Fame, Fate, and the First Kiss

by Kasie West

BENJAMIN

  We managed to drive them back, barely. I worry your father is too concerned with saving them when we should be more concerned with the living.

  SCARLETT

  They are the living, Benjamin. You shall see; Father will finish his cure and restore them.

  BENJAMIN

  I hope you are right. For their sakes.

  EVELIN

  For all of our sakes.

  A loud crash sounds as a stone is thrown through a window and lands with a thud on the carpet just behind Scarlett. Benjamin rushes the women out of the room.

  BENJAMIN

  Hide! And don’t come out until I tell you it’s safe!

  Two

  Grant James and I needed to be friends off set. That was all there was to it. It’s not like we didn’t talk between takes and goof around a little, but that was obviously not a big enough bond. If we were friends off set, as ourselves, we’d have a better flow and connection on camera. We’d been filming for only a week, but I should’ve thought of this before now.

  It was close to eight o’clock, so I had about an hour and a half to secure Grant’s friendship before my dad would expect me home. As I wove through the remaining crew putting away lights from that day’s shoot, I had to stop for a moment to take it all in. I was on an actual movie set, making an actual movie. I had dreamed of doing this for as long as I could remember and now it was finally happening. Happiness was not the right word to describe how I felt. Maybe euphoric or alive. Like everything I had worked for my entire life had led me to this.

  A couple of security guards were stationed in front of a row of barricades that surrounded Grant’s trailer. His trailer was set apart from the rest of them. As if he couldn’t mingle with the common actors.

  The guards were older, maybe midforties. I waved.

  “Hello, Ms. Barnes,” the guy on the right said.

  “Hi, just here to see Grant.”

  “Does he know you’re coming?”

  “No, but I thought we could run lines.”

  “If you’ll just wait here, I’ll check with him.” He freed his walkie-talkie from his shoulder and relayed my presence to someone else. I had no idea why there was the need for a middleman. I could literally see Grant’s trailer behind them with its lights on. All they needed to do was walk twenty steps and knock. Apparently the guards didn’t have clearance for his cell phone . . . or his front door. We all stood there in silence, me and two guys three times my size.

  “Do you have to stand here all night?” I asked when the silence stretched longer than a minute.

  “Yes, we do. We have the graveyard shift.”

  “I’m Lacey, by the way,” I said, but then realized he had said my name.

  “Yes, we know who you are.”

  I smiled. “Social custom dictates that this is the time when you tell me your names.”

  “Oh, right.” The one who’d been doing all the talking so far said, “I’m Duncan, and this is Phil.”

  Duncan’s walkie-talkie crackled, and a female voice came on. “Send her back.”

  “Let me guess,” I said. “I can go back?”

  Duncan smiled and stepped aside. “Go on back, Trouble.”

  “You’re not the first person who’s given me that nickname,” I said.

  “I have no doubt about that.”

  I patted Duncan on the shoulder as I walked by him. When I reached Grant’s trailer, I knocked.

  “Come in,” he said.

  I pulled on the handle and hopped up the two metal steps. His trailer was much bigger than mine. That was the first thing I noticed. A long couch on one wall, a table on the other, a flat-screen television, an amazing kitchen, a closed door in the back that I assumed was his bedroom. The second thing I noticed was him. He sat on the couch, eating a protein bar. He wore sweats that he’d rolled up to his knees and a T-shirt. It had been awhile since I’d seen him in street clothes. I was used to his blousy shirts, neck scarves, and vests. He looked more like his nineteen-year-old self like this. He met my eyes with his bright blue ones. Yes, he had a reason to be vain.

  “Hey,” he said. “I almost forgot what you looked like without all the makeup.”

  “I sensed you did.” I put my hands under my chin as if putting my face on display. “Commit it to memory for tomorrow.”

  He gave me a half smile and held up his protein bar. “Want one?”

  “No, thank you.”

  “I thought you went home,” he said.

  “No.” I pointed to an open cushion next to him on the couch. “Can I sit?”

  He moved his leg, which had been sprawled across the center cushion, down to the floor and said, “Sure.”

  “Soo . . .” I sat and looked around. Instant friendship wasn’t exactly something I aimed for very often. I didn’t have a problem making friends, but then again, I didn’t normally feel like my career was riding on having a connection with someone. Apparently that was enough to make me forget how I normally talked to people. I spotted a book sitting on the table across from us. “You like to read?”

  “Sometimes.”

  His phone chimed. He checked the screen and typed something into it. I reached over and picked up the book. It was Dancing Graves, the book the movie we were filming was based on. I’d read it right after I got the part. His bookmark was about fifty pages in. “You haven’t read it yet?” I asked, kind of surprised.

  “I’m working on it.”

  “Don’t you feel like books give you a more in-depth version of your character that you can work with?”

  “I like to bring my own spin to a character.”

  There was a knock on his door.

  “Come in!” he called.

  Amanda came walking in. She played Evelin, my best friend, kind, brave, and in love with my fiancé. She got to wear clean dresses and keep her beautiful brown skin free of any distortion makeup. In real life I knew even less about her than I knew about Grant.

  She carried two bottles of beer in her hands. Her eyebrows went up when she saw me. “Hello.”

  “Is one of those for me?” Grant asked.

  “Yes, sir. I thought you could use one after your talk last night about your tight neck.” She looked at me. “I didn’t know you’d be here or I would’ve brought another.”

  “Oh, that’s okay. I’m only seventeen.” As if I needed to get caught drinking here. That would be excuse enough for my father to rip up my contract and send me back to my mom’s.

  “Oh, right,” she said. “That’s why your dad is always hanging around.”

  Grant laughed and opened the bottle. I knew Grant was only nineteen, but I was sure normal rules didn’t apply to him. I had no idea how old Amanda was.

  “I keep forgetting what you look like without makeup on,” Amanda said to me.

  Grant kicked his foot in Amanda’s direction. “That’s exactly what I just told her.”

  “And the dirt highlights are awesome too,” she said.

  I ran my hand through my hair. Or tried to—it was nearly impossible. “It’s one of my better looks.”

  She patted Grant on the knee. “Make room for me.”

  He scooted down the couch, and she wedged herself between us. I was glad she’d come. Having an extra person here would make conversation easier. “Are you two dating?”

  Grant laughed. “No. But great friends.” He tapped his bottle against hers.

  “Did you know each other before this?” I asked.

  “No,” Amanda said. “But we’ve been hanging out.”

  If I had been able to stay here on location twenty-four seven, I’d probably be more bonded with them.

  “So what were you guys doing before I got here?” she asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Grant said. “Lacey just showed up. Did you need something, Lacey?”

  “No, I wanted to hang out for a little bit. Remy mentioned our chemistry today, and I thought this might be good for us.”

  Grant and Amanda exchanged a l
ook. “Yeah, could help,” he said.

  “What is it? Is there something I should know?” I asked, because they’d obviously talked about this.

  “No, not at all,” Amanda said. “You’ll get there.”

  “I know,” I said. Just because I was young didn’t mean I didn’t know how to act. I sighed and looked around the trailer. This wasn’t working. It felt forced, awkward. We needed to do something. “Let’s play a card game. Do you have a deck?”

  “Uh . . .” Grant pointed to a drawer by a sink. “Try there.”

  I stood and slid open the indicated drawer. Toward the back, past a pad of paper and some opened mail, I found a deck. I freed it and held it up. “Let the games begin.”

  “What are we playing?” Amanda asked. “Go fish?”

  “Funny.” I sat down at the table and shuffled the deck. “So here’s the game: It’s like war—high card wins the hand. But in this game, low card has to divulge something about themselves. Whoever has all the cards in the end wins.” This would not only help me get to know Grant better, but competition always livened up a room. And when people were having fun, they bonded.

  I patted the table in front of me. “Come on, you two, the night isn’t getting any younger.”

  “Not any younger than you,” Amanda said with a smile, but she stood anyway and took the seat across from me. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to be funny or if she was trying to dig at me for some reason. Either way, I knew how to hold my own.

  She looked at Grant, who had his phone out again. “Don’t be boring. Play with us.”

  He maintained his seat on the couch. “This game is pointless. Everyone already knows everything about me.”

  “Grant,” Amanda said in a warning voice.

  He gave an annoyed grunt and joined us.

  I dealt the cards. “Keep them on the table facedown and we all reveal them at once. Are you ready?”

  They both nodded.

  “Okay . . . go.”

  We flipped. I had a jack, Amanda turned up an eight and Grant came in low with a three.

  “And we have our first loser,” I said.

  “Of course,” he said.

  “I’ve never seen a loser look so much like a winner,” Amanda said.

  Oh. That was the problem. She may not have been dating him, but it was obvious she liked him. She liked him and thought I was here trying to take him from her. In a few weeks I was going to have to kiss him on camera, but I had no interest in him off camera. He was nice to look at, but he was not worth stalling my career over.

  “Okay, Grant,” I said. “Hit us with something interesting about you that we haven’t already read online.”

  “Maybe it would be easier to correct some of the things you’ve read about me online.”

  “That works too,” I said. “It’s something new either way.”

  “Okay, I do not, in fact, have a cat named Buddy. His name is Bucky.”

  “Boo,” Amanda said. “Give us something interesting.”

  “You’ll have to win more than one hand for those,” he said.

  “No,” I said. “That was fine. The key to this game is speed, so someone shares a fact and we immediately do another round.” I rested my hand on top of my deck. “Also, I didn’t know you were a cat person. How come you don’t bring him to live in the trailer with you?”

  “He lives with my parents when I’m filming.”

  “Next,” Amanda said, and we all flipped our cards.

  “Amanda,” I said, when she got the lowest. I snapped my fingers. “Speed.”

  “Yes, I like to drive fast.”

  I rolled my eyes, but we all flipped again.

  Grant drummed the table with two fingers. “I used to play.”

  “The drums?” I asked. “Were you good?”

  “Why do you think I became an actor?”

  I laughed. “Much more practical.”

  The next flip I lost. “I can eat an entire large pizza by myself.” Although I hadn’t done that lately. Lately, I’d been watching nearly everything that went in my mouth.

  “Gross,” Amanda said as we flipped again.

  Now the game was picking up.

  “I have watched every single animated Disney movie,” Amanda yelled out.

  “Impressive,” I said.

  “I used to run track,” Grant said after he lost. “I like to run.”

  “I hate animals,” I said for the next round. “They stink and leave fur all over stuff.”

  Grant gasped, and Amanda laughed.

  “I can sleep for twelve hours straight,” Amanda said. “I would beat anyone in a sleep-off.”

  “My weakness is carne asada french fries,” Grant said. “I spend an extra hour in the gym daily so I can eat them.”

  “I have acted in three different soap operas,” Amanda said.

  “Nice,” I said.

  “And now I’m in a movie,” she said.

  “You are?” Grant asked. “Which one?”

  “The best one in the world,” I said.

  Grant laughed, and Amanda yelled out, “Hear hear!”

  I lost the next round. “I like to sing,” I said.

  “Ooh, you two can start a band,” Amanda said.

  “I don’t want a second-rate drummer in my band.”

  Grant shoved my shoulder. Amanda collected the cards in the center of the table for winning that round.

  Grant lost next. “I once proposed to a girl, and she said no.”

  Amanda paused as she was reaching for the cards. “What?”

  “You’re only nineteen,” I said.

  “And we were only five at the time.”

  I blew air out between my lips and threw a card at him.

  “I’m keeping this,” he said adding it to his stack.

  We finished out the game a few rounds later, with Amanda winning. “Let’s go again,” she said.

  “Wait,” I said, noticing a clock on his wall. “Is that the actual time or is it off?” The clock said ten to ten.

  “Uh-oh,” Amanda said. “The little girl has a curfew. Are you going to turn into a pumpkin?”

  “Pulling out the Disney references,” I said.

  “You know it.”

  “I have to go. This was fun.” I stood.

  “This was fun,” Amanda said. “See you on set tomorrow.”

  “Remember my face,” I said, giving Grant a wink.

  He smirked.

  I hopped down the steps and onto the asphalt, feeling okay about how that went. It stayed fairly surface level, but that was to be expected for the first round.

  I’d only made it a few steps before I heard the door open behind me. I looked back to see Amanda.

  “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute,” she said.

  “Sure.”

  She glanced over her shoulder at the shut door and led me a little farther away from the trailer. “I know Grant said we weren’t together, but I’d like to be.”

  “Okay.” I had figured as much.

  “I wanted to put that out there.”

  I held my hands up. “He’s all yours. I don’t date.”

  “Okay, I just . . . wait, what? You don’t date? Like, at all?” Her dark eyebrows were down in confusion. “For religious reasons or something?”

  I laughed. “No. For career reasons. I don’t need the distraction. I need to focus.”

  She smiled. “Okay.” Then she nodded back toward Grant’s trailer. “I need to focus too.”

  “Have fun. See you tomorrow.”

  She took two steps back, then stopped and said, “So if you don’t date, how are you feeling about the kissing scene coming up? Do you . . . uh . . . know what you’re doing?”

  “I’ve kissed guys before.” Though only when I was performing.

  “Well, if you need some pointers on chemistry or the kissing scene, I’m kind of known for that. I am the soap opera queen, after all.”

  “I think I’m okay. Thanks though. I just ne
eded a little bonding time with Grant, and we had that.”

  “Yes, we did. We’ll have to all do this again some time.”

  “For sure,” I said. Even though I’d gone into it with a goal in mind, I’d actually had a lot of fun. “And, hey, I may not date, but I’m a notorious matchmaker. If you need help with a plan on how to land Grant James, I’m your girl.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “I’d love that,” she said.

  “It’s a deal, then. We’ll talk soon.”

  She practically skipped back to the trailer. This whole night had turned out better than I had hoped. It surprised me. Now maybe my dad would surprise me and not get mad at me for being late.

  Three

  “You’re late,” Dad said when I walked through the door.

  “Hey, Dad. Nice to see you.” I walked into the small living room that was adjacent to the small kitchen. My dad had come to LA a couple of months before me to find us a decent place to live. He was a graphic designer and did most of his work from home, so he assured me it wasn’t too big of a sacrifice on his end, but I knew it wasn’t the easiest thing in the world to pick up his whole life and move either, even if only for half a year.

  “Are you late because you were so wrapped up in your schoolwork that you didn’t notice the time?” he asked.

  I patted a stack of boxes three-high to the right of the television. “Did I learn my procrastination from you? How long have you been here? Two months? What’s even in these boxes? Obviously not anything pertinent to our survival.” I tried to pry open the top one, but it was taped shut.

  “Lacey,” he said in a warning voice.

  “I know it might not seem like I was doing homework, but I really was.”

  “Packet.”

  “I don’t have it. I left it in my trailer.”

  “I don’t know what to do with you right now. I don’t know whether to talk to your director about this or—”

  “Please don’t. Please. Everyone already thinks I’m this little girl on set. As if no lead role in the history of Hollywood has ever been played by a seventeen-year-old.”

  He stared at me for a moment, a long unnerving moment. Then he said, “There’s lasagna in the fridge if you’re hungry.” He turned around, walked down the very short hall, and shut himself in his room.