~*By PuRpLeDiRt*~

Chapter 1

***********************

"Darien, could you please come into my office for a sec?"  a voice called down the hall.

A tall man with jet black hair and piercing blue eyes turned around to call back an answer.  "I'll be right there."  Darien Shields was tall, dark and handsome.  The newest teen heartthrob, he played Adrian Lee on the tv drama "Midas".  His character was a wealthy businessman that ended up hurting or messing up everything that became dear to him.

Finishing the important call he was with, Darien hung up the cell phone and made his way down to Mac Sullivan's office, who was the director for the show.  The door to the office stood open, and Darien leaned against the door frame and rapped his knuckles against it.  "Knock, knock."  He said cheerfully. 

Mac looked up from his desk to acknowledge Darien.  "Please, come in and have a seat."  Darien took a seat in the uncomfortable art deco chair that sat in front of the desk.  "Darien, I have been talking with the writers and the PR director for the show.  We have all come to the conclusion that we need to bring in a co-star for you, a love interest for your character to build a relationship with.  It'll help ratings."

Darien sat there for a moment to think about this.  "Ok, so why does that concern me?  I don't mind a co-star, as long as they don't steal the show."  Darien joked with a wink.

"Always the funny guy, huh?  Well, it concerns you because of the way the PR director wants to handle it.  Instead of doing a more private casting call, he wants to announce it to all of Tokyo and have what you could basically call a contest.  The catch is, you have to be there, because you are picking the lucky winner."  Mac took a deep breath and awaited Darien's comments on the matter.

"So you're telling me that I have to sit through something like a thousand audiences or something, then just pick on of the girls, who has no acting experience to come on the show with me?  Hold on now, how exactly is this supposed to help the show?  It takes me away from it and will hold back production by trying to teach a fangirl how to act?  I don't know about this…

-------------------------------@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@ --------------------------------

            "Oh my gosh Sere, look!!!!"  Mina practically screamed while bouncing up and down.

"Mina, lower the decibels.  We still want to be able to hear, ya know?!" Raye reprimanded.  Serena, Mina, Raye, Ami, and Lita all stood in front of the Crown arcade's windows, with Mina staring at a poster.

"Mina, what is it?"  Serena asked with anticipation.

"Oh my gosh!  They are having an open casting call  for that new show "Midas".  The are looking for a co-star for Darien Shields."  Mina squealed with delight.  All of the other girls started to get excited, with the exception of Serena.

"Oh my, I could finally get my big break!"  Mina said excitedly.

A quiet Ami even perked up.  "It would look good on college applications…"

"He's quite the guy, maybe I could get him on a date."  Raye challenged.

Lita had stars in her eyes.  "He looks so dreamy.  He looks just like my ex- boyfriend."  Everyone groaned at this comment.  Mina noticed Serena didn't look too thrilled with the idea.

"I don't see what the big fuss is all about.  One, he is one of the biggest jerks ever and he's not that hot.  Two, think of all the girls that will be there for the casting call.  What are the chances that one of us would actually get picked for the role."  Serena said, bringing everyone back down to reality.

"Yeah meatball head, who would ever pick you.  You're such a klutz, you would trip over everything on the set!"  Raye insulted.

"That's so mean!  Take it back!"  Whined Serena.   Lita jumped in to save the day.

"How about we head inside and play that new Sailor V game?"

-------------------------------@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@ --------------------------------

            It was the day of the casting call, and thousands of girls were all gathered down at the studio, vying for the dream part.  The five friends were among the thousands of girls there.

"I can't believe that I let you drag me down here.  Why did I ever agree it it."  Grumbled Serena

"Because you had nothing else better to do and this is how you got out of doing homework today."  Raye said pointedly.

"Oh yeah, I forgot."  Serena mumbled.

The room became silent as Mac Sullivan mounted the stage with a microphone.  "Hello ladies, and welcome to today's open casting call.  I'm the director for the show, Mac Sullivan.  Ok, here is how things are going to happen.  Everyone one is going to be looked over by the panel and do a voice test.  I hate to sound mean, but we are looking for a specific type of person.  If you pass the physical appearance check and they believe you had a television voice, you will but put in a group for the next test.  We give you a few lines to read and a way to interpret them, because we want to see what you can do on the spot.  Finally, out of those ladies, 20 lucky ones will be selected to read part of a scene with Darien.  That's how we will pick the girl.  Everyone ready?  Let's begin."

"Wow that sounds intense."  Lita said, beginning to get a little nervous.

"Don't worry about it.  We're just here to have fun, because like Serene said before, what are the chances of one of us actually getting picked?"  Ami said to try to calm Lita's nerves.

"Speak for yourself."  Raye said with a flip of her hair.  "I know he'll pick me, how could he not?"

Serena mumbled something under her breath that was not for Raye to hear.

"What was that, Meatball head?"  Raye said, getting a little angry.

"Nothing, nothing…."  Serena said with a smile.  The comments were forgotten as they got in line.  They started to chat about the girls in front of them that were passing in front of the panel.  They watched as one by one that the girls we either being passed up or continuing on to the next stage.  Within two hours, they were near the front of the line.  Mina was beginning to go crazy with anticipation.  They were trying to decide who would go first.  Serena finally gave in because no one wanted to go first. 

"I probably won't make it past them anyways.  You guys just need to act normal and stop hyperventilating Mina!"  Serena scolded.  Soon, it was Serena's turn before the panel.  'I'm glad I wore my favorite outfit, it makes me feel a little more comfortable.'  She thought.  Serena was wearing a turquoise halter top that came below the bust line where the middle had a slit that tapered down to the sides.  She was also wearing white capris with strappy platform sandals.  Her blond hair was done in the usual buns, with the wispy ends the kept flying everywhere.  She stepped in front of the panel with a smile on her face.  One of the men in the front smiled back and asked for her to state her full name and her age.

"Hi, I'm Serenity Solace and I'm 19 years old."  Serena stated with a smile.  The panel asked for her to turn around so they could get a full body view.  Then, the asked her to read the words written on the paper so they could get a voice sample.  "Hi, I am auditioning for a part in the tv series "Midas."  This is a test so that I may give a voice sample to those people who make up the panel." 

The panel grouped together to decide whether they should allow her or not.  It didn't take long because the decision was unanimous.  They told Serena to step over in front of the wall to have her picture taken for reference.  They gave her a number and asked her to stand with the small crowd gathering in the other room.  Shortly later, she was joined by Raye and Mina.

"Where are Lita and Ami?"  Serena asked, a little nervous. 

"Um, well, they decided Lita was too tall, she would have been overpowering on tv, and Amy didn't speak loud enough, because the microphone wouldn't be able to pick up her soft voice."  Mina said with a little laugh of nervousness.  At Serena's shocked look, Mina quickly responded.  "Don't worry though, they really didn't want to be on tv, they just wanted to be with us, and they wish us the best of luck."

Serena was upset that they weren't all together, but that was forgotten as Mac Sullivan requested everyone's attention again.   "People please.  Now we will be doing an interpretive reading.  Please form a line to your left."

After everything was all said and done, Serena and Raye had passed, but Mina had been too nervous and just completely messed up.  She was upset, but realized that she was glad she didn't do that while on camera.  Raye and Serena were two of twenty girls that had passed.  They were beginning to get excited because they would actually get the chance to met Darien Shields.  Raye decided that she should be in front of Serena so she could go first.  Raye's reasoning was that they would see how spectacular she was that no one else would be any kind of competition.  Serena just decided to let Raye think what she wanted because if she corrected her, it would turn into a huge argument that Serena did not feel like having.  About 30 minutes later, Raye was called into the room to read lines.  Serena waited patiently as Raye went.  About 7 minutes later, Raye came out with a smile on her face. 

"So, what happened?"  Serena asked.

"Oh, they loved me, I could see it in their eyes, but they are just going to be polite and listen to everyone else."  Raye said with a smirk.

'Uh huh, sure, that just means that Raye is trying to assure herself of that.' Serena thought as she heard her name called.  She got up from her seat and slowly walked into the room, closing the door behind her.  Wearing one of her best smiles, she walked over to where Mac Sullivan, the producer, and Darien were standing.

"Serenity Solace?"  Mac questioned.

"Yes sir, that's me."  Serena replied cheerfully.

"Please take that excerpt from the script and take a minute to read over it.  When you are finished, we will have you read with Darien to see how you adapt."

Serena quickly looked over the lines and determined the mood of the scene.  It was set in a restaurant, and apparently it was the first date for Darien's character and the co-star to be picked.  'Ok, I can do this, just be yourself Sere and everything will be ok.  Just take a deep breath.'  She thought.  Looking back up at Mac and Darien, she signified with a smile that she was finished.

"Ok Darien, you start us off."  Mac said.  "Serena, you will be reading the part of Angel, Adrian's date for the evening."

"Angel, you look lovely tonight."  Darien said in a husky voice.

"Well, thank you, but I have to say, you don't look quite so bad yourself."  Serena said with a little giggle.

"Ah, Angel, what you do to me I cannot describe.  Do you feel it?  We have a connection of some sort."  Darien said, taking Serena's hand.

"A connection, yes I feel it too.  Adrian, what exactly do you feel for me?"  Serena answered with a husky voice, her eyes were burning holes into Darien's

"Would I be too forward if I asked if I could kiss you?"  Darien asked, leaning close.

Serena closed the gap even more, lowering her voice to just above a whisper.  "Well, I do like a man who's more action and less talk."

"Cut!  Beautiful people, beautiful.  You actually had me believing it."  Mac said with a smile.

Serena smiled back.  "Thank you sir, I hade fun."

"We'll give you a call if we decide to use you."

"Ok, and thank you."  Serena replied happily as she walked out the door.

As soon as the door closed, Mac turned to Darien.  "Wow, that was some acting.  You two really have a connection there.  Everything seemed to just happen.  Nothing was strained.  It looked effortless."

"Yes, there was something there.  I didn't even really have to try.  It came so naturally.  There's something about her."  Darien replied, but his mind was beginning to wander.  'There is really a connection there.  I believe that you and I might just be seeing more of each other Serenity Solace.'

-------------------------------@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@ --------------------------------

-------------------------------@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@-@ --------------------------------

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed that.  I really like the way the plot is going, so please tell me what you think!  REVIEW PLEASE!!!!  I had a lot of fun writing this.

~*PuRpLeDiRt*~