Starbird

Chapter 24

Gemma was in a particular mood that day, making lunch a lot more awkward than it should be. James and Ava were at the far end of the table being disgustingly adorable and Liam was so engrossed in his food and thoughts, that he barely looked up once. His sisters were busy with something, I’m not sure what, so I was left with the only pleasant company which was Carson.

“So I was thinking that we should go to Ikea, hide in one of their giant wardrobes, and when someone opens it, we -”

“Run out screaming, ‘For Narnia!’?” I asked, cutting him off, but humored nonetheless.

“Oh, you’ve heard that idea,” he said defeated.

“Yes, but it’s brilliant and we should definitely do it next time you’re not working.” He smiled at me and put his hand up for a high-five which I delivered.

“Can we do 333 ways to get kicked out of Walmart?”

“I don’t think Walmart exists in Europe.”

“It doesn’t?” I asked in disbelief. “But then we can’t find People of Walmart either!”

“Don’t worry, next time we’re all in America, we’ll do it.”

“Perfect.” 

“What are you two on about?” Liam asked, finally looking up from his food.

“Plans to wet ourselves laughing,” Carson said and I stuck my tongue out at his choice in wording.

“Why would you want to wet yourself?”

“Well, it’s different than doing it involuntarily,” I said, throwing shade on the fact that I made him wet himself.

“It wasn’t like I’m not potty trained! You put my hand in warm water,” he defended and all three of his sisters looked up at him in surprise.

“You wet yourself?” Tori asked, on the verge of giggles.

“Camille pranked me.” He pointed at me and I smiled triumphantly.

“Yes, I did and it was glorious.”

“But we also threw Cam in a bathtub so who’s the real winner here?” James piped in.

“I made you pee your pants,” I emphasized. “I am definitely the winner.”

“Is it just me or does that seem like a really long time ago?” Ava asked, joining in the conversation.

“It was when we first got here, early April,” I said.

“Yeah, and it’s almost the end of June. And we’re going to France in two weeks!” Carson said excitedly.

“And it’s our last day here until October,” James said. That caught me by surprise.

“Wait, what do you mean it’s our last day here? We leave in two weeks...”

“Yeah, but we’re doing the next two weeks of filming at a different location. It’s gorgeous, I’ve been up there a few times with my family,” Ava said. 

“Ugh, all this nostalgia and planning is making me bored. I’ll be in my trailer if anyone needs me.” Gemma got up, leaving her plate behind, and made a hasty exit, hair flowing behind her. Seriously, I’m pretty sure she just got done with an intense fighting scene, how is she not even sweaty?

Just as she left, the buzzer sounded for everyone to head back to work. Today, everyone seemed willing to go, ready to finish off their last day of filming strong. Plates were dumped at the kitchen window and everyone rushed out to get hair and makeup fixed while I was left at the table with Liam’s sisters. I then saw Finch coming towards us, fluttering about as usual. I hoped she was coming with us to France. I would miss her fluttery-ness if she wasn’t.