in which you, an aspiring filmmaker,
find the perfect actor for your breakout short film.
casting is difficult for the main love interest,
but once a certain blue-eyed boy comes into your life, you know he's the one...
maybe in more ways than yo...
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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
searching
it took walker a minute to respond to jordyn. "really? that's not something i'm skilled in," he said, his words hesitant and choppy like they were downloading into his brain. everyone in that room knew about the predetermined casting of aurora: me.
i, too, forgot about the ending scene, too focused on assigning other roles to think about mine and the awfully exciting things she was written in to do. a jitter shot through my veins just thinking about what was inevitable. i was going to kiss walker.
"honestly, me too. i haven't kissed someone since the one time in sixth grade," i said, trying to be relatable to walker.
"no, i mean, i haven't had my first kiss." that surprised me. it wasn't like he'd had a role that had a kiss scene in it before this, but that fact that he was that attractive and hadn't even pecked someone was shocking.
"that's normal, dude," said jordyn. "i didn't have my first kiss until this year."
"yeah, and maeve hasn't kissed anyone, either," i added. she was writing something down in the notepad and pretending she was busy, but i definitely heard her chuckle under her breath. odd.
"i'm just saying, hopefully it's not a problem for this role," said walker, leaning against the wall. he made the drab room more appealing.
maeve finally spoke, "i'm sure it'll be fine."
she approached the door and stood on her tippy-toes, scanning what lied outside. i joined her, curious after she spent multiple moments taking in the view. a parade of waiting people lined the walls, some talking, some fiddling their fingers, and some just on their phones. there was at least thirty people in total, which was better than thirty potential emily's, but there was so many people. i took a deep breath, the reality that so many contenders were waiting to be cut down to only a few sinking in.
maeve checked the electronic watch on her wrist. "we can let someone in now."
my heart began to race. how was i supposed to go about this? i felt like i was leading a herd of sheep to their deaths. "can you ask them?"
maeve nodded, opening the door. the chatter that was revealed when she did began to fade away. "alright, everyone listen up. i have no clue how this works so you're gonna have to bare with me. get in a single file line," she directed, motioning like an aircraft marshaller. the crowd did as she said, creating a caterpillar along the parallel wall. once the rustle of shifting shoes and pants subsided, they awaited further direction.
