Riley Ross

"W-wait!"

"Hmm?"

Hera was about to get in the car, but Hannah moved next to the door before she could do so.

"You… don't have to worry," Hera smiled, sighing at Hannah as she saw the obvious look of worry on her face.

"Your mother sent me an entire list to look out for while dealing with your brother. I got it."

"She… sent you a fucking list?"

"Sure did," Hera said, chuckling as she climbed into the car. Hannah stared at her for a moment, but snapped out of it as she heard the door's thud. And this entire time, she didn't even notice that Riley was already in the car.

"Are… you sure you can handle him?" she asked.

"Sweetie…" Hera smirked at her through the window, "My power is literally to adapt to anything. I can confidently say that there is no better chaperone in the world for your brother than me."

"W-wait! I have one more question!"

"Yes…?"

"How…" Hannah whispered, leaning closer as she looked at the car, "...do you have a car inside the school?"

"I bought it with the credit," she replied, pulling out her ID card with a cheeky smile on her face. "If I were you, I'd start earning them. You seem like a strong, independent girl. You can do it."

"Wh—"

Hera slid on a pair of sunglasses and drove off before Hannah could finish, leaving her and the rest of the Baby Crew standing there, just watching as they vanished into the distance.

They could, however, see Riley waving goodbye.

***

"Ah, Hera! You're late!"

"Late? What do you mean by 'late'?"

Hera had barely stepped into the studio, and yet one of her eyebrows was already rising as she glared at one of the staff. The staff flinched, gulping as she bided her time to talk again to see if Hera was going to say something else.

But when she realized Hera was actually waiting for her to answer, she immediately drew out a call sheet and started flipping the pages.

"The-the casting director moved the audition earlier today," she worriedly said.

"Huh?" And the tone of Hera's voice soon echoed her eyebrows, "He can't do that."

"Uhm…" The staff looked around, and when she was sure that no one was looking at them, she leaned in closer to Hera and whispered, "...I heard he actually already had someone in mind."

"Great, nepotism," she said, letting out a small groan and rolling her eyes before looking back.

"What are you doing there? Come in."

The staff tilted her head to see who Hera was talking to. And in that single second, the other people walking around and minding their own business all stopped to look too.

How could they not, when it wasn't every day that you would see an albino? Not only that, but an albino who looked like he was ripped off from one of those fantasy books involving elves.

Stark white hair, skin that looked like paper, and sharp features unusual for a child.

The staff member squinted at Riley, unsure whether he was wearing a costume. But as he stood beside Hera, she let out a light gasp, covering her mouth with the call sheet.

"Isn't he… that one kid?" she muttered.

"How many albinos do you know?" Hera waved her off and brushed past her, her eyes scanning the studio, "Where's Marv? I specifically told him that I was going to bring someone to audition. What—"

"I'm here. You don't need to raise your voice."

A man with a scruffy beard leaned out from behind one of the curtains, cutting her off mid-rant. He scratched his head, his tired eyes narrowing as he approached.

"And yes, darling. I already had someone in mind even before you called me about your… little project," Marv said, his eyes scanning Riley from head to toe. "And I do have to say, you are right to bring him here, hm."

Riley glanced briefly at Marv and immediately found Marv's look weird. He had a scruffy beard, but his eyebrows were obviously drawn, and his hair, which reached his shoulder, was straighter than even Hera's.

And from the way Marv was also looking at him, he found him even weirder… but in a different sort of way.

Hmm. I have seen photos of people like him before. I did not think I would be meeting one so early in my life. The internet always portrayed them as weird, but he does not seem so. But then again, who am I to judge?

Hera stared at the two just a little longer before shaking her head.

"Alright," she said, sighing as she stood in front of Marv and blocked Riley from his view, "You have some explaining to do. We didn't come all this way for nothing."

"And an explanation you will get." Marv smirked, "I already picked someone for the role you wanted so that the audition would be done and over with… because I already have a part that I think would work for your little pet here."

"Don't call him a 'little pet'. He has a name."

"Indeed, he has." Marv softly chuckled, looking at Riley one more time before walking past Hera and whispering to his ear, "And someone with a name doesn't deserve the role of a side character that would only appear for a few minutes. I'm putting him as a guest star for the pilot—he'll be playing the actor's older brother in the flashback."

"Older—you mean Bryan? But that's not a minor role." Hera squinted, her eyes following Marv as he walked out of the studio, "Isn't he practically the main character for the pilot episode?"

"Oh, yes," Marv whispered with a chuckle, which quickly escalated into a full-blown fit of laughter.

"But he doesn't even have any real acting experience!" Hera raised her voice, following behind Marv while dragging Riley along with her.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Does it? We'll do the first shoot now, everybody's waiting, and I just fired the guy who got the part."

"You fired—You fired Lewis?!" Hera's voice rose even further, "Lewis has a million fans on TikTok! My boy will get bashed! Come on, Marv."

Marv ignored her completely, and before long, she and Riley found themselves riding beside him in a golf cart, headed to his next shoot, which was the very show that he wanted to place Riley.

Yes. Riley was starting now.

"Are you crazy?!" Hera took off, leaving Riley to be swarmed by makeup and wardrobe.

"Oh my god. Your skin is so smooth."

"How old are you? Is this your real hair?"

"I'm not gonna put a lot of makeup on you, okay? Just under the eyes since you're supposed to be playing an exhausted character."

"What's your name? Is this your first time being on a set?"

Riley was bombarded with a million questions, and surprisingly, he answered them all, which made the staff members ask him even more questions. He didn't mind, and he just stood there with everyone passing him around… while he was reading the script at the same time.

Fortunately for everyone around him, Riley's telekinetic armor never turned off anymore—not even in his sleep. He'd spent the last two days training it.

Yes, Spectacular Mustache Man was right about one thing about him—Riley trains whenever he can.

"What do you—"

"Clear the frame! We're starting on 5!"

The assistant director's voice drowned out all the staff's questions, scattering them away from Riley. One returned only to fix Riley's makeup, then grabbed his script and bolted.

"Riley, are you okay? Everything good?!" The assistant director raised his thumb, and Riley only mirrored him and nodded.

And no, not everything is good according to Hera. She knew that Riley had the talent to act, but starting him in a major role? Even if it was only for a single episode, no amateur should be playing something like this.

Still, she had no choice but to watch everything unfold.

She just hoped that Riley wouldn't mess up to the point that her abilities had to fly her away from the set.

"Quiet on set!" The assistant director shouted, "Okay, we're rolling in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… Rolling! Scene 1, Take 1. And… action!"

"Why do you do this?!" Riley roared, his face extremely red and tears already trailing down his cheeks, "She can't get away from doing this to you, Dad. How long will you let her treat you like this?! She will… she'll kill us, Dad. She will… please, get us away from here."

And before they knew it, every member of the staff had their mouths wide open. Even Riley's older co-actor, who was right in front of him, completely forgot his line.

The only one who had a different reaction was Hera.

True, her hands were grasping her hair back, since she thought Riley was going to be awful, since this was his first take. But, no.

Him being an albino didn't even matter anymore. She and everyone else were so focused on how he performed that it completely overpowered what he looked like.

"Oh…" Hera mouthed, gasping as her eyes looked at the rest of the people on set. "This…

…this is going to be insane."