“Ah, the lovebirds,” she teased.
“Cut it out, Felicia,” Tyler said. “I told you we were just—” He stopped himself midsentence, then asked, “Wait—did you tip off the press?”
She grinned.
“Not cool,” Tyler said. I could tell he was really angry. “I’d never do that to you.”
“Publicity is good, Ty,” she said as she flung an arm around his shoulder. “Don’t be mad.”
Tyler’s uncle arrived then. A young woman wearing a headset and walkie-talkie was right behind him.
“We need Tyler and Felicia on the set,” the woman announced.
“How are you today, Ms. Blume?” Uncle Fred asked.
I mumbled, “Fine,” and left the trailer with everyone else.
They’re filming on a new set now—a café/surfer shop called Catch the Wave. In the new scene, Vivian enters the café, nervously looks around for J.B., sees him, and shyly says hello. Then she has a line about surfing. He says some-thing about school. They’re each trying to make the other more relaxed. But they don’t seem relaxed. Probably because neither of the actors are. They’ve filmed this scene six times so far.
I haven’t had a chance to be alone with Tyler again. He came over to talk to me between takes. So did Felicia. I bet she was making sure we didn’t have any more private moments. I think (I hope?) Tyler was as frustrated by that as I was.
Felicia is acting like she’s jealous of me, which is way too weird to even contemplate. It’s probably all an act, in case a gossip columnist shows up on the set.
Here comes the assistant director, Maura Davis.
More later.
In Car on Way to Vanish Rehearsal
7:29 P.M.
Unbelievable.
Unreal.
Here’s what happened.
Maura sat down next to me and said that she was glad I was there because she wanted to talk to me about something. Then she started telling me how Vance and my father have decided Love Conquers All needs a series of short takes of J.B. and Vivian having fun together. “You know, the look-how-much-they’re-in-love scenes,” Maura explained. “J.B. and Vivian picnic on the beach. He teaches her how to swim. They slow dance under the stars. Vance wants to have the dancing-under-the-stars scene on the deck of Catch the Wave. And he wants the music at the café to be live.”
I wondered why she was telling me all this.
“I told Vance we should use a band with teen musicians,” Maura continued. “I had the idea because of your tape.” She said Vanish was the kind of band they’d want for that scene in the movie.
I was shocked and told her that I certainly didn’t think we were good enough to perform in a movie.
She said that we were plenty good enough. She assured me it would be a short scene, and that our music would make it very authentic. “I thought you and your band would love the idea,” she said.
I personally hated the idea, but I knew the rest of the band would love it.
“They love to perform,” I admitted.
“We could also use some of your friends as extras,” Maura added. “Say, fifteen of them. And of course you’ll sing, Maggie. You have a marvelous voice.”
Maura can’t really think we’re good enough for a movie. She probably had this idea because of Dad.
And my voice—well, what she said just isn’t true.
Tyler joined us then, followed by Felicia. Maura told them the idea for the new scenes. And for using Vanish.
“A tape,” Tyler said. “I didn’t know you had a tape.”
“Me neither,” said Felicia.
Maura told them that Vanish was good and I was terrific.
I was blushing like crazy at that point. And my stomach was turning over.
“It’s all so perfect,” Felicia purred. “Maggie will sing while Tyler and I dance. It’ll make a great press release.”
Tyler glared at her. But she didn’t pay any attention and flashed her toothy grin at all of us.
“I realize it’s short notice,” Maura told me. “But we’d love to shoot that scene while we still have the café set. Say, tomorrow afternoon. I can work out the details with your manager. Do you have a manager?”
I nodded and told her Amalia was our manager. I also told her I had a band rehearsal in a little while. Maura gave me her business card to give to Amalia.
“Have her call me as soon as possible,” she said.
I looked at my watch. It was time to go. As I was leaving I heard Maura tell Tyler, “They’re really good; I’ll lend you the tape.”
I’m so nervous. Tyler is going to hear me sing. What if he thinks I’m terrible?
I can’t think about that. It’s time to break my big news.
9:30 P.M.
Everything is spinning out of control.
When I got to Rico’s garage I motioned to Amalia that I had to talk to her privately.
We stood in the back of the garage. She asked what was up and I told her I’d just come from the set. I described the sequence of short scenes they were adding to the film. “They’re going to show J.B. and Vivian having fun together as they fall in love,” I explained.
“They do that a lot in movies,” Amalia said. “But remember, Maggie, it’s make-believe. Tyler doesn’t like Felicia like that in real life.”
I realized that Amalia thought I was jealous of Tyler and Felicia. So I blurted out the news that the director wanted to hire Vanish to play in one of those scenes.
“What!?” Amalia shrieked as she jumped up and down. “Maggie, you don’t mean it! That is so awesome!”
I tried to shut her up. I wanted to talk about it quietly with her before anyone else knew. But it was too late. Rico, Bruce, and Patti ran to us to see what the commotion was all about. Justin followed, but he took his time.
Amalia told them the news. Everyone but Justin was excited.
“We’ll be in the credits,” Rico cheered. “In big letters!”
“Forget the credits, we’ll be on the screen!” Bruce shouted. “Millions of zillions of people will hear OUR MUSIC! They’ll see us!”
“What do they want us to play?” asked Patti.
“What should we wear?” added Rico.
I told them that Amalia was going to work out the details. I gave her Maura’s card and she went into Rico’s house to phone her. While Amalia was gone I told the band how boring it can be on a movie set and that they shoot a lot of scenes they never use.
But no one was paying much attention to me. They were all too excited about the big break for Vanish.
Everyone but Justin.
“It’s such a last-minute thing,” he said. “How come?”
I explained that they had these new scenes to put in the film and they wanted to use a live high school band for one of them.
“And they heard our tape and they want us,” added Rico.
“I just wondered,” Justin continued. “I mean, whose idea was this?” He looked right at me. “Your father’s?”
“Hey, man, who cares how it happened?” Rico said to Justin. “It happened and we better be ready for it.”
“It wasn’t my father’s idea,” I assured everyone. My voice was shaking, I was so embarrassed and angry that Justin had said that. “The assistant director for the film had our tape. I met her at that party for the film at my house.”
“You meet a lot of people that way,” Justin mumbled.
Had he seen the newspaper photo and gossip column?
Was he jealous?
Some nerve. I was nice to him about Nancy, so why was he being a creep to me about Tyler?
Justin didn’t look at me again for the rest of the rehearsal. Or maybe he did and I didn’t notice because I wasn’t looking at him.
Amalia came back from phoning Maura. She told us we were performing two songs: “Rock It” and “You’re Mine.” “Rock It” is fast. But “You’re Mine” is slow, so that must be the song that Tyler and Felicia will dance close to.
I
’ll have to remember that they are acting.
It’s a movie.
Make-believe.
I’m so nervous about tomorrow that I couldn’t eat a bite of my dinner. I know that’s bad, but I couldn’t help it.
Maura said the band should wear black pants and that the wardrobe department will have tops for them.
I have to bring three outfits I think would be suitable. Wardrobe will make the final decision about what I should wear.
Now I have to call Ducky, Dawn, and Sunny to tell them they can be in the movie if they want. Each of the other band members and Amalia are inviting two people so we’ll have thirteen extras.
What if my friends don’t like Tyler?
What if he doesn’t like me when I’m with them?
What if I don’t like him when he’s with them?
What if…
A new thought—Justin and Tyler! Justin’s been acting so weird toward me. How will he treat Tyler? How will he treat me when Tyler is around?
I have to worry about all of this and SINGING TOO!
Help!
10:15 P.M.
News and gossip travel faster than the speed of light around here. Ducky already heard about the shoot. Which meant so did Sunny and Dawn. They were waiting for me to call and officially invite them. Sunny thinks it will be a blast. Dawn loves the idea too.
But Ducky is way-over-the-top excited. He kept asking me what he should wear. I finally told him that his plaid shorts and Day-Glo green shirt would be perfect.
I didn’t invite Jill to be an extra. I don’t think I can trust her to act sane and calm on the set. But she’d be so excited if she could meet Tyler Kendall. It would mean so much to her.
I better invite her.
Otherwise, I’ll feel guilty about it for the rest of my life.
I’ll call her, then I’ll go to bed.
I am so nervous.
How am I going to sleep tonight?
STAGE FRIGHT
Nerves.
On edge.
Stomach rumbles.
Fingers fumble.
As they stumble along the keyboard.
Voice croaks.
I choke on every word.
It’s all gone wrong.
There is no song.
11:00 P.M.
Tyler just called. He was afraid he woke me up—which he didn’t. He said he wanted me to know that he’d listened to the Vanish tape and loved it. He went on about how great my lyrics are. And said he loved my voice. I said thank you and stopped myself from saying I wasn’t good. (Thank you, Dr. Fuentes!)
Then he said that I was lucky I can express myself through my music, especially by singing my own lyrics.
I said he expressed himself in acting.
“But I’m saying someone else’s lines,” he added.
We talked for quite awhile about that idea. And other ideas too. I even told him how nervous I am about tomorrow.
I’m going to try to sleep now. Otherwise the circles under my eyes will be too dark for even Hollywood’s best makeup artists to cover.
Saturday 5/8
Late
What a long, long, l-o-n-g day.
Ducky picked me and my three outfits up at 6:30 this morning. We had to be at Sound Studio 5 at 7:00 A.M. Sunny and Dawn were already in the car.
Sunny was wearing a tiny stretch top that showed off her belly button ring. She had her Rollerblades with her. I told her she was dressed perfectly for the scene.
“I brought some extra clothes,” Ducky told us. “So the costume department will have some choices.”
“I bet you have your whole closet in the trunk of the car,” said Sunny.
We laughed. Ducky loves clothes. And he can never decide what to wear. So he probably did have his entire wardrobe with him.
Patti, Bruce, Rico, and their friends were in the sound studio when we arrived. They’d already discovered the catering table.
“Ho, Moggo,” said Rico through a mouthful of doughnut. “Thos is gweat.”
I looked around for Tyler. He wasn’t there. Justin wasn’t either.
Rico’s father and Amalia went off for a meeting with Maura in the production office.
I spotted Justin, who had just arrived on the set. Nancy was with him.
I turned away so they wouldn’t see me seeing them.
I wished Tyler were around. And then I wished he weren’t. I was glad that Nancy was there for Justin. Then I wished she wasn’t. I was so confused that a queasy feeling rippled through my stomach.
As I was opening a juice box, Jill whispered in my ear, “He’s here, Maggie. He’s here!”
I reminded Jill that she’d promised me she’d control herself on the set.
“But Tyler sees you, Maggie. And he’s coming over HERE!”
I looked up. Tyler was headed in our direction. He gave me a hi sign.
I introduced Jill, who had the stupidest grin on her face. At least she didn’t ask for his autograph.
It was weird introducing Tyler to my friends. Ducky was sort of jittery and nervous. He said something like, “Hey, Tyler, man, this is way cool, I mean such a big, fun thing for you to invite us, you know, to be in the movie and WOW!”
Sunny giggled.
Dawn acted like herself.
Justin totally avoided the being-introduced-to-Tyler moment.
Brendan, who’d arrived with Jill, was very laid-back and nice.
But I felt awkward and was relieved when Maura sent us all to makeup.
Tyler walked with me. Everyone left us alone for that couple of minutes. Except for Jill, who trailed us part of the way.
“I didn’t think you’d be here until later,” I told Tyler after Jill had faded away.
“I came early,” he said. “To see you. And meet your friends.”
Yes!
Tyler hung out with me while they did my makeup. I tried to carry on a normal conversation, but it was hard to do. Justin was in the makeup chair next to me. Tyler—who doesn’t know that I used to have a crush on Justin—introduced himself. Justin was courteous but stiff.
I was also stiff. Or at least my face was. They put so much makeup on me!
After awhile, Tyler went to his trailer to do some homework. The rest of us went to wardrobe.
For the record, this is what we ended up wearing.
Rico, Bruce, Justin, and Patti: Black pants with tight, shiny polo shirts—hot pink (Rico), sage green (Justin), bright orange (Bruce), a gorgeous shade of blue (Patti).
Wardrobe wanted me to wear a black skirt with a shimmering silver sleeveless shirt. Dad came by, beaming, and gave me a big thumbs-up.
We rehearsed for an hour while the film crew adjusted lights, placed mikes, etc., etc. Maura said we sounded great. Vance said we’re just what he wants for this scene. Dawn said my father came on the set when I was singing, but I didn’t see him. I hope I didn’t embarrass him.
Our Schedule:
1:00 P.M. Lunch break, Felicia and Tyler in makeup and costume.
1:45 P.M. Touch-up on our makeup on the set.
2:00 P.M. A run-through of the first part of the scene with Felicia and Tyler.
2:30 P.M. Cameras. Action. Take One.
I was so nervous at lunch I couldn’t even swallow water.
While I was having my makeup touched up, I tried to swallow. I couldn’t. My vocal cords were constricted.
When the makeup artist moved on to the next person, I made little coughing sounds to try to clear my throat. It was hopeless. I thought, I’ll have to tell Maura I can’t sing. I knew I’d disappoint the band members, but wasn’t that better than ruining the scene by croaking?
“How’s it going?” a voice behind me asked.
I turned and faced Tyler.
“I can’t do it,” I croaked. “Lost my voice.”
“It’s just stage fright,” he said. “Remember?”
I shook my head no. “I can’t sing,” I insisted.
“Breathe with me,” he sa
id. “Slowly.”
We took a few deep breaths together.
“Positions, everyone,” a voice boomed.
Tyler smiled reassuringly at me and said I’d be great. He handed me a cough drop before he turned to go back to Felicia.
I unwrapped the cough drop, put it in my mouth, and joined the rest of the band.
I was still nervous. But more under-control nervous.
ESTABLISHING SHOT: Catch the Wave deck. Evening. Thirteen teens sitting at tables and standing around listening to a live band. Cool-looking boy and girl dancing on the side (Sunny and Ducky).
TRACKING LONG SHOT: Vivian and J.B. walk in and sit at a small table.
CLOSE ON J.B. and Vivian having intimate, silent conversation.
They did eleven takes of those three shots. We played the first chords of the song eleven times! In between the takes the crew made more adjustments to cameras, lights, sound.
We never played the song all the way through. They only needed the first stanza as background for those three shots.
By two o’clock I was totally exhausted and bored. And our music was beginning to show it. My friends, the extras, were dropping too. Jill had even stopped staring at Tyler.
Maura called a break. Vance went into a huddle with Tyler and Felicia to talk about the next scene. The rest of us threw back some sodas.
More makeup and hair touch-up.
Back on the set for the second half of the scene.
SOUND: Band playing love song. Lead singer at mike. (ME!)
MEDIUM CLOSE-UP: J.B. takes Vivian’s hand. They stand to dance. J.B. puts his arms around Vivian’s waist and they slow dance in place. She’s tentative, he’s more relaxed.
CLOSE ON J.B. whispering in Vivian’s ear. She leans back and smiles shyly but lovingly. They dance even closer together.
FADE-OUT.
Tyler and Felicia did that LUV scene over and over and over. And I sang the same LUV lyrics for them over and over and over. All my friends were watching.
VERY WEIRD!
Finally, Maura shouted, “It’s a wrap,” and the shoot was over.
Maura thanked us and said it had been a great day. My friends seemed happy. Tyler said good-bye to everybody, told me he’d call me, and left with Felicia.
Diary Three Page 19