• “Are you alright?!” Iruka asked once I entered the living room,
    “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” I asked while I went to the kitchen. He followed me.
    “Obviously it’s because I haven’t seen you sleep in like this in a while.” I looked at the digital clock on the stove. Wow, it was almost five in the afternoon…my eyes widened.
    “What’s the matter, did you forget about the premier?” Iruka leaned calmly on the wall.
    “It starts in an hour, why did you wake me up sooner?!” I shouted as I rushed into my bedroom.
    “I tried to wake you but…”
    “Sleepy head, wake up already or you’ll become lazy!”
    “Shut up you stupid idiot and let me be!!!” She threw the pillow at Iruka, it hit him square in the face.
    Oh yeah, I forgot he did try to wake me but I was still tired since I didn’t fall asleep until late last night. I stayed up longer to stare up at the stars.
    “You get ready too!” I said before going into the bathroom.
    “Yes-yes” Iruka sighed.

    After getting ready in a desperate rush, we finally arrived at the carpet movie premier. This movie was finished last year called [Love on Lock], I played one of the main characters Karen, who was brought up from a rich family and was forced into marriage by her father. But she resists and falls in love with someone named Jun who her father disapproves of.
    “Reina, Reina over here!”
    “No, miss Reina here please!” There were a lot of paparazzi and reporters trying to get my attention. Other celebrities made their way down the carpet.
    “Hey Reina, it’s nice to see you again. Wow, you look stunning!” I saw Iba, the one who played Jun. We hugged each other. He let me go just a bit to look me over. I blushed, because he smiled right into my eyes. I had a ruby red dress on with matching everything, surprisingly I didn’t choose this outfit…Iruka did. I sighed to myself, he always loved to play dress up to much…
    “It’s also nice to see you too.” I smiled.
    “Iba, how was it working with Reina?” A reporter came up to us suddenly.
    “It was a wonderful experience to have worked with Reina for the first time, she’s really wonderful at what she does.” Iba smiled.
    “Reina, if you knew someone who was being forced into a marriage, what would you say to them?”
    “I would definitely say, to follow your heart no matter what or you’ll regret it later on.” I spoke.
    “That’s true, you never want to regret anything in your life!” Iba said afterwards. The reporter asked a little more before leaving us to interview some other cast members.
    “Hey Iba over here!” Some people called.
    “I’m sorry Reina, that’s my family…” Iba gave me a weird look.
    “You can go.” I giggled.
    “I’m really sorry to leave you like this, I’ll see you inside.” Iba hugged me tight again before leaving. He really was a nice guy, even during the movie on and off filming he was so nice. I think that if I really had to fall in love, I’d probably choose someone like Iba.
    “Come on, the movie is going to start soon.” Iruka escorted me to our seats in the theater. Once everyone was settled, the lights dimmed and the movie finally got to start.
    My name is Karen and I just turned sixteen today, but even though it’s my birthday…why has it ended up like this…?
    “Karen, why won’t you accept this birthday present?!” My father yelled furiously.
    “This isn’t a birthday gift at all! Who gives their daughter a marriage proposal for their birthday?!” I almost screamed.
    “You are my precious daughter, this is the most appropriate gift a father can give!”
    “Yeah, if it was in ancient times!”
    “How dare you speak in that tone to me young lady!” He stood up at once from the table we were sitting at.
    “If mom was here…then she would never allow it!” I ran out of the room and to my own.
    “Karen!” My father is being so unreasonable!!! When I was growing up, I would always dream of being in love and have a prince sweep me off my feet. But in these modern times, it would just be a figure of speech in any case. My parents didn’t meet through an arranged marriage. They met during one of the fairs they were having in town…mom, if you hadn’t passed…you would talk some sense into daddy wouldn’t you…?
    As the movie went on, I leaned over to Iruka and told him I needed to use the bathroom.
    “Hurry back.” He whispered. I nodded and walked into the isle and into the lobby for the bathroom.
    “Hey, where are you going?” I turned around to see Akira smiling deviously at me with arms crossed.
    “To the bathroom.” I said.
    “The bathroom is the other way you’re heading towards the exit.” He lifted his eyebrow. I looked away, I was only subconsciously going to leave! What was I thinking?!
    “Um…why are you here?” I tried to change the subject.
    “I came to see the movie that has taken over the internet and news sensation. It’s pretty good so far.” He shrugged, while trotting down towards me.
    “Well I should be going to that bathroom now!” I tried to get away but Akira had somehow managed to pin me against a wall.
    “What do you want?” I asked.
    “There’s a lot of things I want…but I don’t always get.” He eased up off me a little.
    “What are you talking about?”
    “Do you think your life is fulfilled?” He asked suddenly.
    “Of course not! I haven’t even reached my goal yet!” I put a fist to the air trying to be mighty.
    “What is your goal?”
    “To be the greatest actress ever!” I said.
    “Why do you want that goal so much?” I looked at him now, why was he asking me all of these questions?
    “Why would you care?”
    “I don’t…but obviously there must be a reason why you don’t want to stop reaching this goal of yours.” He put his hands in his pocket.
    “You’re very odd, you always seem to surprise me.” I cross my arms and walk slowly around him.
    “Tell me, why do you want to quite being famous?” I asked.
    “Why do you still want to be?” He asked with a sneaky smile.
    “I have my reasons.”
    “Well so do I.” I stopped and gave him a glare now after he spoke.
    “Well whatever, I’m going back in!” I said. Before I could leave, he grabbed me and pulled me into his arms. Before I could shove him away, he kissed me. This kiss is not what I wanted, but it somehow melted every piece of me just then, I felt myself close my eyes. Before I knew it, we were really kissing each other, no lines, no script, no one to tell us to start and end the scene! That’s when I threw open my eyes and pushed him away. Just like me, he also looked stunned at what he did. Without saying a word, I ran back into the theater.
    “Everything okay?” Iruka whispered as I sat back down next to him. I didn’t answer him properly, instead I made a noise that he took as a yes anyway. During the rest of the movie I could barely concentrate. And when it all finally ended, I was so relieved already!
    “Congratulations Reina, that was a great movie!” People shook hands with me in the lobby.
    “Well what would you expect? All the movies that Reina has made an appearance in, always has the greatest reviews and makes the most money in the box office.” Iba came over as well.
    “Oh no, it must be because Iba has made an appearance as well. You seemed to have done better than me in this movie. All the girls screamed when your character came on.” I giggled. His eyes widened and he blushed. How cute!!!
    “Iba, we must hurry you still need to make appearances else where.” A woman came up to us. I remember it was his manager.
    “Right-right. Reina this is my manager Kiri.” Iba introduced.
    “It’s nice to meet you again miss Reina, you did extremely well in the movie.” She smiled gently. She suddenly looked towards Iruka.
    “And Iruka, it’s always a pleasure to see you.” She gave him a totally different smile. More like she wanted to bed him in a way. I suppressed a laugh from coming out.
    “Uh…um…yes Kiri. Nice to see you too.” Iruka gave her a somewhat smile, which to me seemed like he wasn’t interested in her at all.
    “Well I hope to see you again Reina.” They both left.
    “You did really well Reina, I’m hosting an after party at my place. Would you two like to attend?” I narrowed my eyes when I saw that Akira was making the invite.
    “Why are you having an after party? You weren’t even in the movie.” I said coldly. Iruka elbowed me slightly, he knew I was being unreasonable but he didn’t know why.
    “Fine…humph!” I stepped on Akira’s toe.
    “Reina!” Iruka said softly enough for only us three to hear. The rest of the crowd didn’t pay attention.
    “Fine…BLEH!” I made a face at Akira. He narrowed his eyes while he suppressed the pain from his toe.
    “Aha-ha…I’m so sorry Mr. Fujikage please forgive us we won’t be able to attend this time. Please excuse us now.” Iruka gave an embarrassed smile as I crossed my arms in silent protest as he pushed us away from the crowd.
    “What the hell was that?! I know you and Akira don’t get along, but to show it right in public like that?” Iruka didn’t even seem like he was seriously scolding me. It seems like he was just forcing himself.
    “Are you really trying to scold me?” I lifted my eyebrow. That’s when Iruka stopped because he began laughing.
    “I’m sorry, it’s just that if your dad was there he would have given you some sort of punishment but I simply can’t do it.” He began laughing. I rolled my eyes.
    “Come on, let’s go.” We walked to the car and headed back home.

    The next morning, I woke up with the phone ringing off the hook. What was going on? I scratched my head and walked into the living room. Iruka was still in his robe and he was answering the house phone and his cell.
    “What’s going on Iruka?” I asked. Iruka looked up at me from the sofa and hung up the phone.
    “Last night, what did you really do?! Did you really go to the bathroom?” Iruka now had that same serious expression that my dad would have if he was here. He wasn’t holding anything back like when he tried yelling at me last night.
    “What are you talking about?” I said innocently.
    “Look at this, Reina is all over the freaking news!!!” He un-muted the TV and a news caster came on.
    “Last night down town is where all the action happened. All the celebrities were out to see the new premier of Love on Lock starring Iba Yukimura and Reina. Here we have some photos of all that happened, including the up close and REALLY personal shared kiss. It seems love isn’t the only thing on lock for miss Reina, it also seems she had her lips on lock…with supermodel and rising actor, Akira Fujikage…”
    Iruka switched through channels so I could see that all of them were talking about the kiss.
    “Has the sweet Reina finally fallen?! And if she has, why would it be with the famous playboy Akira Fujikage?!”
    “Every girl that has been with Akira has become unable to get a job in the industry, will the same cycle continue for Reina?!”
    “Reina and Akira’s secret love!”
    “Intimate relations behind closed doors!”
    “How long have they been seeing each other?! And how does Reina feel about all the girls Akira has been with?!”
    “Alright turn it off!” I shouted and took a seat on the sofa with my head in my hands. This is horrible!!!
    “I can’t believe you let Akira seduce you like that! Do you know how much phone calls I’ve been getting this morning?! With everything else going on, do you know we still need to go to school today?! I’ve got some people asking me if you lost your damn virginity to him! And also…”
    “Take a deep breath!” I shouted at Iruka. I know the situation is bad, but he doesn’t have to have a panic attack over it! Iruka stood up and took a deep breath while he slowly paced back and forth. As he looked to have been thinking, my own cell phone rang.
    “Hello?” I answered.
    “Hello my dear Sayu.” It’s my father…I wonder if he knows? He sounds so gentle right now…
    “Hi daddy…” I speak in the same tone just to make sure he won’t get suspicious. Usually I would call him old man…but in this case I get half my temper from him so…I know how mad he can get…
    “You know how I love looking at the newspaper and seeing your gorgeous face?”
    “Um yes daddy?” I answer gently.
    “Well today, I looked at it and I didn’t get to see your face alone.”
    “Hmm, I wonder why that is?” I asked with a slight nervous laugh.
    “I don’t know either, but it seems you were overlapped with…SOMEONE ELSES LIPS!!!!!!!” I held the phone away from my ear and looked at Iruka. His eyes were widened and he looked like he was about to faint.
    “IRUKA I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME AND YOU BETTER NOT FAINT!!! GET DOWN HERE TO MY OFFICE RIGHT NOW!!!”
    “But…what about school…?” Iruka said with fear.
    “DID I MENTION ANYTHING ABOUT SCHOOL?!? GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW, NO EXCUSES!!!!!!!”
    “Ye-ye-ye…yes sir…” Iruka bowed to the phone as my father hung up.
    “Get dressed hurry!!!” Iruka rushed into his room. I dozed for a minute…
    “Seriously?!” Iruka came back out to drag me to my room to change…this wasn’t going to be good at all…….