Chapter 4
“Nervous?” Cliff asks.
Cliff, aka Cliff-Hanger is the closest thing this town has to a real entertainment critic.
He graduated from the same theater program I did, but about ten years before I was there.
His own acting career never got off the ground, but he has a spot on the local news and runs a fairly well-known video channel talking about TV and movies.
The theater community in this town isn’t exactly huge, so we’ve run into each other before, but I don’t really know him, and this is my first real interview, even if it’s just a livestream.
“A little,” I admit. “I’m used to being in front of a camera. I don’t know why this feels so different.”
In about five minutes, this interview will go live, and by tomorrow it’ll be online forever. I glance off to the side of his filming area where my mother is sitting on a couch alongside Erika. Mom’s staring down at her phone, but Erika grins and gives me a thumbs up.
Cliff nods. “I get it. Believe it or not, I felt the same way when I uploaded my first video. Being in front of a camera as yourself is scarier than acting. That’s why I have this whole getup.
” He gestures to himself, everything from his signature navy blue beret, to his slick goatee, the tweed jacket with the elbow patches and the classic directors chairs we are sitting in.
“Cliff-Hanger the character isn’t exactly the same as Cliff the guy, you know?
My advice is to start figuring out who Quinn the actress is, and make sure you keep a little bit of yourself back. ”
I take a deep breath. Just another role, I can do that. Sometimes it feels like I’ve been doing it most of my life anyway. “Thanks.”
“Thirty seconds,” his assistant calls out, giving us time to adjust a little and get ready for the stream to start. “Wait for it… and you’re live… now.”
Cliff’s whole persona changes. He looks at the camera and grins.
“Hey, Cliffies! I’m coming at you live with something special tonight.
I know Desdemona and Gloria have probably been fighting evil all over your feeds lately, but I bet you didn’t know I’m practically neighbors with the actresses that play them.
Quinn Callahan and Erika Adams are here with me today, so get your questions ready.
” He turns to me. “Quinn, you’re up first. Let’s address the elephant in the room.
I bet you never thought that a corny, low-budget show about college students fighting a literal librarian from Hell was going to be your big break.
I mean, come on, Saving the World: 101? What drew you to the project in the first place? ”
Laughing awkwardly, it takes me a second to figure out where to look, and another to remember my angles.
Mom rolls her eyes. I’m sure I’ll hear about every mistake later.
I always do. “Well, I probably read the books a hundred times in high-school so they didn’t have to twist my arm to read the script, you know?
The writers did an amazing job with the screenplay, and Desdemona is such a great character.
I definitely wasn’t expecting it to get this much attention, but I think we all knew it had potential right from the start. ”
There, that sounds good, right? I can do this.
“And it probably didn’t hurt that the tight budget meant that they were staying local and looking for new faces.”
“Are you calling me cheap, Cliff?”
He puts a hand to his chest like I’ve wounded him, then his grin is back.
“Well, if the budget shoe fits, but you’ve actually been on our screens since you were twelve, is that right?
Some of our viewers might remember you from the local Pancake Hut commercial that ran for aaaaages.
I’m sure you remember the line. Come on, say it… ”
I hide my face in my hands and groan. “Don’t make me.”
“Come on…”
If nothing else comes from Saving the World, at least maybe it will give people something to remember me as other than the pancake special girl. I paste on a big smile and mimic how I was sitting in the old commercial. “Three flaps, two pats, and a jug! Yum!”
Erika snickers from the couch. Sometimes I miss the days of modeling for ads and doing bit roles for commercials in between background parts and playing extras on shows that never went anywhere, but this isn’t one of those times.
Cliff keeps the interview light, asking me about what it was like to play Desdemona, the half-demon marketing major who gets roomed together with Gloria, a criminal justice student with mysterious angelic powers.
I actually even relax a little as we chat about what it was like to film back on our old campus.
There’s a reason Cliff is popular. He has a way of making it feel like we’re just friends talking about something we both love.
He wraps up my solo part of the interview with one last question. “Your career is on the verge of taking off into something big, so I’m going to be the first to ask. Who would you like to thank for getting you to where you are today?”
“I—” It’s a totally normal question that I should be ready for, but the answer still sticks in my throat.
My mother, my mother, my mother. Just say it. I can almost feel her fingers squeezing my arm until it bruises, the sound of her voice hissing in my ear as she tells me how grateful I should be for everything she does.
Cliff raises an eyebrow.
I shake my head and grin like he caught me daydreaming. “Oh, um my mother, definitely,” I gush with artificial cheer. “She’s my manager and has always been my biggest supporter. And my agent, Roger! I was a scrawny little kid when he scouted me and he’s been amazing, too. But, um, Mom, yeah.”
His eyebrow stays up, clearly not convinced by my less than silky smooth answer. “No boyfriend? Girlfriend?”
Another question a normal twenty-two year old should be ready to hear. I shake my head, hoping people assume my blush is just me being shy. The truth is that last night with Priest and his friends was the first time in a while that I’ve even felt that sort of spark.
“Nope, but if there’s anyone else that deserves credit, it would be my older brother, Axel.
” The words are out of my mouth before I can second guess myself.
“He died when I was younger, but he was the best. We used to build blanket forts and watch old movies together. I like to think that wherever he is, he’s proud of me. ”
Axel’s been on my mind since seeing Priest. When I look back, as hard as those years were, Axel and I had each other, and those nights were the start of my love of acting.
“Wow. Uh, I’m so sorry.” Cliff wasn’t prepared for that one. “I’m sure he is. There’s a lot to be proud of, and hopefully even more headed your way.”
It’s a good thing he brings Erika on next, because I can feel the hot burn of unshed tears in my throat and I’m sure his viewers didn’t tune in to watch me cry. So much for remembering to hold a bit of myself back when I’m on camera.
Erika gives my hand a squeeze as I move over a chair to make room. The rest of the interview goes smoothly. She’s a natural, keeping things bubbly and fun. By the time her solo questions are done, I’ve pulled myself back together and we tackle some questions from the chat.
What was our favorite scene to film? Probably the one where Gloria and Desdemona have to mud-wrestle in Hell to earn the cooperation of the werewolf pack who break us out and drive us back to school on their motorcycles.
Is there going to be a second season? We don’t know either. Nobody expected Saving the World: 101 to get picked up for streaming. The writers have plenty of material to work with, but the plan had just been for the six episodes we shot.
Eventually, Erika and I leave the set while Cliff continues the rest of his show.
“I didn’t know about your brother,” she says quietly. “I’m sorry you lost him.”
“I don’t exactly talk about him much.”
She nods. “I lost my Dad when I was fifteen. After a while I stopped mentioning him because it makes people sad, but I never stopped thinking about him.”
Mom is standing by the door. Her mouth is set in an unhappy line and she taps her wrist impatiently.
“I should probably get going.”
“Right, but… are you feeling okay? Last night was scary. Nobody else reported anything, but they’re going to check the security footage from the party.”
“Yeah. I’m a little tired, but it could’ve been a lot worse.”
“Good.” She hesitates. “Quinn, we’re friends, right?”
“What? Of course,” I say, more out of reflex than anything. Are we? Priest seemed to think so, and I want to be, but letting people in is tricky.
“I want you to know you can talk to me. If everything goes well, we might be stuck with each other for a couple more seasons and I don’t want to be the kind of friends that only talk when we work together.” Her grin is infectious.
“I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you for the photos!” I give Erika a tentative hug, hoping she understands that I want that, too.
I jog over to Mom. Her hand wraps around my wrist and only practice keeps me from wincing.