Chapter One

Chase Soria

"Morning, everyone!" Deirdre sang. "Welcome back for spring semester!"

Deirdre Wicks was a bright and bubbly person. She was loud and tended to overpronounce words as if her life was a permanent stage production of The Sound of Music .

Which, given her position as Performing Arts Director at Franklin U and her love of stage theater, wasn't surprising. I liked her, though. Everyone did. Her cheerfulness was contagious.

"We have a great production planned for you," she added. Everyone waited for her to continue, to hear what our semester project would be. Relishing in everyone's undivided attention, she raised a hand. "Before you get too excited, let me make this clear. It will be a full production. Not everyone will get the roles they so sorely desire, which is the first rule of acting. You know that, and if that is an obstacle you cannot overcome, I would suggest perhaps looking for another career. "

We all knew this. It was drummed into us every chance they got.

Not everyone was going to make it. Not everyone was going to get the roles they loved, believed in. Few made it to the big time. One willingly went into acting for the passion, the love of it. Not the fame and fortune of Hollywood.

Blah blah blah.

Did I want to go to Hollywood? Did I want to be on the A list?

Hell yes, I did.

I could see my name up in lights, in tabloids, in reviews.

Chase Soria.

It was a name meant for big things.

I wasn't afraid of hard work, of busing tables until I got a big break. We'd all heard the stories of actors who'd lived in their cars before they made it. Not that I wanted to live in my car.

But I understood it took grit and determination to make dreams a reality.

And I understood it would involve roles I didn't believe in.

Roles that challenged me and tested my drive to pursue acting.

Roles that tested me personally, physically, and emotionally. That made me question what I thought I knew about the world around me and what I knew about myself.

"Are you ready?" Deirdre said with a sly smile. "I don't know if you're ready."

She paused for dramatic effect.

"This term's production will run for the first half of this semester, starting today. That will include preproduction, filming, editing. It will count for sixty percent of your overall grade."

Sixty percent?

She definitely had our attention now.

"Method acting!" she announced.

Hmm, okay then . . .

"We're bringing the 90s back," she went on. "Think 90210, and Friends. Think Melrose Place, but with a twenty-first-century twist. We're doing reality TV!"

Wait, what?

Chatter erupted around the room. Excitement, disbelief, so many questions...

"Eight leads, eight friends—three couples, two best friends. Two weeks preproduction, two weeks of filming. Full production includes filming, postproduction, editing, color grading, sound, and..."

She paused again. Her smile made me nervous.

"We'll be live streaming!"

Wow.

Well, it was exciting and daunting, and then Deirdre started running through roles. Director of photography, assistant director, unit production managers, script continuity, camera operators and grips, picture and sound editors, and people around the room began to buzz as they got the roles they clearly wanted.

And then came the eight leads.

A quick glance around the room told me the eight remaining people were seniors, all of us theater majors, me included. Admittedly, we didn't have a huge class...

But damn .

I was one of the eight leads.

Everyone was split off into their preproduction groups, leaving Deirdre with the eight of us. She handed us each a manila folder. "Phoebe and Jess, you're the best friends."

Phoebe and Jess both squealed, excited.

And then I looked at the others and began to do the math.

"Max and Holly," Deirdre said. "You're couple number one."

And the math wasn't mathing . . .

"Tucker and Didi, you're couple number two."

Aaaaand there it was.

Deirdre smiled at me. "Chase and Amos, you're couple number three."

Amos and I. . .

I turned to Amos and he looked as stunned as me.

Could I be his on-screen boyfriend?

It was all acting, right? It was no different pretending to be the boyfriend of Amos or Didi or Holly. I didn't know them, or have any interest in any of them on any personal level, so gender made no difference. Right? Don't get me wrong, this was not a he's-a-guy thing.

I was bi. I'd been with guys before. I was not opposed to dick, mine or someone else's.

But Amos Beddington?

He was reclusive and broody. Tall, lean, longish dark hair and dark eyes. He idolized James Dean. He'd even done a re-enactment of Rebel Without a Cause for his final last year. I mean, he'd done it well, and he did have that natural X factor that most actors could only dream of.. .

"Is this going to be a problem?" Deirdre asked, looking between us.

Was it a problem?

"No," Amos answered simply.

He said it so nonchalantly, so blasé. Like he couldn't have cared less if he tried. With his Keanu Reeves hair and handsome face and a confidence I envied.

"Yeah, no," I added, trying to play it off as aloof as he had. "No problem. Not at all."

"Good," Deirdre said. She gave us that stage-worthy killer high-watt smile. "Because we've got a lot of work to do. Starting now."