STARRY EYES | mileven

eighteen

the script laid on her lap, open like a holy scripture. the chatter of the crew faded into a meaningless hum as she reread the lines for what felt like the hundredth time.

THEO
we only keep hitting dead ends. what if this will all be for nothing?

JANE
it's not a dead end. it's just a temporary... stop to reflect. it's led us somewhere, don't you think?

THEO
yeah.

a beat passes. jane takes the view of the lake in, watching the water ripple on the surface, but theo's eyes never leave her.

THEO
it's led me to you.

el's lips twisted into a grin, her eyes skimmed past the stage direction to the line she'd been pretending not to think about. her fingers traced it softly, like a gentle caress on letters.

jane cups theo's cheek and leans in for a kiss.

as a fan of the book, her heart leapt reading this scene. but as the actor who has to film this scene, her heart practically malfunctioned. she wasn't sure if it was beating too fast or too slow.

the first kiss scene. today. with mike wheeler.

the first time their kiss will touch again after their... rehearsal.

if mike showed up, that is.

the lake behind the set was straight out of a postcard, taking full advantage of saugatuck's scenery to mix it into the movie. it looks totally romantic, cinematic — with the sunset stretching over the lake's wavy surface.

but unfortunately sunsets didn't wait. they had maybe forty minutes before the light was gone, and no one wanted to waste an entire day.

and mike hadn't shown up yet.

"is angela with him again?" somebody sighed behind her. her ears perked up instantly, her stomach churning in revulsion.

is angela with him again?

what did that even mean? did they catch him with angela before? multiple times before?

"someone seriously needs to ban her from set," another voice muttered. "she keeps weaseling in beside him every chance she gets."

el tried her best to seem busy with the script, like she wasn't eavesdropping on every word they were saying.

"are they dating?" a third voice asked.

"pretty sure. they've been seen on dates." el's grip slightly tightened around the papers in front of her. "whatever they are, we've been waiting ten minutes. they can hang out after we wrap — some of us actually want to go home."

"i'm so sorry!" mike's breathless voice cut in. he jogged toward them, hair perfectly laid still, cheeks pink. "there was a little problem at hair and makeup and it took longer than expected. i didn't mean to hold anyone up."

"we really need to hurry," kali said as mike settled opposite el. "think you two can give me a perfect first-kiss scene on first try?" she teased, but the urgency under it was real.