Song of the Chapter: Rose-Colored Boy by Paramore

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Walking into a large building, Amias wore a red tuxedo jacket with a collared white dress shirt underneath and black pants. The black bowtie around his neck added to the charming look he had going on. As Amias asked the secretary for the floor and room where the interview would take place, he anxiously tugged on the bowtie.

About two days ago, Amias met all his co-stars and all the people who will work behind the scenes of the TV show. All his castmates were either fresh college graduates or were picked up in the middle of their college career, like him.

They were all — for the most part — laidback and kind people who were just as excited and thankful as Amias for the opportunity. Everyone shared their backstory and memories they had about their families and friends. They even played Never Have I Ever, just minus the alcohol. And, most importantly to Amias, they all loved Amias immediately after meeting him; finding him and his personality amusingly refreshing. Jennifer, despite having been in the business longer than any of the young actors and actresses there, felt uncomfortable and once she instantly clicked with Amias, stayed by his side throughout the whole event.

She had told Amias that she had a boyfriend back in Florida and that the young actor's antics reminded her of her loved one. Jennifer was 26 like Vivaan, and she totally saw Amias as the younger brother she never had. During the meet-up, she teased him multiple times, ruffled his hair lovingly, pinched his cheek more than once, stuffed his face with good food, and asked him very often whether or not he had a girlfriend and if he needed her to set him up.

Jennifer was awesome.

The blonde secretary, who looked to be in close range to his age, smiled shyly at him, and spoke, jolting Amias out of his daze. "Is the tie that uncomfortable?"

Amias looked at the girl like a deer in the headlights and tugged on the tie one more time. "No, I'm fine. . . thanks."

Please don't start flirting with me. Please don't, please don't, please don't, Amias thought. God, if you're up there and she starts something, just please end it all right now.

Just as the smile on her face changed to an amused smirk and her eyes turned a shade darker and had adopted a devious glint, someone from behind Amias spoke to her.

"Stephanie, don't scare away the poor boy just because you find him attractive." It was evident that they were smiling despite their disapproving words. The person then tapped Amias' shoulder, and when he spun around to face them, Belinda Shrike was smiling happily at him.

"Hey, Amias."

**********

After a rather quiet elevator ride to the fifth floor of the glass building, Belinda led Amias to a large apartment. When she opened the door, it revealed first a spacious living room ahead, then a cute kitchen to their immediate left. There were two hallways on either side of the apartment, raising pure curiosity in Amias as to what they lead to.

Beside Amias was a smiling Belinda watching her adorable childhood best friend survey the place with amazement. She slid her hands into the pockets of her floral jumpsuit and laughed softly. She really missed the dork.

Amias turned to her and she read the question on his face and answered. "This apartment is mine."

He nodded seriously. "So that's why it smells like perfume."

Belinda grinned and opened up her arms. Amias smiled and embraced her, her head tucked under his. They still perfectly fit into each other. He hugged her tighter, the bittersweet thought and coconut scent of her hair sparking up some unwanted feelings.

"I never pegged you as the type to wear cologne or a tux." Belinda chuckled into his chest, her voice muffled.

Amias pulled away from the hug, his heart complaining all the while, and laughed with her.

"This technically isn't my first time wearing a tuxedo, you know. I did go to my high school prom. Even got sneaked into a few before hitting 12th grade. "

"Oh, be careful, Ami. I'm a reporter — an infamous one at that." she pulled out a small notebook and pen jokingly. "You don't know what I could write about you."

Amias rolled his eyes and scoffed. "You wouldn't dare."

"True," Belinda shrugged. "I didn't plan on exposing you or anything. You've dreamed of being an actor since we were kids, I'm not going to throw all that hard work down the drain. I'd never think of doing such a thing. It'd be traitorous."

"Thanks Lin," Amias said, smiling softly and looking at the wooden floor.

"Of course. This 'interview'," - she used air quotes - "is really just a great excuse for us to catch up after all these years. In the article I'll just talk about everything that happened before you were noticed to build up to now. It'll be just a small biography and I've already handled hotter topics and exposed other celebrities, so my editor should be fine with this mild one. We'll both be golden. So, how's the acting thing going? How do you feel about your acting skills?"

"They're eh. I've been told before that my acting is great, but. . . I don't know, I feel it could be better after all these years." Amias shrugged, falling onto Belinda's couch.

"Okay, I'm gonna pretend that you didn't just say that, because that's bullcrap right there. You are an amazing actor, Ami. And I'm not just saying this as your best friend, either." Belinda argued, only receiving another shrug as a response. "Ever since we were in elementary school, you've been really stubborn when it comes to this topic. It's annoying."

********

A week later, the article on "Amias Beaumont: Anticipated Upcoming Actor" was published online and Amias' phone was blowing up. His co-stars were texting him, asking for advice on how to handle their own interviews; Jennifer demanded for them to get together and eat to celebrate his first interview; and Marcus had called earlier that morning, waking Amias up, congratulating him on the interview going without a hitch.

Because of the article, many teenage girls were calling him "The Adorable Heartthrob" and were squealing about how they couldn't wait to see him act. Others were complimenting his fashion sense since there was a picture of him in the red tux he was wearing during the interview. All of them were cooing at the abundance of cute and lovely stories Amias had of his family — it was obvious that he loved his family a lot.

In order to boost their own popularity, his former college had posted the entirety of the Sunday performance of In the Heights. Almost as soon as the video was posted, it hit #1 on Trending on YouTube.

"Ami-mi, do you know how quickly people have started to love you?" Jennifer asked him on FaceTime. "Much quicker than they warmed up to me!"

Pulling a sleeveless sweater over his head, and accidentally showing Jennifer his six pack, Amias laughed at the jealousy seeping into Jennifer's voice. "Sorry that I'm more lovable than you, Jennie. You know what they're calling me —"

"'The Adorable Heartthrob'; yeah, I know. Of course you'd get a cute nickname like that." she scoffed. "Wait. . . Oh my God. . . Amias, is that a picture of you with your younger siblings on your sweater?!"

"Oh, yeah, it is." He pointed to the redheaded beaming girl missing one of her front teeth. "That's Rebecca, but we all call her by her middle name, Amoli. She's in 2nd grade and we adopted her when I was 11." He pointed to the blond haired boy who had chocolate smeared on his left cheek. "That's Alexandre, the baby of the family. I got to pick his name, and he loves it; he refuses to be called by anything else. He's our kindergartener and we adopted him when I was 13. They are the cutest, funniest, and most precious children I have ever met during my 19 years of life on this Earth. I love them so damn much."

Jennifer smiled at him, amusement in her eyes. "Now there's another reason why they call you 'The Adorable Heartthrob'."

Amias grinned back at her and relief rushed through him when his phone rang, signaling the end of their conversation and an excuse to not need a response to Jennifer's statement.

"Sounds like you have someone else to talk to," she teased, wiggling her eyebrows at him. "Would it possibly be a certain best friend of yours?"

He groaned and pointed a finger at Jennifer. "I regret telling you everything that I did."

"That just proves to me that I was right! Toodle-loo, Ami-mi!" And she hung up on him.

Amias swiped to answer to the call and pressed his phone to his ear. "Hey Lin, what's up?"

"Amias," she sniffled into the phone. "Can I come to your apartment? We need to talk, ASAP."

"ASAP?" Amias walked to the door of his apartment, pulling a black mouth mask onto his face. "Well, we can talk, we just can't do it at my apartment. It would look suspicious to people. Let's meet at this small park near your place; no one ever comes there so it's the perfect place to go to."

"Okay."

**********

Since the park was closer to where Belinda lived, it only made sense that she got there before Amias did (even though he did take his car there). She was sitting on a small bench, leaning forward with her face in her hands. At seeing this quiet — almost broken — version of Belinda, the ever present smile on Amias' face dropped, being replaced with a frown.

He jogged over to where she was sitting and kneeled in front of her. Grabbing her wrists and pulling down his mask, Amias spoke softly. "Belinda. What's wrong?"

She allowed him to pull her hands away and hold them in his own. Her hands were wet. He studied her tear-streaked face and red rimmed eyes closely with his brown eyes while she eyed his outfit. A watery smile slowly made its way onto her face as she looked at his sweater.

"Is that Amoli and Alexandre? They're much older now."

"Yeah. . . They really miss you." Amias paused. "What happened, Belinda?"

She touched his bare arms, not noticing when he tensed under the movement of her hands rubbing against his muscles. "Wow. When did you start working out?"

"During 10th grade when I was in musical. Now," Amias grasped her hands and she looked up at him. "Stop blatantly ignoring my question and please tell me what happened today."

Belinda's watery smile reappeared as her hazel eyes started to glisten, a fresh new wave of tears ready to come at any moment. The longer Amias stared at the smile, the more broken it seemed. She squeezed his hands and, looking at her feet, replied quietly.

"He fired me."

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Chapter 3, done! ✔

Now, what do we think of Belinda? It's your first time meeting her, so what's the general consensus? 

We already know how Amias feels about her. What do you think their relationship? Do you approve of her for Amias, or not? Why? (I'll let you know now, Amias' actual mother loves Belinda to pieces; she definitely approves!!)

Was the end of the chapter too obvious?

Place your thoughts here and your bets on whether or not the two will kiss in the book!

Thanks for reading, and remember to not be a silent reader! Vote and comment! Constructive criticism is an author's best friend! ❤❤

Word count: 1,857