HDU (6 page)

“Man.
 
That
was rude, I’m sorry,” he said, pushing his beer away for a moment.
 
“I just needed to get that first sip in
me.”

“Psh,” Amanda brushed it off.
 
“I know the feeling.”

“Apparently.
 
That’s why I came here,” he laughed, brushing his almost-black hair from
his face.
 
It was wavy and messy,
but probably cut to look that way.
 
“So, what’s the story, Mandy?”

“Ooh, don’t call me that, please.”

“Amanda.
 
Sorry.
 
Yeah, I hate when
people call me Nini.”

Amanda laughed so hard she choked on her drink.
 
Ian patted her back.
 
“What?” she coughed.
 
“I didn’t even know that was a nickname
for Ian.”

“It’s not, only my aunt called me that when I was
five and I have no idea why I said it just now.
 
Please tell me your long story so I stop talking.
 
I think I’m nervous,” he laughed.
 
Amanda squinted at him.
 
He didn’t seem nervous, or even like
the nervous type.
 
Right off the
bat, he had struck her as cocky, but she didn’t mind.

“Okay.
 
I’ll tell you my story,” Amanda sighed, downing the rest of her Dark N’
Stormy.
 
Ian quickly signaled for another.
 
“It’s not as interesting as yours though
because – ”

“Oh, shut up.
 
It is.”

“Alright then,” Amanda laughed.
 
“Well, basically I have a Natalie too.”

“Don’t tell me.
 
You used to date Liam Brody.”

Amanda snorted.
 
“Yeah, no.
 
Never.”
 
Ian laughed and she continued.
 
“My Natalie is named Megan.
 
She was my best friend since I was
eleven and we moved to St. Louis together in January because we always swore
we’d both get out of Merit.”
 
Amanda took a long pause to gulp down her drink.
 
“Long story short, I met a boy and
after seven months, he cheated on me with her.
 
She kicked me out of our apartment in October, probably so they
could live together, and I haven’t seen her since.
 
Not counting on TV, but even then I can’t stand it.”

Ian slapped his forehead.
 
“She’s an actress too?”

“She wishes.
 
She’s a St. Louis Rams cheerleader… which is still pretty awesome,
actually.”

“No it’s not,” Ian said quickly.
 
“They get paid nothing and they’re not
allowed to talk to players.”
 

“She never said that.
 
What do you mean they get paid nothing?”

“They get paid like sixty bucks a game, sometimes
less if they’re new,” Ian answered, waving down the bartender for another beer.
 
“I’ll open up a tab,” he said, handing
over a shiny platinum American Express.
 
Amanda couldn’t help gazing at the card for a few moments.
 
She averted her eyes quickly when Ian
caught her.
 
“So, yeah,” he cleared
his throat.
 
“That’s not the best
job to have.
 
No income, no status.”

“Still would be nice to be on TV once in awhile,”
Amanda said, staring into her drink.
 
“Just to show the world you’ve made it and shut them all up.”

“Very true.”
 
Ian nodded.
 
He glanced up
at her from his own drink, prodding her elbow with his.
 
“But you could be something even better
than that.
 
Something where you
don’t have to pay for your own required manicures,
which
by the way, they do.”

Amanda guffawed.
 
“Okay, how do you know all this?”

“I don’t know.
 
I like to know a little bit of everything.
 
Every filmmaker should.”

Amanda nodded, unsure if she was supposed to have
known that he was a filmmaker, or what kind.
 
She always assumed “FilmFreak” meant that he was simply a
movie buff, but perhaps he had once told her otherwise and she’d forgotten.
 
“What kind of filmmaker are you again?”
she dared to ask.

“Mostly shorts right now, but I’ve been developing a
feature for awhile, and I’d love to get into documentaries at some point in the
future,” he answered quickly, as if he had rehearsed it in his head.
 
“Right now, I’m working on getting some
of my shorts around the festival circuit.”

Amanda didn’t know what any of that meant, but she
nodded anyway.
 
She had a feeling
she didn’t want to hear him explain, mostly because there were other
conversation topics that she wanted to get to.
 
It had quickly begun to feel as if they had known each other
for awhile – which technically, they did – but Amanda still had dozens
of getting-to-know-you questions at the tip of her tongue.

“So what do you do when you’re not moderating HDU
with me?” she asked with a laugh.
 

“You mean besides randomly flying to Missouri on my
parents’ dime?”

“Uh, yes.”

“I don’t know.
 
Make movies.
 
Go to
bars.”
 
He snorted.
 
“Pick up my friends’ tabs because
they’re a bunch of moochers.”

Amanda nodded and reminded herself to find another
form of response besides nodding.
 
But she had to mask the fact that she was thinking.
 
And realizing.
 
He was a total rich kid.
 
She hadn’t known that, but it suddenly
made sense to her why he never cared to ask for a raise from the owners of HDU.
 
The two other moderators had already
made huge fusses about it, and they hadn’t even been around a year.
 
Ian was on his third year of moderating
and content with $150 a month because he didn’t even
need
it.
 
The fact
fascinated Amanda more than it annoyed her.

“What do
you
do here?” he asked.

She laughed.
 
“God, there’s nothing to do here.
 
There aren’t even jobs, which really sucks.
 
I’m just… hanging around too.
 
Hiding from the world until I get over being burned,” she
joked.

“You’re saying that jokingly, but you mean it.”

Amanda glared but quickly stopped herself.
 
She didn’t mean to.
 
Her big eyes were more expressive than
she ever wanted them to be.
 

“Sorry,” Ian said, flicking a peanut onto the ground.

“No, you’re right.
 
It’s been kind of a rough few days because the whole town’s
on my back for…
 
I guess snapping
at a nosy PTA mom.
 
They all think
I’m pregnant and on meth now.”

“Really? That’s kind of a random assumption.”

“Not in Merit.
 
You do one thing out of the ordinary and suddenly the whole town knows
it and wants to figure out why.
 
Except
they don’t really want to figure it out, they just want to make up a story
that’ll fulfill their own boring lives.”

“Sounds like what we do on HDU.”

“It’s
not
,”
Amanda said, surprised by her own defensiveness.
 
She forced a short laugh to cover up her prickly tone.
 
“It’s different because when you become
a celebrity… you’re asking for that kind of exposure.
 
No one actually
asks
for it in Merit, they just get it.”

“Kind of sounds like fun though,” Ian mused,
scratching his clean shaven chin.
 
“I’ve always wanted to be famous.
 
No one in New York even knows I exist.
 
Well, besides bouncers and bartenders.”

Amanda laughed.
 
“Right.
 
What about your
family?”
 
When Ian didn’t respond,
she bit her lip awkwardly.
 
She
watched him take a long drink in silence.
 
“Well, trust me, Merit’s not fun,” she insisted.
 
“It’s like every pitfall of celebrity
life without the glamour or perks.
 
Actual
celebrities – they
have exciting lives and don’t have to bother with people’s stupidity.
 
It’s not like they’re actually affected
by the dumb things we say on HDU.”

 
“That’s
not true, and you know it.”

Amanda blinked.
 
She did know it.
 
It had
sounded right coming out of her mouth, but then she remembered Liam Brody.
 
A big part of her wanted to tell Ian
about his video, but she was somewhat afraid of what he might do with the
information.
 
She had no idea what
it would be, but she imagined that it would be something extreme, something
that she didn’t have the energy for.

“You’re right,” was all she said.
 
“But believe me when I say that it’s
not fun being famous in a small town.
 
It only is if you’re Megan, and most people aren’t.”

Ian crinkled his nose.
 
“She doesn’t sound all that great,” he said.
 
“I’m sure you have better talents.
 
I mean you can only be a cheerleader
for so long before you’re just… an old cheerleader.”

Amanda laughed.
 
“I’m fine as long as I never see her again.”

“Good.
 
Just
pray that she doesn’t become famous like
Natalie
.”
 

“Natalie’s barely famous.
 
Not even a B-Lister.”

Ian laughed.
 
“That’s my only comfort right now.
 
I’ll probably do something drastic if she ever gets there.”

NATALIE
BELL TO STAR IN FOX PILOT

Sat. January 9 2:21AM

Posted by derpityderp

HDU via The Pop Source

Reality darling to sitcom star in a little over a
year – this is the meteoric rise of former “Nat & Kat in NY” star, Natalie
Bell.
 
The bubbly blonde beat out a
handful of other young actresses for the role of Ziann in an upcoming pilot set
to air on Fox this March.
 
Producers of the untitled project announced Bell as their choice Friday
afternoon, saying, “Natalie is a gifted actress who we wanted to feature before
others caught on to her talents.
 
You’ll
be seeing a lot of her from here on out!”

TOP
COMMENTS:

Honeybee423

thank god she beat out that skank desiree silver for
the part! liking her by default

so_effin_cute

ughhh love her so much and not even ashamed. guess I
don’t have to be now! :D

Ian had rented a hotel room just a little outside of
Columbia, making him just a half hour drive away from Merit.
 
After waiting out her tipsiness, Amanda
drove him back to his hotel.
 
It
didn’t take long since she had only had two Dark N’ Stormy’s that were heavy on
ginger ale.
 
He, on the other hand,
had tossed back four beers and a glass of Bushmills.
 
Amanda couldn’t help but worry about what kind of drunk he
was.
 
She hoped he wasn’t the kind
to Internet stalk his exes – that certainly wouldn’t lead to good things.

“Are you gonna be okay?” she asked as she pulled over
in front of the entrance.
 
“Should
I help you up to your room?” Ian laughed but gave her an appreciative smile.

“I’ll be fine, but it’s nice of you to offer.
 
My friends at home just stick me on the
sidewalk and hope I find a cab.”

“Well, that’s not nice.
 
If you’re really drunk.”

Ian laughed.
 
“I’m always drunk, and they’re never nice,” he muttered as he unbuckled
his seat belt.

“Well, be safe.
 
And… don’t do anything drastic,” she chuckled nervously.

“Ha.
 
I
have too much I want to get done to even think about offing myself or anything.”

Amanda winced at the suggestion.
 
She managed a smile through it.
 
“Good! That’s really good,” she said encouragingly.
 
“Tell me one of the things.”

His answer came quickly again, despite his
drunkenness.
 
“Win an Oscar for
Best Director, maybe also Best Original Screenplay.
 
Be famous.
 
Have
recognition.”
 
He shrugged, pulling
his hoodie sleeves up over his hands.
 
“It all sounds stupid and childish, but I can’t help wanting it.”

Amanda smiled.
 
“Better than having no idea.”

“You don’t know what you want to be?”

She shrugged.
 
“I went to school for Communications and I still don’t know what that
really means, or if I even learned anything,” she answered ruefully.
 
“I’ve always wanted to be famous too, just
‘cause it seems awesome.
 
But I
wouldn’t know for what.”