***Disclaimer: If you're wondering, this is not the mystery box fic.***

Title: I Didn't Know he was the Movie Star's Son (that's...long. Definitely changing that later)

Ships: Jaya, with maybe a few others mentioned

Main Characters:

Jay Gordon - Cliff Gordon's son who's supposed to follow in his famous father's steps. The thing is, Jay's not interested. He doesn't know what he wants to do. 18 years old.

Nya Smith - An aspiring actress who knows what she wants and goes for it wholeheartedly. 18 years old.

Cliff Gordon - Jay's famous movie star dad. He wants Jay to choose an acting career, but Jay's just not into that.

Sneak peek:

***Note: A "cold read" is auditioning off a script you've never read before.***

***(Jay's POV)***

"I don't want to hear it, dad," I yell, stalking off down the complex's hall.

"Jay Gordon!" he seethes, obviously outraged by my disobedience.

But I'm eighteen. I think I'm old enough to make my own choices and find my own way in life.

I walk down past the audition room where my dad's latest project - a teen romance retelling of  Romeo and Juliet - is being cast. Most of the people who show up today are just acting wannabes - not to sound snobby or anything, but that's precisely what they are. They've probably been in a Broadway show or two and might be cast as an extra for my dad's big-budget film.

He wants me to be the protagonist, of course. And even though I'm not bad at acting - okay, that's a slight understatement - and I've been in more than a few of my dad's productions before, I'm done with that life. I hate logging onto social media and having my posts liked by thousands and thousands of followers who don't even know me.

Something - or rather, someone - runs straight into me, and I reach out my arms to steady whoever it is.

I look down a few inches to see...a somewhat short but very frazzled girl.

A somewhat short, very frazzled, and incredibly gorgeous girl. Not in the made-up way I'm used to seeing among the elite of Ninjago City, either. She's just...naturally pretty. Bobbed black hair, dark chocolate eyes, lightly tanned skin. She looks like she could be in one of those health and beauty commercials if her face were highlighted.

"Oh, sorry," I swallow, suddenly feeling the need to apologize. "I didn't see you there. You're..." Wow.

"I'm what?!" she exclaims. "Do I have lettuce in my teeth or something? Toilet paper hanging out of the back of my pants? Just spill already!"

"Uh...uh...n-no, it's nothing. Can I...help you?"

She runs a hand through her hair. "I guess you must be auditioning too. Uh, do you know where I can sign in at?" She looks like she has a lot more to say, but she restrains herself.

If I were that on-edge, I'd be talking myself silly.

I cough. "Oh, the waiting room? Let me...let me show you." I awkwardly let her shoulders go and motion for her to follow me.

"Thanks," she says breathlessly. "Have you gone yet?"

"I...gone where?"

"To audition. I'm just wondering what I'm up against."

"Uh...no, I haven't gone yet." And I'm not going to.

We walk into the waiting room, and the guy at the table sees me and immediately straightens. "How may I help you?"

"She needs to sign in for her audition slot," I explain.

However, the attendant shakes his head vigorously. "Oh, no sign-in necessary. We'll go ahead and get you in for the next slot, miss..."

"Smith. Nya Smith. Thanks for that." She readjusts her bag on her shoulder. "Are you sure you have time?" She bites her lip, unwilling to admit that she's a bit rushed. I assume she's late.

"It's no inconvenience for persons of your status, miss. No need to keep you waiting. You'll go when next they call." The man scribbles on his sheet.

Oh, I get it. He sees me and thinks she's somehow associated with my dad! But...she's not. And honestly, I've never met her before, so I hate to say it, but she's probably just another future-extra for the film.

But gosh, the way her expression brightens when he calls her a 'person of status'...

I can't bear to burst her bubble. I guess my dad's staff will just have to judge her auditioning abilities and such for themselves. They'll know just by her name that she's basically unknown in the acting industry.

She rushes off to a seat nearby, and it's all I can do to follow her.

I clear my throat. "Um, I'm...I'm Jay."

"Nya." She tosses her bag in her chair.

"Can...can I help you with anything? A drink of water or..."

She pulls a bottle of water out of her bag and takes a swig. After swallowing, she asks, "You were saying?"

"Oh, um, well, I see you have the whole water situation taken care of, but I'd love to help you if...if there's anything I can do."

She thinks for a moment. "Please tell me there isn't actually spinach in my teeth."

"Will you smile for me really quick?"

She does as I ask, and I give her a thumbs-up. "No offending vegetables, don't worry."

"Thanks." She fixes her hair with a few bobby pins. "You're auditioning today?"

"Oh, uh, no."

"Oh, really? Are you here to help, then?"

"Uh...you could...say that." I mean, it kind of makes sense that I would be here, given that this is my father's show and all.

She combs her fingers through her short hair, arranging it behind her head.

And the whole time, I just watch like a weirdo.

She gives me a small smile when she's finished. "Stop staring. I promise I'm usually more organized than this."

"I...you look g-great." Oh, gosh, I usually avoid girls who aren't related to me, and now I have no idea how to interact with them. I'm a bumbling mess.

"Thanks?" she laughs slightly. She looks up as my dad steps in, and she can't hide the surprise on her face. Her jaw drops, and she whispers, "Is that...Cliff Gordon?

"Uh...yes." Golly, she didn't give me that kind of a reaction. Does she find my dad more attractive than me? He's over forty years old!

However, she doesn't spare him another glance and looks down at her bag nervously. "Uh...I mean, famous people. Once you've seen one, you've seen them all."

"Oh, really?" I ask. Please don't tell me you're into forty-year-old studs. You can't be much older than me.

She nods. "Yeah. Most of my performances have been in Shintaro, um, so I...I met quite a few famous actors there."

"Oh." I guess that's why I haven't heard of her. Shintaro is much smaller than Ninjago City.

My dad spots me and growls, "Jay, you - "

Oh, snap. Not this again.

Not wanting to face his wrath, I laugh nonchalantly and grab Nya's hand. "Sorry to interrupt, but I have an audition to get to." I drag her along behind me, running through the double doors leading to the audition room.

I seriously hope Nya doesn't get in trouble for the interruption, but I wasn't about to stick around waiting for my dad to chew me out. Plus, I didn't want to watch her checking out my dad, if that's what she planned to do. Better to avoid awkward circumstances before they start.

My agent - or rather, the agent my dad hired for me - looks up from his spot behind the judges' table. "Jay. Cole is on a bathroom break, so we have a moment before the next audition." Cole would be my best friend who's acting with all the girl auditions for the afternoon.

I nod. "Uh, this is your next audition, Nya...Smith, was it?"

She shakes her head in agreement. "Thanks, but I've got it from here." She turns to my agent. "Yeah, so I'm Nya Smith. My audition spot was actually half an hour ago, but I was rescheduled..."

The whole time she speaks, my agent looks between us as though he's conspiring something.

And suddenly, he snaps his fingers, stopping her midsentence. "You two are going to audition together. I have my mind set on it. We're doing cold reads anyway." He waves a sheet of paper at us.

I blanch. "Uh...I..." It's all I can do to stare at her as she smiles back at me, waiting for my response.

"I'd be happy to audition with you," she baits me.

"Uh..." I swallow, my eyes darting to my agent.

He raises an eyebrow, that gleam never leaving his eye.

"O-okay," I finally say. But this doesn't mean I'm acting in my dad's stupid movie.

"Sweet," my agent says, barking out a laugh. "Miss Smith, a pleasure to meet you. I vaguely recall watching your original audition video. Given your time slot, you must be auditioning for the part of Juliet, right?"

"Yep," she replies.

"Fantastic. The script you're reading from is a retelling of the balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet. I assume you know what that is."

She nods, raising an eyebrow at the insinuation that she might be uncultured in literature.

My agent reclines his arms behind his head. "Begin whenever you're ready."

She takes a deep breath, looking at me and then down at the script.

"You doofus!" she suddenly yells. "What the heck are you doing, trying to climb the trellis to my room?!"

I look down at my script, struggling to remember my line at her sudden outburst. "I...wanted to see you."

"I just about called the police on you!" she exclaims.

"Well...but you didn't." Dang, I feel...remorse.

"But I could've!" She marches right up to me, waving her script in my face. "There! Now I'm down here in the garden to join you. Gosh, don't be so stupid!"

"But I wasn't!" I argue. My free hand comes out to grab her wrist, which waves wildly at my face.

"But you were!" She huffs out a breath. "Besides, you shouldn't try to sneak into my room. We both know that my dad could come in at any moment, and he really doesn't approve of you."

"We're not in your room anymore." My hand releases her wrist, instead coming to rest at the small of her back and tug her closer to me. The motions come...naturally.

She stumbles slightly in her step toward my body. "I-I...Romeo...what...do you mean by that?"

"I mean we can do whatever we want out here." My eyes train on hers, as though willing her to know the thoughts thrumming through my mind and heart.

"And what is it that you want?" she swallows.

I rehearse my line over and over in my head. "You. More and more of you." My free hand now rises to trail my finger down her cheekbone, and I feel my character take over.

My character...or something else?

Her breath hitches. I bend close, resting my forehead against hers, and her hands come up to splay across my chest, then clutch my shirt like a lifeline. This is intense.

We stay like that for a moment until my agent and his fellow judges break into applause. I blink, snapped out of the spellbinding moment.

What...

"Very well done," he grins. "Miss Smith, we'll call you back if you make it to the second audition."

She blinks. "O-oh, thanks." She blushes slightly and doesn't look at me. "Great job." And she speed-walks out of the room.

As soon as she's gone, my agent beams up at me. "She's the one."

"Oh, uh, for the part? Yeah, she did really well." I'm sure she had room for improvement, but to me...it was flawless.

My agent chuckles. "Yes, she's the one for the part. But she's also the one to make you take the lead in your dad's show." He looks at the judge next to him. "Go get Cliff. He'll want to see the videotape of this one."

***So there's this one. It's just that typical "I think I'm in love with my costar" YA romance trope. Thoughts?***