was sitting on my left, while Emma occupied my right.

"Truth or dare?" The actor playing Bob asked Jonathan.

"Who are you talking to?" Jonathan said with a grin, wagging his eyebrows, making it obvious that he wouldn't accept anything less than a dare.

"I dare you to kiss Alice," Bob nodded toward the girl sitting beside him.

Jonathan growled playfully while sidling next to Alice and saying dramatically, "Gird your loins, procreator." He was such a joy to watch in his element.

"Mary Elizabeth," Craig, Sam's older boyfriend, said to Lea, "Samantha told me you got into Harvard. Congratulations."

"Thank you!" Lea beamed, hugging me closer to her. "This one still hasn't gotten me flowers, but I forgive you." Then she kissed me on the cheek. I didn't even have to fake how uncomfortable that made me, given Emma was sitting on my other side.

Jonathan then went on to kiss the girl playing Alice before turning to me.

"Let's see… I pick, Charlie. Truth or Dare?"

"Truth," I said confidently.

"How's your first relationship going?" he asked.

"It's so bad, that I keep fantasizing one of us is dying of cancer so I don't have to break up with her," I said with the straightest face I could muster.

"Charlie," Jonathan called out again. "Hey! Truth or Dare?" Lea physically shook me out of my daydream as everyone else chuckled at me.

"Dare?" I said a little hesitantly. I had already seen the consequence of picking truth in my head, so it was better to stick with dare this time.

"Okay," Jonathan said excitedly. "I dare you to kiss the prettiest girl in the room on the lips." He then grinned cockily. "And notice that I charitably said girl and not person, because let's face it, I'd smoke all you bitches."

While everyone chuckled at his joke, I didn't. My mind was set on one thing only — I had to kiss the prettiest girl in the room, which just happened to be my girlfriend. Without thinking too much about it, I turned to her and kissed Emma on the lips. She pulled back hastily and turned to Lea with a concerned look.

Lea, who played Mary Elizabeth, was supposed to be my character, Charlie's girlfriend during this time. By kissing another girl, I essentially declared that she wasn't as beautiful.

I looked around the table, and everyone else was looking at me as if I had grown a second head.

"Oh, that's fucked up," Jonathan summed up the situation eloquently.

I turned back to my supposed girlfriend and said apologetically, "Mary Elizabeth. I'm so sorry." Without waiting for my response, she got up and walked out of the room. "It was a mistake, I'm sorry." I turned to Emma. "Sam, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean anything by it."

Emma gave me a disappointed look before asking, "What the hell's wrong with you?" Then she turned around and walked out of the frame as well.

"Cut!" Chbosky's voice rang out in the room. "And that's done, guys. Perfectly, I must say. Now everyone else can go if they want, we have to shoot Troy and Lea's scene in twenty minutes."

I removed the mic attached to me and saw Emma doing the same. I hated doing this next part.

"I don't think you should stay here," I said softly. "I wouldn't like seeing you in such a scene either."

"No way in hell am I gonna let you alone with Lea of all people," Emma shot back.

"What's wrong with Lea?" I asked, though I didn't have to. I could see the eyes she was making at me from behind Emma. "Don't answer that," I said, realizing my mistake. That girl wouldn't know the meaning of subtlety even if it hit her in the face.

"Also, did you forget that I am in the scene as well?"

I had forgotten that. Emma doesn't have any lines in the scene, but she appears for a brief moment to kiss me.

"Troy," my costume lady walked up to me before I could reply. "You need to change for the next scene."

"Go," Emma instructed. "I have to change as well. See you soon." With that, she turned and walked over to her dressing room.

I sighed but followed the costume lady to change for the next scene. The upcoming scene was Charlie and Mary Elizabeth's first kiss. We were shooting the film in reverse order so that the rest of the cast members could be free early and wouldn't have to stay all day long for their scene.

It didn't take long for the actors and the set to get ready for the scene.

"Action!"

Hearing that word, Lea started dancing around the room slowly while I was sitting on the couch. "Don't you just love old music?" She asked me.

"Yeah?" I half-asked nervously, fully in character.

"Good. Cause I made you a mix of it," she said while sitting beside me, her hand resting on my shoulder, making me even more nervous. It didn't help that Emma, Emma's mother, Lea's mother, and a representative of the child welfare association were keeping a fixed gaze on my actions. Logically, either of my parents should have been here as well, but that meant flying all the way over from London for just a day, so they signed over that duty to my lovely assistant/manager, Tobias.

"This is a nice house," I remarked nervously.

"When I'm done being a lobbyist, I'll move into a similar house in Cape Cod. Sounds nice, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," I nodded more than was strictly necessary to increase the hilarity of the scene.

Lea inched closer to me and kept a hand on my chest, making me take a deep breath. "Your heart's beating really fast."

"Uh huh," I nodded nervously.

"Charlie," she whispered while coming closer. "Do you like me?"

"I think so," I nodded rapidly.

"Don't be nervous," she said softly before taking my hand and placing it on her shoulder, dropping her dress down, revealing her bra. Then she guided my hand over to her chest. I didn't move it at all and relented all control to her, aware of all the eyes on me.

Lea moved forward, placing her lips on mine. Her lips were soft and moist, making me forget where I was for a moment. Her hands grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me along on top of her as we made out, but I made sure to keep my tongue to myself. Lea was not so professional, and I could feel her tongue around my lips, but I didn't give in to the temptation.

We kissed for a very long time because Chbosky couldn't just get the right shot. By the end, I even lost count of how many times I kissed her that day.

"Charlie," she whispered after pulling away from my lips. Then she lay down across my lap and said, "I didn't know how tonight was gonna go, but it was really nice, wasn't it?"

"Uh-huh," I nodded noncommittally.

"I just can't believe that you're my boyfriend," she said excitedly.

I made a wtf face as the camera panned to me. The two characters never talked about being a couple, so essentially she forced Charlie to be her boyfriend with that statement.

"Shit!" She suddenly got up. "My parents! Zip it up!" She turned her back to me and barked orders fiercely. "Just like a normal zipper! Hurry."

I scrambled to do as she said, before hearing, "Cut! Perfect! Let's move on! Emma, it's your turn."

I relaxed immediately. It was already awkward to kiss a girl while everyone was watching. It was worse when your girlfriend was on the set as well, and within moments you had to kiss her too. I just wanted to get this over with so I could go home and relax for the night.

I turned to see Emma, who had walked over to me. By the looks of it, she didn't look happy with what had just happened. I don't understand girls sometimes. Why does she have a problem with me kissing Lea Michele, but not when I kissed Léa Seydoux in [Goblet of Fire]?

"Are you okay?" I asked nonetheless.

"Yeah," she nodded nonchalantly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Action!"

Emma kissed me, and I realized the difference between Emma and Lea. Emma was very good at kissing me. I knew her lips like my own. Probably better than my own. With her, I had no hesitation at all.

Emma separated from me for a moment and looked at me longingly. A look I returned in character.

"Cut!" Chbosky yelled out. "And we are done for the day, people. That was perfect, Emma, Troy, that too on the first take."

I smiled at Emma, "Guess I'm too good at kissing you to need retakes."

Emma didn't reply to my jab. Instead, she got up, removed her mic, and walked back to where her mother, Jacqueline, was waiting for her. Jackie sent me an angry/sad look before walking away with Emma. I could only scratch my head in confusion.

What the fuck did I do wrong now?

I didn't want to let the situation fester and get worse, so after removing my mic, I got up and followed after Emma. Before I could go very far, Tobias stood in my way.

"Troy," he said urgently. "Something has happened. We need to talk about it."

"Can I talk to Emma first?" I asked, not understanding the urgency of the situation.

"Oh yes, this involves her as well," he said somberly. "Come on, it's better if I tell both you and her together."

I didn't know why, but dread built up in my gut. Did something bad happen? Why was Tobias acting so weird? Seeing how he was looking around nervously, I didn't want to force him to answer where anyone could overhear, so I silently followed him to where he was taking me, which turned out to be Emma's dressing room. He knocked politely before asking, "Can I come in, Emma?"

"Yes," came the immediate reply. Tobias didn't wait any longer before going in. Inside were Emma and her mother, Jackie. Usually, Jackie didn't come with Emma to shoot, but because of the nature of some of the scenes, it was decided that parents/guardians of all underaged actors should be present on set.

"Emma, Jackie," Tobias greeted them in quick succession. "Let's not beat around the bush—photos of Emma and Troy have been leaked to the media."

"What!?" Jackie said in outrage.

"What photos?" I asked calmly, but my eyes never left Emma, who looked mightily distressed by the news.

"It is a photo of you two kissing," Tobias explained. "And not the ones for the film either. They have not yet been published, but an auction was held by a paparazzo where the photo was sold for $300,000 to TMZ. Warner came to know of the auction, and they informed your father about it, who called me a few hours ago."

"And you're telling us now?" Jackie asked heatedly.

"What difference would telling them earlier have made, huh? They'd have performed worse on set and wasted a day of shooting."

That made sense, but one thing didn't. "Why didn't Dad or Warner participate in the auction and outbid TMZ?" I asked.

"Because they couldn't get the information on time," Tobias said matter-of-factly. "No reputed media house like Warner would publish the image because of the ethical concerns because of your age. So only tabloids like TMZ were informed of the image."

That sucked.

"Also," he continued, "irrespective of when the photo is published, the news that you two are together is out. Tomorrow, this place will be teeming with paparazzi, trying to catch either of you off-guard. I don't mean to sound uncaring, but this was inevitable. You two are not very subtle, after all. All things considered, I'm amazed that you two could keep your relationship hidden for so long."

"Isn't this illegal?" Jackie asked. "They are minors."

"As long as they were out in public, and the photo is used to report a news rather than anything obscene, no law is broken." Tobias said. "Ethically its wrong, but when has ethics stopped tabloids?"

Suddenly, Emma got up and turned to Jackie, "Can we go home now, Mum?"

"But Emma–" I began saying.

"No, Troy," she shook her head. "I don't want any more drama in my life right now. Especially not when I feel so violated at having my privacy breached so blatantly. Also, don't think I didn't notice how you took more than ten takes to kiss that hussy, and you were done with me in just one? I… let's just go, Mum."

I stood there shell-shocked as Emma and her mother left Tobias and me in the dressing room without addressing the elephant in the room—what would we say to the media when the news is officially leaked tomorrow?

___________________

AN: After some reader complaints, I checked some online sources to see if such a scenario is illegal for the paparazzi taking the picture or the tabloid publishing it. The answer to the best of my knowledge is, it's not. As long as the photo was taken in a public space, and it is not used for advertisement or anything obscene, it's perfectly legal. You are more than welcome to correct me, but this plot line will remain unchanged.