“I wish there was some way I could help.”

“You are helping, right this very minute.”

“Good, I’m glad to hear it,” he said. “So, how do you feel about the lines you have to memorize?”

“Actually, that’s going to be easier than I anticipated. Alex is in a lot of scenes, but he really doesn’t say much.”

“Do you think you might have the time to turn tonight’s video call into dinner and a movie? We can both order a pizza and watch Netflix together over FaceTime.”

A huge smile spread across my face, and I told him, “That sounds perfect.” We spoke for a few more minutes, and by the time the call ended I felt so much better.

Chapter 8

Monday morning started off great. I woke up excited, and Phoenix got me to wardrobe, hair, and makeup with time to spare. I knew my lines forward and backward. I was ready.

Or so I thought.

I soon found myself on set with four of the hottest young actors in Hollywood. When the assistant director introduced me, Harper Royce was friendly, but everyone else seemed pretty indifferent. They’d all been told ahead of time that Trent Chambers was out, and they really didn’t care about the total unknown who’d been brought in to replace him. I hadn’t expected them to.

Gage Lang arrived on set and greeted me with a smile and a handshake. Then he gave us all a brief run-down of what he wanted from the first scene. A full crew had gathered in front of the beach house, and filming began right on schedule.

It should have been easy. All we were doing was climbing out of a car and grabbing our bags while having a conversation. The dialog was meant to volley back and forth, to show the long-standing friendship between these characters. But somehow, I kept blowing my lines. Because of the way the shot was framed with all five of us in it, every time I messed up, we had to take it from the top.

By our tenth take, I could feel the annoyance rolling off the other actors.

By our twentieth, I was pretty sure they all wanted to kill me.

Worst of all, I didn’t even understand what I was doing wrong. The director just kept saying things to me like, “Don’t overthink it,” or “Give me a little more, Will.” We’d start over and I’d make the tiniest adjustment, which was inevitably followed by, “Not that much.” After every cut, we’d all pile back into the car, wait for the assistant director to yell, “Cameras are rolling, and action,” and then we’d begin again.

Once we climbed out of the car, Jack Ito delivered his line. Emma Rosen and Harper Royce spoke next, then me, so the three of them got to repeat their lines every time I fucked up. Yet somehow Taylor Keefe was the angriest of all, and every time we got back in the car, he’d shoot me a look that made it clear how much he was learning to hate me.

Finally, the assistant director called, “Let’s all take twenty.”

Lang came over to me and said, “Will, let’s take a walk.” It felt exactly like being pulled out of class to go to the principal’s office.

“You’re doing fine,” he told me as we left the set, which was obviously a lie. “It just seems like you’re trying too hard.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

“Starting with this scene was a mistake. I should have adjusted the shooting schedule when I learned Chambers was out and led off with something else. I’d originally decided to start with this one because Trent and the other actors are all friends. I thought I could build off the camaraderie that already existed between them, which in turn would carry over to the next scenes.”

I muttered, “But instead you have me totally destroying your schedule.”

“No, you’re not. Even if you’d all nailed it the first time, I still would have done a dozen takes to give us plenty to work with in editing.” We’d reached my trailer, and Lang gestured at it and said, “Take some time to regroup. Want me to send a production assistant your way with some coffee or water?”

“No thanks. My assistant stocked the trailer this morning.”

“Okay. I’ll see you in a few minutes then. Try to relax, and remember what I said, don’t overthink it.”

I climbed into the trailer and locked the door behind me. After I grabbed my phone, I curled into a ball on the couch, pulled a blanket over my head, and called Lorenzo. He sounded so happy and positive when he answered with, “This is a nice surprise! I didn’t think I’d hear from you until tonight. How’s your first day on the set going?”

“It’s horrible. We’re still on the first scene, because I keep fucking up my lines. We’ve had to do nearly thirty takes, and it’s totally humiliating.”

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