Chapter 37
Sebastian
The Character Moment
I stood with Bryce, Dante, and the rest of the crew as Evie and Skye filmed their epic fight scene.
There’d been a silent call for anyone interested in watching two hot girls roll around to come out of their trailers, so naturally, almost a little disgustingly, the room filled fast. I hung near the back but still saw everything.
“Bro, what the fuck just happened?” Dante asked the room as Evie stormed off, leaving Skye on the ground, tears in her eyes and swollen lips pouting.
“The hottest fucking thing on this set,” a cameraman snickered, and Bryce leaned over and slapped him on the arm.
“Have some class, man. Obviously there were some blurred lines.”
Skye stood and called out to Evie, apologizing. Remembering she had an audience, her face flamed red and she began to blubber.
“I-I’m sorry. I don’t know why I...” Stumbling over her words, she put her face in her hands and fled the set, choking back tears.
“Blurred lines? I think there was a pretty cut and dry line,” I muttered, then hurried off to find Evie. Something was off.
I didn’t bother with a cart and instead jogged to the trailers. When I knocked and got no answer, I tried the handle and found the door locked. I sighed and looked around.
“I shouldn’t have done that.” Skye sniffled from behind me.
I turned and found her with red-rimmed eyes and puffy cheeks.
“Can… Can we talk?”
I cringed, looking from Evie’s trailer then back to Skye. I didn’t want to abandon Evie if she needed me, but looking at Skye about to have a complete meltdown had me nodding and following her to the trailer beside Evie’s, where she wailed so loudly, I jumped back, startled.
She collapsed onto the couch, and I stood there for a long moment, watching her cry, before eventually sitting beside her. In a flash, she was lying on my lap like a cat, crying.
“I can’t believe I did that!” she exclaimed.
Not sure where to place my hands, I settled on her ankles. I patted her politely.
“I just— I thought we were having a moment, and—oh God!”
I sat back and let her cry it out. The whole time, all I could think about was Evie. She’d run off so fast. What was going through her mind? It was just a kiss. But they hadn’t rehearsed that. Sometimes it was okay to improv, but if it didn’t land…
“I bet she’s disgusted with me, being...like that.”
“Being like what?”
There was a pause, and then she whispered, “Gay.”
“Why would you think that?” I asked, although we’d all seen Evie’s reaction to Skye’s kiss. But I knew Evie wasn’t homophobic.
“I— I shouldn’t like her.” She sniffled.
“You like her? Like, like-like her?”
The more Skye spoke, the more confusing yet clear things became. It was as if the pieces of a puzzle were all coming together. The playful flirting with Evie. Her trying to be with Evie outside of work almost every night. Small touches here or there.
Skye sat up and wiped her face. “Can I tell you something?”
I wasn’t entirely sure where this conversation was going. Would I have to compete for Evie with Skye? Of all the people I thought I’d have to worry about, I hadn’t considered her best friend.
“Yeah, of course. I’m here for you.” The words sounded fake coming from my lips. I wasn’t any good at any of this stuff—I wasn’t someone people came to for comfort.
“It’s about my past. My parents. They...”
The blood drained from my face. Parental trauma was not good. I had it in droves.
“Skye—”
“They are hyper-religious. They saw me kissing a girl and told me to never come home,” she blurted before I could stop her.
“Fuck your parents so hard. You don’t need them. You’ve got us.”
She rolled her eyes and sniffled. “Hardly. Evie hates me now.”
“That’s not true. She was just surprised.”
Eventually she calmed down. I stood and went to her mini fridge, pulling out water for both of us.
She threw her arms up and huffed. “Sebastian, I don’t think I like men very much!”
I fought back a laugh. “Is that so?” I recalled her going on a date with me in place of Evie the first day we met. However, looking back, she wasn’t all that interested in me, speaking mostly about getting the lead part alongside me. She’d been trying to schmooze, not seduce.
I could see the weight coming off her shoulders. She smiled and fell back against the couch, and I followed suit.
“Yeah. I mean, I’ve slept with guys. I went through a phase in high school. My parents were always trying to get me involved with the boys in youth group.”
I let her vent. She told me about her past. She’d grown up in a religious household, and after her parents caught her giving a chaste kiss to a neighbor girl, they disowned her. She spent the next few years trying to make it in Hollywood and then landed this gig.
“Evie...” She sighed and rubbed her face. “That was so dumb. I don’t know what I was thinking. I thought maybe we…”
“I’m sure she’s not as upset as you think,” I assured her.
“What if she hates me for being...”
The religion they’d shoved into her for years continued to return, and I wanted to murder both her parents and their church for what they said to her.
“Gay?”
“Maybe bi.” She scrunched up her nose in thought. “Sex with men isn’t terrible. I can appreciate the male form. I think I definitely like women more, though. God, that feels so good to say!”
I laughed. “Sexuality’s a spectrum. Everyone just falls somewhere on it. And Evie can’t hate you for being gay because then she’d have to hate me too, Skye.”
“You’re...” Her mouth fell open.
“I’ve had sex with both men and women. I prefer women.” I shrugged. “I came out publicly a few years ago. You didn’t know?”
“No! I had no clue. And it didn’t affect your career at all?” Her eyes widened as I told her a bit about my experience of coming out in Hollywood.
“Maybe ten years ago it would have been a bigger deal, but now? The only people making sexuality a big deal are the bigots, and no one listens to them here,” I assured her. “Honestly, I think making it public helped my career more than not.”
“Really?”
“Oh yeah. Horror is the gayest genre of film. I was welcomed by the fanbase with open arms.”
“So you think I should just…”
“Be yourself? Yeah, I do.” I gave her a half smile. I meant what I’d said. “But, like, if you could try to not steal my girl anymore, that would be great.”
“Oh, my God.” Her eyes widened. “Sebastian, I am so sorry! I was so worried about myself, I just realized I kissed your girlfriend. Fuck, I’m a mess! She didn’t kiss me back, I swear.”
I laughed and waved off her worry. “I know. You’re fine. Evie isn’t…” I’d had a heart-to-heart with her, sure. But I wasn’t going to spill about the PR deal. That was a lot of money to lose if it got out. “I’m not entirely sure she feels as strongly about me as I do about her,” I confessed.
That, I could say.
“Oh, Sebastian.” She threw herself at me, and I patted her awkwardly on the back. I was glad I could help her, but her exuberant energy was still a bit much for me.
There was a loud knock on the door, and I glanced at my watch. It’d been almost a full hour. Shit.
“Let’s get out there. Hopefully, you can finish the scene and go home. You want to get dinner or something?” I asked her. I had a feeling now that she’d come out, at least to me, she needed a friend tonight.
“I’d like that,” she said, and we exited her trailer, only to be greeted by a blinding flash that made us fall back.
“Sebastian! Have you moved on from Evie Reyes? Is your other co-star your new girlfriend? How does Evie feel about the relationship?”
A paparazzi, dressed in a security uniform was instantly tackled by an actual member of security.
I groaned as they ripped the camera away from him, but it didn’t matter.
As he fought them, I noticed a second one snapping photos with his phone.
He scurried away before I could chase after him.
I pointed security in his direction, but I knew it was too late.
A photo of Skye and me coming out of her trailer looking secretive was about to be on the internet in just a few hours.
Fuck.