Chapter 23
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
Grayson
I don’t always spot people in the crowd, but during today’s performance I see a familiar face sitting front and center in the VIP section. Mason. He smiles broadly at me as I take the final bow and then stands up as I run over to him.
“Great show,” he says proudly.
“How are you? It’s been a while!” I reply. He’s been busy with physical therapy and job hunting, and I’ve been busy with three different jobs, so we haven’t had a chance to get together. I’ve texted him a few times to check in, but it’s good to see him again. He looks better, stronger than the last time I saw him.
“I’m good. I’m working at a car dealership and making pretty good money actually,” he says. “It’s a lot easier than this,” he jokes.
“But a lot less fun,” I reply. I instantly regret saying it. I know he can’t come back here. The physical therapy has been going well, but it’s still slow for him. He wouldn’t be able to do half the stunts he used to. Plus, I can’t even imagine what fear he has lying under the surface. Once you get injured like that, I don’t know how you ever come back.
“I’m sorry,” I quickly say.
“Don’t be. You’re right. It’s less fun, but it has its perks.” He’s the same old Mason. He’s cheerful and happy with whatever circumstance he’s in.
“How are the rest of the guys?” he asks.
“You should come hang out during break,” I reply. His face brightens at the idea. When we walk into the room, we are met with a chorus of cheers and people yelling, “Mason!”
“I missed this place,” he says with a smile as Mikey pulls him into a hug.
Mason updates everyone on the new job, listens to the complaints about our job, and pulls me aside and wants to know every detail about the movie. I’m not allowed to divulge a lot of information because it’s all secretive and I had to sign an NDA. It honestly reminds me a lot of working at the park. Everyone is so tight-lipped that I never know what I can and can’t say. I tell Mason a few of the stunts I have to do and how great the crew is. I explain how it works with editing and that if they do a good job, you’ll never be able to tell which scenes are me and which ones are the professional actor. Then he asks me about Quinn, and I can’t stop my grin.
“Oh boy, you like her a lot,” he remarks.
“I do. Yeah.”
“Isn’t she leaving at the end of the summer?” he asks.
My stomach falls a little. That’s something I’ve been avoiding. I don’t want to think about her leaving. I want her to stay, but I don’t know how I can tell her that without seeming like I’m crazy. We’ve already told each other that we love each other and even that seemed fast and a little absurd. For me to tell her to change her whole life seems like a whole different extreme.
“I hope she doesn’t,” I finally reply.
“Does she know that?”
“Don’t come at me with all your married wisdom,” I retort.
Mason chuckles deeply and relents.
Today is a crazy day on set. We are filming a scene where I fight five guys at a party. Bottles are thrown, chairs are broken, and it ends in an explosion. They choreograph the whole scene, so it’s all about memorizing exactly where I need to be and hitting my mark. We just finished our third run-through when they announce that it’s time to film it. It starts with the first guy trying to punch me in the face, but I dodge it, grab his arm, and flip him onto his back. A mat is waiting for him on the floor to cushion his landing. Then I roll on my back across a table and kick another guy in the middle of his chest. It’s followed by a wire pull, so he flies across the room seemingly from the impact of my kick. That’s when I hear a glass bottle break behind me and turn to see a man brandishing it like a weapon. He stabs while I dodge before I drop to the floor and kick his feet out from under him. This is when I stay on the floor as a man reaches me and starts to kick me. We time it just right to look like his kicks are delivering a painful blow as my body reacts. Then I do a kick-up, where I slide my hands behind my head and propel my body and legs up into a standing position. I punch him in the face, and he dramatically falls backward onto a mat.
This leaves one guy left to fight. He’s huge, and this is where the actor that I’m stunting for will add some humor as he swallows and looks nervous. The man walks straight up to me and punches me in the face. It’s a stunt punch, so I don’t actually get hit as long as everyone is on their marks. It has been a little too close for comfort before, though. It’s all about camera angles and stacking the punch so that when his fist comes towards my face, it blocks it and you see my head fly back even though his fist actually stops a few inches from impact. When we time it right, it looks great. I stumble backward and land on a chair that is built to break beneath me easily. I look up as he stands over me, and that’s when I notice a small fire that somehow started in the corner of the room. Honestly, I don’t know how or why it got started, but it makes the scene more dramatic. I roll away from the enemy and knock the keg onto the fire. He looks at me and bellows out a laugh, but I turn and run towards the camera. It only takes a second for the explosion to happen and for my wire pull to yank me to the side. This is where the actor steps in, looking beat up and bloody on the ground.
The director yells cut and I stand up and brush myself off. The crew applauds as they always do after a big scene like this. I clap a few of the other guys on the back as we walk back to the director. That was pretty smooth for a first take and I’m feeling great about it. Then I look up and see Quinn hovering in the back. My smile grows even more significant as I rush over to her.
“That was amazing,” she gushes. She’s been to set one other time for lunch, but didn’t get to watch any scenes.
“It’s all fake,” I tease. “I’m not actually that cool.”
“How much of the movie is left?” she asks.
“It’s kind of weird because they don’t film it in the right order. We are just filming random scenes at random times. But I think we are done with maybe half,” I explain.
“Hi there,” a woman says, and I turn to see the director smiling at Quinn.
“Hi! I’m Quinn,” Quinn says, and I can see her inner fangirl a little. I smile at her. It’s very cute.
“So you’re the girlfriend,” my director says.
Quinn beams, and I wonder if it will ever get old seeing her react like that. We’ve been together for the whole summer now, and she still acts like it’s the first time anyone has called her my girlfriend.
“I am,” Quinn replies proudly.
“Well, Grayson has been doing great. He’s made for this kind of work.”
“I agree,” Quinn grins.
“Okay, enough about Grayson already. What about me?” a guy says beside me. It’s the stuntman from the explosion. He’s wearing a costume that is fire resistant, though it still holds a distinct gasoline and fire smell. But considering he was that close to a real explosion, I don’t think it’s too bad.
“Nice to meet you,” he says to Quinn. Quinn smiles, but it looks forced. I don’t understand the look on her face. It almost looks like a grimace. I look back and forth between them and wonder if she’s met him before or something. He’s a nice guy, but Quinn suddenly looks uncomfortable. He continues walking, and Quinn breathes out loudly.
“He smelled so bad,” she whispers. I can’t help but laugh.
“Yeah, it’s the outfit and the explosion. And probably some sweat too,” I explain.
She coughs, “Thank god you don’t smell like that.”
I laugh again. “Thanks, Q. You smell nice too.”