When Theo had said he was going to pick me up in the morning, I didn't expect the ass-crack of dawn. My alarm blared at four in the morning. I was more used to going to bed then, than waking up then. I groaned into my pillow in disbelief, morning nauseous not even giving me a second to be awake before making its home into my gut.
The next time I had to drive to set, I was going the night before. I never wanted to wake up this early again.
I barely managed to get myself ready by the time Theo showed up. I slung the backpack with my clothes for the next three days over my shoulder, deciding last second to take my laptop with me as well. I doubted I would get any writing done, but I needed to get back to the groove. The time I'd allotted myself to get used to working was already over. If I stayed on hiatus any longer, my readers were going to riot. I felt it deep in my bones.
Surprisingly, I noticed Theo was driving as I approached his car. Rowan climbed out of the passenger side as I drew closer, holding the door open for me. "Morning," she greeted, her green eyes surrounded by dark eyeshadow and her lips a deep burgundy.
"How do you have the energy to put makeup on this early?" I asked her.
"I enjoy wearing it, so it's relaxing for me to put it on."
"Fair," I replied, letting her take my backpack from me.
She gestured for me to get into the passenger seat before moving to the back of the car to put my backpack in the trunk. I gave Theo a small smile in greeting as I buckled myself in. Just like Rowan, he looked flawless this morning, black hair styled up out of his face, the ends curling a bit. Not the hint of any bags under his eyes. "Good morning," he said, his voice betraying his outward appearance with a little grogginess.
"How come you're driving?" I asked curiously. "Doesn't Rowan usually drive you when you two are together?"
"Rowan and I play rock, paper, scissors to see who is driving for the day. She just typically loses," he explained.
Not what I expected at all, I laughed, putting a hand to my mouth immediately after. "Sorry. Do you guys both hate driving that much?"
"Do you like driving in LA traffic?" Rowan asked as she slid into the back seat, eyeing me through the rear-view mirror. "We carpool so only one of us has to suffer, but it's not so bad since the film studio is so close. It sucks when the production company rents and we have to go all over."
Ah. That answered another one of my questions. I didn't know where Theo lived, but I assumed it was close to her apartment, so it made sense for them to carpool. As for the proximity of the studio, I agreed. I probably wouldn't have joined the filming process had it been somewhere else.
Theo pulled out onto the street, both hands on the steering wheel, following the instructions of the GPS on the display screen. "Let me know if you get too hot or cold," he said to me. "Rowan prefers it to be an icebox in here. There's also a blanket in the back seat if you want to sleep on the way there. You look tired. I would have brought you a coffee, but the stores are still closed.
Wow, he had to come right out and say it, didn't he? Rowan snickered from behind me and a second later she was thrusting the blanket at me. "Thank you," I muttered, both to Rowan, and for Theo's consideration.
"I'll wake you up when we get closer," Theo said.
I spread the blanket out on my lap, already feeling cozier. "I'm not going to fall asleep."
And the next thing I knew, Theo was gently shaking my shoulder, startling me awake. The brightness of the sun made me squint as I tried to take in my surroundings, seeing the peaks of mountain tops in the distance as we traveled down the highway. My chin felt wet and I quickly wiped it with the back of my hand, hoping he hadn't noticed me drooling.
"We're almost there," he told me, his eyes on the road.
"Thought you weren't going to fall asleep?" Rowan teased.
The tips of my ears felt hot and I ignored her, staring out the window, trying to wake myself up more. Eventually, we pulled off the highway and drove until a lake became visible. We followed along the road paralleling the lake until we started coming across multiple vehicles lining each side, Theo going past them, until we reached a camping grounds area. Crew members were already scurrying about, having probably started setting up before we even left our apartments.
Although we arrived in time, I felt a little anxious as I got out of Theo's car, hoping no open would notice. I had my excuse ready—one that was the truth for once—but everyone was so busy, no one even took notice of us. I thanked Theo and Rowan before deciding to try and hunt down Zara, wanting a quick rundown of any additional notes I needed to take throughout the day, remembering her warning about how difficult filming in nature could be.
The air smelt clean and fresh as I made my way across the grass, taking in the sights before me. Cabins were scattered across the grounds, some hidden further into the expanse of trees surrounding the clearing that held two pavilions, what looked to be bathroom facilities, a main office, and then a dozen recently assembled canopies, courtesy of the production team. Equipment was being lugged from vans to the different canopies depending on the department.
I eventually found Zara far off in the distance, standing near the trailheads along with Director Ahn. I made my way over them, covering my mouth as I yawned. "Morning," I said as I reached them.
"Hey, Maisie!" Director Ahn greeted me, bright and chipper. "Isn't it so nice out here?"
"It is," I agreed.
"How was the—" She cut herself off abruptly, clearing her throat. "Drive?"
Zara raised her eyebrow at her, and I smiled tightly, knowing she'd been about to ask about the awards show. "Good. Fun," I told her, before changing the subject. "The weather looks good today."
Director Ahn nodded. "I'll let you guys do that, then. They should be about finished setting up for the first scene. I'll meet you guys there in a few minutes. I need to grab something from my car."
Zara and I took off toward the trailhead, passing by the sign, and heading up the winding dirt path strewn with rocks and overgrown roots. I had to keep my gaze on the ground so I didn't trip over anything as we continued up, the sounds from the campground being swallowed up by the quietness of the trees. That is, until we reached the filming location, and people were shouting directions at each other—the loudest being Marco.
"Let's move this rock," he was saying as we approached, gesturing to a rather large rock in the pathway. "We don't want Sienna tripping over it."
Two others rushed forward to pick it up, tossing it into the shrubs nearby. Sienna, who stood by Aliyah, rolled her eyes, causing Aliyah to giggle. I didn't miss how he specified a woman out of all the others here.
Zara took out her phone, snapping photos of the scene from every angle possible. She had me jot down notes about an estimated cloud coverage percentage, the temperature, and any kind of unique formation of the scenery that could stick out in a shot if continued at another angle. There was one dead, gnarled tree that I made note of, seeing as how the rest of the area was pretty uniform.
The walking path wasn't very wide, allowing at most two people to walk side-by-side, so cameras were placed off the trail in the woods, adjusted to have a balance on the slopes. As filming started, Zara and I stood off to the side, under a canopy of trees. I had to focus hard on standing still, afraid to make unnecessary noise by stepping on the dead leaves or twigs.
But when I wasn't paying attention to where my feet were, my gaze was captivated by Theo. He wore a tight-fitted, compression-base layer shirt that clung to his skin and muscles along with a pair of Adidas sweatpants. The outfit outlined his form perfectly, and I was secretly grateful for writing a hike into my book. Beside him, Sienna wore a flowy summer dress with spaghetti straps and sandals, purposefully dressed wrong for hiking.
It made me smile a bit. In my book, Sienna's character had believed she was going to a lake with Theo's character, not hiking up the area surrounding the lake— hence the unsuitable hiking outfit.
I almost gasped as she tripped—a real trip—but Theo moved easily to catch her, the crew all holding their breath, hoping they stayed in character. They did, and I knew immediately that Marco would keep this shot, the adlib even making my heart skip a beat. His hands had encompassed her waist so naturally. I remembered what that felt like when he'd caught me before. His hands were large and warm and...
I stopped myself there, grimacing. I didn't need to remember that.
Sienna recovered from her stumble with grace and a deep blush, whether that was acting or not, I couldn't tell, but she kept in character. Theo's hand lingered on her waist as they began walking again, another added touch that made my heart race.
We moved from location to location, filming scene by scene up the mountain, until we were high enough where I could see the lake we'd driven past earlier through a break in the trees. The view was breathtaking. The blue of the lake shimmered under the sun, ripples appearing on the surface as the wind blew across it. Surrounding each side of it were the rolling hills of the mountain range, towering into the sky. I took out my phone and snapped a few photos, wanting to send them to Levi later. He'd said he loved hiking in his free time.
"Break time!" Marco announced, clapping his hands. "We're resuming in half an hour. There'll be food trucks back at the campground. Leave everything as is."
Zara and I did a quick sweep of the current filming area, taking our normal notes before she headed back down the mountain to the campgrounds to eat. I stayed at the top a moment longer, snapping a few more photos for Levi. I moved deeper into the woods, trying to find a spot where there were fewer trees in the way of the view of the lake.
I took a deep breath, enjoying the crispness of the air, kneeling down to touch the grass that still held a bit of the morning dew on its blades.
"Did someone tell you to touch grass and you took it seriously?"
Rowan's voice made me jump violently, having thought I'd been alone. I pushed myself back to my feet, shooting a dirty look at her. "No. Where did you even come from?"
"Came to check out the views since it's break time. I didn't want to come up during filming because there's no reason for me to be in the way," she explained, shading her eyes as she looked out at the lake, whistling lowly. "It's not bad."
"Yeah, it's pretty nice."
"You going to eat?" she asked. "They have a taco truck down there."
I nodded. "Going now."
She waved. "Kay. I'm waiting for Theo."
As I made my way back to the trail, I glanced over at Theo and Sienna, who stood with Director Ahn, Marco, the cinematographer, and a camera operator, going over what they'd just shot. Theo glanced over at me as I did so as if he knew I was looking. I gave a quick wave before turning my back to him and scurrying back down to the campgrounds. It wasn't a far journey, even though it'd taken hours to get up as high as we were.
I went straight for the taco truck, opting for the beef birria ones, before searching for an empty picnic table. My stomach rumbled as I picked up one of the tacos, suddenly overwhelmingly hungry. As soon as I stuffed my face with my first bite, someone dropped into the seat next to me.
Nearly choking as I jolted, I turned to see Levi— not my Levi—sitting there, placing his own tacos on the table. He grinned at me. "Hey, there."
I swallowed, grabbing a napkin to wipe my face. "Hi."
"How's filming going?"
"Good... why are you here?" I asked, confused. As far as I knew, Levi didn't appear in any of the scenes we'd be filming over the next couple of days.
Levi raised his eyebrows, resting his elbow on the tabletop and dropping his chin into his hand to stare at me. "I can't come to talk to you?"
I flushed. "Oh, no, I meant like, you're not filming, are you? You weren't on the call list. You're welcome to sit here, though."
"No, I'm not filming," he told me, his eyes never leaving my face, lips curving even further up. "I just came along because this place looked really pretty online. I'm going to hike to the top later. Marco was nice enough to let me join everyone."
I couldn't take his attention so directly on me, so I turned away, looking down at my tacos. "It is really pretty here."
"More so now with you here."
My head snapped back to him and he just smiled warmly at me. Although embarrassment crept through me, I found my lips tugging up in a shy smile, unbidden. Maybe it was because he shared a name with my Levi, but I didn't feel uncomfortable around him. His flirtations felt more friendly than anything.
Levi leaned toward me a bit. "Hey, you have a leaf in your hair." As he lifted his hand toward my head, his gaze suddenly looked past me, and he pulled back, putting up a hand in greeting. "Hey, Theo."
I tensed a bit, only looking over as Theo came to a stop next to us, Rowan by his side. He looked between Levi and I, frowning. "Hey."
"What's going on here?" Rowan asked, her eyes on Levi's hand as he plucked the leaf from my hair.
"Just eating some food. Why, what's up?"
She gave him a pointed look. "Just wondering when you two got so cozy with each other."
Levi grinned playfully. "Oh? Do we look that way to you?"
"You do, at least," Rowan said, her eyes narrowing at him.
My scalp prickled at her glare. "We're, uh... friends," I said lamely.
Levi nodded. "You heard her. That's the first step."
First step? What did he mean by that?
"Want to sit with us?" Levi offered when Theo and Rowan remained standing there, but didn't say anything else.
I could feel Theo's gaze on me, and when I turned to him, our eyes met, and my pulse quickened. "No," he said quietly after a moment. "We're good."
Rowan put her arm over Theo's shoulder, sparing us one last glance, before guiding him over to the food trucks.
Levi shrugged to himself before turning back to his food. "He's not very friendly, is he?"
"I think he's just quiet," I said, feeling the odd need to defend Theo. Especially since he probably only said no because I had told them not to interact with me at work.
"Maybe."
"What did you mean by saying friends is the first step?" I asked him, eyeing him warily.
He winked at me. "What do you think?"
I turned on the bench to face him fully. "Do you want something from me?"
"Why do you think that?"
"Can you not answer my questions with questions?"
"Can you?"
I scowled at him, but his expression remained light-hearted and he grinned at me teasingly, and I found myself smiling again at his antics. "It's just kind of strange that you're talking to me."
"I don't think it's strange. I want to talk to you, so I do."
"Why me?" I asked.
"Why not you?"
Sensing I wouldn't get anywhere with my questioning, I decided to give up. "Don't take this the wrong way, but I really don't like attention on me. I like to keep to myself at work, too."
Levi inched closer to me again, eyes shining in amusement. "Yeah? No problem. I get that. We can just meet each other in the hidden corners on set. I'm actually pretty good at being secretive."
The sound of a metal tray clamoring on the picnic table had both of us breaking away to turn forward, seeing Rowan with a tight smile on her face dropping onto the bench across from us. "All the other tables are full," she said, her hands adjusting the tray she dropped so it was directly in front of her.
Levi chuckled, putting space between us again. "The more the merrier."
Theo approached a moment later, sitting down without as much commotion as Rowan. He didn't say anything, and I tried to avoid his gaze, looking left, and seeing a few members of the crew stealing glances toward us.
It made anxiety pool in my stomach. "I'm done," I announced, standing up from the bench, and grabbing my tray of barely-eaten food. "See you guys later."
"You barely ate!" Levi protested, but I was already stepping over the bench to excuse myself.
"Not hungry," I mumbled back, wanting to get as far away from the table as possible. Levi was one thing, but with Theo there as well, it drew way too much attention.
"Maisie, wait," Levi said, stopping me momentarily. "You asked why you? It's because of your purple hair. It made you stand out. And it made you catch my eye."
Not expecting that admission, I stared at him for a moment, blushing, before hurrying away. As I did so, I could feel the weight of Theo's gaze on me. I dropped off my tray at the allotted area for them near the trashcans, dumping out my uneaten tacos. Although there was still plenty of time for our break, I decided to head back up the mountain and out of the public eye.
As I walked, my chest became tight, but not because of the exertion. For some reason, I felt guilty. Guilty for telling Levi I didn't want attention, guilty for walking away from the table from people who were nothing but friendly to me. I didn't understand why I was this way. It wasn't like my secret would be found out just by hanging around them. People made friends. It was a human thing to do.
So why was I so awkward and hesitant? Why couldn't I be normal?
My thoughts distracted me so much that I didn't hear footsteps approaching me until I heard the snap of a twig right behind me. I swung around, startled, only to find Theo standing there, lips drawn down. "Can we talk?" he asked.
I swallowed, scanning the area around us, noting that we were the only ones at this part of the trail. "Um, sure."
"Come here," he said, stepping off the trail, and walking a little way out into the woods. "So we're not overheard."
I nodded, appreciative of his caution, but still a little nervous. "What's up?"
"I didn't want to discuss this here, but my mom messaged me last night asking when you and I could meet up with her," he said, lowering his voice. "I told her that we were away filming, but she's trying to make plans for the night after we get back. She already booked a reservation somewhere. I told her not to, but she just said if you couldn't come, we could still eat there without you."
"Oh," I responded, relaxing a little, seeing as he only wanted to talk about our arrangement. "What do you want me to do?"
Theo frowned. "What do you want to do?"
"I'll go," I said and then stiffened as I remembered his hostility toward my eagerness before. "I mean, we made a deal after all. I don't have to go if you don't want me to go. It's up to you."
His frown deepened, and my pulse quickened, wondering if I'd said the wrong thing. Had I agreed too easily? I prepared myself for a cold remark, but his lips just parted in a sigh. "Let's go, then."
I dipped my head. "Okay."
"I'll text Kaila and ask her if she has availability."
"Maybe I don't need all that if we're just meeting up with your mom," I said, my chest listening at the thought of Evelynn. For some reason, I wanted her to know the real me.
Theo's gaze fell to the forest floor, his hands clenching at his sides. "We will be eating in public. I can't promise someone won't take a photo of us."
A bit of disappointment bit at me. "Oh. Then, yeah. I'll want the wig, at the very least."
He nodded slowly, lifting his eyes again, gaze lingering on me for a moment longer than necessary. "Okay. I'll text her."
Silence passed between us for a moment, and he opened his mouth to speak again, but it snapped shut at the sound of people coming up the trail. I immediately panicked— Theo and I weren't that far off the path. We'd be easily seen if someone walked by, and although he'd moved us here for privacy, if we were seen together, it'd certainly draw a lot of attention.
My body started acting before my brain could catch him, moving to hide deeper into the forest, only stopping as Theo's strong hand gripped my elbow, drawing me closer to him, and moving us behind a thick tree. He planted his back to the bark of it, pulling me toward his chest, keeping me close as the voices grew closer. My footing was awkward in the dead leaves and dirt though, and my foot started to slide out from under me. Without missing a beat, Theo's arm went around my waist, pressing me tighter to him, and holding me up.
I could feel his breath fanning across my ear as we stood frozen together, my cheek pressed against his hard muscles, my eyes closing, trying to control the rapid rise and fall of my chest. His hand held my elbow tighter, the voices upon us now, paired with the footfalls of the group heading up the trail. They passed by us, voices fading the further they moved away.
Theo and I didn't move for a moment, the tension waning, and I focused on the way his heart beat against my cheek in a steady cadence. When I went to move away, his arm only tightened around me, keeping me in place. I finally turned my head up to look at him, chin rubbing against his sternum, and found him staring back down at me, our heads mere inches apart.
"You go first," he murmured. "I'll go after."
He released me, and it took me a moment to realize it, unable to tear away from his warmth. When his lips parted open again, it jolted me into action, stumbling back from him, and nearly running back to the forest path before he could say anything, hoping he hadn't been able to feel my own frantic heartbeat.