Chapter 19: Making a Movie

Friday January 16

Tracy had another breakdown, mid-week. Her depression didn't seem to be getting any better. Tom talked to me, and there was talk where she would drop out of school for a semester and get some extensive treatment. He never came out and said it, but I suspected they were worried she might do something stupid. I had gone over to see her Thursday night, but she was asleep. I never got a chance to talk to her.

One unexpected result from last Saturday night, was Brit's new bodyguards: her brothers. She was a little put out that they had become so protective. I on the other hand was fine with it. Brit seemed like a nice girl, but there was no way I would date the girl next door – literally!

On the school front, I was amazed at how helpful they were being. Each teacher had taken the time to sit down with me, and tutor me on my assignments for when I would be gone. Kendal told me there would be a tutor on site, and time set aside for my studies. This was one of the reasons teenagers were not used as much for movies. I was told a typical day could be twelve or more hours. They didn't want to take breaks so the talent could go study their lessons.

I was let out of school at noon so I could travel to Canada. The production staff had made allowances for me. They pulled all the studio scenes from the story board, which included me, and scheduled them for the next two weeks. On this trip we would shoot on sound stages in Vancouver. There was a part of the movie where we would shoot outdoors. The plan was for this to take place in a few weeks in the Northwest Territories at a place called Yellowknife, the Gateway to the North.

Kendal picked me up from school. We swung by my place to let Duke out and grab my clothes for the next couple of weeks. Mom had originally said she would go with me, but her real estate business had picked up and she decided to make money while she could. We were quickly on the road to the airport.

"Now that I have you captive, I want to tell you what is going on in your career," Kendal teased me.

"I hope this isn't my career," I shot back meaning I wanted to do more than act or model.

"We got our first check for the movie. Let's just say I get to ride in first class with you now," she said as an indication of the amount of money involved.

I would quickly find that movie stars could make a lot of money. Even my role, as a supporting actor, would earn me more than I had to this point in my career. The even better news was the possibilities of residuals. I could make money for years to come if this turned out to be a hit. Craig and Ashley were reported to be making ridiculous money on this movie.

Bree was in the next tier; as she parlayed her vampire TV exposure. She had made a conscious decision to try her hand at a movie. There had been a big scandal on the set of her TV series. She and one of the leads had a messy breakup in their personal life. Just a week after, he had brought the girl he had cheated on her with onto the set. Bree had told the producers either the new girlfriend was barred from the set, or she would walk. While she never said, I thought her next step would be to move on from the show. The former chemistry she had with the male lead was now dead.

I was on the next tier as far as compensation. The reason was twofold. The first was my modeling. They realized that having my head shaved could affect my marketability for other projects. The good news was, this was not five years ago. Some guys actually wore a buzz cut now. I liked that I didn't have to use all the stupid hair products anymore.

The second reason was I was athletic enough to do a lot of the work which would normally be done by a stunt double. They had a few scenes in the movie where even I would not want to do it because it was too dangerous. Jessup had been over the top with his praise of Ben and me for our sword work at the studio. He thought he would need to use CGI (computer generated images) for some of the fight scenes. They might have to do some of that for my fight with the barbarian. I wasn't really up to trusting him with a giant ax, even if it was fake.

The next tier was Ben and Elizabeth. After them, it was mainly peripheral players that got paid a daily rate. The drop off in income was dramatic, but it was all relative. The daily rate group could make as much in a day as someone might in a week, and if you had lines it earned you even more.

"Adrienne called and she has the Dakora photo shoot confirmed. You will be going to New York and staying in their new talent apartment," she said with a smirk.

I knew that meant I would stay with Kara. Knowing Adrienne we would have a good time as we explored New York on our down time.

"Sandy Range called and confirmed they either want you for Spring Break, or after school in New Orleans. Devin won't be able to make it. Sandy is going to take over doing the shoots with you."

I was relieved. I still had a problem with Devin hitting on Nancy. Nancy had called me when she got back to Kentucky and told me Devin had called her several times. She had hinted that she might let him come visit her. That had really cemented my feeling that Nancy and I were done as more than just friends. It was for the best. The funny part was, I thought Devin and Nancy would make a great couple. I just didn't like how they had gotten together.

"I have one final thing I need to tell you," Kendal said.

I could tell by her body language I might not like what she was about to say.

"Eve Holliday has decided to go a different direction with her music videos. She has a new boyfriend and thinks they need to move the focus off of you."

I was actually happy to hear that. After I had seen Eve the last time, I really didn't think we were friends anymore. She had moved on to doing her music. I could understand it. What bothered me was how she had switched from being a friend, and even more, to being cold and distant. It had all started with the bullshit breakup song.

Kendal and I talked about our trip and how things were going for her. I enjoyed the time we spent to catch up with her on non-business related topics. She was someone I could count on.

When we landed in Vancouver it was in the mid-40s. The Pacific Ocean kept the temperature warmer in the winter than you would expect for a city so far north. When I left Chicago it was in the 20s. Kendal and I found our bags and a cab in short order. The production company rented several floors of a hotel across the street from the studio we would be using. Kendal and I ended up in adjoining rooms with a door between them. I opened mine so she could come in whenever she needed to.

In my room I found a schedule for tomorrow and the updated script with diagrams of how the blocking was going to go. I was thankful someone highlighted my script and marked where changes had been made. It would save me time and allow me to focus on what was changed. I started to learn my new lines. Kendal was a big help. She ordered us dinner in my room and then spent several hours working with me on my lines for tomorrow.

"David, don't get uptight about the script. This isn't like a play where if you mess up you have to just keep going. They will be doing takes like they do in your commercials," Kendal assured me.

"I know, but I'm the rookie here. I don't want them to regret hiring me."

"If they can make former wrestlers look like seasoned actors, I am sure you will be fine," she said with a chuckle.

I just glared at her and we got back to work.

Saturday January 17

I got up early and went down to the fitness center. I had peeked outside and it was raining. I had no desire to run in that type of weather. I walked in to find Ben and Kent working out. Ben was supposed to be my biggest nemesis in the movie. Kent was in Craig's entourage and the only one with any common sense.

"You ready for this?" Ben asked.

"I had some jitters last night, but I think I'm ready to go," I said as I got onto the treadmill.

"I bet you were obsessing about the script changes," Kent teased me.

"Yeah, I want to make a good impression."

"Let me give you a tip. When you get there today they will have made more changes. Craig used to worry about it when he first started. They will work with you to make sure you learn your lines. If you have anything too taxing, they may have you use a teleprompter. The writers know you are new. They are not going to have you do a five minute speech which can't be cut on your first day," Kent assured me.

I felt better after I worked out. Kendal had waited for me when I got back, so I hurried up and showered so we would get across the street on time. I had one of the elaborate makeup jobs and they wanted to tattoo me this morning. They planned to use a non-permanent product which would last several weeks. They also needed to shave my head again. The good news was once I had my tattoos I was good to go for the next two weeks unless they had to do touch ups. Then it was just normal makeup.

The process was not so bad. They had a paste like product that stained my skin. The problem was it took, what seemed like, forever to do all my tattoos. When I was done I was pretty scary looking. When I was had to wait on wardrobe I wandered around to see the setup and people did double takes when I walked by.

When I was finally ready they didn't waste any time. They had me on set and doing my first scene. Jessup knew I would be nervous, so he threw me into the fire, so to speak, to get me started. I was glad I did my lines just fine for the first take, but Craig, not so much. I soon learned that multiple takes was the norm. Catalog modeling, where you do the same thing over and over again, turned out to be great training. The trick was to keep focused and your energy up. I found it was the same thing with acting. You had to have the same energy level on take one as you did on take thirty-one.

Jessup was happy with my first day.

"Good job. Just stay focused and you will do well. We had a short day today. Be ready for a regular day tomorrow," he told me.

I grimaced. I arrived on the set at eight this morning. It was six now. I guess a short day was ten hours.

I was starved. Kendal had raided the buffet for me, but Jessup had me in back-to-back scenes all day. I was able to grab a bite between takes, so I did get something to eat. Kendal made arrangements with a lot of us for dinner. We picked a place not too far from the hotel, so we could all walk.

Everyone was in high spirits. I was focused on getting some food, so I didn't notice her at first. She put her hand on my chest to get my attention. When I looked down my breath caught. There is just something about certain women that get an instant reaction out of you. An example would be Lisa Felton, while not the best looking girl in school; she caught every guy's notice. She was sexy as hell.

When I'd looked down into her incredibly green eyes everything around me went away. Here I stood in the middle of a crowd of actors, many of whom were stunning, and this girl had me mesmerized. Her eyes looked familiar. She had incredibly long eyelashes, which were obviously not the result of makeup, because she had none on. The next thing I noticed was her smile. She simply lit up the room when she smiled at me.

Her giggle was music to my ears. She grabbed my hand and led me to our table. As we walked to the table I got a chance to check out her body. She was five-five, had long brown hair and was very fit. She had the legs and butt of an athlete. How I missed her breasts I have no idea. Those poor things were being held hostage by her evil blouse. They needed to be set free. They were at least a D cup. I paid no idea as to who was sitting with us. It was just the two of us in a sea of conversation.

"Hi, I'm Halle, Trip's sister," this goddess told me.

Trip was part of Craig's group. If he wasn't gay, he was surely bi-sexual. I suspected he and Craig were more than just friends. I remembered when I first met him he made me nervous by how he looked at me.

"David; nice to meet you," I finally got out. "Where have you been all my life?"

"Waiting for you silly," she said with a smile.

"I'm so sorry," I said.

"Why is that?"

"If I had known, I would never have been so rude as to make you wait."

"Kent warned me about you," she said.

"Why would you need to be warned?" I asked in confusion.

"He said if we ever met we would be drawn together like magnets. Even with your scary tats, I couldn't take my eyes off of you. Then you ignored me," she pouted.

"My best friend calls me a 'stupid boy'. Now I know you are around, so be assured I will not be ignoring you."

I found out later everyone was highly amused by the two of us. We totally ignored everyone else. To be honest, I had never had a girl affect me like Halle did. It was like Adrienne, but with Lisa's something extra. There was just something about how she moved which captured my full attention. I normally am at complete ease around beautiful women. Halle was my kryptonite. I was a tongue tied teenager around her who couldn't stop blushing.

The sad thing was Halle knew it. She could lead me around by my balls like I was a puppy. Thankfully she didn't take advantage of it. Somehow we ended up in front of my hotel room and she kissed my cheek goodnight. Kendal was waiting for me with tomorrow's packet.

"Did you see her?" I asked as I bounced up and down on my bed and almost knocked Kendal on the floor.

"Yes, everyone saw the two of you," Kendal said with a pained expression. "You do realize she is only thirteen?"

What?!?

"Are you bullshitting me?" I asked.

"Nope. She is jail bait."

"Are you sure? She has to be like, uh, 18!"

"No, Trip's sister is only 13," Kendal said to ruin my day. "She does have the hots for you though."

"A lot of good that does me!"

I think I need to fire Kendal. She had way too much fun with this. She handed me my homework and we prepared for tomorrow. I had a hard time concentrating, because I had just gone from imagining Halle in bed with me to figuring out how to fend her off.

Sunday January 18

They didn't need me 'til noon today, so I worked out and then went to church. When I got back to the hotel, Halle was in the lobby and had obviously waited on me.

"Hey, want to take me to lunch?"

"I think you might be too young to be hanging out with me," I said as I tried to put the brakes on our potential relationship.

"I think I might be your age or older," she shot back.

"I'm sixteen," I shared.

"I am sixteen also," she said with a smirk. "Do you only date older women like Elizabeth and Bree?"

"I think my agent is going to die. She told me you were thirteen."

She had a good laugh at me and shook her chest at me.

"Do you think a thirteen-year-old would have these?" she teased then got serious. "Trip tells everyone I'm too young. I bet he told Kendal I was thirteen. He is just being a big brother. Plus, I don't need everyone hitting on me. I'm not that kind of girl."

She smiled at me when my face dropped.

"You big dork, did you think I was going to jump into bed with you? Kent told me you were a lot of fun," she said as her expression changed. "Wait a minute; are you the guy they were talking about in LA? Are you the guy who went with them to Chubby Feldman's party?"

I guess I gave it away.

"You are! No wonder Trip said I couldn't hang out with you, and Kent said you were a lot of fun. I think you might be a bad influence on me."

"I hope so," I teased her.

"Not so fast, buster. I'm a good girl," she said as if she was superior.

"Still want to grab lunch?"

She thought about it for a moment.

"Kent would have warned me if I needed to worry about you."

We found a quick taco place, and stuffed our faces. I could eat a few tacos. I think Halle was impressed with how many I consumed. I couldn't hang out with her for long, because I had to go to the set.

Today went better. Craig was more prepared and we were able to complete the scenes with fewer takes. I found out Halle was in the film when we did a scene with Ashley and most of the cast. Ashley addressed the student body. I saw Trip was also in the scene. He was eyeballing me and his sister. She gave him a little sister look, and rolled her eyes.

Part of the script had me get separated from my team as we investigated a network of tunnels. I was sent over to another set where they had created a maze of tunnels. It was a pretty slick system. They could reconfigure a tunnel in no time. The walls would just snap into place. I had to be careful not to bump into a wall too hard or it would come undone. I found this out as I did a scene where I had to run from one hiding place to another and went a little too fast. The set guy had been nice about it, but I felt bad. Every mistake like that cost time and money, as Jessup constantly reminded us.

I really enjoyed this part of the movie. I was able to run, dodge and use my new sword skills. Some of it was shot with a blue screen behind me and I had to imagine where the monster I was fighting was. That was very hard to do. One of the mistakes I made early was not looking where the monster was supposed to be. It was hard to focus your eyes when there was nothing to focus on. I even looked at the camera a couple of times. It was just human nature to look at what was there.

I would find about it later when they viewed their dailies. Dailies are the raw footage sent to the producer to review at the end of the day. The director can check the playback on set, but doesn't have time to spot minor errors. They would have to reshoot some of the scenes I'd done today. Thankfully, Jessup took the news well and I learned a valuable lesson.

We didn't get done 'til almost midnight. I walked back to the hotel, exhausted. I really had no idea how the crew and Jessup did it. They had still been working when I'd left. Kendal and I agreed to work on tomorrow's script in the morning.

Wednesday January 21

I had to laugh. Kendal figured out they had someone who would help me learn my lines. Agents rarely were on a set, and even more rarely did this type of work. The only reason she was really here, was because of my age. My dad had talked to Tom last spring and they had agreed I was not to work without someone to look after me, at least until I turned eighteen.

Kendal was fine with what we had been doing, because she wanted to learn as much as she could. Jessup and his staff were very accommodating and allowed her access a normal agent wouldn't have had. I appreciated the allowances they made for me. That was until Halle offered to read with me. It seemed no one thought I would get any work done if she helped me learn my lines. I thought about throwing a hissy fit, but Jessup gave me a look that told me not to push it.

Trip started to treat me better when he found I hadn't pushed his sister to sleep with me. Don't get me wrong. I wanted to sleep with her. Hell she could get me aroused at fifty paces with just a glance. The good news was, the feelings were mutual. We would probably have been going at it like crazed bunnies if I didn't work twelve to eighteen hours a day.

The other thing that hadn't happened was my school work. It just seemed I was either on set or prepared to be on set all day long. The only thing I refused to not skip was my workouts in the morning. I found that if I worked out it helped me keep my energy all day, and I just felt better.

I was finding a lot of actors are health nuts. Their bodies are what make them a living. There had begun to be a good crowd in the hotel gym each morning. I introduced them to thirty-minutes-of-hell. The thing was, actresses are not your normal everyday girls. When they showed up in leotards and bounced around to work out with me was about to drive me to distraction. In other words, I was horny as hell and masturbation did not cut it.

Today was a lot of fun. Well, not so much fun for me, but the other cast members seemed to enjoy my antics. We filmed a scene on board a space ship. Craig was in the captain's chair and Bree and Elizabeth were seated in front of him. I was off to the side in front of a panel of knobs and buttons and a small screen.

"Okay. We are going to run through the scene until we all have our lines and blocking right. Then we are going to do this in one take," Jessup told us.

It was a scene where we were ambushed, and the ship took heavy damage. Jessup had explained they would simulate some smoke and a few sparks on set and then, during post-production, special effects would be added to make the scene more realistic. We were told to act like we were worried. Craig was supposed to be the calming leader and keep us alive.

We finally had run through our lines several times without any errors. Jessup seemed nervous and looked at all of us.

"Okay, no matter what, don't stop. We will only get one take. Are you all ready?" he asked.

We all said yes.

"Places everyone! Quiet on the set! Cameras ready?"

"Ready!"

"Sound ready?"

"Ready!"

"Scene 85. Take 1! Action!"

"Dropping out of jump," Elizabeth said.

"Scan for hostiles," Craig ordered.

"No contacts, sir," Bree said.

"Stryker, warm up the weapons to be safe," Craig ordered.

"Sir, yes sir," I responded.

That was when all hell broke loose. I had no idea our space ship was on hydraulics. I was shaken from my seat and rolled to the back of the set where I slammed into the wall.

"What the fuck!" I yelled.

"Get to your station Mister!" Craig screamed.

That was not part of the script. I'd messed up big time, but quickly recovered and scampered back to my seat. The whole time the ship rocked in unpredictable directions. I had a death grip on the console in front of me.

"Report!" Craig ordered.

"Three contacts closing fast," Bree said.

"Main engine damaged. 85% efficiency," Elizabeth reported.

"Plotting firing solutions," I said.

"Fire at will," Craig reported.

I smashed a button.

"One hostile eliminated. Incoming missiles!" Bree yelled.

There was a tremendous crash and the bulkhead right above me suddenly had a huge dent. At the same time sparks and flames shot out of my console and started billowing smoke. The set shuddered and then pitched and I went flying again. It was a good thing everything was padded or I could have gotten hurt.

Bree jumped up with a fire extinguisher and put out my console. I staggered up and grabbed the back of Craig's chair to steady myself.

"Weapons switched to my station," Craig said.

There was another loud crash as if we were struck again. Somehow I managed to hang on and not crash across the set again.

"Fuck me!" I cried. Again, not part of the script.

"Engines are down, thrusters only," Elizabeth reported.

"Firing!" Craig yelled.

"Hostiles eliminated!" Bree reported.

I did a goofy little happy dance as the stage quit tipping around.

"Cut!" Jessop shouted. "What the hell was that little dance, David?"

"Sorry, I just kind of got into it," I said sheepishly.

Jessup had us gather around so we could see playback of the scene. I looked at the remains of the set I understood why they only wanted to do it once. When the video started I watched in amazement. It really looked like we were on a space ship. When things got dicey everyone laughed at the surprised expression on my face.

"You didn't tell him, did you?" Bree asked.

"No, and I think we got what we wanted. Look at the terror in his eyes when the console blew," Jessup said with glee.

When I did my happy dance, they all looked at me with big grins.

"Dude, you are so screwed," Craig crowed.

"Why?" I asked in confusion.

They all laughed at me.

"You're screwed, because they will use your dance in their marketing. You'll be plastered all over TV doing the Stryker Dance," Bree shared.

Shit!

"And what was with all the cussing?" Jessup said with a stern look on his face.

I just shrugged and his face broke out into a smile.

"Relax, David" he said. "We can edit it. I uh, think"

"Since we just went from PG-13 to an R rating we may have to up the heat in the sexy scenes," Elizabeth said with a smile.

She and I had a make-out scene. I could see her evil mind at work. I just had a lopsided grin.

We had several more scenes to shoot on the damaged set. We needed to get the ship back to the academy.

Jessup let us go early, because we were done by five. Halle found me in the dressing area in just my boxers. I heard a sharp intake of breath.

"What are you doing back here?" I asked

"I came back to see if you would take me to dinner," she said with a big smile.

"If your brother catches you, we're both dead."

"Let me worry about my brother. So are you taking me to dinner or not?"

"Sure, I'll meet you out front."

She dashed off just as Craig and Trip came out of the shower.

"What was my sister doing back here?" Trip asked.

"She wanted to ask me to take her to dinner."

He just shrugged and went back to talking to Craig. I hurried up and got dressed. As I walked to the front, one of the production assistants did my dance. I just shook my head and went to find Halle. I found her and she rushed up and kissed me. It was just a quick kiss, but it held so much promise I was a little dazed as she grabbed my hand and led me out to the town car that awaited us. I heard someone yell my name and I turned to see a photographer take our picture.

Halle must have decided to make her claim on me, because she grabbed the back of my head and then gave me a scorching kiss. I reacted naturally and pulled her into my arms. I felt her firm breasts mash into me and I wanted to skip dinner. We broke our kiss and smiled at each other as our foreheads touched. I was brought out of my lust by the sound of a camera going off in rapid fire.

The paparazzi wanted to know where we were going. I was surprised when Halle told him. When we got into the car I asked her about it.

"You forget I grew up in the business. My mom taught us how to get our names out there. Being on the arm of an up and coming star will do both of our careers a world of good," she explained.

"Are you just going out with me to get a mention on the internet?" I asked.

"No, that is just a side benefit. I am going out with you, because I like you, and want to get to know you better. Speaking of which, kiss me," she ordered.

I didn't have to be told twice. Her soft lips found mine and I was not sure who moaned, but we both enjoyed it. I decided to continue to be a gentleman until she grasped Mr. Happy. I knew for a fact that I was the one who moaned when that happened. I couldn't help myself, I wrapped my hands onto her shirt puppies and didn't let go until the driver cleared his throat to let us know we were at the restaurant. I tipped him very well for his discretion during our make-out session.

When we walked in I could tell we were not dressed for this place. I wore jeans, t-shirt and my letterman's jacket. Halle was in jeans and a sweater. Everyone else was in at least a sport coat. The maître d' looked at my tattoos and his first inclination was to throw us out when Halle explained who we were. She then explained I looked like that because of the movie we were making. I was shocked as his attitude changed. Halle just winked at me. We were led into the center of the restaurant and seated where everyone could see us.

As we walked in to be seated, I could see the other diners had mixed emotions. Some looked like they were offended two teenagers dressed the way we were could be allowed to invade their space. Others looked on with curiosity, because we were being paraded to a prime location. Then I caught a few who looked at either myself or Halle with lust, but more so with Halle. The women who checked me out had to think I was some kind of bad boy.

During dinner I focused on Halle. She told me about growing up with a famous mother and the battles with paparazzi. Her mother wanted to protect her and Trip from the public eye, but it was a losing battle. They finally decided to just embrace it, and use them. The high school she went to had several teens that were in the business, so she didn't get bothered much. The downside was she didn't get asked out. The boys at her school knew to date her was to invite the public into their life. Other boys just wanted to be able to say they scored with her, and a handful wanted the fame.

"So you are telling me you have never been kissed?" I asked.

"Not exactly, but I have never been kissed by someone who was doing it without an agenda. I had a long talk with Kent and my brother about you this week. They both agreed you had not shown any of the mercenary tendencies I try to avoid. Kent said he genuinely likes you. My brother says you're hot," she said with a blush.