Just for a Moment

67 | Truth, Justice and Songs in Our Key

Everyone got back into position. Tim was nervous that Larry's expectations were too high for this performance. He bit his nails from behind the camera.

"Ok," he said with a shaky breath, "action!"

The song began with Dara (Kourtney) holding a boombox above her head. Larry (Big Red) took off his jacket and ran down to join everyone else. Olivia (Nini), Julia (Ashlyn), and Joshua (Ricky) sang their lines before he and Larry (Big Red) danced down the middle.

The song was going smoothly to everyone's surprise; there weren't many mistakes, and if there were, they weren't too obvious.

They made it to Joe's line, and Larry was following along very well so far. Sofia glanced up at the railing to look at Dara and had to hold in the laughter from seeing her jamming out with the boombox.

They were now at the bridge, which meant the larger group number was coming up. As they began the part, Julia glanced at Larry to see how he was doing. Joshua's eyes fell on Olivia.

The number was coming to a close as everyone crowded around Kate (Miss Jenn) and did jazz hands. Everyone was silent for a moment, so they could get the shot.

"Cut! That... was... incredible!!" Tim shouted. Everyone clapped and cheered and screamed from the excitement. "Now, since that's pretty much done, we can all go home!" We'll probably have to do it again at some point though.

The cast did a group hug and jumped around for a bit before realizing they were now allowed to go back to the apartments. "Let's give a round of applause for Larry, everybody!!" Tim shouted. People began whooping and hollering and whistling, giving him as much praise as possible.

"Pizza to celebrate!" Joshua screamed.

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Everyone was gathered in Frankie's apartment this time, chosen via a coin toss. There were a few days off after all the stress that the previous episode had put on everyone, which they were thankful for.

They were all now eating pizza and talking about episode five. "I can't wait for this dance," Julia gushed.

"I know!" Dara added. "And Tim said I could do this one. I just need to buy a brace."

"I can't wait to dump punch on Matt's head," Sofia enthused.

"Why are you so thrilled about that?" he asked.

"Because why not?"

"Well, I'm going to be wearing a blue tux, and punch usually ends up being a sticky drink. Plus, it'll all be in my hair," he whined.

"Hey, it's a small sacrifice."

"I'm excited to go to the bowling alley," Olivia chimed in. "It'll be nice to have a change of scenery."

"Yeah, but you two will have to say later since the scene needs to take place at night," Joshua commented, pointing at Olivia and Dara.

"Hey, don't forget Kate," Dara pointed out. "She may not be dancing, but she'll have to be there at night too."

Olivia nodded in agreement. "Besides, it shouldn't be too bad," she reasoned. "We've had long days before."

Joshua just shrugged. "Pass me another slice."

"Plus, it's not like we'll be all alone," Olivia said, glancing around. "Surely we won't be spending too long."

"Yeah, let's hope not," Dara added.

The night continued with more pizza, drinks, and laughter. Everyone was becoming delirious, and every little thing was found hilarious. Eventually, people began to fall asleep unintentionally: Joe had landed on Frankie's shoulder; Sofia's knees were to her chest with a pillow over them; Dara's head was leaned back against the back of the couch with her ankle propped up on a pillow on the coffee table, and Julia was leaning on her; Matt and Larry were sprawled out on the carpet on opposite sides of the coffee table; and Olivia and Joshua were squeezed into what space was left on the couch.

Joshua had one arm around the back of the couch and the other on the armrest. Because of the dip his weight made in the couch, Olivia had been slowly sliding closer to him as the night went on.

She was half asleep and trying to get comfortable and ultimately gave in to her sleepiness and rested against the side of his chest. Olivia took a deep breath as her body relaxed against him and accidentally inhaled the scent of his cologne. A pet peeve of hers was always when someone would wear excessive amounts of perfume or cologne because too much was just unbearable and obvious.

This was different: she had never noticed before that Joshua wore cologne. Sure, maybe she was mildly aware; a lot of guys at this age wear it. But she never gave it a second thought. Now, now, she was actively thinking about it. This is where my brain goes in the middle of the night. Of course.

Olivia wanted to shut her brain off and just get some well-needed rest. She graciously took advantage of the little bit of extra space Joshua had provided by moving his arm and shut her eyes. She glances up at him one more time before finally shutting her eyes. Thank you. For everything.

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The cast woke up a little groggy. Sleeping on the floor was not the brightest idea, but they also knew it wasn't going to be the last time it happened.

Dara was the first one awake because her ankle was hurting, and she realized she had left the ice pack on it all night. Her next decision was whether or not to go and change it out for a new one but decided against it since there was no one to help her in case something bad happened. Everyone else began to slowly wake up.

Sofia sat up and immediately groaned. "Why the hell did I decide to sleep like that?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.

"At least you had a pillow," Larry complained, twisting his back and making it pop.

Joe's eyes were the next to open. He squinted from the sun coming in through the blinds, stretched, and yawned. "We need to go out and buy sleeping bags and remember to bring spare blankets anytime we do this."

"No kidding," Matt yawned.

"Can we just go back to sleep?" Julia asked. "This was not our best idea, and we don't have to work."

Frankie woke up next. "Um, no one has pointed this out yet?" Everyone else follows his gaze and directs their attention to the opposite side of the couch. Olivia had one arm thrown over Joshua's stomach while his was lightly draped over her shoulder, and her head was on his shoulder.

"They are making this too easy," Sofia said, opening her camera. She added this new scene to a folder in her photos called teasing/blackmail.

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Super short chapter because I forgot that it wasn't finished and had to make it quick.

I have a question: would anyone care if I skipped some stuff about E5?
I've been dragging out production of E5 and E6 for a while now, so I might just jump to the final two takes of Born to Be Brave (the one at East High then the bowling alley).