"So you're telling me," I began slowly, "that Steven Spielberg offered me the lead role in his film and you deed? That's why he's mad at me?"

  "Yes," Mum looked unfortable at my scrutiny. "You are doing films non-stop, Troy. At this speed, you'll burn out."

  "But then he'll be extra harsh against [Billy Elliot] and even against me ter in my life!" I whined. "That's so unfair!"

  "That's life, get used to it," Dad ented drily. "Moreover, Spielberg is not the only big name in Hollywood. There are tless others."

  "But my schedule is free for the six months," I tered. "Probably even more if the produ of the sed [Harry Potter] film is deyed for some time. I shoot a film in the meantime. And it's Steven Spielberg of all people! I love his films."

  Mum put her hands on my shoulders, looked me directly in the eye, and said, "Son, which part of you not having any time to yourself don't you uand? You shouldn't be so focused on your work. We had this whole trip pnned and everything! I was hoping you'd go back to saybe for a few months before the shooting for [Potter 2] begins."

  "I'm not going back to sum," I said resolutely. "Irrespective of whether I do the Spielberg film or not. It's a nightmare and full of bullies. I would do anything else. Anything! As for our holiday pns, we always tell Spielberg to give us some time for that. I'm sure he'll agree."

  Mum and Dad shared a look before Dad spoke up, "Why don't you go back to your room? Let me and your Mum talk it out."

  "Alright," I agreed immediately.

  (Break)

  "Steve–" Kathy began only for Steve to raise a hand.

  "I uand your , Kathy," Steve said. "But Spielberg's not doing this because of some grudge match. I know him, he's muature than that."

  "Then why did you tell that to Troy?" Kathy argued.

  "Because that's better than telling him that Spielberg is suppressing his future Oscar aspects this early on," Steve expined. "From some of my close fidants at Warner Bros, I have e to know that DreamWorks is gunning for a sweep at this year's Oscars with their test film, [Gdiator]. Troy's performance is too good in [Billy Elliot]. If Steven praises him too much publicly, that would be an endorsement of sorts from Steven Spielberg himself, ting his prospects for a sed Oscar. That's why he was being so evasive and dht rude with his ents."

  Kathy went silent for a moment as she thought about the whole story behind Steven's behavior. After a few moments, she vocalized her thoughts, "That's fucked up."

  Steve snorted in amusement, "Don't I know it? If we oppose him openly, that wouldn't be good for Troy's future. I don't want him to make an enemy as big as Steven Spielberg this early in his career. We arely an ambitious bund I knoould be happy after [Harry Potter], even if we don't get any more work. But Troy is too ambitious for his own good. I see it and I know you see it as well."

  "Is it about the musical?" Kathy asked.

  "That's one part of it," Steve agreed. "Any opportunity that es his way, Troy always appraises it and if it's good, he won't let it go easily. Now that he knows about the Spielberg film, I don't think he'd let it go at all, especially knowing that Spielberg's not happy, given how big a fan he is."

  Kathy sighed out loud before saying, "You want him to do the film?"

  "I don't," Steve replied holy. "But I don't see the harm iing him do it as well."

  Kathy was having an internal battle with herself before she sighed one more time and nodded her head in acquiesce.

  "What about his work ditions?"

  "Oh, don't you worry about that," Steve grinned. "I have already given it some thought. If we're doing this, I'll make damn sure Troy would e out on top. You just wait and watch."

  (Break)

  Steven Spielberg stood up and announced, "And the Best Actor of this year's es Film Festival is Troy Armitage for [Billy Elliot]."

  I was stunned for a whole minute as Mum and Dad hugged me from both sides, whispering gratutions. Didn't Steven Spielberg openly n my performa even a week ago? What ged between now and then? Still, this was a televised event so I fixed a smile on my fad got up from my seat, walking towards the stage as Isabelle Huppert, one of the best actresses of all time, presented me with the Best Actor Award which came in the form of a certificate, unlike most others which were presented as trophies, making it much more unique in itself.

  "This is something," I whispered out loud into the mic. Although the mic was fixed at a height much above mihe presenters had brought a stool for me to stand upon to make the speech possible. "I was not expeg this. First of all, thank you so much to the jury and the es Film Festival fivihis tremendous honor. Everyone involved in the creation of this movie is equally deserving of this prize. As actors, we stand upon a lot of shoulders to bee the face of a film and I'd like to thank ead every one of those people. I'd like to thank my parents for always supp me, everyo Universal, Studio al, BBd all our other producers. My co-stars, Julie, Gary, Jamie, and Jamie, thank you for your support and fiving equally wonderful, if not better, performances. Lee Hall for writing this extraordinarily beautiful story. Peter Darling for his chraphy and most importantly, Stephen Daldry for seleg me for the role of Billy when everyone else was against my casting. Thank you so much."

  That brought a huge round of appuse from the people as I shook Steven Spielberg's hand o time. He smiled at me, "We'll be seeing each other soon. Thanks freeing to it." I merely nodded and walked back towards the audiend retook my seat iween my parents.

  The way Steven said that to me made me question a lot of things on my way back. Was it just a ce that my parents agreed to let me feature in Steven Spielberg's film and just then I won the Best Actor award in a ceremony he was the President of? Was it a quid pro quo type of situation or did I really earn this award?

  I watched the rest of the ceremony quietly as [Dancer in the Dark] won both Best Actress and Palme d'Or. Thankfully, the es win was not followed by an interview session, or I would've said something to the media that I probably shouldn't have. I had always heard from many people that the award ceremonies were more or less rigged from the start, but was I a part of the same thing?

  I couldn't put it out of my head evehe ceremony ended and a ton of people gratuted me on the win. I just smiled and said thanks, not even b to try to ehem in a versation. My parents were quick to notice that something was amiss in my behavior and, without wasting much time, escorted me back to our hotel suite.

  As soon as the door was locked, I turo the duo and asked in a no-nonseone, "Did I win the award, or was it rigged?"

  Mum and Dad exged a gnce, and right in that moment, I knew.

  "Oh, God! Why? Did you bribe Steven with my role in his film?" I raised my voice a little, which I probably shouldn't have, but I couldn't help myself. I was angry.

  "He was trying to suppress you," Mum finally broke the silence. "He didn't want you to win the prize so your award buzz would be low at year's Oscars."

  "What does that have to do with anything? I already got an Oscar! They won't be giving me another one so soon."

  "We know," Dad said this time. "But we won't just take suppression from some old man lying down who thinks he knows better just because he set up a big film studio. That day at the premiere of that ey film, I knew immediately what he was trying to do. So I pced a dition for him: you'll do the film only if he would stop dismissing your performance as trivial. Nowhere have I explicitly stated that you have to win the award. He assumed that on his own."

  I let out a sigh of disbelief. "I feel like such a fraud right now."

  "You're not," Mum reassured me while raking her fihrough my hair. "If your performance wasn't among one of the best of the year, Steven alone wouldn't have been able to do anything at all. The jury is a full panel, not a single person. While the president does have some sway over the decision of the jury, he 't give out the award to an actor who is undeserving of it."

  "Your mother's right," Dad agreed. "If you don't believe me, just wait for the reviews to e out in neers month. I'm sure you'll see what I mean then. Everyone loved your performance, and it's not just a rigged award."

  "When you say it like that… How I remain mad at you?" I offered them a small smile.

  "Atta boy," Dad patted me on the back with his heavy hand. "e now, let's pack. We have to begin our vacation now."

  "Alright."

  "But before we go, we have a surprise for you," Mum gave me a mysterious smile as she said that.

  "What?" I asked curiously.

  "e along," Dad motioowards the door of the suite, and I followed him silently. We exited the room and walked over to the other suite located on the same floht beside ours. Dad knocked on the door, and what I saw inside was enough to shock me to silence.

  "Surprise!" A boy my age, who I hadn't seen in quite some time, greeted me enthusiastically with a shit-eating grin on his face.

  "Evan!" I tackled him in a hug.

  (Break)

  (Fshback - Evan POV)

  Evan was going through a rough pat his retively small life. He wasn't very good at making friends, and it was doubly difficult in the public school he was attending earlier, where everyone seemed to think he was showing off if he wore better clothes than them or bought something expensive. But he never got the ce to tell his parents because they hardly ever uood his problems. So when Troy Armitage came and sat o him one fine day and started speaking as if they had known each other fes, Evan just let the situation flow naturally. As days went by, Troy and he became inseparable, ae Troy's admittedly strange choice to bee an actor, Evan liked him.

  Despite his mother's crude jokes about him and Troy being 'boyfriends,' Evahat Troy was the brother he never had, but always wanted.

  The first road bump in their friendship came when his cousin Jimmy warned him that Troy would leave him. Evan didn't want to believe him, but eventually, Troy fessed that it was true. He cried for a full day after learning that Troy would leave first for Phidelphia, and then for London, and this time permaly. However much his parents may have tried to sole him and even made offers to talk to Troy's parents about it, he shot them down.

  Then he made a big mistake. He was ihroom that day, and Troy was not at school, doing something actor-y, when another kid from his css, Raoul Garcia, asked him about Troy. Aold him everything. He just needed someoo hear without passing judgment on him, and Raoul seemed like a good enough listener.

  Only ter did he find out that Raoul told everyone what was told to him in fidence. Evan thought Troy would be mad at him, but when he didn't say anything about it initially, he shrugged it off as insequential. So he was beyond sad when he came to know that Troy was attacked by his css's worst bullies only because of the rumors started by Raoul about the role Troy was getting.

  That seemed to be the final straw in their friendship, and Troy didn't speak to him after that day. Evan was heartbroken, but eventually, he moved on. He couldn't do anything, and life had to go on. Troy left the school after the Christmas break and didn't e back again. His parents introduced him to a few kids of their colleagues who also went to the same school, and he befriended a couple of them, but they were just there. There wasn't that bond that he shared with Troy or anything of the sort.

  His parents had also started coddling him a little too much. Troy's mere name had bee a taboo in their home. It just so happehat soon Troy's popurity blew through the roof after he started winning so many awards left, right, aer. His parents would subtly ge the el whenever someone was talking about him, his films, or was on TV himself. And Troy came on TV a lot. He even came on Oprah's show, and Evan was a little miffed that he had to miss an episode of his favorite show to avoid seeing his former best friend.

  Then Troy's film was released iers and became the biggest thing out there. Troy even released a song, but Evan couldn't gather the ce to listen to it. He just saw a few ss of Troy walking with a girl, while holding hands.

  So it came as a great surprise to him when Marie and David, his new friends, asked him a full month after the film's release, "Dude, that song your friend wrote for you was awesome!"

  "What?" he had asked.

  Seeing Evan's fused looks, the duo shared a gnce, and then told him all about the apology song that Troy sang on Oprah's show.

  "I don't watch that show," Marie said off-handedly. "But Mom was watg reruns, and I had nothing else to do. Troy is so cute and his voice is beautiful. I thought you would know since he sang it for you."

  "I had seen the music video of the song with that girl," David said. "But never knew about the Oprah show."

  Evan ran bae, logged on to the i, and luckily found a video of the song Marie and David were talking about where Oprah Winfrey was talking to Troy. Evan couldn't help but cry when he heard the song for the first time and how Troy dedicated the song to him. He wanted his best friend back to talk to him again, or py with him, or do his homework, or maybe just sit silently and say nothing.

  But then he realized it was too te now to do anything. Troy was ba London, and Evan didn't even have Troy's new number or address. Eva guilty about it, and he had decided that he would talk to Troy as soon as he came to LA again.

  He khat [Harry Potter] would be released worldwide ter that year, and Troy would definitely e to promote it. What he was not expeg was for Steve Kloves to call Evan's dad out of the blue and offer to let Evan e on a Europe trip with them.

  It ure luck that Evan was right there when the call came, and his father picked up the phone on loudspeaker, or he wouldn't even know about the offer because his parents were against him going anywhere roy. It took some ving, but eventually, they caved in when Evan cried straight for a day and refused to eat anything. He k to be a childish move, but if it worked, what's the harm?

  ______________________________

  AN: Visit my Pat reon to read ahead, or participate in free polls about the story.

  Link: (dot)pat reon(dot)/fableweaver