Let me start from the beginning and catch you up to speed. My parents are Darren Cross and Lillian Meadows, a screenwriter and a television producer respectively. They met when my Dad was hired on as a writer for the TV show back in the late eighties. They fell in love, got married, pop out a couple of attractive Hollywood babies, yadda yadda… you know how it goes. And as typical Hollywood marriages go, they ended up getting a divorce. Joint custody. Blah blah… I’m not going to harp on that. It’s not a sob story. It’s just how it was and I am perfectly well adjusted all things considered. Better adjusted than a lot of child stars end up, anyway. I think I’m more well adjusted than my big brother. Okay, enough already about them.
Let's talk about me.
Because really, this is all about me and how I wound up having to move to the east coast to attend some super-powered high school. You get that I've been in show business for a long time. Pretty much all my life. My first truly starring role was as Bianca Perry on a cute magical family drama on the Disney Channel called "The Family Spell". I was seven and prior to that role I'd only had small parts in commercials or as the kid sister in a few Disney movies. "The Family Spell" was fun and the other kids who worked for Disney were great too. Except… well, I won't get into that. I can't really blame her.
And then I got my big break in 2003. Just as "The Family Spell" was cancelled a new opportunity presented itself. NBC wanted to start a new show called "Confidence Jones" and they needed a young girl around ten years old. I was only eight, but make-up and clothes can do a lot for the magic of television and I have to say I had talent even at such a young age. I aced the audition. Natch!
The first season was a blast to film, getting to work with a couple of big name actors and the show became a surprise hit. I don't think anyone really expected it to catch on quite as quickly as it did or become nearly so popular. It probably had something to do with my co-star Nathan Fillion who played my character's father, "retired" con-man Jason Jones. My character was the title character. Imagine that at age eight, nine when the show aired, to have the title role of a hit show! Confidence "Connie" Jones and her father go through the first season getting to know one another and trying to make amends for all the cons that Jason ran over the years.
Anyway, I don't want to give out too many spoilers for those who haven't seen it. You can check out IMDB or some fan sites for that if you really want, but I recommend just going out and getting the seasons on DVD. Heck, do what I did when I was getting ready for the final season of "LOST"! Make a marathon weekend out of it, because the final season of "Confidence Jones" is set to air this Fall on NBC…
Which brings me to Parker Hammond. He was Confidence Jones' biggest fan. Not my biggest fan. Hers. And I think he was mad that I didn't want to renew my contract for yet another season. They were ending the show. And the rumors about why the show was ending were all over the internet. I wanted to get into movies instead of television and not family friendly Disney movies either. I'd been approached with a couple of scripts.
Parker Hammond heard about this. And he didn't like it.
I guess since I was "killing" Confidence, he thought he had to kill me. We had just wrapped the last day of filming. The show was over. It was bittersweet. All of us in the cast were saying our goodbyes, the security guards, the camera crew, everyone involved were all having a small party on the set. So no one was paying attention when he snuck into the Soundstage. I excused myself from the party a little early, headed to my dressing room to pack things up…
The last thing I remember before waking up to a raging inferno was having a rag put over my mouth soaked in chloroform. Apparently Hammond tied me up, locked me in my dressing room, and proceeded to set fire to the Soundstage. Everyone else got out safely. I was the only casualty. Burned alive. He'd poured gasoline and other accellerants around my dressing room to make sure of that.
By the time they put the fire out, it was too late for me. There were just ashes and melted metal from my jewelry. A Hollywood tradgedy. The news stations, blogs, all of them were talking about it that night. They arrested Hammond. He confessed it all. I suppose he plans on pleading insanity, but who knows. For twenty-four hours I certainly didn't. My parents were devastated. My brother went out and got drunk. My co-stars and friends mourned. And the media had a field day. Reporters and paparazzi. They live off these kinds of things.
So, it really shouldn't have been any surprise that there was a camera crew at the burned out shell of a Soundstage to catch my resurrection live. It was five o'clock in the afternoon; exactly twenty-four hours since I'd breathed my last breath. The reporter had her back to the set, the camera trained on her.
I've watched the recording at least a hundred times now. The image is, if you'll excuse the pun, burned into my mind. Behind the sharply dressed reporter the ashes of the burned out set swirled, catching alight as they lifted up into the burning shape of a bird with its wings outstretched and as the flames drew back inwards and the ashes reformed, I was standing there. I rose from the ashes. Whole. Alive. Reborn.
And suddenly surrounded by chaos that I had to be rescued from.
It only took another twenty-four hours of hiding out at my mother's home in Beverly Hills before Dr. Ishanvi Kapoor showed up. I think they sent her because they were worried about any mental trauma I might be suffering after the whole rising from the dead thing. She had a file on me and a brochure about a very special school. My parents didn't give me a choice. I was going. Dare was staring at me. Had been staring at me since I came home. Like I was an alien. Like I was dangerous. Unstable. Maybe my parents thought that too. Because I was dead and before they had time to really accept that I suddenly wasn't dead any more.
I felt fine. I feel fine. Hell, I'm indestructable. I can't die. I didn't need a shrink then and I don't need one now, though I've got regular sessions now with Dr. Kapoor. So what if I've been testing the limits of my power. I don't think there are limits to it. I put my hand down the garbage disposal and it grew back. I died and came back from the dead. I don't have to be scared of anything any more…
So that's it. That's my story. That's why I'm here. I've never been to a real high school before. With real kids my age. I've always been tutored on set. And I know this isn't quite like a normal high school, but it's closer than anything I've ever attended.
On the bright side, if there are any crazy fans around, what's the worst they could do? Kill me?
