Finding June (17 page)

I didn’t say anything at first, wondering how
I could best respond. Normally I would say something like, "You
make it sound like we’re going on a date," but something told me
that I shouldn’t joke around so much about that kind of thing.
Joseph had recently become much more touchy about that topic, and I
wondered if it was because he was going on a mission in a few years
and didn’t want people to think he didn’t have his priorities
straight. So instead of making a joke or asking why he’d been so
serious lately, I just said, “That’s really sweet of you,” and left
it at that.

CHAPTER 14

Seven o’clock on Thursday morning seemed so
far off when I left the set on Monday, but as I stood in front of
the makeup trailer, ready to start my next day of filming, I found
that it had come quickly. Right when I entered Candice’s station,
Ryan and Benjamin exclaimed, “New Girl!” enthusiastically from the
couch. Both were flipping through magazines and drinking coffee
from cardboard cups, while Candice sat smashed between them on the
small sofa.

“We got you a hot chocolate, New Girl,”
Benjamin said as he nodded at the only cardboard cup remaining in
the cup holder.

“Thanks guys,” I answered appreciatively,
picking up the cup and letting it warm my hands. I took a seat in
the makeup chair but swiveled around so I was facing my three
friends. “So, anything exciting happen while I was gone?” I asked,
trying to make conversation, since Candice didn’t seem too
motivated to start on my hair and makeup.

“The costumes were a lot less fun to
scrutinize,” Candice said dryly.

“True,” Ryan agreed.

They were all silent for a moment, indicating
that there hadn’t been a whole lot happening in the past two
days.

“Candice put a plant in the trailer,”
Benjamin offered lamely. I looked over at the small green potted
plant, unsure of what it was.

“We call it 'The Little Steamer,'” Ryan
informed me.

“I see,” I said slowly, thinking of what else
I should say. “And why do you call it that?”

“It’s a thyme plant,” Benjamin said simply,
while I continued to stare at him.

“Thyme reminded them of time,” Candice began,
talking as if they were children and she was trying to convey to an
adult that we should act impressed by their line of thought. “And
time reminded them of a pocket watch, which reminded them of
steampunk, which made them call it The Little Steamer. I’m sure
they thought they were being clever,” she finished
sarcastically.

“Candice hasn’t had enough coffee yet,” Ryan
said with a tentative glance in her direction.

“There’s not enough coffee in the world to
help me put up with you two,” she shot back, finally getting up off
the sofa to start on my hair and makeup. She pulled out her black
binder, which held the shooting schedule and told her what makeup
I’d need for each scene.

“I’m doing all precinct scenes today, right?”
I asked, trying to remember what scene came first but finding that
they were all getting jumbled together in my mind.

“Yeah, so first we’ll need you in your stage
costume. It’ll be the scene right after Edward’s murder,” she
answered, never looking up from her black binder but letting her
dark red lips curl up into a smile, showing her amusement at the
costume I’d have to put on again.

“Hey, that means you get to act with us
today, New Girl,” Benjamin said happily, setting his magazine down
on his lap. He exchanged a sly glance with Ryan, who smirked back
at him. I watched them suspiciously.

“Whatever you guys are thinking right now,
stop. You’ve got these shifty little glances going back and forth
and I don’t trust them at all,” I warned.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,”
Ryan said in mock innocence.

“I think maybe New Girl needs to start
drinking coffee as well,” Benjamin chimed in.

“You guys are impossible,” I said with a
sigh. They continued to grin at me, making me feel even more wary
about doing a scene with them. “I don’t see what you could do to
mess me up. I don’t even have lines with you.”

“Ouch,” Ryan said in reply.

“Thanks a lot, New Girl,” Benjamin added in a
hurt tone.

“They added a few lines to the script
yesterday,” Candice explained, handing me a blue script and
returning to pining up my hair in the same style it had been on
Monday.

“Oops,” I said innocently, looking over at
Ryan and Benjamin, who were pretending to pout. Glancing over the
script quickly, I saw where the new lines had been added. I now had
a small interaction with Ryan and Benjamin while sitting in the
precinct waiting to be questioned by Charles and Cutter.

“You’re going to wish you had been nicer to
us once we start filming, New Girl,” Benjamin threatened while Ryan
nodded gravely.

“Candice, can’t you do something about the
two of them?” I joked.

“Don’t you think that if I had any control
over them, they wouldn’t be hanging out in the makeup trailer
all day
?” she asked in exasperation.

“We’re a force to be reckoned with,” Ryan
exclaimed proudly.

“An oncoming storm,” Benjamin agreed.

“Great,” I sighed.

Soon after I grabbed a quick bite to eat at
craft services and got into costume, I met the rest of the cast at
the set of the precinct. It was an odd experience to see this
well-known set in person. It looked almost exactly like it did on
TV except that the ceiling and a few of the walls were missing.
Other than that, I really felt like I was at the police station.
The thing that amazed me the most about the set was all of the
little details that made it feel real, but probably went unnoticed
by the viewers. There were half-empty coffee cups, coats on chairs,
and even stacks of papers on desks that I took the liberty of
rifling through when no one was looking. They were all filled out
as if they were police work that needed to be filed. It was simply
incredible.

“Excuse me ma’am, but you aren’t authorized
to view those files,” I heard Benjamin say right behind me, making
me jump about a foot in the air.

“You scared me to death,” I said
breathlessly.

“What are you even doing?” Ryan asked, never
far behind Benjamin.

“I wanted to see if there was writing on all
of the papers,” I admitted sheepishly. “You know, instead of just
writing on the first few and the rest left blank.”

“Why?” Benjamin inquired.

“That’s a good question,” I said. “To which I
have no answer. I was just curious.”

“Works for me,” he said, shrugging and
walking over to a table filled with food and water bottles.

“I see you’re in
the
costume again,”
Ryan pointed out sympathetically.

“Yeah, I can’t seem to avoid
the
costume,” I agreed heavily, sitting in a chair at one of the prop
desks. Ryan perched on the desk and folded his arms.

“It’s really not that bad,” he said. “I think
the fact that you come off as being so innocent kind of makes it
less sexy and a bit more costume-y, like you’re only wearing it
because it looks vaudeville.”

I looked down at the costume with its lace
and feathers and felt, for the first time since I had put it on,
that maybe he was right and I didn’t need to be so embarrassed. It
was funny how different he was when he and Benjamin weren’t
bouncing jokes off of each other. He was still goofy and
lighthearted, but he also seemed more focused on putting me at ease
than making jokes when he was on his own.

“So, I’ve been wondering something since I
met you at the table read, but I don’t want to come off as . . . I
can’t even think of the word. Nosey, I guess would be the best way
to put it,” Ryan said, spinning the watch on his wrist around and
around as he spoke.

“That’s a scary way to start a question,” I
joked. “But go ahead.”

“Are you a Mormon?” he asked, whispering the
word "Mormon" as if it were taboo.

I paused for a moment and assessed my current
situation. Ryan seemed like a nice guy, so I couldn’t imagine him
making fun of me or being disrespectful about my religion. At the
same time, though, I'd had tons of friends who I thought were
really down-to-earth and friendly who ended up getting weird when I
told them about my religion. As if there was really something so
odd about being LDS.

“Yeah, I am. How could you tell?” I asked,
wondering what had given me away.

“Well, first there are the obvious ones: not
drinking coffee and being so uncomfortable in revealing
clothing.”

“But those could easily be attributes of a
non-Mormon as well,” I pointed out.

“That’s true. But I had a Mormon friend
growing up. You can just tell. I realize that makes me sounds
really weird and creepy, but it’s the truth. You actually remind me
of him a lot,” Ryan said warmly. “That's a good thing,” he added
quickly, seeing that I was trying to work out the intent of that
statement.

“So you’re okay with it, then?” I asked
cautiously. “I mean, you’re not going to go off on a political rant
or tell me all of the reasons it would be easier to not be
Mormon?”

“From what I can tell, you haven’t tried to
push your beliefs down anyone’s throat here, so why should we do
that to you?” he said logically, instantly scoring major brownie
points in my book. “I don’t have a problem with most lifestyles as
long as they aren’t looking down on me for not joining in.”

I smiled up at Ryan for a long while, glad to
be met with so much respect and maturity from someone I hadn’t
known for that long. His way of thinking perfectly matched mine on
this point, and I couldn’t help but wonder why more people didn’t
feel the same way.

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” I admitted
truthfully. “Honestly, for some reason a lot of people get kind of
. . . hostile, when they find out. Like I’ve told them I’m against
breathing or something.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen that. I think those people
have either had a bad experience with an overbearing Mormon, or
they believe everything they read about them.”

“Which normally comes from anti-Mormon
websites . . . so that’s a good source of information,” I remarked
sarcastically.

“It’s not fair, but that’s why I admire you
for being a caring, decent human. I think that speaks volumes about
your religion,” he said with a smile.

"Thanks Ryan. I really appreciate that,” I
replied sincerely. He grinned at me for a moment longer before
clearing his throat and changing the subject.

“So, do you have your new lines memorized
yet? Or line, I guess I should say,” he asked. “Because Benjamin
and I will be testing you thoroughly.”

“Testing me on the actual line, or just
testing my patience as usual?” I countered with a smirk.

“Ah, probably a little bit of both,” he
laughed.

“Yeah, I could have guessed.”

“Ryan,” said the angelic voice of Lukas
Leighton at such close proximity that I started. I hadn’t even seen
him walk up behind Ryan and then there he was, his voice friendly
enough, but hinting at something commanding and dark. “I think it
would be best if you went over your blocking with Benjamin again.
He seems to be confused.”

Ryan kept his eyes trained on me the whole
time Lukas spoke, his expression never changing from one of neutral
attention.

“Okay,” was his only response. He didn’t say
it in a rude or sarcastic way. He didn’t even sound annoyed,
really, but there was something about the way he had given his
short answer and left without saying goodbye to me or making eye
contact with Lukas that made me wonder if he was as fond of him as
he had once appeared.

“Sorry about him. He likes to talk a
lot—forgets what he’s actually supposed to be doing sometimes,”
Lukas said apologetically. I hadn’t been annoyed by Ryan’s
presence, but this comment made me wonder if sitting around talking
with him had made me look unprofessional.

“That’s okay. I probably wasn’t doing much to
get him back on track, really,” I said guiltily, trying to convey
that Ryan hadn’t been unprofessional all on his own.

“Well that dress didn’t help matters, I’m
sure,” Lukas joked, giving me a winning smile, which instantly
melted my heart. I couldn’t think of any response, or at least I
couldn’t get my mouth to work one out, so I just smiled stupidly up
at him. “I’ve missed having you around the set these last few
days,” Lukas said, leaning against the desk where Ryan had been
just seconds before.

“Really?” was my brilliant response.

“Yeah. I actually wanted to text you, but
then I realized I don’t have your number, which doesn’t make any
sense,” he went on as he pulled a phone out of his pocket.

“No sense at all,” I babbled, grinning like
an idiot. Was Lukas Leighton really asking me for my phone number?
Me? A nobody he'd only known for a few days?

“Number?” he asked, raising his eyebrows at
me in a beautifully quizzical way as he passed me his phone. Even
those facial expressions that would make other people seem goofy
looked like perfection on him. I typed my number into his extensive
contacts list, trying not to concentrate too much on the fact that
he was watching me with a faultless grin.

“There you go,” I said shakily, passing his
phone back and feeling giddy at the way our hands touched when he
took it from me.

“I’ll text you later with my number,” he
said, answering my unsaid question just as the director called for
everyone to take their places. He walked away from me, but looked
back just once to bless me with his perfect smile and a sly
wink.

*****

The first scene had gone smoothly all through
my questioning with Charles and Cutter. Will Trofeos was a
terrifying person to be in the room with when he was in his Charles
Bagely mode. Lukas seemed to be the same person as his character
Cutter, so that wasn’t as jarring as having Will trying to scare me
into a false confession. The scene was a bit exhausting, but by the
time we finished I felt really good about the performance I had
given.