I whisper my lines to myself as I walk to the studio the next morning. We're filming slightly out of order, so today is Victor's introduction scene, and maybe Gabriel's if we have enough time. It's all stuff set in Kota's house. Since the fans already know the Ghost Bird boys, the introduction scenes allow me to establish a rapport with them rather than introducing the boys themselves.
"We're still kind of settling in," I say.
"You know how guys are. Give them two minutes, they think they know everything."
The script contains specific directions for me to "cut my food in a normal manner", which I find rather odd. There are lots of little mannerism cues, so I guess I'll get used to it. I've never seen such a lengthy description of how to put my hair up in a clip before, though.
When I get to WION I'm immediately whisked away to makeup, where a quiet lady carefully paints a bruise on my hip. She adds a sealer so it won't be smudged by my skirt. Then, she wraps a bandage around my arm and adds some miscellaneous scratches. To finish off my look she does some light facial makeup so I won't get washed out by the lights.
At wardrobe I'm handed a pair of striped blue pajama bottoms and a baggy green t-shirt. I change into them as quickly as possible. I still have yet to see any of the guys, although I did see a young girl going to the makeup trailer.
"Right, so first I wake up. I look around, but don't see Kota. I hear talking and hide under the blanket. Victor jumps on me. I hold my arms up slightly so he can grab them easily through the blanket. Kota reprimands Victor, and he gets off of me," I recite.
Someone taps my arm. "Excuse me, but do you know where the filming area is?" the little girl I saw earlier asks. She has light brown hair and adorable pink glasses. She must be Jessica, Kota's younger sister.
"I'm headed there now actually, so you can walk with me," I tell her. She smiles, not looking quite as distressed. "Weren't you on the show before?" I ask. It seems like Kota's family would have come up at some point in the last two seasons.
Jessica shakes her head. "No, one of the additional changes this season is an additional focus on family. Erica's been in a few episodes but this is my first time," she explains.
Nobody's mentioned that to me before. "Well, we can be newbies together. How does that sound?"
Jessica grabs my hand. "Great! I'm not allowed to act very often so I won't be here all the time, but when I am I'll always say hi!" she exclaims.
In the filming area people are hard at work setting up Kota's bedroom, a staircase, and the kitchen area. It always freaks me out seeing rooms without a ceiling no matter how many times I've been on a set. Kota's room has a neatly made bed, a matching bookcase and dresser, and a large desk. Two empty mugs sit on the a nightstand.
An older woman wearing a black skirt and purple blouse walks over to me. "Hello Sang, I'm Isabel Clark. I'm the director for Ghost Bird. I don't know how I haven't met you yet, but it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I'm hoping we can have an excellent season working together," she says. I shake her proffered hand.
"I'm excited to be here Ms. Clark," I say.
"Oh, please call me Isabel. I don't have time for formalities." As if to emphasize her point, she rushes off to reprimand some of the workers for tacking up a poster in the wrong place. "It was on the other wall last season! I don't want continuity errors already!" she exclaims.
Jessica glances around the room. "I'm supposed to find Erica," she says. I don't know what Erica looks like, but I try to find her anyway. Thankfully Jessica spots her after a moment and rushes off.
Kota and Victor both come sprinting into the room. "Please tell me we're not late," Victor gets out in between labored breaths. I gesture to the work happening around us.
"They're still setting up. What took you so long?"
"We had to talk one of the assistants out of making Victor use his stunt double for jumping on you. All he's doing is jumping on the bed!" Kota grumbles.
Isabel finishes checking the sets and calls us over. "We'll start with Sang waking up in Kota's bed. Sang, there's going to be a camera under the blanket to capture your expression, so be careful not to nudge it. Victor, jump to the far side of Sang so you don't land on the camera. Everybody knows their lines, right?"
We nod. My heart starts to race as I position myself in the bed. This is my first scene and I don't want to screw it up. I lay down, pull the blanket up to my shoulders, and close my eyes. I open them again when an assistant comes over and straightens my hair on the pillow, but then she leaves and I'm ready to start the scene for real.
I hear the snap of the clapboard. "Scene four, take one!"
I slowly open my eyes. I squint at the bright light, making a big show of glancing around the room. The audience can't read your thoughts. Show them your feelings. Frowning, I try to get my bearings. I turn my head towards the ground where the pullout bed used to be, but it's no longer there.
One of the sound technicians clangs two boards together to represent a door banging, then makes clomping noises. My eyes go wide and I pull the blanket over my head. It takes all my concentration to maintain a scared face and not glance at the camera I know is pointed right at me.
"Hey Kota!" Victor calls out. "Still sleeping? What's wrong with you?" His footsteps approach the bed. He takes a deep breath, then jumps. He somehow manages to land perfectly so that he looks like he's on me without actually squishing me. His hand grazes my ribs though, and a giggle escapes me.
"Cut!" Isabel yells. "Sang, you can't laugh, this is serious!"
Victor gets off the bed and I shift the blankets to the side. "I'm sorry, I'm kind of ticklish," I murmur.
Victor's gaze narrows on me. "Ticklish, you say?" He pokes my ribs and I giggle again.
Isabel scowls. "Reset!" she yells. I lay back down, repositioning the blankets to make them neat again. The same assistant fixes my hair, then we're ready to go.
"Scene four, take two!"
I go through the same routine as before. Omg, where's Kota? He's gone! Oh look, here comes Victor, I better hide.
"Hey Kota, still sleeping? What's wrong with you?" Victor jumps again, landing perfectly once more. I manage to control myself this time and pop my mouth into a surprised "O". I let my arms fly up a bit, just enough Victor to grab my wrists. I squirm around, but can't get free.
"Are you getting up or what?" he asks playfully. "The world is spinning on without you."
More footsteps approach. "Victor," Kota says in a warning tone. Victor freezes. In one smooth motion he leaps of the bed and drags the blanket with him, leaving me to block my eyes from the light.
"Who..." he says. I lower my arm and examine him just as he is examining me, as we supposedly see each other for the first time. His stare is so intense that a blush rises to my cheeks without my prompting.
"Victor, this is Sang," Kota introduces. I watch with wide eyes as they banter back and forth. Don't they think it's weird I haven't said anything yet? It seems pretty weird to me.
Erica speaks off camera. "Kota, do I hear Victor?" she asks. Without hesitation Victor pulls the blanket up and lies on top of me. It's just as awkward as you think it would be. Since I'm supposed to be panicking I'm breathing heavily; it feels like with each breath I take Victor moves up and down.
We remain frozen until Erica has finished talking to Kota. Once she leaves Kota shows me to the bathroom, and then the two boys leave, too.
"Cut! Well done everyone," Isabel praises.
We get a few closeups of me in the bathroom, putting up my hair and examining my bruise. I'm glad this isn't going to be one of those shows where a character gets beat up, but is miraculously healed by the next morning. From what I've seen in the script the characters stay bruised if they're supposed to.
The next scene takes place in the kitchen set. I smooth down the skirt I changed into. It seems a bit short, but I guess they have to attract male viewers somehow. Women comprise over ninety percent of the total viewers so if Ghost Bird could expand its audience it would have a huge impact on sales.
Kota, Victor, Erica, and Jessica will all be seated already when I walk in. After the food gets distributed it's time to film.
"Scene five, take one!"
I scurry into the kitchen and take a seat between Kota and Victor. Erica appraises me with a friendly grin. "Hello!" she says, "It's nice to meet you. I'm Erica." She vigorously shakes my hand. "I haven't met your parents yet." Well that makes two of us, Erica.
I twist my mouth into what is hopefully a polite grimace. "We're still kind of settling in," I murmur.
She gestures to Jessica sitting beside her. "This is my daughter and Dakota's sister, Jessica," she says. The camera zooms in on Jessica since she too is a new character. She takes a bite of toast to avoid talking and instead nods her head in acknowledgment.
Erica offers me some orange juice, but it's Kota who pours it. When he tilts the carton, it all rushes out at once and sloshes onto the table. "Shit," he mutters.
"Cut! Reset and try it again," Isabel calls out.
Kota glances apologetically at Jessica. "Sorry for cursing," he says.
Jessica shrugs, not looking bothered by it at all. "I don't give a fuck if you curse or not. Do whatever makes you happy," she says. She smiles angelically, a sharp contrast to her previous statement.
Take two goes smoothly until Victor talks with his mouth full and ends up spewing bits of egg into my bacon. He turns beat red and I can't help but giggle. It takes us a few minutes to control ourselves again.
Take three stops when Erica asks me how I met her son, Victor. Take four derails after Jessica knocks the butter over and sends the butter knife flying off the table.
"This is why I hate working with food," Isabel mutters darkly.
Five turns out to be the magic number and we make it through the scene without any mishaps. Isabel calls a one hour lunch break, which I'm grateful for. I've spent the last hour pushing around eggs and bacon without really eating any of it.
In the break room we meet up with the other Ghost Bird boys. I'm surprised when I see that North is missing, however.
"Since he's not filming today he went to New York to do some publicity stunts," Luke explains. A sudden thought strikes me.
"Are you two actually brothers?" I ask. Luke shakes his head.
"No, they tried to find actual brothers to play the roles but no one fit."
"But don't the Ghost Bird cast use their actual names?"
Luke bows down in a courtly manner. "You're looking at the exception, m'lady. Let me introduce myself, Lucian Sharpe. Ever since I started Ghost Bird I've been going by Lucian Taylor to match North, though."
Lucian Sharpe sounds so... wrong. I can't wrap my head around it. Luke laughs at my stunned expression. "Someday I'll probably legally change my name. I like Taylor better, anyways."
"I do too," I agree.
Luke sends me a flirty wink. "Who knows, maybe you'll be changing your name to Taylor too someday," he jokes.
"Where's North when we need him? I can't listen to this mushy nonsense," Nathan complains.
I whack them both in the head. "Quit it you too! Let us enjoy our lunches in peace."
After I finish my sandwich I rub my hair anxiously. I hope I washed it well enough last night, because next up is Gabriel's scene.
It's time to get a hair wash.
I'm sure it won't be weird at all.