Just Like the Movies

Chapter Seven

"You said you owe me a favor," he said.

"I did," I acknowledged, releasing the door.

He closed it again, moving his body to block it. "So I think it's fair to ask you for help since I'm keeping your secret."

The back of my neck prickled and I looked around the parking lot for anyone who might overhear us. A few groups of people loitered around other cars, far enough that I didn't think they could hear us, but close enough that it made me anxious. "Let's talk about this somewhere else," I said.

"Your car, then," he decided, opening my door again. "Here."

I stared at him for a moment and he gestured for me to get in. Briefly, I thought about what it might look like for me to be getting in a car with the main actor of my movie, but Theo didn't seem like he'd let up about this. I slid into the driver's seat as Theo walked around the car to the passenger side. Just before he reached for the door handle, I pressed the lock button.

Theo heard the click of the lock and leaned down so he could glower at me through the window. I cracked the window slightly. "I know I owe you a favor, but it can't be this," I told him.

"Why?"

"I'm hiding my identity, remember?" I asked pointedly. "Going with you would bring too much attention to me. You're famous. If someone took photos of us then my face would be out there and someone would try to figure out who I am."

"We can just say you work with me on set if anyone asks," he said, fingers hooked onto the window as if the thought I'd close it at any time. "You're showing your face to everyone here, anyway."

I hesitated, unsure of how much I wanted to reveal to him. Avoiding looking directly at him, I put my hands on my steering wheel, focusing on them. "It's just that there's a chance my family might see me there if I somehow end up being filmed or something." My parents didn't watch a lot of T.V., nor did they care about pop culture, but I wasn't so sure about my brother.

Theo stayed silent for a moment, and I peeked over at him, seeing him staring at my dashboard in thought. "What if we disguised you?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"The problem you have with coming with me is being recognized, isn't it? So, what if we made you unrecognizable?"

"Like... put me in a wig?" I asked, confused.

He nodded. "I know someone who could help with that."

I almost couldn't believe what I was hearing— especially coming from someone like Theo. He was stoic, calm, collected... and these were crazy words. "Are you okay?" I asked him.

His gaze flickered back to me in askance. "Yes. Why?"

"Why wouldn't you just find someone to go with that doesn't need a disguise?"

"Because there's no one else I could ask to do this."

"And yet you feel comfortable asking me? Didn't you think I was a pervert until today?"

"That's—" he cut himself off, pressing his lips together tightly. "Can you just let me in for a minute?"

I knew I shouldn't have, but I unlocked the door. He climbed in awkwardly, too tall to fit comfortably with my seat up so far on its track, his knees pressed up against the dashboard. After watching him fumble for a moment searching for the control on the side of the seat, I pointed at where it was located. He put the seat all the way back and still almost didn't have room for his long legs.

A bit flustered, I avoided his gaze in favor of my steering wheel again. "But why me?"

"Because I have something on you."