Chapter 11: All Riled Up

[Chapter 11: All Riled Up]

"Cut! Great job, Eric. Why don't you take a break and get ready for the next scene?" Penny Marshall clapped her hands, urging the crew to prepare quickly for the upcoming shot. At that moment, Eric stood in his oversized suit, performing a scene where he asked a janitor about the whereabouts of an old man in the school hallway.

It was the first day of filming, and they were at a private high school in Beverly Hills. After reviewing the script, the school board readily agreed to allow the crew to use their campus for free, provided they changed the name of the fictional Hyde High to theirs. It was a win-win situation; the crew saved a budget on location costs, while the school got some publicity from the film. After some brief discussion, the crew consented to the board's request.

In the morning, they shot some simple scenes, which turned out well, so they began filming the part where Mike turned into his school persona and searched for the old janitor in the afternoon.

"Eric, that outfit looks ridiculous. You look like one of those filthy homeless people downtown," Drew Barrymore quipped casually, perched with her legs crossed and a haughty attitude.

Eric shrugged off the jibe. "Hey, Maggie, that's not something a daughter should say," he shot back.

With an exaggerated pout, Drew replied, "Hmph, as an eighteen-year-old virgin, you really know how to talk big."

Just then, Jennifer Aniston walked by holding a towel, and upon hearing Drew poke fun at her crush, she immediately retorted, "At least he is not like those bad girls who do drugs and drink themselves silly!"

Drew glanced up and down at Aniston in a dismissive manner, then raised her eyebrows in a mocking smile, deliberately twisting her slim waist in her chair.

It was effective; Aniston, self-conscious about her curvaceous figure, felt like a cat whose fur stood on end. She dropped the towel and lunged at Drew, not that her sweet face would have given away that she could pack a punch. Living alone in Los Angeles required a tough attitude to look after oneself.

Seeing a catfight on the verge of breaking out, Eric quickly intervened, grabbing Aniston's hand to pull her back to sit beside him. He leaned in to whisper something in her ear. Aniston pulled her neck in, feeling his breath, before erupting in giggles and lightly punching Eric on the shoulder. "Eric, you're so bad! How could you say that?"

Drew pretended not to care, but she strained to catch what Eric had just said, scrunching her nose in feigned indifference before turning away.

"Eric, get ready for the next scene."

"Alright, Penny," Eric said, patting Aniston's small hand before standing up to head toward the shooting spot.

...

As for why Drew targeted Eric, it stemmed from the morning's earlier dynamics. Since it was a school film, both Drew and Aniston had jumped into the scene. Even though Eric and Aniston hadn't clarified their relationship, everyone could see Aniston's infatuation with Eric. Some teased, some envied, and others disapproved, like Drew.

For reasons unknown, just seeing the two close together, even without any overtly affectionate gestures, sparked an unusual discomfort in Drew, especially when Aniston flashed her blissful, girly demeanor. Thus, Drew found herself unable to restrain her snarky comments towards Eric, and by midday, the whole crew knew about the tension between them. However, when they were filming together, they maintained their professionalism with minimal flubs. Since it didn't impact the shoot, Penny only hinted to Eric that he should perhaps tolerate Drew a bit more, having observed Eric's remarkable maturity compared to his peers over the past half month.

"Hey, fatty, what did that guy just say to you?" Drew couldn't help but ask, trying to sound nonchalant.

"Listen, crybaby, if you call me 'fatty' one more time, I'll squeeze your little tatas!" Thanks to Eric's encouragement, Aniston's reaction was no longer as heated, but without him around, her words turned boldly spicy.

"Crybaby? Me?" Drew's heart skipped a beat, though she masked her surprise with an incredulous expression directed at Aniston.

"Uh-huh." Aniston tilted her chin up defiantly, asserting herself.

"Ah-ha! How ridiculous. I'm one of the leads, and you're just a minor character with two minutes of screen time. Who are you to call me a crybaby?"

Aniston shot back, "So what? Even if you're the lead, you're merely a tool for your mother to make money off of. I'm different -- though I'm just a small role now, I have the freedom, dreams, and a talented, sweet boyfriend who, at just eighteen, has written a screenplay and is starring in it. Meanwhile, your father ignores your existence, and your mother sees you as cash flow. You're bitter and helpless, wallowing in self-destruction -- drinking, doing drugs, even screw-ups that you foolishly believe are acts of rebellion. Seeing me with Eric makes you jealous, because fundamentally, you're just a pathetic, unloved crybaby trapped in this cycle!"

Boom--

It felt like an atomic bomb had gone off in Drew's mind, leaving her exposed, stripped bare in the middle of a bustling street, feeling utterly vulnerable.

Despite her mature physical demeanor, Drew was still a thirteen-year-old girl. Most girls at that age had just begun middle school, wide-eyed and curious about the new world, filled with anticipation for their first romance. Aniston's gut-punching revelation tore into the fragile facade that Drew had carefully hidden beneath layers of bravado.

Seeing Drew suddenly go silent, Aniston wore a smug smile, feeling victorious. Eric would've surely stepped in to halt Aniston from uttering words harsh enough for a thirteen-year-old to bear.

...

After completing a few more shots, Eric returned to the break area, surprised to find Drew curled up in silence, her little head buried in her arms. Curious, he asked Aniston, "Hey, Jenny, what's wrong? Why are you two so quiet?"

Aniston beamed with pride, "Well, she's speechless after I put her in her place."

"Oh, Jenny, you're impressive; that little smart mouth of Drew's isn't easy to contend with. Alright, we should go; it's your turn now. Impress the director!"

"I will!"

They walked hand in hand toward the filming area, and the little squabble seemed to fade away quietly. But was it really so simple?

...

During the next scenes, Drew didn't display any signs of abnormality, only speaking less and refraining from targeting Eric. Though completely focused on the filming and Aniston, Eric didn't pick up on Drew's peculiar shifts.

"Incredible! This shoot has gone so smoothly," Penny Marshall said as she wrapped the final shot of the day. Holding the shooting schedule with pen in hand, she drew lines on it and remarked to Eric, "Initially, we planned to wrap the school scenes in ten days, but at this rate, we might finish within a week! I know I said it many times during auditions, but I must say, Eric, your performance has exceeded everyone's expectations. You truly have no previous acting experience?"

Eric chuckled, "Not at all, Penny. Actually, I lied. I acted in lots of films in a past life -- though not as the lead, I still gathered a lot of experience. Fortunately, I didn't forget it in this life."

"Wow, past life?!" Penny assumed Eric's straightforward comment was a joke. "Alright, your little girlfriend is getting impatient. Go on now, and remember, don't be late tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Penny."

"See you tomorrow!"

As Eric started his car and drove away with Aniston, no one noticed Drew Barrymore, standing alone outside the crowd, peering at the departing vehicle. Filled with resentment, she muttered under her breath, "Just wait, Jennifer Aniston, you little brat. You hurt me like this, and I'll make you pay. You'll regret every word you said today."

*****

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