CHAPTER 18: EDITED VERSION

Aaron returned to campus seething. The fact that his grandma didn't give him the time of the day brought a bitter taste to his mouth.

The worst part was he couldn't seem to get his brother's words out of his head. The words of Moses kept ringing in his head while he navigated the way to his apartment.

On getting inside, he shut the door and after two seconds of standing aloofly, all hell broke loose. He pushed down the lamp stand in his living room.

Still not pacified, Aaron walked through the chards of glass and threw down the television, he used his legs to finish up the Job, grunting and panting all the way.

After about thirty minutes of venting his anger on his properties, the entire living room was in Chaos. The entire floor was covered in broken glasses and his palm dripped blood.

Aaron didn't seem to notice he was hurt. The pain he felt in his heart overpowered every other feeling. No matter how much he tried to block out the words from his head, or how much he talked to himself, his mind would in turn whisper the very words that always lit fire in his heart.

" You'll surely come begging, boy. Like the mistake you are, you'd realize you made a big mistake. "

Every single time he relived the mocking voice of Aaron, the urge to strangle him grew unbearable. At this point, the only thing that pacified his anger was the thought of watching him struggle for air underneath him.

His murderous intent was successfully tripled. Something that somehow managed to happen whenever he got to a five feet radius from him.

Aaron wanted to shut off his bizarre thoughts but to no avail. He immediately headed on to the kitchen, grabbed some alcohol and made way to his bedroom.

His chaotic mind screamed in chastisement, reminding him that he was supposed to be on set early the following day but he ignored it and without a second thought, opened the drink and gulped directly from the bottle.

After about five mouthfuls, he felt the buzz hit him and his senses dulled. For the first time ever, he experienced an unusual calm. Call it the calm after the storm.

Aaron continued in that pace till well into the night, not thinking of anything as he drank the sweet poison to stupor, unable to help himself.

******

It was filming day and Deloise woke up early and excited! She immediately prepared herself and stepped out of her room to meet up with the car supposed to take them off campus for the shoot.

Soon enough, she joined some of her colleagues in a minivan chartered to convey them to the shooting scene. As expected, everyone was in a ball of nerves but somehow managed to chat all through the short ride, getting acquainted and sharing thoughts.

Deloise didn't talk during the entire ride but instead, attempted rereading her lines which didn't work out as a result of her bundle of nerves. She felt intimidated as she watched some of her colleagues discuss how they hacked into their character's personality and couldn't wait to perform.

Meanwhile, she was just there, observing everyone and nursing cold feet. She so dearly prayed that she wouldn't fold up when it was time to get her shit together and instead focused on becoming calm and confident enough.

Thirty minutes into the drive, Deloise' ringtone blared into the air. Not expecting a call, she was taken by surprise while the others took a glance at her direction before resuming their conversations.

Happy to be rid of all their attention, Deloise swiped to the right and the call connected. It was Amanda.

" Hey sweetie! How are you doing?" The cherry voice of Amanda sauntered into her ears, propelling a smile from Deloise.

" I'm alright, just trying to make it to the filming in one piece." She joked, some part of her serious about that fact.

" Oh dear! Forgive me, I almost forgot today was your first day." Amanda said with a dramatic apologetic tone.

Deloise chuckled at her friend's words, " You didn't almost forget, You forgot." She corrected with a smile, every residual feeling of uncertainty melted away.

" Same thing. You know I love you though." She quickly replied, " That reminds me, I found out why Anna has been such a ray of sunshine lately." She said with a sarcastic voice. " Apparently, a pretty boy dumped her ass. I tried asking her about it and she went wild on me. Never returned after that." Amanda managed to explain in one breath.

Deloise felt her heart prick at the notion of Anna being dumped by some boy but at the same time, she couldn't really do anything about it. She was well aware that her input wasn't needed anymore and she stood the risk of being bitten if she got herself involved like Amanda.

You know the saying; Once bitten, twice shy.

" Maybe that's why she's been a mean girl to me recently. She probably needs space to hash things out. Whenever she feels ready, she knows where to find me." Deloise said thoughtfully.

" Don't mind her darling. As much as she is being very annoying right now, she will come to her senses. I'm sorry about her, don't dwell on her current episode, with time, I believe she'll come to her senses."

" I hope so."

" Focus on your filming. Don't let these things bother you and make sure to kill it out there. Show that haughty man that you are the ish, okay?" She said with a prepped voice.

" Definitely." Deloise replied with a smile. Amanda always had a way around words. She felt lucky to have her support.

" Good. Have a great day then,I have to go. Call me later and fill me in on how it went!"

Without another word, two beeps were heard on the line, signaling the end of the call. Deloise looked up and realized they were pulling up to a clearing.

It's showtime.

Deloise walked out of the van feeling more confident than she felt through the ride. It was like she was possessed and felt there was nothing she couldn't do.

On sighting the setup of the shooting area, she felt a full circle moment in the depth of her heart. For the first time ever, she actually got to be in a real life production setting.

What God cannot do, does not exist!

With a smile, she walked through the area, drinking everything in while feeling excited to get in character. She could feel her role clawing the walls of her mind frame, itching to be let out with the live-in set-up she saw.

After fifteen minutes, an announcement was made for the actors to be gathered. With a general address, the stand in manager requested they all head to prepare themselves. Spaces were allocated for dress up and make up and they all dispersed.

Deloise was given a pod to herself as the female lead alongside one of the best make up artists in the industry. She felt positive that her day could only get better from here on.

Inside the private pod, Deloise was getting prepared. She shared little talk with the artist in an attempt to fill the silence.

" I bet you've done this a thousand times, how was your first time doing make up for a clientele?" Deloise asked while brushes glammed her face.

" Terrible." The artist said with a cringe." I almost glued shut the eyes of my sister." She said with a little laugh.

" Thank goodness it was your sister." Deloise joined in the laugh.

" More like thank goodness she let me continue practicing on her."

" Ha, that too!"

The atmosphere was easy going until the door suddenly flew open and Stella walked in with an air of arrogance. Her formidable eyes hidden behind big black rimmed glasses.

" Get out." She said Icily. Her eyes fixated on Deloise with a disgruntled look.