'I can't believe I let you drag me to this.' Seth complained as they stood around and waited.
'Oh, shut up, you could have stayed home if you wanted to.' Rosy said, knocking her shoulder into his lightly. Right then, a chorus of shrieks erupted, spreading through the group like a vocal version of the wave. As it approached them, Rosy let out an ear-piercing scream along with everyone else, causing Seth to cringe and cover his ears dramatically. Had Rosy not been his best friend, Seth definitely would not have come.
'You need to warn me before you do that!' He told her, admonishingly. 'If I'd known, I never would have been standing so close to you.' He shuffled away a little to emphasize his point. 'What was that even for? Has he finally arrived?'
Rosy leaned forward onto the balls of her feet, which were clad in simple black ballet flats to go with her strapless purple dress. Seth couldn't understand why she was so dressed up, but Rosy just told him it was a girl thing.

'I can't really see anything, but I don't think he's here yet.' Rosy reported, relaxing back onto her heels.

'And who is it that we're waiting for again?' Seth asked. Rosy turned to him, and gave him a look of utter astonishment, and for a second he felt embarrassed that he didn't know who they were there to see. Then he remembered that he was there for Rosy, not himself. He couldn't care less whether they got a glimpse of this celebrity.
After recovering from her shock, Rosy said, 'Andrew Parkwell! He's going to star in a movie they're filming here.'
'Right, I remembered that last part, I just forgot his name. And why is it that you're so fascinated by him?'
'He's one of my favorite actors. Not to mention the fact that he's gorgeous.' At that precise moment, there was a particularly loud yell from the front of the crowd that set them all off again. It was not the first time that Seth grudgingly acknowledged that he was one of the very few males at this gathering. 'Oh my god,' Rosy said, sounding surprisingly relaxed. 'I think he's here!'
That, apparently, was just the calm before the storm because afterwards she let out her loudest screech yet. The arrival of this obviously adored man caused everyone to surge forward, pressing themselves closer to him. All of the pushing had landed them up closer to the front, and suddenly Seth was looking right at Andrew Parkwell. He wore clothes that were clearly beyond the price range of anything Seth had ever purchased, along with tinted sunglasses that matched the windows of the SUV he had shown up in. Andrew gave a lazy wave to the crowd of fans before turning his back on them and heading toward the film crew. Now that they had gotten closer, Seth could see that there was a barrier to keep back the masses, and a few security guards watching to make sure no one tried to get onto the set.
A voice next to Seth cried out, 'I love you!' to Andrew, and Seth was taken aback when he realized that it was Rosy. What a silly thing to say. She didn't even know the guy. Seth was starting feel embarrassed for her, since she seemed to have absolutely no shame today.
'How can you say that?' Seth asked her.
'He's Andrew Parkwell.' She said, as if that made it more rational. The rest of the afternoon was spent watching Andrew's back as he talked to various people who were set to be in the movie with him. After a few hours, Seth couldn't stand to waste any more time just hovering around in hopes of something spectacular happening, and left.

The filming quickly became a regular topic in any conversation in their sleepy little town. While talking on the phone with Rosy one day, Seth decided to ask, 'What's so great about being famous, anyway?'
Rosy paused to think about it, then answered, 'I don't know. It just seems so exciting and'easy. I bet if I talked to Andrew he'd have all sorts of stories to tell about the adventures he's been on.'
'Even if they do get to meet other famous people and do all sorts of crazy things, I wouldn't want that life.' Seth stated. Rosy was annoyed that they had such drastically different views on the subject, but didn't push it.

A few days later, Rosy spent her first day away from the movie set. She'd fallen behind in her homework and had finally decided that it was time to catch up. With an entire history paper due in two days, it was probably the best time to do so. Right before she got to work, her cell phone rang, giving her another way to procrastinate.
'Hey, Seth,' she said after glancing cursorily at the caller I.D.
'I have something I need to tell you.' Seth said in an almost urgent sounding voice. It sounded like he was whispering, but she couldn't really tell because of the bad reception on her phone.
'Okay, then tell me.'
'You need to promise not to freak out.'
'I promise.' She said, rolling her eyes at how peculiar he was acting.
'Andrew Parkwell,' he said slowly, 'is at my house.'
'WHAT?!' Rosy shrieked, sounding completely bewildered.
'Shh!' Seth hissed, trying to quiet her. 'You promised you wouldn't freak out.'

Ignoring Seth's comment, she asked, 'What is he doing there?'
'They were thinking of filming a scene of the movie here and while the crew talked to my parents, he started chatting with me.'
'I'm coming over.' Rosy said definitively. She then proceeded to hang up on Seth, change clothes and hop into her car in a matter of seconds.


After ringing the doorbell, Rosy bounced anxiously on her toes, yet again wearing a dress meant to impress Andrew. Seth came to the door much too slowly in Rosy's opinion. Forgoing a greeting, Seth said, 'We're just playing video games, so don't make a big deal about it.' We, of course, referred to Andrew Parkwell and Seth. Rosy's Seth, the Seth who barely wanted to look at Andrew before, and was now suddenly hanging out with him.

They made their way downstairs to Seth's basement, and even though Rosy knew he was going to be there, it was still a shock to see Andrew sitting on the same couch that Rosy had been seated on a million times before.

Despite the list of things Rosy had thought to say to him on the car ride over, she said nothing. Seth introduced her, and Andrew gave her a simple wave before returning to the game. For a few seconds she stayed standing there like an idiot, and then she looked toward the couch. Seth had sat as far away from Andrew as possible, intentionally leaving space for her in the middle of them. After being seated, she still felt awkward, unsure of where to place her hands and what to look at, not wanting to stare directly at Andrew. Occasionally she would sneak glances at him, noticing how his hair fell in just the right way and how his eyes matched the color of his shirt. Even so, she had to admit that up close he wasn't that much more attractive than the other guys she knew, including Seth. An expensive haircut and nice clothes weren't everything.

Rosy felt more and more uncomfortable as she sat in silence while the boys played their game. Finally, Rosy mustered up the courage to say something to Andrew. 'You're really good at this game.' How she said it made her sound like an overzealous fan girl, eager to compliment Andrew on anything he did. She wanted to take it back, but now that it was out, there was no way of recalling it.

Without looking away from the screen, Andrew answered, 'Well, I would hope so, since I've been playing this game nonstop since it came out. My friends and I play together online every weekend.'

That simple statement threw Rosy off. There she was, expecting some exceptional answer about how he had met the producer of the game and was given tips directly from him, and the real reason was because he played with his friends, like Seth did. When it came down to it, Andrew Parkwell was just another boy sitting next to her on a couch, playing video games; ones that he played regularly, not just when he was a guest at someone's house. He wasn't superior to her, just a stranger; a stranger with thoughts and fears and loves and memories like her own. That realization was all it took for Rosy to forget about popularity and reputations, allowing her to pick up a controller and join in instead of staying a spectator.