Better Than Me

Chapter 7

A/N: I'm shooting for weekly updates right now, maybe more than once a week. With Thanksgiving break coming up for me in less than a week, I'm hoping to get a lot done for NaNoWriMo and make some good progress on this book.

Since I'm focusing on meeting my word count, this is just a rough draft but I hope you guys enjoy it!

***

Chapter 7

I reluctantly followed them into the room and heard Lea say to Sophia, "You'll do fine. Just relax. I'm pretty sure Nora loves you already."

I narrowed my eyes at the back of their heads. Why would Nora love her already? All she had done was insult me and make my life difficult since I met her.

The room Sophia was auditioning in was mostly empty, save for a few plants, a large camera in the corner, and a long, white table at the front of the room. There were papers strewn around on top of the table and a man sitting at the table. There was another man walking around. I had probably seen them before, but I had seen too many crew members to recognize everyone.

Nora and the other two women sat down with the man at the table. Sophia walked over and handed them her folder, which I assumed contained her resume and maybe some headshots.

Lea stood beside Nora at the table and I awkwardly followed. I wasn't sure why I was even here. I watched from afar as the women had a quiet conversation – probably talking shit about us – and then the audition started.

The casting director, Rachel Collins – the one other name I had managed to remember – told Sophia that the audition would be taped and asked her to slate herself. That just meant she had to state her name and state which role she was auditioning for.

"My name is Sophia Hastings, and I'm auditioning for the part of Natalie."

I hadn't read the script, but I did know the female lead's name was Emma, not Natalie. At least Sophia was smart enough to go for a smaller role. She knew her role here, at least, even if she didn't know her role when it came to dealing with people like me.

"Christian will read the lines of William Knight," Nora said without even looking at me to see if I was okay with it. I knew this was why she had asked me to come in here. This wasn't necessary. Someone else could read his lines. Why did it have to be me? She wasn't even auditioning for a major role.

I looked over at Sophia, waiting for her to protest, but she didn't say anything, most likely to avoid screwing this audition up even further.

Fine. If she wasn't going to say anything, I had no problem doing so. "There must be someone else who could read the lines."

"Christian, this is why I called you in here," Nora said. "You were already here and I thought it would be perfect."

"I'm not even auditioning for this movie." No, no, no, no. She was not going to pin this movie on me when I had explicitly told her why I wasn't interested in this particular role when it was brought to me. "Like you said, I'm just here for Blake."

"You don't have to audition, Christian," Rachel pointed out. "Just read a few lines, okay?"

I sighed. "Okay."

Well, there probably wouldn't be any harm in just reading a few lines with my 'Mystery Girl.' I reluctantly accepted a copy of the audition scene when Rachel held it out to me from across the table.

"Alright, let's start," Rachel said.

I moved towards the center of the room and stood in front of Sophia.