Chapter Three

Awesome trailer made by Scarlet_Shilouette! So good! Check her thread sky blue graphics out!

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Better Than Revenge

Chapter Three

Tori had told me what my surprise was three whole days ago, and I still couldn’t believe it. My mind just couldn’t fully process it. It was so surreal. As an aspiring actress, it was my life-long dream to go to either Hollywood or Broadway. I couldn’t believe that dream was actually coming true.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t have the silly notion that going to Hollywood meant that I would immediately become rich and famous. No. I wasn’t that naïve. I knew that this free ticket to Hollywood was just the beginning. This was just the first step.

I wouldn’t be going to Hollywood at all if it weren’t for Tori, however. She really was the best friend a girl could have, despite the fact that she was a total Ry-Hard. I couldn’t blame her for that, though. She didn’t know the full story; she didn’t know why I hated him. She didn’t know because I never told her, not because she didn’t care.

Anyway, Tori’s family went on a family vacation every summer and every four years it became Tori’s turn to pick where they went. Three years ago Tori’s father picked, two years ago Tori’s mother picked, last year Mike picked, and this year it was finally Tori’s turn.

Tori and Mike each got to bring a friend, and being Tori’s best friend, she obviously chose me. Mike chose his best friend, Lane, every year and every year Tori and I had to put up with Lane and his cheesy pick up lines. It was like a tradition, I supposed. We were used to it.

Last year, we went to Brazil because Mike had heard that Brazilian girls were gorgeous. One look at Victoria’s Secret supermodel Adriana Lima was enough to convince him of that. Mike thoroughly enjoyed the trip, to say the least. Tori and I also enjoyed ourselves because the Brazilian guys turned out to be just as scorching as the girls.

Oh, yeah.

And this year, when it was finally Tori’s turn to pick, she decided on Hollywood, just because she knew it was my dream to go there. Well, that was her biggest reason for choosing Hollywood. I was sure that the thought of running into a celebrity or finding a celebrity’s house was also a reason. As long as that celebrity wasn’t Christian Ryder, I was okay with her forcing me to stalk a few celebrities with her.

We were scheduled to leave in about two days and I still hadn’t packed. I was still in shock, I guess. I couldn’t believe I was finally going to Hollywood. I knew that I still had a lot of work to do to fulfill my dream, but just being there seemed like it would be so surreal. I was so excited.

I sighed to myself as I glanced at the clock and read that it was noon. I always slept in during the summer; that was why I refused to get a job in the morning. I always chose second shift.

I wanted to fall back asleep but I had a lot of things to do that day and I knew that if I fell asleep again, I wouldn’t wake up for at least two more hours. If I was extra tired, I wouldn’t wake up until tomorrow. I once slept through an entire day. The next day was confusing, to say the least…

“I can’t wait to go to Hollywood, I can’t wait to go to Hollywood,” I sang to myself, jumping around my room. Sometimes I just randomly sang to myself, making up words according to how I felt or what I was doing. I tried to do it in private… most of the time. “I’m gonna be famous, I’m gonna be famous! I’m gonna stalk some celebrities, I’m gonna stalk some celebrities!”

I turned my television on absentmindedly as I bounced around my room, singing incoherently to myself. I didn’t pay much attention to what channel it was on, not really caring, until I heard the name “Christian Ryder”.

I turned and made a face at the television.

Eww, it’s one of those gossip channels that are obsessed with Christian Ryder… great.

I frantically looked around for my remote control so I could change the channel. I looked around for five minutes, no joke, to no avail. My room wasn’t even that big; how could I lose it?

I mumbled a few cuss words under my breath and eventually settled with throwing my shoe at the television in an effort to control my anger.

It didn’t work.

Just as I was about to tackle my television, something stopped me. Now, normally, nothing could have stopped me from avoiding Christian Ryder’s stupidly handsome face. But this was different. No, it wasn’t a picture of him shirtless that stopped me from turning the television off.

It was a picture of me.

Yes, me.

For some reason, there was a picture of Tori and I sitting in the seats at our local theater. Tori was crying in the picture and I was laughing hysterically.

So basically, we were on national television, where millions of people could see us, and we both looked absolutely ridiculous.

Sweet.

This was why I stopped in my tracks, staring at the TV screen with a weird look on my face. And I actually listened to what the blonde bimbo was saying on the screen, for once in my life. I had never actually watched this show before this moment.

“Christian Ryder’s manager wanted to show him just how amazing all of his fans are, to give him a more private look at some of his Ry-Hards,” she said, smiling widely. “So cameras were installed in movie theaters worldwide with the purpose of showing Ryder and the world just how much we love him and his movies.”

“Our crew backstage has selected the best videos, starring the lucky girlies that were shown in the pictures,” the blonde’s sidekick, a girl with dark brown hair, trilled. “And afterwards, we’ll have a little surprise for all of our viewers and for one lucky girl!”

They kept blabbing on for another minute before they finally got to the videos. I tuned in and out. I was trying to remember what I had done at the movie theater that could have possibly earned Tori and I a spot on this silly show. I knew we were going to be featured, since there was a picture of Tori and me—a very unflattering picture, mind you. Those girls were going to hear about this.

The first three videos were exactly what you would expect from Ry-Hard’s—girly fights, girly squeals, girly screams, girly comments, girly whatever—and they were extremely annoying. I was tempted to just say, “Screw this!” and turn the television off, but curiosity got the best of me. It wasn’t every day Tori and I were on television, after all. This, I had to see…

“This next one has got to be my favorite fight,” the brown haired girl said. “I found it hilarious.”

Oh, great. Another girly fight.

“Oh em gee, oh em gee, oh em gee!” a blonde girl squeaked loudly in the video. She looked vaguely familiar. Why was that? “He is so effing hot! Yummy! Oh em gee!”

“I know, right?” her friend, a red-head, agreed. “I would so, like, marry him! Oh em gee!”

Wait. This was…

“Oh em gee, Tori, like, look at, like, him, like!” I mimicked in an annoying voice on-screen, very clearly making fun of them. “He’s so, like, hot, like! Oh em gee!”’

Tori giggled at my imitation.

“What’s your, like, problem?” the red-head demanded angrily.

I rolled my eyes. “My problem is that my friend and I are trying to enjoy the movie and your commentary is getting annoying. You don’t have to add your own soundtrack to the movie.”

Oh, God…

Tori snickered from beside me and whispered something in my ear—I couldn’t remember what, exactly—and I shushed her, turning back to face the two girls.

“And you throwing, like, popcorn at the screen isn’t annoying?” the blonde one said, narrowing her eyes.

“I was just trying to feed him like they do in the movies,” I replied innocently. “That’s romantic, right?”

Tori covered her mouth all of a sudden.

“Please,” the red-head scoffed, looking me up and down. “Like Ryder would ever go out with you.”

Oh, this is my favorite part, I thought with a grin.

I raised an eyebrow at her. “And he’d go out with you?”

“Yes,” she said, fluffing her hair obnoxiously. “I know how to make myself look good, unlike you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Yeah. Sure. Nice makeup. Do you use a brush or do you just dip your face in?”

Tori burst out laughing while I just smirked and turned back in my seat to finish the movie.

The video ended and the hosts of the show were laughing. “She’s my favorite!” the brunette declared, “which is why we have declared her Hollywood Tonight’s favorite Ry-Hard!”

I nearly choked on my own spit when I heard this. I wouldn’t have been surprised if I had a spasm and fell to the floor, twitching wildly.

What. The. Hell.

I stood there, rooted to my spot, eyes wide in shock. My phone rang and I answered without paying attention to who was calling.

“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” Tori yelled from the other side of the phone.

“I think so…” I trailed off into silence.

“We’re on TV, Soph!” she squealed happily. “And you’ve just been named HT’s favorite Ry-Hard!”

“I know,” I said, my disbelief rising inside of me. “And that’s ridiculous because I’m not a Ry-Hard! I hate him.”

I didn’t hear what she said next because I realized the two hosts were still talking about me, so I started listening again.

“We have several clips of this mystery girl, and several of them have us guessing,” the blonde said, laughing shortly. “We don’t know what to make of her here at HT!”

A video of me throwing popcorn at the screen every time Christian Ryder’s face appeared played. They only showed about thirty seconds of the video, but it was enough to make anyone realize why I was throwing the popcorn.

“Soph! Soph!” Tori screamed over the phone. “Sophia Elizabeth Hastings!”

“Shh, I’m watching!” I screamed back, shushing her.

A collage of videos appeared of me making rude comments about Christian Ryder. I could hear Tori laughing over the phone as she watched on her own television.

“He better get away from that mirror before his reflection cracks it. That poor mirror wouldn’t even see it coming!”

“He needs to wear a condom on his head. If he’s gonna act like a bleephe might as well dress like one…”

“I swear, it’s guys like him that make girls go gay…”

“Hey is that a pimple I see? Christian Ryder has a pimple. That’s naaaasty.”

“Somebody call the zoo! There’s been an escape from the simian exhibit!”

Along with the insulting comments, there were also several moments where I would make a weird face at the screen as I watched the movie.

If I had known I was being recorded, I probably would’ve toned it down a little. But we were practically alone in the theater! I thought I was safe!

“There were a few others, but we pushed it far enough with her second or third comment,” the brunette said with a chuckle. “So, as we promised, we will get to our little surprise… after the break! Don’t go anywhere!”

I pretended to listen to Tori as she babbled endlessly about our debut on national television, but I really didn’t care. I was too busy freaking out. How did this kind of thing happen?

Before I knew it, the commercial break was over and Hollywood Tonight was back on. I vaguely heard Tori still prattling on as the blonde announced the two surprises. The first was pretty obvious; it was a surprise visit from Christian Ryder himself, who was apparently watching all of the featured videos “along with all of us fellow Ry-Hard’s”.

I averted my eyes and tried to distract myself. I didn’t want to look at him. I wasn’t really paying attention to the show, but all of a sudden, the blonde’s words made me stop in my tracks once again. “And, as promised, one lucky girly also gets a little surprise of her own…”

“…we managed to track down our mystery girl, our favorite Ry-Hard here at HT, and that lucky chica gets a call from none other than Christian Ryder!”

I didn’t fully understand what was happening until my phone started ringing in my hand. And the worst part? I got so freaked out I dropped the phone on the floor, and that somehow pressed the answer and the speaker phone button.

“Hey, this is Christian Ryder.”

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A/N: It starts off really boringly in my opinion, but it's kinda necessary... filler-ish stuff, you know. Blech. Buuuut I would never make a boring chapter. Just... no. Just no. So of course it got epic as it went on. :D Anyways, hope you guys enjoyed! I loved writing this chapter. (:

VOTE.COMMMENT.FAN. (Yeah, I'm too cool for spaces. WHATNOW.)