Rising Star (2 page)

She steered Rusty to the right as he closed
the distance on the paint horse. Rusty stretched his neck further
and gave it everything he had. As far as he was concerned, it was a
race and he was determined to win it. Selena could just see a
blurry throng of people watching from the sidelines on her right as
they passed the set, Rusty running neck and neck with the paint.
She had given up on trying to rein him in and had instead leaned
forward over his neck, moving with him as he ran. They became
almost like one entity as they passed the paint horse and moved out
in front, his long orange mane mingling with her long auburn hair.
His gait was so smooth at this flat-out gallop, Selena’s body
didn’t seem to move in the saddle as she leaned forward, causing
them to look like one flying orange creature.

“
Who is that?” The
director asked as they raced by, raising his voice over the sound
of thundering hooves. He pointed at Selena and Rusty as he asked
and the lady with the clipboard looked down at her notes, trying to
decipher between twenty-five sets of names.

“
It looks like Pegasus,”
he said before the lady could answer. “Taking that young girl with
him as he flies through the air. Could you bring her over when
we’re done filming? I’d like to meet her
and
her flying
horse.” He didn’t take his eyes from Selena and Rusty as he
spoke.

“
Sure, Don,” the
grey-haired lady answered, still studying her clipboard, still not
sure which of the names belonged to the young, auburn-haired
beauty.

They ran through the scene once more, the
horses grouping together better after the first run took the edge
off their energy. Rusty still fought for the lead, but Selena was
able to hold him to the middle of the pack this time, never giving
him the chance to pass the horses in front of him. Beth ran near
the rear both times. Tripp was plenty fast enough, but he was lazy
and he didn’t always look where he was going, causing him to
stumble occasionally; hence, the name Tripp.

The girls were back at their trailer,
unsaddling their horses, when the lady with the clipboard walked
over. She offered her hand to Selena first, then to Beth.

Selena wiped her sweating, dirty hand on her
jeans before taking the ladies hand and shaking it firmly.

“
I’m Lenoir Rhodes,” the
lady said. “The director, Don Broward, asked to meet with
you.”

“
Really? He wants to meet
us?” Beth asked excitedly.

“
He asked to meet with
Selena and her flying horse, but I’m sure he would enjoy speaking
with both of you.”

Beth’s face fell a little, but she held her
smile frozen in place as she faced Selena. “You go ahead. I’m going
to rub Tripp down and walk him around a little to cool him
off.”

“
Beth, you have to come
with me,” Selena said. “This whole thing was your idea.”

“
No. You go ahead, Selena.
You look a lot more like a movie star than me, anyway.”

“
What’s that supposed to
mean?”

Beth only shook her curly head and stared at
her feet as the older lady led Selena away.

Selena was quiet as she followed Lenoir
toward the crowd of people, leading Rusty along behind her. She was
a little hurt and confused by Beth’s attitude. They had always done
everything together and she didn’t see why Beth was acting hurt
now. Well, she kinda did, but if the director had asked to meet
with Beth, Selena wouldn’t have cared.

“
Will your horse be afraid
around so many people? It’s a lot of noise and excitement for an
animal.”

“
No. Rusty is used to
crowds at the rodeos and we ride in the Christmas parade every
year. He always seems to enjoy the noise and
excitement.”

Rusty was, in fact, watching the cast and
crew members as they hurried about, moving equipment and shouting
to each other, but he only seemed to show a casual interest.

Don Broward stood as they reached him. He
had been sitting in a tall chair with his name on the back,
studying a clipboard. He dropped it on the seat as he took Selena’s
hand.

“
I’m Don Broward,” he said
with a warm smile.

“
I know,” Selena answered.
“I recognize you from your old movies, before you became a
director. “I’m Selena Summers and this is Rusty.”

Don reached out and scratched Rusty’s head.
Rusty was itchy from running and sweating and he put his head down,
rubbing it against Don’s jeans, nearly bowling him over.

Don laughed genially. “He sure is friendly
for a horse that was barely touching the ground a little while
ago.”

“
Yeah. I’ve had him for
years. He thinks he’s a dog, most days.”

Don laughed. “Well, Selena, the reason I
asked to meet you is, I would like to offer you and Rusty a part in
this movie, if you’re interested?”

Selena felt a pain in her chest, it was as
if her heart stopped for a second and then took off again, too
fast. Don watched the bewildered look on her face and added
quickly, “It’s a small part, not many lines. What I need is someone
who can ride, and looks good doing it.”

“
I don’t know, Mr.
Broward. I’ll have to talk to my parents. Will it interfere with
school?” Did she really want to be in their movie? Did she really
even care? She didn’t voice her thoughts, but she did feel a little
excitement at the prospect of having a real part in a
movie.

“
We can work around your
schedule since it’s a small part. We can shoot after school and
weekends if need be. Should only take six weeks or so. It pays
forty-two thousand.”

“
Forty-two thousand
dollars?” Selena didn’t think her family’s mobile home and property
had cost that much. She had never even seen more than a thousand
dollars at one time in her entire life. It sounded like a veritable
fortune to her.

“
Okay…well, yeah, I
guess,” she stammered. “I’ll talk to my parents this afternoon.”
How could she possibly say no? Forty-two grand? It was a ridiculous
amount of money for six weeks work. And part-time work at
that.

“
Great,” Don Broward said.
He took her hand again in a warm handshake. “And please call me
Don, everyone does.”

“
Sure, Don. Thank
you.”

He gave her a script to read, quickly
circling her few lines. “If you can come back after school
tomorrow, we can get started right away?”

“
Sure, I guess I can do
that.”

“
And bring Rusty too.
Unless you’d rather ride one of the horses we brought for the
movie.”

“
No, I’ll bring
Rusty.”

Selena walked slowly back to Beth, her mind
a whirlwind of emotions. She still wasn’t very interested in their
movie, but forty-two thousand dollars? It was a fortune. And I
guess it’s a little exciting too, she admitted to herself. I’ll get
to watch myself on TV one day.

Rusty followed along with his head near her
shoulder, like a huge puppy. He paid very little attention to the
crowds and excitement as they made their way back to Beth.

“
What did they say?” Beth
asked as soon as she reached the horse trailer.

“
Don Broward offered me a
small part in this movie,” Selena answered quietly, searching her
friend’s face for jealousy or hurt feelings.

“
Are you serious? I told
you, you look like a movie star.” Beth seemed excited for her, and
Selena let out the breath she’d been holding. She would’ve turned
the part down before she would hurt her friend’s
feelings.

“
It’s only a small part,
not many lines or anything. He said he mostly wants someone who can
ride.” Selena tried to downplay it, to spare her friend.

“
It’s wonderful, Selena.
I’m so happy for you.”

Thank God, she doesn’t seem jealous or
anything. Selena searched her friend’s face as they talked, but
Beth seemed to be genuinely happy for her.

Selena’s parents, when she told them, were
ecstatic about the movie, and when she mentioned the amount of
money, her mother cried a little. “You can use it for college,” she
sniffed, wiping her eyes. “I’m so proud of you, Selena.”

Her father gave her a hug. “I’m proud of you
too, little girl.”

Selena was a little embarrassed by her
parent’s praise. She had, after all, only gone in the first place
because Beth begged her to. She had always been more of a loner, an
outsider even. She didn’t enjoy being the center of attention or
making a spectacle of herself. She preferred to go through life on
the fringe, riding Rusty quietly through the desert or hiding out
in front of her computer. Other than when she was on Rusty’s back,
she almost felt as if she didn’t fit in; she felt like an outsider
most days.

Chapter 3

Beth went back to Santa Fe with her the
following day. “I just want to see a movie being made,” she said.
“And I’ll be close by if you need anything.”

Selena was more than happy to have Beth go
with her. She felt nervous enough, knowing that she would actually
have a part in the movie. It had been just for fun to go with Beth
as an extra, but this—this was the real thing.

The set was a hustle and bustle of crew
members again. They were busy setting up a camera on the back of a
pickup truck.

Lenoir Rhodes came over and instructed
Selena on her marks.

“
You don’t have any lines
today,” she said. “You’re just going to trot your horse across the
desert while the truck rolls alongside, filming.”

Selena nodded and saddled Rusty. Her stomach
had been a ball of knots, but now, she began to relax. It’s just
riding Rusty, she told herself. Something you would have done
today, anyway. Lenoir showed her where to begin and pointed out how
far she was to go and Selena set out, trotting Rusty across the
desert in a northwesterly direction. Rusty paid no attention as the
pickup rolled alongside, thirty or forty yards out from him. Selena
sat tall and straight in her saddle, watching the desert ahead. It
was strange, something she did on almost a daily basis, felt so
uncomfortable with so many people watching, not to mention a camera
rolling beside her. She figured she would probably look stiff and
unsure in the movie, if it didn’t end up on the cutting room floor.
They might decide she wasn’t right for the part after all. She
forced her body to relax. She pretended she was alone in the
desert, as she had so often been, just her and her horse and the
occasional jackrabbit.

“
Okay, that’s good,” the
man on back of the pickup yelled out. Selena turned Rusty and
trotted him back to the group of people, her body more relaxed and
easy in the saddle.

“
Let’s do it again,” Don
Broward said as they reached him. “This time at a lope.”

Selena turned Rusty and waited for the
pickup to get into position, then moved Rusty out into a lope. He
tucked his head and settled into his rocking chair gait as Selena
took a deep seat in her barrel racing saddle, her long mane of hair
flying behind her.

They reached the mark quickly this time and
Selena turned Rusty and loped him back. As she reached the crowd of
crew members, she was pulled back to reality by a new face standing
at the front of the crowd, staring at her. He was tall, she
noticed. He was wearing jeans and cowboy boots and he stood tall
and straight as he stared at her. Selena was tall and slim herself
so she always noticed when a guy was taller than her. She slowed
Rusty to a walk as she neared and, as the young man continued to
stare, she gave him a nervous smile. He smiled back, his blue eyes
lighting up with a mischievous twinkle. Selena walked Rusty on by,
but she could feel his eyes on her back. Great, she thought. It’s
not bad enough, having a whole crew staring at me, now this pretty
boy has to make me feel even more nervous.

“
Did Matthew Mason just
smile at you?” Beth asked excitedly when she reached the horse
trailer.

“
I guess,” Selena shrugged
it off. “I wasn’t sure if that’s who it was.”

“
Oh, Selena, you’re
hopeless. Of course that’s who it was. I saw him come out of a
camper trailer over there. When he saw you riding Rusty across the
desert, he came through the crowd to watch.”

They were interrupted then by Lenoir Rhodes
approaching. “That may be it for today Selena, but if you could
just hang around unless we need to shoot it again?”

“
Alright, sure.” Selena
took off Rusty’s bridle and replaced it with a halter and lead
rope. She tied the lead rope to a metal ring on the trailer and
gave him a flake of hay.

“
There’s a catering truck
and a table full of food set up by those campers over there,” Beth
said. “Let’s go raid it and maybe we’ll catch another glimpse of
Hottie Mason.”

“
Okay, I am getting pretty
hungry.” Selena’s eyes darted across the crowd as they walked by.
Was she hoping to get another look at the tall, sexy guy? No, she
told herself as she looked away and shook her head. What do I care
about some gorgeous movie star?

There were cold cuts and chips and sodas
laid out on the table. The girls quickly made sandwiches with ham
and turkey and they each took a soda. Selena took a bite of the
sandwich as she was turning away from the table and she ran right
into the chest of a tall young man. She took a step back, her gaze
traveling up to his face. She felt her heart skip a beat. It was
the same guy…Matthew Mason. He put out his hand, the same
mischievous smile lighting up his eyes. “Hi, I’m Matt Mason.”