Chapter 4 I'm Cass-The Dream Star

"And now let's give our hand to Cassandra Smith."

I entered the stage as my name was called by Olivia Scott, the morning show host while the audience clapped in front of us.

The lights from the beamed ceiling were a little too bright and too warm for me. I swear I have stage fright, mind you. I'm telling it now.

The last time I have ever been on stage was when I was in middle school where I had to stand as one of the props to our school's play, Sleeping Beauty. I was one of the tree props dressed in the ridiculous brown cloth costume with plastic leaves on my head and my arms. It was a heavy costume but we prop people back then I had no way of complaining over the uncomfortable weight of the costume. We had to do our part.

I walked to the couch where the seat was prepared for the esteemed guests and plopped myself down on it.

"Welcome to our show, Cass." Olivia greeted me with her usual straightforward tone.

I pasted my ready smile and smiled at Olivia Scott and the audience

"Thank you for inviting me to your show, Miss Scott. I feel so honored to be part of the morning show."

I said fighting off the nervousness I felt inside of me while looking at my host.

She smiled back at me.

"And we are honored as well to have you on our set."

She turned serious and asked me about the latest film Cass has been cast.

"So, how do you feel playing Elisa Hanthertam, the modern-day teenage girl catapulted into the past after the time machine blasted from the future?"

I immediately smiled at the question and relaxed. Thankfully, I already watched that new film Cass did before the accident. She was brilliant in that role. A modern-day gal that was thrown into the past by accident had to deal with the slowness and ignorance of the people that knew nothing about how the world looked like in the future and must find a way to return to her present. The film was called The Modern Girl in the Past

I opened my mouth to share the experience. My experience of it was from reading Cass' diary where she wrote her feelings and experiences from her acting and her daily none-about in her life. I'm glad she wrote those so I felt as if I'm the one who actually experienced them. It made expressing her experiences more authentic.

"It was a serendipitous experience. It was fun and adventure to play that role portraying a modern girl how she reacts to the year back of 1876." I paused after saying it and smiled again. "It was a monumental year in history. This is the year when the telephone was introduced and people were just simply astonished and renewed with the experience and the purpose of the device and I have that one scene where I just candidly mentioned the mobile touchscreen I owned and those people's faces just simply looked dumbly at me."

The audience laughed at my statement. Even Olivia Scott was caught by the statement and she asked specifically about it.

"So, tell us, Cass. How did you say it?"

"We were inside the company that Alexander Bell built and James was looking at the gadget with such fascination. It was the first model of the telly. You could see and almost swear that James was on the point of revering it, then I took my phone out from my pocket and sassily said, 'Oh, what are you looking at, Phillip?' I asked with a sly smile on my face. 'You're worshipping that ancient heavy box? In the future, you might just as well pray to a rectangular glass box.' I told him while showing my mobile touchscreen and he took it in his hands and people around him took notice of it, too. He touched the surface of the glass phone and it automatically lighted and showed him a photo frozen inside the glass. Surprised by the magic of the phone, he threw it by accident and the phone cracked hitting the ground. I looked at him angrily and cried, 'What did you do to my phone?' James simply shrugged his shoulders and with a squeaky voice said, 'It's a lithograph.' Then, I screamed at him. 'It's my mobile phone, you idiot!' And then we quarreled along the way. And he insisted and said, 'What good does it do to you anyway? It's 1876. You won't find any signal here to communicate with that phone.' He said."

Olivia Scott and the rest of the audience laughed again. I joined chuckling with the crowd. The show went on commercial and we were on break for ten minutes and the studio was back live again. Olivia endorsed the film and I have to say a few pieces more about it, then I was escorted back to the dressing room.

Paul was leaning against the wall near the dressing room and he was smiling with a twinkle in his eyes. He smiled at me when we reached the door.

"You were great there, Cass," he said beaming at me. "I'll wait for you here."

"Thanks." I smiled at him, before closing the door.

Ten minutes later, I was out with him and we went out of the studio. There was another schedule that we have to attend to another studio. This time it was the usual photoshoot. And another after it.

After our hectic morning schedule, we had a leisurely lunch and he treated me to one of the most expensive Japanese restaurants in the city. He said it was his treat to me for doing an awesome job at the interview with Olivia Scott.

"You were great there. Just simply amazing," he said feeding me more with compliments. "You captured the audience with your honest self."

I just continued to eat savoring the food that he ordered for me. I loved the sushi.

"Would you miss this once Cassandra wakes up?" he asked all of a sudden.

I looked at him with a quizzical eye and simply shrugged.

"I don't know." I honestly answered. "This is just all temporary to me, so I don't really give it a thought."

I nonchalantly told him, enjoying the maki rolls.

"Well, we could think about your future when that time comes," said Paul with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"Cross the bridge when it comes, Paulie."

I told him, smiling widely.

Honestly, I don't think too much about this temporary role I play in life. It's Cass' life. I don't really play in it. I just temporarily fill into the shoe that is owned by my sister. And I sure as hell know that I won't be missing this phase in my life once I get back to normal.

I'll enjoy it as far as I can. As much as I will. After all, everything about here is just nothing but a myriad to my real existence. An illusion to the real Cassidy Arianne Smith.

The light. The glitter. The fame. The name.

Everything around me is just nothing but a fragile touch of unreality. The only thing I have to care about is to never be caught as not Cass Smith. But, I don't think that would be impossible now. I just passed Olivia Scott's morning show acting like my twin sister and she never blinked an eye at me. Which means, from here onwards I can play the game.

I'm honestly awed by how much Cass can live into this kind of pressure. It's totally hectic. How can she actually say she's living life when it's nothing but full of schedule bound to her everyday routine.

She's shackled by schedules, appointments, photoshoots, and interviews.

How does one live with that?

We were leaving the restaurant when a tween girl around twelve years old shrieked upon seeing my face. I was alarmed by her reaction. Normally, I would have run because that's what I usually do when met with an uncomfortable situation.

But, that changed when the tween looked at me with adoration in her eyes. She completely worshipped Cass.

"Cassandra Smith!" the tween girl exclaimed excitedly. "You were just on TV earlier this morning."

She said too loudly.

Silence hushed the room for a second, then it was replaced with the hum of noise and whispers. I looked around the room. They were looking at me.

"Can I ask for your autograph and your picture?" the girl bravely asked me.

I looked uncertainly at Paul but he was looking to his sides. Obviously evading the scene. He wanted to see how I will handle this situation.

I pasted my readymade smile and nodded.

She immediately stood beside me and took our selfies. She has no paper with her but hastily took a pen from her mother's bag.

"Hey, uh—I don't have a paper with me, Cass," she said looking at me, flushed in the cheeks, "but I don't mind if you sign on my shirt. Make a big signature on my shirt please, Cassandra Smith."

She said with worshipping eyes.

I laughed at her openly weak reaction at seeing my face and did her a big favor of signing her shirt with my name. Thankfully, her mom has a permanent marker in her bag.

When I was done, she gave me a tight hug. The room filled with excitement but I felt panic in me. I don't want this place to be my next autograph session area.

I looked around the room. I kept my gaze on the door.

Once I released myself from her hug, I dashed out of the room, immediately after that.