Ray of Light

❊ Chapter six: Trailers and Chinese Takeaway ❊

January 17th 2017

Scarlett

I saw Ray wandering around, looking slightly lost, so I decided to go over.

"Hey Ray," I greeted.

She turned to me and smiled.

"You got your script?" I asked, indicating to the script she held in her hands.

Ray nodded, replying, "I had a meeting with Sarah and got my schedule as well."

"Cool," I replied. "Do you need the keys to your trailer?"

Ray nodded again.

"I'll go find Anthony, he usually has the trailer keys," I offered.

"Thanks," Ray thanked with a smile. "I- I don't really like talking to people."

I nodded, but she suddenly said, "I don't mean not like, I mean I get nervous, I do like to talk to people, but I just can't because-"

I put a hand on her shoulder to try and assure her I knew what she meant, but she flinched under my touch. Chris' suggestion that she was being abused came to mind as I took my hand away.

"Sorry," Ray apologised.

"It's alright, I didn't mean to scare you," I replied reassuringly, but inside I knew something was wrong. "Anyways, I get what you mean. Do you have anxiety?"

I felt like that the only way to get some sort of answer was to ask her directly.

"No!" Ray replied hotly. "I'm not weird!"

Okay, that's not the tactic then.

"Come on, let's go find Anthony," I said, changing the subject.

I noticed that as we weaved our way amongst the various cast members, crew and extras, Ray kept close beside me, only being a couple of steps behind. She didn't speak, and I assumed that she wasn't all that eager for me to start a conversation either. To be honest, I didn't feel like I needed to talk to her to feel like I was bonding.

We found Anthony quite quickly - he was handing out the keys that he kept in little envelopes.

"Hey Anthony," I started as we approached.

"Afternoon Scarlett!" the director replied brightly. "Didn't I give you your keys earlier?"

"Yeah, I just came to get Ray's keys for her trailer," I explained, gesturing with a small head towards the shy girl beside me.

"What's your name?" Anthony asked Ray directly.

She didn't seem to realise, and was staring ahead; either deep in thought or lost in a void in her mind. I gently nudged her, careful not to scare her. Her blue eyes shot up to my emerald ones and I gestured to Anthony.

"Huh?"

"What's your name?"

"Ray," she said. "Hopkins."

Anthony nodded and searched the small box he held for Ray's keys. After a minute, he pulled out a white envelope with the name 'Ray Hopkins' scribbled on it. Passing it to the girl beside me, he asked, "Scarlett, can you show her where her trailer is?"

"Yeah, sure," I replied, watching Ray stare at the envelope. "Which trailer is it?"

"Uhm..." she narrowed her eyes slightly as she stared at it. "14a... I think."

I took it from her and saw that it wasn't 14a, but 41a.

"Come on, I think yours is really close to mine," I told Ray, leading her away.

I knew she was 15 and could look after herself, but she just seemed... off. Something told me she wasn't fully capable of doing this job without a little help. Mother's intuition I guess.

Ray

I knew I had got the number of the trailer wrong, but Scarlett didn't point it out, just took me to trailer 41a.

"Mine is just opposite," she told me, indicating to the one directly opposite mine.

I crossed the few meters in between mine and hers and tried to read the number of hers. 51a.

"51a?" I asked, wanting to be sure.

Scarlett nodded with a small smile. I felt a buzz from my hoodie pocket and pulled out my phone.

Jay

Jay:
Dad said he doesnt want u home until 7pm.

I sighed as I struggled to read the message, then I managed to text him back.

You:
K
Got any proof u arent tryna get me beaten up again?

Jay:
Jst trust me

You:
Fine.
But if ur wrong istg ur finished.

Jay:
LMAOOO 🤣🤣
Fuck off.

I - irritated - put my phone back in my pocket.

"You okay?" Scarlett asked.

"Yeah, I just found out that I can stay until 7 o'clock."

Scarlett chuckled, "You don't seem too thrilled about it."

"No, I am, it's just my stepbrother," I replied.

"Just ignore him," Scarlett advised. "Siblings always try to wind you up."

Or try to get you abused by your stepfather. I held my tongue, knowing that:

1. Scarlett didn't know.
2. If she knew, she'd probably get social services or something.

I instead took the keys from the envelope and decided to explore the trailer. It was pretty basic - a sofa, a small bed for if we ended up filming late into the night, a toilet and shower and other utilities.

"Since you're staying quite late, do you by any chance wanna get takeout?" Scarlett asked.

"Sure," I replied with a nod. "What type?"

"I dunno, I was thinking Chinese?"

I nodded eagerly. I really liked Chinese on the very few occasions I'd had it.

"I'll order it for about... 6pm?" Scarlett suggested. "Then I can drop you off home."

I nodded and thanked her, before checking the time. It was just after 4:30pm.

~~~✸~~~

Scarlett

We were watching TV whilst we ate Chinese, and Ray was curled up at the other side of the sofa. She'd eaten her dinner quickly - almost ravenously - and I noticed just how thin she was. Not incredibly thin, but not just lean in stature. I remembered what Angie had said about Ray not being fed properly at home. It was obvious now she had removed her hoodie.

"Hey Ray," I started.

"Hm?" she asked, half paying attention.

"Who are your parents?"

She kept her eyes on the TV screen, but I saw them flicker and they darkened slightly. The girl never responded to my question. I wanted to check if she was alright, but I was aware of how many times I'd asked this already, and I probably seemed quite over-protective.

As I looked at Ray, I couldn't help notice that her face looked slightly bruised - as if she'd been beaten up. All my instincts were screaming at me to find out what was wrong, but she would just shut me down.

Sighing quietly, I glanced at my watch and realised it was almost 7pm.

"It's almost 7, do you wanna go?" I asked.

Ray nodded, and reached for her hoodie as I stood up and turned the TV off. We left the trailer and we got in the car, me ready to take her back home.