Page 77 of Starrily
“She’s had a taste of freedom, she’ll never be the same,” Simon yelled as he followed after Callie, and they all ran, each a few feet after the other. They got out of the trailer park and into the movie set proper; Callie paid little notice to cameras, massive lights, screens, and other equipment as she pursued Theia until the cat circled a crowd of people, all wearing silver suits.
“Theia!” Callie barked.
“Cut. Cut!” A voice came through the megaphone. The people in the crowd murmured.
“You two.” A man stood from his chair on the far end of the field, surrounded by cameras and crew. “Did I tell you to separate from the others? No. Get back in. We’re starting from the beginning.”
Panicked, Callie looked for Simon, who appeared right behind her and gently pushed her toward the crowd. “Act normal.”
“That’s the problem,” she whispered. “I don’t know how to act. You know I’m terrible in front of the camera.”
“It’s fine. We’re in the back. Nobody will see you.” He nodded to another silver-costumed extra and shook his limbs as if warming up for a run.
“And … action!”
Callie didn’t see much through the crowd, but she heard talking up front—probably the main actors. A song blared through the speakers: a few strums of a guitar, and then a female voice started singing, soon joined by another one, then a male one.
“Are you kidding me?” Callie said. “It’s a musical?”
“It’s a sci-fi musical,” Simon corrected.
“What are they doing over there?” She rose on her toes, not that it helped.
“They appear to be dancing. More people are joining in … yup, it’s a musical,” Simon reported.
“What are we doing?”
“We’re just the background. Keep moving in that direction. We’ll sneak out on the other side and find Theia.”
A crew member standing at the side waved with his hands, and a few extras raised posters with handwrittenWelcome to Earthmessages. Trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible, Callie slowly moved sideways like a crab, pretending to be a part of the cheering crowd—minusthe cheering—as she progressed toward the other end of the set.
“You know what, after a day of K-pop, this isn’t too bad.” Simon tapped his foot in the rhythm as he moved along with her. In their slow pace, they’d managed to get over two-thirds of the way through. Callie saw the end of the crowd, even if she couldn’t see Theia yet.So close.
“Cut!” The director stood again. “One more time, but let’s try it with a twist. We need a couple. You, over there. Tall ginger guy and the black girl next to you.”
Callie froze.
“Mike, center the camera on them when the song gets to, ‘and I’m rising up,’” the director continued. “You two gaze up at the spaceship and don’t forget to look happy. This is the event of your lifetime, okay? Five seconds, then you look back at each other and kiss. Got it? Let’s go.”
“Tell me he wasn’t talking to us,” Callie said.
“I’ve bad news for you. There aren’t any other red-haired people in this crowd,” Simon said. “On the bright side, you get to imagine looking at a spaceship.”
The scene resumed, and after the preliminary dialogue and a pop dance sequence, a crew member gave the sign to Callie and Simon. He held her hand, and they looked up. Only a dark blue sky, slowly fading into purple. Callie imagined the sleek, beautiful Starship Andromeda hovering high above them, endless stars behind her, as far as the eye could see and further. Three, two, one …
She looked at Simon. His blue eyes sparkled, and a slight, irresistibly seductive smile played on his lips. It’s been over a week since their kiss, and he hadn’t said a word about it. She didn’t think he changed his mind about what he’d said that night, and she surely hadn’t, but she’d been so preoccupied. They both were.
She didn’t even know if he liked her kiss.
Simon leaned in, ever so slowly, and butterflies rose in her stomach. Maybe he did like it. For the moment, she could imagine they were someone else—two free spirits on their space adventure, not a man who might become a ghost and a woman with too many fears to count. She parted her lips, never taking her eyes off him as he drew near.At least I don’t have to act this part.So close—three inches, two inches away—
“Cut!”
Simon zapped back as if being rudely woken up from a dream.
“Nicely done,” the director shouted over the megaphone. “Take fifteen, everyone.”
And just like that, the moment was gone.
