BENJAMIN

Scarlett. Is it safe?

SCARLETT

Never fully safe with me.

BENJAMIN

I know you would never hurt me. Why have you led them here?

SCARLETT

Buying time until my father can work a miracle.

BENJAMIN

This might not be a good idea to have them all together like this in the same place. If the wrong hunter finds out it could be disastrous.

SCARLETT

Then don’t tell anyone.

Fifteen

Those two days off were not good for me. I felt more out of character now than ever, having been only myself for the last two days.

The morning started off bad and didn’t get any better. Each scene required more takes than usual—Grant and I were not in sync. Remy got grumpier and grumpier as the day wore on. Especially when my advocate said I’d hit my hours limit for the day. I left the set probably as frustrated as Remy.

I was tough, I told myself. I needed to forget about the real world, my real life, for a while and put on my character off camera. I went out to the parking lot, fully costumed, to retrieve my Dancing Graves book from the trunk of the car. Grant’s fans were there, lining the barricades as always, holding their handmade signs. I thought about going up and saying hi. Showing them that I was nice and hoping they’d post something good about me. But in response to my publicist email, my agent had said, Just keep your head down and work. If we need a publicist, we’ll worry about that after filming, during movie promotion, when it will matter. I wondered if that was her nice way of saying I couldn’t afford one for a long period of time so I needed to time it right.

I focused on my car, trying to keep a neutral expression on my zombified face as I walked. I popped my trunk and retrieved the book. I took a deep breath and tried to channel Scarlett. Maybe I needed to start calling Grant Benjamin on and off set. I flipped to page one as I walked back to my trailer. It had been a while since I read the book. Unlike the script, it fully immersed me in the character and world that surrounded her with detailed descriptions and back stories.

I opened the door to my trailer, put the book facedown on the table, and went into the bathroom. The curtain was drawn around the small shower, which wasn’t how I’d left it. I reached toward it, ready to throw it open, when it was ripped to the side from within followed by a loud scream.

I picked up my hairbrush from the counter and swung it with a scream of my own before I registered that the person standing in my shower was Amanda.

“Were you going to kill me with a hairbrush?” she said through her laughter.

“You are evil. Pure evil,” I said.

She bowed, then stepped out of my shower.

“The devil herself is what you are. You almost made me pee my pants.”

She blew me a kiss and skipped out of my bathroom.

“How did you even get over here before me? I just saw you on set,” I said as she laid herself on my couch.

“I’m a fast runner.”

“This is why Grant has security guards outside his trailer.” Apparently mine was Grand Central station, anyone and everyone was allowed in. Despite my still-racing heart, I found myself smiling.

“Grant has security guards outside his trailer because he’s a big star.” She said the word big in a sarcastic voice, like it wasn’t true.

“Uh-oh. What happened?”

“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. That’s the problem.”

“You just gotta let yourself fall for me,” I said in a deep-voiced impersonation of him. “Are you sure you still want something to happen?”

“He gave you the speech too?”

“Yes.”

She nodded slowly. “He’s just doing what he always does, what works for him. Once he realizes that he likes me, he won’t flirt with everyone else.”

“If you say so.”

“Have you thought of a brilliant plan yet?”

I hadn’t, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t. “Too bad it’s not you who’s kissing him on camera next week. I watched your videos. That would totally sway him.” I straightened up. “That’s it.”

“What’s it?” she asked.

“You’re going to kiss him under the pretense of giving me some pointers.”

She sat up. “That’s a brilliant idea.”

“I know!”

“You’ll suggest this practice session at some point? If I do, it will be obvious.”

“Yes, I will.”

“You’re the best.” She put her feet up on my coffee table. “How are things going with your boy?”

“He’s not my boy.”

There was a knock at the door. Speaking of Grand Central. “Come in!”

Donavan walked into the trailer, and my heart stuttered. Why did it do that? I scowled at the reaction.

“I see you’re so happy to see me,” he said.

“She’s so happy to see you,” Amanda said. “We were just talking about you and I was just leaving.” She turned toward me and wiggled her eyebrows. I shook my head with a laugh, and she left.

“I just came to bring you a fresh new homework packet,” Donavan said when the door was shut.

“Scarlett doesn’t do homework.”

“Lacey doesn’t either.”

“Funny.”

“Who is Scarlett?” He obviously didn’t remember my character’s name.

I held up the book in my hand.

“Oh, right.” He put the new packet on my table and turned to go. “So you’ll just text me a pic when you get some done, then?”

He was leaving? “You’re not going to do the math with me?”

He wrinkled his brow in confusion. “I thought . . .”

He needs to leave, Lacey. You need to work on being Scarlett. He is a distraction. “Will you do it in character with me?” I asked, ignoring my better judgment.

“I have no idea what that means.”

“You tutor me while in character. I do my assignments as Scarlett. It’s called method acting.”

“And who am I supposed to be?”

“His name is Benjamin. He’s a zombie hunter.”

“Is that who Grant James plays?”

I smirked. “Is that a problem?”

“I am probably equally as good an actor as Grant James.”

“So you have done some acting,” I said.

“No. I’ll be horrible.”

“Ouch, Mr. Reviewer. Pretty sure you’re already on Grant’s bad side. You don’t need to be walking around the studio bad-talking him.”

He looked repentant. “I’m sorry. That was in poor taste.”

I smiled. “I was teasing you.” I looked over my shoulder to make sure my trailer door was closed. “Sort of.”

“So you want me to sit here and pretend to kill you for the next hour?”

“No, he’s not trying to kill me, remember? He’s in love with me. Just basically say whatever you’re going to say, but in a British accent. I’ll figure out the rest.”

“You really do always try to get out of schoolwork.” He sat down on the couch.

I grabbed my packet and my book from the table and sat down next to him. “This is the opposite of that. This is a creative way of doing schoolwork. How is your British accent?”