She came to my open doorway. “Yes?”
“Are you sure you actually still own a cat? Maybe it escaped.”
“I’m sure.” She looked around. “Wait, are you leaving?”
I sat back on my heels. “Yes, I want to be back before it gets dark. I have an early call tomorrow.” Plus, I hoped getting home early would make up for the fact that I hadn’t responded to my dad’s texts. Technically, I didn’t think they’d required a response. The first one had read, Long-distance trips are something we should discuss before they happen in the future. The second had read, I talked to your teacher, she said your last packet wasn’t your best work. Statements did not require answers.
I climbed to my feet, picked up my bag, and gave my mom a hug. “You should come with me, see the set, meet Grant and Amanda and my director. It would be fun.”
She nodded slowly. “It would be fun. But . . .” Her eyes looked around my room as if searching for the invisible cat.
“You can’t,” I finished for her.
“I’ll find the time. Just not this week.”
“Okay. Soon though.”
“Soon.”
I hugged her, then found my siblings in the kitchen. They sat at barstools eating frosting on graham crackers. I squished them each into a hug and assaulted their cheeks with multiple kisses. “Try not to have too much of a life without me.”
I made it all the way to the door before I realized I’d forgotten my charger on my nightstand. I turned to tell my mom as much but she hadn’t followed me to the door like she always used to do when I left the house. I backtracked to where she had joined my siblings at a barstool of her own and was spreading pink frosting onto a cracker.
“Tonight, we should have a movie night in your room,” Sydney said to Mom.
“Absolutely,” Mom responded.
“Can I pick the movie?” Colby asked.
“We’ll do the hat trick,” Mom said, and they both laughed. The hat trick? I had no idea what that was. I swallowed a lump that wanted to form in my throat and quickly retrieved my charger before leaving.
I walked through the door after my four-hour drive, not feeling at all how I’d hoped I would after my visit home. I hadn’t anticipated feeling like such an outsider in my own house. Like life worked perfectly fine, if not better, without me. Dad stood at the counter, and we locked eyes. I was too emotionally drained for a fight tonight.
“Next time I’ll tell you before I go to mom’s,” I said, defeated.
He pulled a plate out of the fridge that was covered in plastic wrap. “You hungry?”
I nodded, and he removed the plastic and put it in the microwave.
I plopped onto a barstool at the counter. “Thanks.”
“I’m not trying to hover, Lacey. I want what’s best for you.”
“Have you ever thought that maybe this is what’s best for me?”
The microwave beeped, and he placed the plate of pasta in front of me. I took a few bites.
He sighed. “I’m worried about you.”
“Why? I’m fine.”
“I’m worried something is going to happen that will shatter your spirit. Call it a gut instinct or a—”
“Overprotective father.”
“Sure, you can call it that. I just want to make sure you have a life to go back to if this experience ends badly for you.”
“This experience? Meaning, starring in a movie?”
“Yes.”
“What’s the worst that can happen, Dad? Bad reviews?” I asked, thinking about Donavan and his viral smackdown on Grant.
“I don’t know.”
“Even if the worst happened, I wouldn’t give this up. I’d try again. I’m tough.”
“I know you are.”
“This is what I’m supposed to be doing.” Now I just had to prove that was true. Maybe when this was all over, when my dad saw the results, he’d finally realize I could do this.
He shook his head, indicating that I was searching in the wrong place for the support I needed. It was never going to come from him.
Dancing Graves
EXT. FOREST BEYOND THE MANSION—NIGHT.
SCARLETT leads a group of zombies to a cave near the mountains, where she is hoping to gather them all and barricade them to keep them and the humans safe while her father works on a cure. She feels like she belongs with the zombies but still understands that she shouldn’t feel that way. She has moments where she is more aware than others and this is one of those moments. BENJAMIN follows her and waits until he can speak with her alone.
BENJAMIN
Scarlett. Is it safe?
SCARLETT
Never fully safe with me.
BENJAMIN
I know you would never hurt me. Why have you led them here?
SCARLETT
Buying time until my father can work a miracle.
BENJAMIN
This might not be a good idea to have them all together like this in the same place. If the wrong hunter finds out it could be disastrous.
SCARLETT
Then don’t tell anyone.
Fifteen
Those two days off were not good for me. I felt more out of character now than ever, having been only myself for the last two days.
The morning started off bad and didn’t get any better. Each scene required more takes than usual—Grant and I were not in sync. Remy got grumpier and grumpier as the day wore on. Especially when my advocate said I’d hit my hours limit for the day. I left the set probably as frustrated as Remy.
I was tough, I told myself. I needed to forget about the real world, my real life, for a while and put on my character off camera. I went out to the parking lot, fully costumed, to retrieve my Dancing Graves book from the trunk of the car. Grant’s fans were there, lining the barricades as always, holding their handmade signs. I thought about going up and saying hi. Showing them that I was nice and hoping they’d post something good about me. But in response to my publicist email, my agent had said, Just keep your head down and work. If we need a publicist, we’ll worry about that after filming, during movie promotion, when it will matter. I wondered if that was her nice way of saying I couldn’t afford one for a long period of time so I needed to time it right.
I focused on my car, trying to keep a neutral expression on my zombified face as I walked. I popped my trunk and retrieved the book. I took a deep breath and tried to channel Scarlett. Maybe I needed to start calling Grant Benjamin on and off set. I flipped to page one as I walked back to my trailer. It had been a while since I read the book. Unlike the script, it fully immersed me in the character and world that surrounded her with detailed descriptions and back stories.
I opened the door to my trailer, put the book facedown on the table, and went into the bathroom. The curtain was drawn around the small shower, which wasn’t how I’d left it. I reached toward it, ready to throw it open, when it was ripped to the side from within followed by a loud scream.
I picked up my hairbrush from the counter and swung it with a scream of my own before I registered that the person standing in my shower was Amanda.
“Were you going to kill me with a hairbrush?” she said through her laughter.
“You are evil. Pure evil,” I said.
She bowed, then stepped out of my shower.
“The devil herself is what you are. You almost made me pee my pants.”
She blew me a kiss and skipped out of my bathroom.
“How did you even get over here before me? I just saw you on set,” I said as she laid herself on my couch.
“I’m a fast runner.”
“This is why Grant has security guards outside his trailer.” Apparently mine was Grand Central station, anyone and everyone was allowed in. Despite my still-racing heart, I found myself smiling.
“Grant has security guards outside his trailer because he’s a big star.” She said the word big in a sarcastic voice, like it wasn’t true.
“Uh-oh. What happened?”
“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. That’s the problem.”
“You just gotta let yourself fall for me,” I said in a deep-voiced impersonation of him. “Are you sure you still want something to happen?”
“He gave you the speech too?”
“Yes.”
She nodded slowly. “He’s just doing what he always does, what works for him. Once he realizes that he likes me, he won’t flirt with everyone else.”
“If you say so.”
“Have you thought of a brilliant plan yet?”
I hadn’t, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t. “Too bad it’s not you who’s kissing him on camera next week. I watched your videos. That would totally sway him.” I straightened up. “That’s it.”
“What’s it?” she asked.
“You’re going to kiss him under the pretense of giving me some pointers.”
She sat up. “That’s a brilliant idea.”
“I know!”
“You’ll suggest this practice session at some point? If I do, it will be obvious.”
“Yes, I will.”
“You’re the best.” She put her feet up on my coffee table. “How are things going with your boy?”
“He’s not my boy.”
There was a knock at the door. Speaking of Grand Central. “Come in!”