Stardom

Hollywood, Here I Come

The sun beamed down through the windscreen, scorching my bare arms, whilst its golden glare bounced off of my shades. I adjusted them as I glanced at the GPS, ensuring that I was still headed in the right direction. I felt so energised as I cruised past the beach, excitement still coursing through me, the way that it had ever since I boarded the plane.

This was without a doubt the biggest move of my life, in more ways than one, and the very idea of all that lay ahead was unbelievably exhilarating. Los Angeles was a far cry from home for me. I was the typical small-town girl cliche, right down to the part about leaving behind my tiny town in Boston, to move out here into the A-List world of Hollywood, pursuing my childhood dream of being an actress. This was going to be my big break, my chance of a lifetime to land a huge gig that would send me scaling up the ladder. I smiled to myself as I relived the same daydream that I'd had since I was a little girl. Back when I'd don a princess dress and a tiara, and make thank you speeches in my mirror whilst I held an old ornament, pretending that I'd been presented with a prestigious award.

Of course, this dream of mine hadn't come without serious scrutiny over the years. Mostly from my parents, but also my brother, and even friends in some cases. All of them were determined to nail home just how unrealistic and naive I was for my plans to relocate here. Not that I listened to their biased views, they were all happy living their lives back home, they didn't want more than what they had. But I did. And I didn't just want it either, I needed it, longed for it. That's why, now that I was here, I was going to commit to doing whatever it took to get myself to the top, to grab my dreams with both hands.

Navigating the heavy afternoon traffic, I gradually passed through the streets until I eventually pulled up outside of a tall apartment building. Its sunshine yellow walls gave a clean and summery vibe, and I gave a little internal skip that it wasn't all dark and dreary as I'd feared given my budget. I'd saved up all my life for this moment, but sadly that didn't mean much. There's only so much money that you can put away when you work part-time at a grocery store, even when you sell anything and everything that you can to support yourself. This place was the only building within my budget, and luckily, my timing was perfect, allowing me to snap up the last one-bedroom apartment almost the very second that I'd found the listing. Parking in the bay closest to the entrance, I began to unload some of my things, before dragging what I could carry, into the lobby.

The interior was simplistic and relatively tidy with white tiled flooring and plain brick walls that were decorated with battered old beach prints. Two elevators stood on the far side of the room, next to a stairway, with chipped paint that was peeling from the metal bannister. A large noticeboard hung over the wall of mailboxes, its entire surface covered in old and torn pamphlets. I paused long enough to make a mental note of where my slot was along the wall, then took the elevator up to the fifth floor, exiting out onto a hallway that was similar in style to the lobby below. The overall wear and tear was worse up here, with small cracks in the tiled floor and gathered dust in the grooves along the wall. The prints that hung here were faded from the sun which shone through a grimy window opposite, the colours merging into a near bleached effect on the canvas. Each pine door was weathered from years of use, and some of the numbers were loose and hanging at an angle. I tried to ignore these things, focusing instead on envisioning a much nicer interior to these apartments, and the knowledge that it would all be temporary, just until the jobs started flooding in.

"Two-twenty-four, two-twenty-five..." I read off the numbers as I passed them, searching for my new home, excitement and dread doing a tango in my stomach, making me unsure whether I wanted to skip along the hall or throw up in the plastic pot plant by the window.

"Two-twenty-eight-B, bingo," I muttered, noting the slightly less weathered door, and secure numbers as two huge ticks for the positive column.

I took a deep breath and pulled out the key for my new home.

"Here goes nothing." I sighed, gripping my bags and pushing the door open.

I exhaled a sigh of relief as the room came into view. It was small, tiny even, and it needed some work, but it was much nicer than the hallway suggested. A large window stood up ahead, casting a warm glow from the lowering sun despite its slightly murky surface, illuminating the sparkling dust particles that were floating through the air. The decor had been kept simple and plain, with pale wooden floors and neutral magnolia walls which gave it a light and airy feel. I could probably have walked the entire length of the room in three steps, but I knew that I could make it work, and that was good enough for me. Once I'd got everything inside, and arranged enough of my things to put my stamp on the place, it would be perfect. I pushed the door closed with my foot, dropping my bags to the floor and strolling further inside, mentally noting some amendments that I could factor in to make it a little more homely. Like the possible addition of some curtains to the brickwork archway that lead to my bedroom, in order to give it some privacy from the open-plan layout.

"Home sweet home." I smiled.

The long process of bringing my luggage up from the car was made even longer by a painful delay in the arrival of the moving truck. But once I'd fitted all of the furniture inside and crammed my things into every nook and cranny that I could find, I collapsed onto the sofa, by the freshly cleaned, open windows, drawing in deep breaths of the chilled evening air, feeling at peace with my surroundings, and excited with the next step I was going to take. My body ached with exhaustion, but it was a good thing, for it reminded me that I was here to work hard, and when I cast an eye around me, I saw just how much I'd already done, and I couldn't wait to accomplish so much more. Starting with my first audition tomorrow.