He took a sip from his beer bottle while reading the information given about her movie. It was called Survival. In it, she plays a young high school student who has a middle aged male stalker. The premise continued describing how her character fights for her life as the man’s encounters with her become more violent.
Note to self: rent all her movies and try to catch her new one…
Nick went on to look at a page of photo shoots she had shot. There weren’t many, only a couple. He studied her face, all her curves. He noticed how in all her pictures, her face was unsure, shy, and timid. Nick found her face full of self doubt, but her eyes were still beautifully strong. It was so different from most stars, let’s say, a certain heiress who, when getting her picture taken, looked so full of herself.
But Rachel, she was different. She wasn’t yet corrupted by the gilded appearance Hollywood and its triteness. She was new, raw, pure. Nick was sure of this. She just had to be. A breath of fresh air, right?
Where I've been or what I won
Stand on your corner a thousand time
Lose what I got, keep what I find
It's about you
It's about you
Nick turned his laptop off and wandered into Howie’s kitchen. His Latino friend had gone over to AJ’s before heading out to a restaurant with Stacy. This left Nick alone in someone else’s house with nothing to do, since he didn’t feel like clubbing.
Or how you make me feel this way
Stand on your corner a thousand time
Lose what I got, keep what I find
It's about you
It's about you
Nick grabbed his car keys and left to the nearest DVD rental store. He searched for the three movies that Rachel had done prior to her new film. It took him awhile to find, but he found one of her movies.
It's hard for me to come back down
And when I get this feeling
It's hard for me to come back down
And I could be
That everything you need
And I know this could be
That free fall back to me
Nick was in the middle of watching The Darkest Hour when Howie returned home.
“What are you doing home? I thought you’d be staying over at Stacy’s?” Nick shouted to the corridor, his eyes still on the movie. He heard a depressive sigh from Howie so he turned around to find his friend sitting on the bench beside the staircase with his hands over his face.
“We got into a fight. Over something really stupid.”
“What?”
“What color wallpaper we want for the apartment.” Howie laughed. “She wants cream, I want blue. So we argued about it until she told me to get out because I was causing her a headache and keeping her from sleeping.” He sighed, running his hand through his hair.
“I’m sorry, man. Need a hug?” Nick grinned, planning on how to cheer his brother up.
“No, I’m fine, thank you.” Howie shook his head.
Just then, Nick leaped from the couch and ran to Howie, who had a deer-caught-in-the-headlights look upon his face.
“No! Nick! Stop!” Howie squealed and turned to run, but it was too late. Nick grabbed a hold of Howie and lifted him in a tight bear hug. He leaned back, squeezing Howie and swinging him back and forth. Howie kicked his legs and swatted Nick’s arms in protest, but his laughs were genuine, leading Nick to believe that he was accomplishing his task.
“If you don’t put me down, I’m going to fart on you!”
Nick put his shorter friend down, watching as he whipped around and put him into a headlock.
“Hey! I just wanted to comfort you with a hug! No need to get violent!” Howie proceeded to give Nick a noogie. They continued to wrestle around until Howie’s eyes became transfixed on something in the living room, causing him to go slack and allowing Nick to tackle him to the ground.
“Um, Nick, why is Rachel kissing some guy on my T.V.?” Nick mentally kicked himself for leaving the T.V. on as Howie pushed Nick off of himself and walked into his living room, sitting down on the sofa. He noticed the DVD case on the coffee table and lifted on up to read.
“The Darkest Hour? Rachel Hewitt? Nick, this is borderline obsessive.” Howie frowned as he put the case back down on the table and turned towards the blonde standing in his corridor.
“I’m just curious to see what she’s been in. It’s not obsessive.”
Howie only raised an eyebrow as he got up and headed out the room. He walked past Nick by the staircase and began his way up. Halfway to the top, he turned around leaving Nick with his final remark.
“I thought you wanted a breath of fresh air, as you said. Not another Hollywood bimbo. What makes her so special?” Nick watched his friend finish his course up the stairs, fading into the dark shadows on the upper floor.
With everyone that sees me
Telling me get back on the ground
It never could be easy
Instead of you just pleasing me
You're keeping me down
And I know this could be
That freefall
Come on jump to me
Nick fell asleep before finishing the movie.
And as he slept, he dreamt that all his former girlfriends and Rachel were lined up in a row. His ex's were holding up signs with numbers on them. Nick found that the numbers were the dates in which they had dated.
He watched them through the glass window seen in crime shows, looking down the line as if he was searching for his assaulter. He went through the selection, hesitating on each girl before finally resting on Rachel.
“That’s her. Right there, she’s the one.” He told the police officer beside him, pointing at Rachel excitedly.
“Are you sure?” The officer now transformed into Howie. “What makes her so special?” He asked.
“It’s her eyes, I can tell by her eyes.” Nick pressed his hand on the glass tracing his finger over Rachel’s face. Her face was uneasy; her eyes shifting back and forth down the line of girls at her sides.
“So unsure and shy, but still beautifully strong.”
