The Movie that Changed Our Lives (Elijah Wood/LOTR FanFic)

The Call

Me and the other Hobbits were standing up in the makeup trailer while getting our feet applied. Everyone thought that it was a drag to stand up for a couple hours without moving an inch, but I actually enjoyed it. In the five or six months we were there, I had gotten used to this standard morning procedure, and forced myself to forget the urge to crack my toes and move them around. It was a tiny personal accomplishment that I took pride in, and allowed me to snicker and offer advice to the other struggling Hobbits.

Elijah was very antsy and quiet that day. We were all laughing and teasing Elijah on the burn he had gotten from the night before. He had tried to cook some food on the stove of his trailer, and burnt his finger quite badly. The makeup crew had to spend an extra half an hour covering it up, so he was there earlier than us, sulking in his chair. It was not fun to get up at four in the morning just so your wound could get covered.

Jill, one of the crew members, came into the trailer with a telephone, saying that someone wanted to speak with me. Curious, I grabbed the phone from Jim, my makeup artist's, outstretched hand, and put it on speakerphone. Even though I wanted the conversation to be private, balancing the phone on my shoulder would cause me to move in such a way that it would mess up the creases in our Hobbit feet. So relentlessly, I took a deep breath and gave a hello into the phone.

"Hey, Kat," a deep voice happily said, "god, it took me forever to contact you!"

I swore, that voice sounded familiar to me, but I had no idea who it was. "Oh, really?" I replied, trying not to sound like I did not know who it was. I nervously looked at the others, and Elijah's pale face mouthed words to me. I squinted my eyes to focus on what his lips were trying to tell me. Elijah and I were horrible with lip-reading, and this time was no exception.

"Yeah! Your mom wasn't answering the phone 'cause she was always out on doctor appointments or something. I had to finally go over and get the number from Casey," the voice rambled on, "hey, you never told me you got that job in New Zealand! I never got to take you out on a fancy restaurant for my goodbye!"

By now, Dominic and Billy were trying to hold back their laughter, their faces turning red and purple as they internally laughed. Sean was studying the voice, looking for any general indication on who it could be. Finally, Elijah gave up on his efforts. "Hey, Stan," he shouted, giving me a small look. I covered my mouth in shock. In all this fun time filming, I had totally forgotten about Stan. My face turned a deep red and I bit my lip in guilt. Dominic and Billy were now uncontrollable, their makeup artists scolding them for moving around in laughter so much that they would ruin the Hobbit feet.

"Oh, why is Elijah there, Kat?" asked Stan, who seemed to have suddenly gotten very defensive.

"We're doing a movie together. Remember, I told you that he auditioned too?"

He was silent for a moment. "It seems like we both forgot some stuff." Now Stan had turned very bitter, and it made me uneasy. The makeup artists were exchanging awkward glances, and now Billy had stopped all of his attempts to outwardly laugh. "You said you would call every day."

I apologized to him. "I've just been so busy with all this; I barely have time to even talk to my own family!" It was getting really uncomfortable in that trailer, and I wanted nothing more than to take the phone off speaker. Some things still deserved to stay private.

"Oh, so I'm not family?" Shoot.

"Well, I mean...you're my boyfriend. That's different."

"Isn't Elijah basically your family? Why can't I be family too?" Man, this was not going well. I looked up at Elijah, whose eyes were filled with so many mixed emotions that for the first time ever, I couldn't tell what they were. It was a tiny surprise in a big jumble of chaotic surprises.