Waiting Outside The Lines (boyxboy)

"Waiting Outside The Lines"

It was the first big project that I could really put on my resume as an actor, even if it's only a bit part. My 16th birthday was still a few months away, but after a few cattle call auditions and a bunch of meetings that didn't really go anywhere, I finally felt like I might actually have a shot at doing something that I really love. Who knows? Maybe I can be one of the boys you secretly sneak peeks at on the magazine covers at the grocery store. Evan Elliott...teen idol. Hehehe, well, I can dream, can't I?

I was really excited about this gig, as 'The Walking Dead' was one of my all time favorite shows on television. I thought for sure that they were going to go with this other kid with this really light blond hair, lighter than mine anyway...but they actually chose me instead. Surprised the hell out of me. That lucky phone call from my agent will go down as one of the best I've ever had. I danced on the ceiling from the moment I hung up the phone until the first day I showed up on set to start filming a few weeks later.

I know it wasn't a BIG part, but I'd be appearing on and off throughout the whole season, and I was happy to both be an official 'working' teen actor. However, I have to admit that my intense infatuation wasn't just for the show itself. There was another reason for my excitement levels to be shooting through the roof. Something that wouldn't let me sleep most nights while I waited for the cameras to roll.

You see, I've had this sugary sweet infatuation with this other teen actor, Chandler Riggs, since the show's third season. I have been soooo swept up, so uncontrollably GOOFY, over this boy...that it really defies all reason. I don't know what it was that made me so crazy whenever he was on the screen, but I felt a tingly sensation rushing through me every time those diamond blue eyes came into view. I had it so bad that I would actually get short of breath during the episodes where he played a larger role. Something about him made me feel all funny inside. But I loved every second of it. That boy...he does weird things to me.

You really can't imagine what it was like for me to see him in person for the first time! I mean...he was RIGHT there! In the flesh! Close enough for me to reach out and actually touch him. I melted instantly when he shook my hand. He smiled at me! SMILED! Oh God, I nearly creamed myself right then and there. Seeing those eyes in person...it was MORE than a dream come true.

Before I even went to the first audition, my mind had created a variety of detailed fantasies where I walked on that set and Chandler fell madly in love with me at first sight. Fantasies where we became secret boyfriends and got together to snuggle up as often as we possibly could. I often dreamed of what it would be like to kiss and gently suck on those sweet lips for just a few minutes of bliss. Actually, I just want to rub noses with him in the cutest way. Just thinking of that and having him smile from the contact is enough to arouse me to the point of getting dizzy. And the thing is, he's SO sweet and personable in real life. He plays such a stoic and hard-hearted character on the show these days, but the second the cameras stop rolling, he goes right back to smiling and being one of the cutest, coolest, boys ever. The first two weeks that I was there, I was certain that I had fallen hopelessly in love with him. I mean, I didn't want to seem creepy or pushy or anything...but I never took my eyes off of him for longer than a few seconds a day. I couldn't help myself.

I know that he was working. We both were. The director had to spend much more time with him, obviously. He was a main character, while me and the other teens they hired for the next string of episodes were hired to play a bunch of kids who survived the zombie apocalypse by hiding out in our high school and surviving off of cafeteria food. Heh...I can't imagine doing that in real life. I'd rather be devoured by the living dead than have to live off of school lunches for the next year or two. Anyway, my group gets to meet up with Chandler and his adult companions here in the forest, where we try to make due and take care of one another. I don't know if the writers are going to keep any of us on for more than a single season, but that works for me. If it means that I get to be close to my sweetheart for a few months during the Summer, then I'll take it.