#chasedonovan

[xhallofxfame]

Brooke Taylor.

Linkin Park flowed through the speakers of his laptop, though he wasn’t paying attention to the music video that was playing with it. His eyes were focused on the television, making sure to lock the target on the cop, before sniping him on the shoulder. “Ha, got you,” Chase exclaimed to himself, as he watched the cop fall down. This is how Chase Donovan spent his days off from work; playing video games while blurring music through his North Tempe home. His roommate, Rhys, wasn’t home, so he didn’t have to worry about being yelled at to turn it down, not that his friend minded that much, but they wouldn’t wanna be yelling over the music to each other while taking turns playing. That was one of his favorite things about having a roommate with similar interests as him; they didn’t have to go out every time they were together to have fun. No, playing videos games and playing the drums and the guitar in their game room were enough fun for the two of them. His lips moved along with the words, memorizing all their lyrics, as he started up a mission on the game, one that resulted in his character having to deliver some “stuff” to this high end rich guy. Feeling the vibration of his cell phone next to him though grabbed his attention for a split second, and using one hand to control his driving, his free hand grabbed the phone. Seeing the text message from his cousin, Brooke, his lips turned into a small smile. Chase didn’t know his real mom or dad, but finding out he had real cousins that lived in Phoenix.. It was the closest thing Chase and his twin sister, Charlotte, had to their birth family. Of course, he learned that his mom had skipped out of Arizona long ago, to finally “follow her dreams”, but Chase doubted she actually made it far. For the longest time, the twenty-five year old had been curious about her, but as the years went on and she never tried to contact them, he realized that he couldn’t care less about her; she never cared about them, even when they were in her care, so why should he care about her? Dinner sounds great! Meet you at the park in ten. He quickly texted back, before looking back at the screen where he crashed into another care. “F***,” he muttered, before quitting the game and turning the console off. He stood up from the couch, making his way into his bedroom where he changed from the pajama bottoms and old t-shirt  he was still wearing. Once he was dressed, he left the house, locking up behind up, before getting into his jeep. The  park wasn’t too far away, which he found useful for someday when he had his own kids. “Long time, no see,” Chase said once he found Brooke and Blake on the playground, near the slides. “Hey, little man.” Picking Blake up when he ran over to him to greet him, he spun in a quick circle, laughing softly along with the young boy. “How’s everything been?”

[xhallofxfame]

Brooke Taylor.

Blake was running around all over the house, laughing and making lots of noise. It was something that Brooke was used to. She shook her head as she was getting her shoes on. Blake picked up one and took off with it. She ran after him and snatched him up in her arms, as he giggled she blew kisses all over his neck and laughed. “How are we supposed to go to the park if you take my shoe?!” He giggled and wiggled and tried to get free of her grasp. She took the shoe, kissed his cheek and sat him down. “Go get the leash so we can take Milo with us.” She put on her other sneaker and stood up. This was what they did on certain days. That way he wasn’t all cooped up in the house driving her crazy while she worked. And she just loved spending time with him in general.

When Blake came back with the leash, she took it from him and put it on Milo. “Okay you two, let’s go.” She grabbed her keys and headed out the door, locking it behind her. Taking Blake’s hand, she started to walk the short distance down the block to the park they always went to. She smiled down at Blake when he tugged on her arm, “let go Mommy, let go now.” She laughed, “Okay, I’m walking as fast as I can.” She laughed when he tugged on her arm trying to get her to go faster. It was good that the park wasn’t far, she could hear kids laughing and talking and having a good time. It only took about five minutes when they were walking through the gate. Blake was itching to let go of her hand and take off to the slides. She held onto Milo as she crouched down and looked at Blake, “hey, you stay where I can see you and no leaving with any strangers. Remember what we practiced okay?” When he nodded, she smiled. “Okay, go slide.” And just like that he took off.

After a few minutes, she pulled her phone out of her back pockets and found her cousin Chase’s number. It was still a little weird for her, finding out that she had family here. But her and Chase were getting to be pretty close. Looking up, she made sure she had Blake in her sight when she started a text to him. “Hey, not sure what your plans are today. Blake and I are down at the park for a little bit. I was wondering if you wanted to catch up, maybe come over for dinner or whatever.” She knew it sounded lame. He had a life, probably had plans. But she liked hanging out with him and Blake loved having him over when Chase had time. Sliding the phone back in her pocket, she walked more towards the playground so she could keep an eye on Blake, who was throwing his arms up in the air as he slid down the slide.

[xhallofxfame]

Aurora West.

- - - - Summer ‘10: Los Angeles, California - - - - It started with a friend request on Myspace a few years ago. Then a message after seeing a somewhat depressing status, reading: Hey, I know we don’t know each other, but if you ever wanted someone to talk to… you can message me. Though she hadn’t opened up to him that night, the messages kept going. Chase looked forward to coming home from school, refreshing his page, just to see if he had a message from Aurora, and truth be told, she quickly became his favorite person to talk to. Myspace messages turned into phone calls, which turned into Skype calls. To say that he really liked her would be an understatement, but he would never admit that fact to her or anyone. At least over whatever device they were talking on. Meeting was obviously in their plans, though they never discussed when or where they’d actually meet up. Not until a week before Chase was about to graduate high school. The last month had been horrible for him, and not just because of his father’s behavior, though that didn’t help the situation any more. But his oldest friend in the world… the one person other than his twin sister that he trusted… couldn’t even remember Chase, and the worst part about it was that it was because of him. His best friend, someone who had become like a brother to him through the years, barely recognized him or any of their friends, and it was all his fault. How he had managed to survive an entire month without his best friend in the midst of everything going on at home, he had no idea, but he had longed for an escape away from everything. That was when he told his online girlfriend that he would be coming to Los Angeles the morning after graduation day. He hadn’t told anyone about leaving Phoenix, not even Charlotte he knew would protest, asking him not to leave her alone with their sh*tty parents. They weren’t always bad, but ever since their dad had decided to run for mayor when the twins were eleven, that was the only thing they seemed to care about. Good publicity of their “perfect” family, but the family was far from perfect. Their dad was having a secret affair, their mom began to drink a little too much, and Chase? Well, he had his fair as secrets that would remain just that - secrets. A soft sigh released from his lips as he pulled up to the curb, staring at the house that he hoped to be Aurora’s. He glanced down at the piece of paper that had her address written across in his messy handwriting. “It’s now or never,” he whispered to himself as he opened the door to his blue jeep he had gotten as a birthday gift two years ago. The entire way up to the front door, his heart was beating rapidly against his chest and the nerves were setting in. After six hours of driving, he was finally here, about to meet the girl who had been in an online relationship for a few months now. He was excited and nervous all at once, but he didn’t show any signs of them as his fists lightly tapped on the door, a lopsided smile on his face as he waited for someone to answer. - - - - Present Day: Phoenix, Arizona - - - - “Man, just think about it, will you?” Rhys Campbell told him, earning an eye roll from the twenty-five year old. He had been on this subject ever since he and Cassanova had decided to make it official, so that way they could have “couple nights” and all that cheesy stuff, but Chase wasn’t looking for anything. He had his fair share of relationships, but most of them had been a complete failure. Truth was, he wasn’t looking for anything, he just didn’t trust anyone enough for that. But he also knew how stubborn was, and he was determined to play matchmaker. “I’m sick of all these random people you bring home from the bar.” Chase took a moment to glare at his roommate and best friend, before they ventured back to the game he was playing, just in time for him to get shot to death. “Good one dude, you just made me die!” He exclaimed, sighing in frustration. He could hear an amused chuckle from Rhys, but he choose to ignore it. The conversation died down between the two friends, as Chase was too into his video game, occasionally muttering a “ha, got you sucker” or “that’s right, die bitch”, and Rhys was on his laptop, watching funny cat videos on YouTube. That was normally how their nights together went, but the dark haired male loved those nights more than anything. It was the ad that played - one of those stupid Eharmony commercials that never actually worked - that sparked the conversation back up. “I got it! I’m signing you up for a dating profile,” Rhys said. “Remember that one girl you dated back in high school? What was her name again? Amanda maybe?” He shrugged his shoulders, though Chase didn’t blame him for not remembering it. After all, he hadn’t really told anyone about it back then. It wasn’t until after he came back home to Phoenix and Rhys actually remembered him that he told him where he had been the last three months. “No.. it was Aurora.” As he said his name, he realized how long it had been since the two had actually talked. Their relationship didn’t end on a terrible note and was honestly one of the only ones that he had continued to be friends with, but as they got older and things got busier, they had lost touch. Chase paused the game as he stood up quickly, grabbing his phone. He ignored Rhys’s question about what he was doing as he held the phone up to his ear after finding her contact, waiting for her to answer. Last time they talked, he had heard that she had moved to Phoenix, and while they said they’d make plans… it had never actually happened. “Hey, Rora, it’s Chase. I know we haven’t talked in some time, but I was hoping we could hang out sometime soon if you’re not busy.”

[xhallofxfame]

ASSIGNMENT FIVE; Letter to yourself.

“Come on, where are you?” Chase muttered to himself, lifting up the shovel and deposited of the sand that was on it. He continued to dig, despite the scorching hot sun that was beaming down on him, but he was on a mission. A mission that he hadn’t even been a part of his original plans. It had started with a walk down memory lane with his twin sister, Remi, and before they knew it, they were talking about their graduation night. Graduation night hadn’t been all that memorable, if Chase was being honest; he wasn’t excited to be leaving that sh*t hell of school, or starting college that would ensure he would be away from his d*ck of a dad. No, he was more miserable than anything that night, mostly because he hadn’t had his best friend next to him. Not really, anyway. The only good thing that he could remember from that night was how he and Remi had skipped out of a lame party that their dad was having for them - more like to highlight what a ”great” father he was- and collected many of their childhood memories together and put them in a box. He knew how cliche it was, but he didn’t care. He liked the idea of having to come back to unbury something that had once been important to him, though for the life of him, he couldn’t even remember what was in that shoe box. Of course, he had forgotten all about it in the first place until they they mentioned in it their conversation. “Did you find it yet?” Remi asked, and Chase couldn’t help but to roll his eyes at her. Maybe he would’ve found it quicker if she was helping him, but that wasn’t the case. Just as he opened his mouth to mirror his thoughts, the shovel hit something, and he knew right away that it was the box. “Found it,” he told her as he dropped the shovel away from him, getting down on his knees and finish the rest of the job. A minute later, he pulled out a beat up box. A smile crossed his face, as he opened it, revealing the contents inside. He looked through the his share of stuff he had put in it, rolled his eyes at his sister’s choices, but it was the letter that he had found that caught his attention. That night, they both decided to write a letter to themselves, to see if they turned out how they had pictured themselves all those years ago. Chase unfolded his letter, his messy handwriting, which hasn’t changed at all over the years, sprawled across the piece of line paper, reading: Dear future me, I think this is a stupid idea… thanks Remi, but here goes nothing. It’s graduation night, and honestly, your life is sh*t right now. Dad’s a bigger douche than usual. He’s using your stupid graduation as a way to make himself look like father of the year by showing how much he cares about you guys, but we both know that’s not true. All he cares about is himself, and I don’t even want to ask you if he’s gotten better, because I already know that I’d be disappointed with the answer. Rhys.. he doesn’t even remember me. He’s been trying, and he still hangs around because he knows we’ve been best friends for as long as we lived here… he just doesn’t remember. It’s not the same anymore, not with him. I guess that’s what I get… since it’s my fault anyway. I haven’t even told Remi yet, but I’m leaving for Los Angeles tomorrow night. I just need to get away from everything, away from my friends and family. I need to find myself. I think this is the way to do that. Remi will be furious at me.. But I’ll tell her, first thing tomorrow. Maybe even tonight. I hope things are better for us when you read this, whether it’s next year or twenty years from now. Please tell me that we’re happy, that our decision to cut dad and mom from our life sticks and that you never forgive that monster for all he’s done. Tell me that the nightmares have gone away, that you can sleep peacefully at night without those images haunting you. Tell me that you’ve gotten revenge for what that sick bastard did to you, no matter what it takes. If not, then do it. I don’t care where you are in life right now, we promised that we’d get back at him someday, so make him pay for what he did to you. -CAD. He hadn’t realized he had been holding back tears until he finished reading the letter. Some things in his life had gotten better over the seven years since he wrote this letter; he had cut his dad completely out of his life, his best friend had eventually gotten his memories back and forgave him, and over time, Chase had learned to forgive himself. He didn’t feel as ashamed as he used to with what had happened to him, no. Now all he felt was anger when he thought about those sessions with his therapist to the point where his blood would begin to boil. Things had gotten worse, too, or at least stayed the same. His nightmares never went away, not completely anyway. They still haunted him to the point where he had tried to kill himself once or twice by overdosing on pills. After his second failed attempt, he decided that maybe there was a reason he was still alive, though he didn’t believe that everyone had a purpose in life, he couldn’t deny that it felt good to hold on to hope for something. “Are you crying?” Remi asked, finally noticing his attempt to keep his sniffle quiet. “What did you write in your letter?” Chase shook his head, carefully folding his letter back up. “Just stuff about dad, mostly. About how life would probably be so much better if we were adopted by another family.”

[xhallofxfame]

Noel Archibald.

- - - - Present Day: Phoenix, Arizona - - - - Paws and Pooches hadn’t even been open a year, but already, it was a pretty popular animal shelter in the Phoenix area. As much as he knew that most of the people who came in to adopt a pet was there to also meet Chase - the Chase Donovan - he liked to believe that he and Rhys had actually done a good job with the shelter, despite both of their busy lives. P&P, as Chase referred to it as, wasn’t the only business that his roommate owned, so he was pretty busy. Chase on the other hand, kept to his writing when he wasn’t visiting the animals. Having grown up in front of the camera, the male had decided not long ago to work on some behind the scenes stuff. He’d directed and produced a small handful of projects he starred in, but lately, script writing seemed to be the current obsession. That was what he had spent the last couple of weeks doing in his spare time. Today, though, Chase wouldn’t be able to stay at home, writing the next scene of the still untitled movie, which he was hoping would be finished within the next couple of months. Paws and Pooches needed his assistance today, which, if he were being honest, he was looking forward to. It had been the most random thing ever; last week, this stranger had come into the shelter, asking to speak to Chase. Noel, as he had introduced himself as, was a guidance counselor at the local high school, asking Chase for a favor. Hearing his idea, he quickly agreed to it. Why not help a bunch of misguided or troubled teens learn how to take care of themselves and another living thing? Of course, Chase had been the perfect person - everyone knew about his past before he moved to Phoenix, about his drinking issues, the DUIs he had gotten, his raging temper. But, here he was, still as successful as ever, despite not having been seen in a lot of movies over the last couple of years. He didn’t need acting though - he just needed Phoenix, the only place he’d ever felt at home. He needed his friends, his girlfriend, his happiness, and he  had all that living in the one place he never expected to like. Fame and fortune was great, don’t get him wrong, but sometimes, he hadn’t been happy. A small part of him had felt like something had been missing, and it wasn’t until he made his real friends and fell in love for the second time in his life that his heart felt complete. People always assumed being famous was everything, but it wasn’t: friendships, family, and love. That was everything in life. “Mitch, how’s Shadow doing?” Chase asked the veterinarian technician, Shadow being the Rottweiler that had come in yesterday. A bad home situation. Any time he had heard stories like this Rottweiler, he always felt sick to his stomach; why were people so horrible? As much as he hated hearing them, it was also those stories that made him love owning an animal shelter, dedicated to helping out cats and dogs and searching for a good home for them. He hoped that the kids that Noel were bringing in that afternoon would do something like this in their lives, provide help to those who need it, who can’t fend for themselves. It didn’t matter the lifestyle they had, if they wanted to help out others, Chase knew that they could achieve that goal one way or another. Chase barely heard what Mitchie said, as the front door opened up, the bell that they had going off, taking his attention away from his worker. “Uh, hold on. I’ll be back,” he told her, leaving her to her work on the dog. He made his way out to the lobby, taking in the small group that was gathered there. “Aye, Noel.” The twenty-five year old greeted him, nodding his head once. His eyes turned to the group of high schoolers, the corners of his lips tugging into a slight frown as he saw the oh so excited looks on their face. He understood though, no one actually liked to do volunteer work, but he knew how beneficial it would be, especially to these young people. “Welcome to Paws and Pooches. You’ll observe and learn, and maybe if you’re lucky, you guys can even play with the animals. We’ll see how that goes though based on your attitude and your ability to listen.” His eyes flickered back toward to Noel, half hoping he’d give him a signal on how he was doing so far, and the other part hoping he’d jump in and take over.

[xhallofxfame]

Clarke Hawkins.

- - - - Three Years Ago: Phoenix, Arizona - - - - It had only been a couple of months since Chase had made the move to Phoenix, Arizona, but, it was the best decision he had ever made. Not that his stubborn attitude would ever admit that fact, but for the first time in a long time, the twenty-two year old felt home. He couldn’t believe he had been against the idea in the first place, having his mother practically force him into the car, but she had good intentions for doing it, for making him get away from the Hollywood scene for a little bit. Chase Donovan had been on a downward spiral, and his mom wasn’t going to let that be known world wide. Maybe it was the fact that he had already had family in Phoenix that made it more comfortable for the twenty-two year old male, but he was just starting to have friends; real friends. The first couple of weeks being there, Chase hadn’t gotten out much to explore the new city he was forced to “hide” in until his behavior was forgotten about. As part of his and his mother’s agreement, he was only ever allowed to leave to go to attend meetings with his therapist. But, he was doing good so far, so he decided to go meet people, maybe do something to keep him preoccupied while he returned back to acting. He had met a lot of great people over the months though, and he even had plans to move in with the first person he’s met since coming here, the first person who’s actually treated him as a normal guy and not Chase Donovan, the big movie actor. Very few people in LA had been his actual friend - in fact, besides some co stars, the only other friends he actually had were Aurora West and Clarke Hawkins. They weren’t famous, but they had treated Chase like he was just a regular guy, which he appreciated. Everyone else only ever used him for money, and parties, and in hopes that they could be in a movie. That was one of the only downfalls of being a big Hollywood star. Chase had just stepped out of the shower, and after quickly drying off, he wrapped the towel around his lower body. He made his way across the hallway, into his bedroom. Glancing at his iPhone to see if anyone left anything, he saw he had a voicemail from his friend, Clarke. He brought the phone to his ear, playing the voicemail, while he got dressed. Frowning at how sad her voice sounded, he wished he could’ve been back in Los Angeles, to help her through whatever her and her boyfriend, Nathan, were going through. He wasted no time in hitting the callback button, waiting for her to answer him. On the third ring, she picked up, and he let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding in. “Clarke, are you okay? What did that d*ck do to you now?” Chase asked, already wanting to kill Nathan before she even told him. He had warned her not to get involved with him, but he also knew that it hadn’t been his decision. All he knew was that he wanted to protect his friend, and right now, he hated the fact that he was a state away from her.

- - - - Present Day: Phoenix, Arizona - - - - Today had been an exhausting day for the male as he slowly walked into his room, collapsing on his bed. It had been a day running around, paying bills, checking on the animals at the shelter, and taking his girlfriend out to lunch on her break. He had also gotten into an argument with his mom over the phone, when she told him how she was “disappointed” in him for not continuing his therapy classes. He was fine though, he wouldn’t slip up again, he promised himself that. His eyes closed as he let out a sigh, wanting, more than anything, to sleep for the next week, if not longer. Chase could’ve fallen asleep, right then and there if he wanted to, but he knew that he couldn’t, since he plans later that night with his roommate. A little nap did sound appealing though…. Before sleep was able to come to him, he heard a ding from his phone, and let out a groan. Fishing the mobile device from his pocket, he read the text message displayed on his screen: Call me when you get this…It’s urgent. It had been a little while since he had last talked to Clarke, so he knew that it couldn’t have been good. Though she had moved to Phoenix not long after her “accident”, their schedules didn’t match up sometimes, so it had been nearly a few weeks since they had talked or seen each other. He shook his head, ignoring the bad feeling he was getting in his chest. It couldn’t have been about Nathan, could it? He was stupid to ask that question in his mind; he already knew it couldn’t have been anything else. His thumb swiped across his screen, unlocking his phone. Hitting the call button, he brought the phone to his ear, a sense of deja vu hitting him, taking him back to three years ago, when she had asked for his help with her “death”. Of course he helped her fake her own death, what kind of friend would he be if he hadn’t gotten her out of that abusive relationship? He waited for the girl to answer, hit chest beating rapidly against his chest. “You told me to call?” Chase asked into the phone the second she answered him. “What’s urgent? What happened? You okay?” Question after question, but he didn’t care. Not only was he a curious person, who couldn’t help but to constantly pry in everything, but he was protective over his friends and family and their well being was the most important thing to the twenty-five year old. “You wanna meet up somewhere?”

[xhallofxfame]

Clarke Hawkins.

The Past:

"I'm sorry Mrs. Hawkins but I'm afraid your baby didn't make it." Those words played in her mind over and over again until she could completely process them. It didn't seem real to her. Nothing that happened that night seemed real to her. She couldn't believe what her life had become in such a short amount of time. It was just a few months ago that she was happy and in love and so excited to become a mom. And now, here she was lying in a hospital bed finding out she had lost her child and scared for her own life. Tears streamed down her face as she couldn't help but feel this was all her fault. Nathan had been violent toward her for the past couple months now and she had the power to leave but instead she stayed and took the abuse. Not only endangering her own but the life of her unborn child. And now, here she was alone, scared and devastated to no end.

Wiping the tears away from her eyes, she looked up at the doctor and her mother who was standing next to her and took a deep breath. "I know what I have to do. I know what I have to do to avenge the life of my child and to make myself feel safe again. I need to fake my own death. I need you both to tell Nathan that both the baby and myself didn't make it. I need you to help me sneak out of here and escape from this evil monster I call my husband." They looked at her as if she was crazy but she knew this was her only solution. "I know this sounds crazy but all I wanna do is feel safe again. As long as he knows I'm alive he's always gonna come after me. Please do this one thing for me. Help me escape, help me get my life back. You at least owe me that much mom, after all the pain you and dad put me through as a teenager."

The only help Clarke's mother was willing to give her was her word to Nathan that Clarke was dead but she wouldn't take her somewhere safe. But Clarke did know someone she could call, someone she met in LA who always looked out for her but moved away before things got bad. Chase Donovan. That was when she decided Phoenix, Arizona would be her knew home. Pulling out her cell phone, she called Chase and left an urgent voicemail. "Chase, it's Clarke. You were right about Nathan and I need you now more then ever. Call me when you get this."

The Present:

"Hey Clarke, you're on." Clarke's head snapped out of her thoughts and looked up to see one of her dancers standing before her. She gave a soft, weak smile as she nodded her head. "Okay hun, I'll be right out." She let out a long sigh as she stood up and headed toward the stage. Her heart wasn't really in it tonight, she was more so nervous right now and worried about going out in front of a big crowd. Since she moved to Phoenix, she knew she should be under police protection but she was scared about going to the cops. Scared they would turn her away thinking she was only crying for attention so she kept this private in hopes he would never find her.  Placing her hand on the curtain she hesitated for a moment, looking out into the huge crowd. "You don't have to if you don't want to. They will understand." She looked up and shook her head. "I can't keep him from taking over my life. I can't hide forever." And without another word she pushed aside the curtains and hit the stage.

As the bright lights hit the stage, Clarke had to adjust her eyes quickly as she started her routine. Luckily she had trained herself to adjust quickly not wanting to make a fool of herself out on stage. As she worked the stage with her routine, her eyes scanned the crowd wanting to maintain eye contact with the audience as it helped draw them in. But as she scanned the crowd her eyes landed on unwanted guest in the crowd, or at least someone who looked an awful lot like this unwanted person. Her body froze on stage and it almost was as if her heart stopped at the same time. She couldn't move at all, even as people were calling her name, she was just frozen with fear.

After what felt like a long time one of her dancers came out and helped her off stage, worried about her. "Sorry folks, shows over for the night. Our apologies." The two disappeared backstage and Clarke became pacing back and forth, her breathing getting heavier and heavier by the second. "I saw him, I saw Nathan I just know I did. He's found me. I knew it was only a matter of time." "Do you want me to call the cops?" She looked up at the girl and shook her head. "Not yet, not until I can be 100 percent certain he's here." She pulled out her phone and sent a quick message to Chase. "Call me when you get this...it's urgent." She hit send on the message,finished closing up shop and headed home for the night hoping she'd hear from him soon.

[xhallofxfame]

Remington Miller.

- - - - Eleven Years Ago: Los Angeles, California - - - - Acting wasn’t something that was new for the fourteen year, but no matter how many times he had done this, he couldn’t stop the nerves from coming to him. It was always the same - auditions, call-backs, contracts, preparing so much so he wouldn’t mess up for shooting, and hanging with the castmates. That was what the night ahead of him was all about, meeting the full cast and crew of the set. Chase hadn’t had a chance to talk to any of his co-stars yet, some of them he had never even heard of. Though, most of them only had experience in commercials or were newbies in the business. In fact, the only other person who as much experience as he did was Remington Miller, who he heard had gotten the role of his characters twin sister. He had never met the other child star actress, but he had been a fan of a few movies he had seen her in, and respected her work. Maybe that was why he was feeling uneasy more than he usually would. The car stopped, and as he glanced out the window, he realized that they already arrived at the gathering that their producer had organized so all the kids could meet and get settled with each other. “What if they hate me?” Chase asked, his nerves once again getting the best of him. Truth be told, having been in the spotlight since he was just six years old, Chase never had a normal childhood or even had many friends. He had a couple that he knew before he was famous, and he kept in touch and occasionally hung out with his former co-stars, but he had never actually had someone he could work with who he would consider his best friend. This show, a show about high school, would be the closest thing he’d ever get to a high school experience, so he only hoped that he’d actually be close with the other kids as much off screen as they would be on screen. “Chase Donovan Ryder, we don’t talk down about ourselves like that. You’re the star of the show, make them like you,” his mother told him, causing him to nod his head. As witchy as his mom seemed sometimes, she had been nothing but supportive of her son, and needed him to believe in himself as much as she did. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself out of the car, before that sudden burst of courage he had went away. Just as he was expecting, it passed by, replaced with nervousness once again as he walked inside the room that was decorated with balloons, music, food, and even drinks for the grownups. “I have to go talk to someone, but go meet everyone,” Mrs. Ryder said, before disappearing through the crowd of people. Chase looked around until he spotted the person he was most eager, yet nervous to meet. Making his way over to the girl who seemed to be the same age as him, looking just as bored as he figured he’d be by the end of the night, he sat down on the seat next to her. “Remi Miller, right? Guess we’re going to siblings for the next however long.” - - - - Liberty High: Freshman Year - - - - “Avery Blake? No way.” The name of his sister caught Tony’s attention, coming to a stop in the middle of the hall. The girl who had been talking taking no notice as the whispered conversation continued on. “Who would’ve thought that little miss never-going-past-second-base was such a slut?” The nearly fifteen year old looked up at the girls just as one of them giggled, his eyes landing on Hailey, his cooking partner in the required Home Ec class he had. His eyebrows came together in confusion, but before he could listen to anymore of the gossip, he heard a “sh!” from the girl she had been talking to, finally realizing that he had been listening. They hurried off to get to next period, leaving Tony alone with the questions that were starting to go through his mind. What did Avery do? Surely they were talking about another Avery Blake…. right? He dismissed the latter, knowing that there wasn’t another Avery Blake in the world, let alone this school, but he wanted to believe that there was no possible way that something like this could be said about his twin sister. Almost as if someone was invading his personal thoughts, his crappy flip phone beeped, letting him know he had a new text message. He pulled his phone, looking around to make sure that no teachers were around, before hitting the ‘read’ button. Guess who I hooked up with last night? His face scrunched up in disgust when he saw the image attached - a photo of his sister in a car, kissing a dirty blonde hair male that he quickly recognized as Alexander Chandler, his older teammate. “What the f-” Tony stopped himself, forcing himself to look away from the picture. Why hadn’t he even known about that? They might’ve been twins, but they were so much more than that; he thought that they shared everything, but he was wrong. He felt betrayed that his sister never told him, but he also felt anger that this was going around the school. It hadn’t been the first time this year that something like this had gone around the school this year; just a few weeks ago, there had been rumors that Avery had made out with two different guys in the range of a week, but he never expected this from her. Maybe he didn’t know her as well as he thought he did. The rest of the day continued on as normally as possible, aside from the immediate whispers that stopped whenever Tony walked by them. He kept his run-ins with his sister at a minimum, and avoided Chandler as much as possible, which proved to be impossible at lunch time when he sat at Tony’s table. Still, he barely said anything to the junior, conflicted on if he should mention it or not. By the end of the day, he decided not to say anything and to forget about it entirely. At home though, he wouldn’t be able to forget about it. He knocked on his sister’s door, and before she could even answer him, he nudged the door open and popped his head inside the room. “Mom wanted me to let you know that dinner’s almost ready.” He lingered in the doorway a little longer, before it finally came out of his mouth. “So… I got this really interesting text message this morning at school. About you.” - - - - Liberty High: Senior Year - - - - The school year had only just started, but already, Tony could tell that the year ahead of him and his friends would be quite an interesting one. Sure, some of the people he knew were bittersweet about being a senior, seeing as it was a reminder that things would never be the same again; friendships and relationships were bound to end when they left the town for college and work. Tony on the other hand was pumped to finally be a senior and rule the school. Captain of the baseball team, in a secret relationship with Mara Cassidy, his sister’s best friend, and, with his aunt Jenna in a relationship with her new boyfriend and was happy… well, the twins could get away with being out all night without her being all up in their business. It was Saturday night, and while Tony would usually go out with Isaac and Austin, he had decided to stay home instead. Of course, Aunt Jenna had teased him about this, and even Avery had wondered what was up with him, he refused to tell them the reason he wasn’t going out. Mara was coming over to spend the night with Avery, their first sleepover since his sister had come back from her summer vacation in London with their parents. Tony had stayed behind for reasons, one of which included him not being on speaking terms with them, but during that summer, he had spent a lot of time with Mara, and before he knew it, he had fallen in love with her. Not that he had ever said these words aloud to her or to anyone, but they had agreed it would only be a summer fling, but when school started back up and Avery came back home, he couldn’t seem to end it. So they decided to keep it on the downlow, knowing that she wouldn’t take the news well. He spent the majority on the night in his room, actually working on homework, while texting Mara in the next room, and besides when Jenna had ordered pizza for them all, he had barely seen her. That was, until almost two in the morning, when he heard his door open up. He had been laying in bed, half asleep, when she crawled into bed with him, waking him up. She wasn’t supposed to fall asleep with him, after getting what they both had wanted all evening and cuddling for a bit, she was supposed to leave and go back into Avery’s room, but they both had fallen asleep. The next morning, when he spotted Mara next to him, he jumped, nearly falling out of the bed. “Wake up. Avery’s going to wonder where you are,” Tony said, nudging his girlfriend, but she only rolled over, consumed by sleep still. Not even a minute later, he heard a knock on the door, and before he could tell her to go away, Avery poked her head inside. “Hey, you haven’t seen Mara yet have you-” She finished her question, and that was when she saw the figure sleeping in her brother’s bed. “Unbelievable,” she mumbled, her voice laced with annoyance and betrayal. “Av, it’s not what you think,” he replied, ignoring how his sister scoffed at him. - - - - Present Day: Phoenix, Arizona - - - - Things had changed a lot for Chase Donovan since he had finished filming his last scene for Liberty High. By the end of the show, his career had been at its all time high, starring in several movies the following year. But just like that, the star was on a downward spiral, after he had called off his engagement with Kathy. The two were one of Hollywood’s favorite couples, and fans all across were world were shocked when they learned the wedding wasn’t going to happen anymore. Of course, people had picked sides - there were always sides - but no one had known the truth about why they split or why Chase had suddenly moved to Phoenix, Arizona. Still, three years after the drama that unfurled, fans still were arguing who deserves better. He was heartbroken, and had been for years, but he eventually learned to move on, and in all honesty, he wished they would too. Chase actually enjoyed his life in Phoenix, something he thought he’d never be able to admit. But there was something about this place that had helped him move on, that helped him become a better person, that helped him have his name known as something other than “Chase Donovan, the actor.” He had real friends for the first time in his career. Sure, he had always been close to his co stars, especially the cast of Liberty High but he knew how Hollywood, how fake everything including the people tended to be, so he was always cautious about who he actually trusted. In fact, sure, he was friendly with the entire cast and spent many days and nights with them hanging out and answering fan mail together, but the other person from the cast who he had actually trusted was Remington Miller. Instantly, the two clicked, almost as if they were actual twins and not just on the television. Remi had moved to Phoenix not long after Chase had, which surprised him, but he was happy nonetheless to have one of the few people he trusted since he became famous in the first place there, in his new life. During their years filming the show, they would spend every Tuesday nights together, declaring it Twin Tuesdays. After the show ended, they still fit in their nights together every week, no matter how busy their schedules were. If, for whatever reason, they couldn’t, they’d Skype and spend the night over video chatting being random as f***. Ever since the two moved to Phoenix, twin nights had been a lot easier to have. It was Tuesday, and Chase was on his way to Remi’s house. It didn’t take long to get there from the animal shelter, Paws and Pooches, only taking an extra ten minutes while he stopped to pick up the pizza he had ordered an hour ago. When he got to his friends house, he knocked on the door impatiently. “Open the door, f***face. I brought the pizza with me and I’ll eat it all on you, so,” he half joked, chuckling softly. His stomach growled just then, reminding him that it wasn’t actually a joke; he really would eat all of the pizza on her.