Famous in Love Read Online Free

I feel a wave of familiar sadness. My mom and I have gone to exactly two auditions together. The first was for a cereal commercial when I was seven. I remember I saw the flyer in the grocery store and begged her to take me. She didn’t want to, but eventually my father convinced her it wasn’t a terrible idea, and maybe I’d make a little money in the process. I got all dressed up in my bestdress and the shoes my mom had bought me for Christmas that year, and we went, hand in hand.
    We didn’t even make it into the audition, though. My mom took one look at the other girls and decided we weren’t going to “play,” as she put it. “It’s a beauty pageant,” she’d said. “There is absolutely no way we’re participating.”
    I’ve always gone to auditions alone, and in secret. She supports school- and theater-related projects, mostly because she thinks they are somehow “academic,” but anything with film she’s been against pretty much from the beginning.
    I make my way to the reception desk, where a woman with a smile like a line hands me a sheet of paper. I take the form and fill it out on the edge of the table, careful to hand it back to her with a smile. She gives me a number in return and waves me off. There are no seats available, so I lean on the wall and put in my headphones.
    For my birthday this spring, Jake made me audio recordings of all my favorite films. He even put them on my iPod. I can listen to
Empire Records
while I’m biking home from school or walking to work.
    Today I choose a recording of
Singin’ in the Rain
. It’s corny, but I’ve always loved classic movies. There is something about seeing the screen without a ton of CGI oranimation that just feels so cinematic. Important. Like the work those actors were doing meant something.
    The sound of Gene Kelly’s voice sweeps over me, and I sit back against the wall, knees tucked up to my chest. I let myself think about what it would be like to get this part. To be in a real film. To prove to my family that this is more than an adolescent fantasy.
    I let myself think about what it would be like to actually live my dream.
    And just like that, I’m Debbie Reynolds. My eyes slip closed, and when she speaks, it’s me. On the stage. In the spotlight. So much so that when they call my name and I hand over my number, hours later, I’m still singing my heart out. And when I read the lines, it’s like I’m Debbie Reynolds reading the lines. And when they call this man in, this beautiful, tall, blond guy to read with me, it’s like he really is Gene Kelly. And when they ask us to do the scene together, it’s like we’re in the film and it’s raining all around us. A soft, steady pitter-patter.
    “I’m Rainer.” He holds out his hand to me, and I take it. He pulls me toward him, and before I’ve had time to even say my name, we’ve begun. We’re August and Noah. And it feels right. No, it feels better than right. It feels perfect. It feels like every moment of my life has been leading to this one.
    It’s not until the audition finishes, what feels like days later, and I go outside that I realize it’s actually raining. And the funny thing is I’ve lived in Portland my entire life and this is the first time I can remember ever forgetting an umbrella.
    Three months later, we’re on the set.

CHAPTER 4
    “August and Noah are already household names, and soon Paige Townsen will be, too. The bestselling book series Locked is coming to life on the big screen, and we have the first pictures from set, where filming is already underway. Townsen will play August, the mortal girl caught between her human boyfriend, Ed, and supernatural crush, Noah. Rainer Devon, best known for his work in
Over You
, will play Noah. The role of Ed hasn’t been cast yet.
    David and Mark Hess penned the script, with Wyatt Lippman directing.”
    Rainer reads from the trades, and I crane over him to try to reach for it. “Watch yourself, PG,” he says, and I