1. You can't fall in love with nice

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I stared out of the minibus window. It was raining and the pavements were a glistening grey.
Grey. Dull. Boring. Like me. Like my life.
Maybe today would change everything.

Maybe.
(Y/F/N) peered past me. "I think we're nearly there" she said. "So (Y/N)... you decided if you're gonna try for it?"
"It" meant Liz Allan in Spider-Man: Homecoming. We were on our way to auditions at Marvel Studios that had Girls to try out for the female parts in the movie.
Liz Allan was the main girl's part, of course. But that wasn't why you wanted it.
I looked out the window again. The rain was falling harder now. I could hear it drumming on the minibus roof even over the excitable chatter inside. There were about 15 of us, Mostly upcoming actresses.
But not me. I wanted to be Liz Allan in the movie, because i wanted to be Liz Allan in real life.
I wanted to be in love. To be loved.
I was just (Y/A) and I'd never met a boy i really liked. I mean, a few i quite fancied and moe than a few that were fun to talk to. But I'd never felt what you could possibly describe as love. I spent a lot of time imaging it though. Imagining what he would look like. Tall and square-jawed, i thought. With deep, soft brown eyes that would melt me with their gaze, and dark, wavy hair curling onto his neck. We would talk and talk, sharing our hopes and dreams. And then, finally, we would kiss. A slow, deep, romantic...
"Helloooo, (Y/N)". (Y/F/N)'s amused voice broke through your thoughts. "Are you going to audition for Liz Allan not?"
I glanced at her. My Best Friend had a sharp prettiness - sparkling eyes and dramatically-long, shiny hair. Unlike me, she was relaxed and confident. She was the obvious choice for Liz Allan.
But i knew she was the wrong one.
Whoever played Liz Allan had to be smart and be able to imagine falling in love with someone else. (Y/F/N) flirted with every guy she met.
"I don see why not" i say trying to seem unbothered by the whole process. "Not that i really care who i end up playing"
(Y/F/N) grinned. "Yeah, right, (Y/N)"
The minibus was pulling into a mostly empty car park, We got off the minibus and stood awkwardly in the car park.
"Hello there" a young man said from behind us all, startling us for a second. "I'm Harrison, I'm here to take you to the auditions room".
He had sandy-coloured hair and a comfortable face. Underneath the flush of embarrassment creeping up his cheeks, i could see he looked nice. Nice as in friendly.
You cant fall in love with nice.
We followed close behind Harrison as he led us through to the audition room.
"The auditions'll be in here"
"What part are you playing?" I asked.
"Oh I'm not actually in the movie, I'm Tom's assista.. i mean friend, I'm Toms Best friend"
His eyes drifted over to (Y/F/N), When she walked she wiggled her bum and flashed off legs that went up to her armpits.
My heart sank. No way was I getting the part of Liz instead of her. Not unless the guy playing Peter was really short or the casting director was blind.
I sat through the auditions until my name was called.
"I'm (Y/F/N)(Y/L/N) and I'm auditioning for the part of Liz Allan". I could feel my neck flushing with the intensity of what i was saying.
When i finished my audition we was allowed to go get refreshments from the cafe downstairs.
"You did great (Y/N)" (Y/F/N) said.
"Thanks (Y/F/N)". You say blushing, "i bet you get the part, you was brilliant" you say to her as the casting director walked in.
He starts to read the list of people who got roles.
You was one of them.
The casting director waited for the others to leave before handing us a new script.
We was ushered back into the audition room, but this time the boys were there.
"Tom. You come read with (Y/F/N) " The casting director boomed.
A young man got up and walked towards us, though he didn't look up, there was something about him that commanded the room, that made you watch him.
He was Spider-man. Had to be.
"Read from lines 57- 73" the casting director shouted.
Tom finally looked up. He stared at the door as he spoke his first line, then he turned and looked at (Y/F/N). His eyes wandered over her face as he spoke, then he looked away again.
I watched him mesmerised. He was good. Unbelievably good. Way better than everybody else. His voice was strong and clear and flexible.
As (Y/F/N) started her lines, i stared at Tom's face. He was obviously good looking with his melting brown eyes and square jaw, the features of my fantasy guy.
There was something about him. Something that meant you couldn't look away.
His face was so expressive, just a blink of an eye and you could see his whole being flood with shock or anger, or love.
Tom was staring at (Y/F/N). He looked bored. Like he didn't believe what she was saying.
"Okay, now lets try the same thing but with (Y/N)".
You made your way up to the stage.
Tom was arms length away from me now.
He read his lines with the same expressiveness I'd noticed before. But this time i could tell he was only going through the motions. Like something else was on his mind.
(Y/F/N) probably.
I looked up as he said his last line.
Our eyes met. Oh my god. His gaze pierced right through me.
No one had ever looked at me like that.
His eyes were beautiful, milky brown.
There was a pause. Damn. It was my turn. I had completely forgotten what the next line was.
I looked down at the script, Tom's finger landed on the page at the exactly place.
I felt myself blush as I start reading, feeling his eyes on my, watching me read from the page.
At first i was too self-conscious to look up.
When i finally did Tom was frowning slightly.
It was only then that I realised that my voice had shrunk into a whisper. I immediately raised my voice. Way to loud.
After that it was hopeless, i stumbled over my lines and stuttered my way through the next 5 minutes of lines.
By the time i was finished Tom was staring at me like i was crazy.
I pretended to be cheerful on the way back home on the minibus, but inside i was dying.
I'd made a complete mess of that second reading.
Because of Tom. Because of the way he looked at me with those intense brown eyes. Because he was a brilliant actor.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Two days later and the four of us who'd been up for speaking parts got called to the studio again.
And they gave out the parts.
I held my breath.
And they said it.
(Y/F/N) was Liz Allan.
I was Betty Brant, Liz Allan's friend.
Betty. Short. Nice.
My heart sank.
You can't fall in love with nice.
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A/N
Okay okay i know this is quite long and doesn't have Tom in it much but I promise part 2 will i just needed to get the background story in place first, thanks guys hope you like it.

-L

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