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the story of a pretty woman

"open up chalamet!" a pounding noise came from timothée's trailer door, and opened it to face zendaya. the two of them were in the jordan to film the second installment of the dune franchise. shooting hadn't started yet, but they and some extras had been called to location ahead of time so they could learn the complicated fight sequences.

"barry's here." zendaya told him.

"keoghan? where?" timothée looked around eagerly.

"he's tired from being cooped up in a hotel room because of covid protocols so he's on a walk with denis, i think. can i come in?"

the two of them sat down together on a couch inside.

"are you practicing your fight choreo?"

"no no," he shook his head. "that's all i did yesterday, i'm taking a break because my arms fucking hurt."

"gotcha. listen, have you seen the poster for haley's movie?"

"what movie?"

"come on, i know you aren't that dumb." zendaya looked at him annoyed. she knew that he knew that the story of a pretty woman would be released later in the year.

"fine." he conceded. "i haven't." that was true.

"there's a new trailer that just dropped like a day ago, do you wanna watch it? i haven't seen it yet," she explained.

"sure, i guess," timothée said, trying to relax. he didn't want her to know that he'd replayed it countless times for the better part of an hour the night before.

zendaya pulled up the trailer on her phone and he watched for the dozenth time as the black screen opened to joe keery (who played james) sitting lazily on a reclining chair with a cigarette in his mouth.

"college?" he asked in disbelief.

"yes," came haley's recognizable voice.

[ cut to: a woman in an office, who appeared to be someone on a college admissions board ]

"why?" the woman asked, with such skepticism.

"to put it plainly ma'am," haley (as paris) said, "i want to prove that i'm not the dumb bitch the media thinks i am."

[ cut to: haley (as paris) with bradley cooper (her dad) & greta gerwig (her mom) in a dimly lit childhood room - paris' childhood room ]

"are you sure about this?" bradley (as paris' dad) asked.

"i'll be fine, dad. how bad can it be?"

[ cut to: clips of haley (as paris) on the red carpet, waving for photographers, in the tabloids, in paparazzi photos. ]

[ cut to: a busy college campus, students walking around everywhere. everyone has someplace to be. ]

zendaya and timothée watched as haley (as paris) sat down in a lecture hall and took down notes.

[ cut to: haley (as paris) washing her hands in a not-so-nice bathroom, the camera panning to show hoyeon jung & lily-rose depp (her soon-to-be friends) ]

"is that the latest valentino?" lily pointed at the bag on haley's shoulder. she nodded.

according to the trailer, lily and hoyeon were two up-and-coming models, and it showed them hanging out with haley (as paris) and giving college-related advice.

"watch out for mr. finsky," hoyeon said. "the older ones say he's a perv."

"anyone other teachers i should know about?" haley (as paris) asked.

"mr. stein, though i've never had him before," lily said as she and hoyeon walked away. "they say that his good looks can kill!"

[ cut to: haley, taking down notes while unknowingly, mr. stein at the front of the class stares at her. ]

"shit, this can't be good," murmured zendaya, pausing the trailer to take a breath.

"it isn't," timothée agreed.

"i knew you've seen it before!" she exclaimed triumphantly, while he shook his head in embarrassment.

"just play it," he said, gesturing to her phone, knowing what was to come next. they just watched stein ask haley (as paris) for help in grading papers, since he thought she was a "talented student".

[ cut to: haley (as paris) seated at a desk, looking at stacks of paper; she marks each one with a pen, in a single, large stroke, then adds it to a finished pile on her left. the camera transitions to her in different outfits each time she finishes marking. as she hunches over the papers on different days, stein watches her, and later on brings in two boys to "help" her. ]

[ cut to: haley (as paris) approaching stein with one of the boys. ]

"sir, we thought you should know that..." she took a deep breath. "both adam and i here have been subject to harassment by fellow student daniel davidson."

"is that so?" stein asked. haley (as paris) mustered a smile.

[ cut to: haley (as paris) entering her dorm room, panting. she leans against the wall and drops to the floor, breathing heavily, then buries her face in her hands and screams. her shoulders are shaken by her tears, and the sound she makes is unbearable. ]

"holy fuck, holy fuck." zendaya whispered.

"i can't do this anymore," haley (as paris) cries into someone's shoulder.

[ cut to: a christmas dinner with the whole family, with cate blanchett and kristen stewart (paris' aunts) and john malkovich and meryl streep (grandparents). ]

"you're what?!" cate (as paris' aunt) asked.

"it's a shit life, isn't it?" kristen stewart (paris' other aunt) asked.

"you're stronger than you think you are," margaret qualley (paris' sister) said softly.

[ cut to: haley (as paris) going on stage, her hugging nick robinson & mckenna grace (paris' siblings), kissing joe keery (as james) ]

"YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE!" haley (as paris) yelled, as a glass fell to the floor.

"haley told me she actually broke a glass," whispered zendaya. "but that's just the editing, i think she broke it in a scene with joe."

"i'm so sorry," joe (as james) whispered, pressing his forehead against haley's.

"give 'em hell," bradley (paris' dad) said, with a proud smile.

"don't listen to them," scoffed cate (paris' aunt), as she, and paris' grandparents sat at a table drinking wine.

the screen turned black.

greta's voice played over the title.

"WHAT THE SHIT." shouted zendaya. "this is oscar material right here, you hear me?"

"i know!" timothée exclaimed. he was proud of haley, and deep down, he wished he could tell her that he thought she did a great job.

"did you tell her you watched the trailer?"

"of course not!" he said indignantly.

"i think you should. i predict both of you are gonna see each other at next year's oscars." zendaya said knowingly.

"why the hell would i be there?" he laughed at the possibility.

"i'm pretty sure that the song of achilles is in for a couple awards." she was referring to the book's live-action remake, which was released sometime in june. "as will this," zendaya added, waving her phone. "message her now." she ordered, pushing him towards his phone and peering over his shoulder.

was this hard to read? because if it was then i might delete it... lots of imagination was needed for this i'm so sorry but i just had to it was so fun

i know trailers aren't supposed to give away everything but for context, paris and the adam dude were harrassed by the guy named daniel, but instead of helping them, stein s3xually abuses them too. the thing lily/hoyeon said about the other professor being a perv isn't true, it's actually the stein guy who is.

I MISS YOU, I'M SORRY