Gena/Finn (13 page)

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Authors: Kat Helgeson

BOOK: Gena/Finn
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Googled it. Genny Goldman played the little sister on
Man of the House
. Is this her?

from: Finn Bartlett
to: Charlie Thomas
date: Thursday, July 10 5:34 PM
subject: RE: Drama

...holy shit.

Text with Evie

sorry I took off. mad?

no. come back okay?

have to tell you something.

it's okay, I already know.

July 10, 8:20 pm

want to skip the cocktail party?

do we have to talk about it?

not if you don't want to

okay

come to my room

on my way. love ya.

Genevieve:
hey i'm home

or, you know, the illustrious home of my aunt and uncle

Finn:
me too. not the illustrious aunt and uncle part.

Genevieve:
they have seven dogs

like, i like dogs

but there's a time and a place

and apparently they've decided that all the times and places are right here and right now.

Finn:
I see what you mean about illustriousness

Genevieve:
absolutely

Sent at 11:05 PM on Tuesday

Finn:
So...you doing okay?

Genevieve:
yeah

it's so weird

i mean i've gone to the same school for almost half my life

being a child star was a big deal for like...three days, seven years ago

Finn:
he shouldn't have called you out in front of the whole room like that

Genevieve:
at least it wasn't zack

Finn:
that was sweet of him to go after you

Genevieve:
he's always been nice

i can tell you lots of stories now

he took really good care of me. that was kind of a bad time in my life

Finn:
somewhere mal's shitting herself. I saw her at checkout and she was SO PISSED not to know what's going on

Genevieve:
ha! i'm sure she'll figure it out.

i don't suppose you remember nina's awkward write-off from man of the house

Finn:
I remember wondering why she wasn't around anymore. I don't think I ever saw the episode where they explained it

Genevieve:
it wasn't even a whole episode, it was the five minutes before the first commercial break

they said i went off to beauty school

and zack had this line like “good thing, she needs it!”

laugh track

Finn:
...beauty school?

Genevieve:
right?

Finn:
you were like four

Genevieve:
nine, but exactly, makes total sense, right?

anything for a cheap joke

splendid writing on that show. makes up below look emmy worthy

Finn:
that's shitty

why'd you leave really?

Genevieve:
hallucinations. plus i stole scissors from wardrobe and cut all my hair off in the boys' dressing room.

no one wants that on set

the crazy, not the chopped-off hair, though someone had to sweep that shit up. i think about that ALL the time.
there was a lot of cover up. it would have been really embarrassing for the show, my parents.

Finn:
that's intense...

Genevieve:
yeah

i mean, i'm grateful to the show and everything. paid my way through school, let my parents live their dream life of wanderlust

and there's good memories from it

but every time i hear that fucking theme song it's just this reminder of how bad things can get in my head.

Finn:
you didn't really seem like it was that positive a thing for you

Genevieve:
when, at the hotel?

i was possibly being overdramatic

Finn:
I mean, I was worried

Genevieve:
i know, i'm sorry. i was just caught off guard. you helped

Finn:
good

Genevieve:
seriously, thank you so much

i don't really have anyone else to talk to about this right now

alanah's still not speaking to me

Finn:
what's her problem?

Genevieve:
ugh, it's so stupid

so we have the same birthday

well, off by a day, but whatever

Finn:
Birthday Buddies, okay

Genevieve:
and we've been friends since grade 7

so every year we do a party together

when we were kids it was you know, sleepover in her dorm, truth or dare, all very supervised and all that

and then it became sneaking out getting drunk (her) getting detention (us) all those good things

it's all very...glitter. like just think glitter. everywhere. not coming off.

so she asks me what are we going to do for our birthday next year

and first of all that's november

so it's a long way off

Finn:
and won't you be at school?

Genevieve:
exactly

i'll be in rhode island

she'll be in VIRGINIA

Finn:
well...

I mean, I'm on your side, but those are like five minutes apart, right?

Genevieve:
what???

no no no

you really do not understand the east coast do you

Finn:
I understand all the states are postage stamps

teeny little things

Genevieve:
yes but there are many of them

it's about seven hours

Finn:
how many states apart?

Genevieve:
rhode island connecticut new york new jersey pennyslvania delaware maryland virginia

Finn:
LOL! eight states in eight hours

Genevieve:
it's like you think we have some complex about being small states

this does not bother us

Finn:
no, it's adorable. good for you

Genevieve:
you suck

Finn:
you love me

Genevieve:
MAYBE

so anyway that's pretty much all i say

seven hours

and she's all

“you mean you aren't going to throw me a party?”

and when this became ME throwing HER a party is anyone's guess

anyway it turned into this whole thing about me thinking my school was better than hers or something?

Finn:
is it?

Genevieve:
well yeah, but i didn't know that was something she cared about

but now she's turning it into this whole thing, saying i don't care if she has a party because i think she's just going to a party school anyway

and then she threw up on my shoes

which is why i had to wear those ugly ones all over con

Finn:
...I think I missed something here

Genevieve:
so do i.

Finn:
I'm sorry

that really sucks

Genevieve:
i mean...whatever. she's a child.

she's always going to be a child, i guess.

So, you know, college, bigger and better.

Finn:
talk to her. maybe she's ashamed of herself and can't figure out how to say it

Genevieve:
yeah. i wanted to talk to her about con all week. tell someone anyway.

can i tell you something dumb?

Finn:
uh huh

Genevieve:
i got so jealous when you kept emailing charlie

just like...wishing i had someone to tell stuff to, i guess

Finn:
can I tell you something dumb?

Genevieve:
even before we fought i didn't talk about anything serious with alanah or anythng

yeah

Finn:
I was emailing him about you

Genevieve:
no shit

what did you say??

was it about my nose because i'm gonna get it fixed someday

who am i kidding i'm totally not

me and schnoz, til death do us part

Finn:
yeah, don't do that. look what happened to your beloved jennifer grey

Genevieve:
ugh, i should be so lucky

Finn:
said the famous actress who's worked with ZACK MARTOCCHIO

Genevieve:
yeah that's what i'm saying, it'd be nice to pull a jenn and disappear

i met her once actually

Finn:
SHUT UP

Genevieve:
yeah i don't remember though

but i have a picture with her. my mom says i cried

Finn:
were you little?

Genevieve:
yeah, five or six

i left the show when i was nine, haven't done anything since then

my agent emails me sometimes

Finn:
yeah? do you ever think about getting back into it?

Genevieve:
no

i like my life

Finn:
cool

Genevieve:
i'm gonna be a child psychologist and go around slapping parents who try to put their kids in show business

Finn:
so it's gotta be weird, right?

I mean...jakegirling when you kind of know zack

Genevieve:
oh god it's so weird you have no idea

have i told you how i saw my first episode?

Finn:
no

Genevieve:
this girl lea, a year older than me, graduated, went to sarah lawrence, etc

she was my math tutor and i go to her dorm and she's like hey come in my show's just finishing up

and it's mid-season one, you know that ep where jake's undercover as the fireman? lol this show i can not even sometimes

Finn:
oh, the one when he had the scratch under his eye?

Genevieve:
yeah. we're so normal.

anyway this was post-scratch though, the part when he was in the helmet for the rest of the ep

Finn:
okay

Genevieve:
and he was barely in the last few scenes, it was mostly tyler and nicola

Finn:
ewww nicola

Genevieve:
i know i don't know why that didn't turn me off it immediately

but it didn't, and i was kind of into it and the next week i went to her dorm a little early so i could see more of it

oh and i'd been reading fanfic that whole week because obviously

Finn:
so wait

you were reading fic without having seen a whole episode?

Genevieve:
yes

Finn:
awesome, go on

Genevieve:
i really like fic, lol

so i go over to her dorm

and THAT'S WHEN I FIND OUT IT'S ZACK.

and i'm like oh jesus COME ON.

but at that point it was too late, y'know?

so i just try to disconnect them a LOT

but yeah it's really awkward because i'm all...oh my god jake you're in pain let me hold you

and in my head i'm like yep, that's what zack ACTUALLY LOOKS LIKE when he cries.

Finn:
...is it bad that I love knowing that

Genevieve:
do you think i told you for no reason?

Finn:
you're fantastic

Genevieve:
thank you dear

he's a good guy. but it's still so weird sometimes

like when jakegirls go on and on about how hot he is

it's like GROSS THAT'S MY BROTHER

but at the same time he's so hot so like fuck my life all over

anyway when stuff started to get really bad for me he took care of me

he's just a good guy

i think zack could tell before anyone

Finn:
yeah?

what was it like?

Genevieve:
it's like everything goes dark

not like literally dark

you can still see but there's something about it telling you that it's not important

that nothing is important

you're just in this black and white box of...never mattering

and then there are these voices and these animals that don't look like animals and they're SO bright

or something. it's been a long time.

anyway what I remember the most because like, it's so embarrassing in retrospect

i used to hallucinate fires all the time, like i'd be on set and i'd just think things were on fire

i was so much fucking trouble because i was always freaking out and i'd pull fire alarms and drench the studio and shit when there was nothing wrong and everyone thought i was just being a brat

i'd just see fire everywhere

anyway after a while it became clear i was kind of a mess and a lawsuit waiting to happen, tbh, and the producers said the show was going to go in a different direction

but then the show was gone, and my routine was gone, and my friends were gone, and then it just...

i don't really know how to talk about it.

Finn:
you don't have to

Genevieve:
i'm sorry.

Finn:
no, I'm sorry

Genevieve:
i know this isn't fun to listen to

my friends here all get uncomfortable

Finn:
hey, no, it's not like that

I don't want to push you into talking about something so hard, is all

Genevieve:
maybe it wouldn't be so hard anymore if i'd gotten to talk about it, you know?

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