SLEAZE: A Hollywood Comeback Story (Book #1)

Chapter 34

"And, cut!" I let the camera roll for a few more seconds while the actors held their positions. Satisfied that it had been the perfect take, I flashed a thumbs-up and added, "Thanks, guys, I think we're done."

With just weeks left before my film school application was due, I'd taken the past two days off from work so that I could finally finish shooting. Today we'd set up in an empty parking lot downtown and the random medley of drama students that Scott had gathered from campus gave themselves a round of applause before breaking off in different directions, though two lanky guys hung back, waiting for my directions.

I'd guessed they were freshmen even before Scott introduced them as Thing One and Thing Two--the gangly pair were two of our fraternity's pledges whose nicknames had apparently been derived from the fact that they were nearly identical in every way. When I'd asked them if they were related, they'd even managed to say, "No," and shake their heads in perfect unison. 

"Where do you need us?" Thing One asked, evidently the braver of the two. Thing Two nodded and the almost reverent look on his face made me feel uneasy.

"Uh," I said. "Can you gather all the props and put them in my car?"

Their faces brightened and they scurried off, seemingly pleased with that task. "What's up with them?" I asked Scott once they were out of earshot.

Scott shrugged."I may have told them that helping out would be more... labor intensive."

"Why?"

Scott pulled a black Sharpie from his back pocket and waved it in front of my face. "They need my signature on their pledge paddles and, seeing as I'm basically giving it away for free, I thought I'd scare them a little bit first."

That made me nostalgic and I thought about the slab of wood that I'd carried around for an entire semester as part of my pledge process, forced to pull it out of my backpack and salute whenever an upperclassman in the frat stopped me on campus. I remembered the lecture that we'd all been given, that before any pledge could be initiated, he had to get the signature of every executive board member, including those of his pledge masters. I'd been the first one to get all of the signatures while Scott, on the other hand, had been missing one right up to the night before initiation. Michael's mom had finally called to tell him that he could either sign Scott's paddle or not go home for Christmas.

"How are they this year?" I asked, motioning towards the awkward duo but meaning the entire pledge class.

"They're alright," he said, letting a shoulder rise and drop. "We took way more than we needed to. A lot of the actives thought we'd have trouble getting guys after we were on probation last semester but I think we're going to end up needing to drop about ten."

I nodded. I always felt bad for the pledges who were destined get the axe. It had to be a terrible feeling to think that you were friends with the guys in the house, only to be cut by a majority vote of the active members. "How's it looking for them?"

Scott and I watched while Thing Two dropped the stack of props that he'd held precariously balanced in his arms. He bent down and began gathering up the items he'd let fall, stumbling over himself like a newborn horse that hadn't quite found its footing. Shaking his head, Scott said, "We'll see."

"You hungry?" I asked, disassembling my video camera's tripod and packing the pieces carefully into their case. We'd filmed throughout the morning and while everyone else had gone for lunch at the burger place down the block, I'd frantically driven to the costume shop on Melrose to pick up the last decorative pieces I needed to finish off the look of the set.

"Yeah, always. Do you need help?" Scott reached out to take the boom mic that I'd rented from our university's film department and I passed it to him.