Starbird

Chapter 26

I watched the sky start to dip behind the hills as the director boomed through his megaphone, “Cut! And that’s a wrap for the day! See you tomorrow!” I could hear the crew and actors applaud, which I always thought was a nice thing to do at the end of the day. Everyone dispersed, cleaning up or taking down things that weren’t needed for the next day and I could see James and Ava intertwine their fingers as they started walking towards me, Carson, Gemma, and Liam following. Instead of watching the March of the Beautiful, I busied myself by packing up my things so that by the time they reached me, I had my bag slung up on my shoulder, ready to go.

“So who’s up for a movie at our house tonight?” James asked as the group made a circle.

“On a Saturday night? Are you kidding? I’m going out,” Gemma said, crossing her arms as if to test if anyone would join her or not.

“That actually sounds fun,” Carson said.

“The movie or partying?” I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

“Partying! I’ll see you guys later. I’m getting out of this stuff and getting a pint,” Carson said, instantly leaving us as we all gave a slightly baffled goodbye as Gemma followed him.

“Oh-kay then, so Ava, Liam, you in?” James asked.

“I want to, I really would, but I need sleep. I know, not very exciting, but I feel like I’m about to die and I have a big fight scene tomorrow, so I’m going to bed,” Ava said, shrugging sadly.

“Liam? Should I even ask?”

I watched him and definitely expected him to back out just because everyone else had ditched out.

“Movie night sounds great.”

I had to stop my reaction, but internally I was surprised and excited and absolutely terrified. Stop, nerves! I do not need a stampede going on right now.

“Awesome, we got one! Cam, we’re going to go get changed, I think George is taking us home tonight, so go find him.”

“Oh, you two can ride with me. It’ll be a bit easier that way,” Liam offered.

“Perfect! We’ll be out in five minutes. Time me, Cammie!” I breathed out a short puff of air, being amused at James’ antics as he sprinted off with Liam in tow towards, what I was assuming, the costume trailer. Boys.

“Alright. So what are we watching then?” Liam said, plopping down on the couch and sprawling his long limbs across the entire space when we finally arrived home. I was on the other side of the couch and his feet nearly touched my thigh. Nasty feet.

“I was thinking a thriller. Or else I’ll get bored.” Liam nodded enthusiastically.

“Wait.” Liam stopped nodding and looked in my direction. “Are you going to get all scared and start quivering and screaming?” I narrowed my eyes at him.

“No. I’ve seen plenty of thrillers.”

“It’s true. She hardly reacts at all,” James told Liam. “In fact, it’s kind of boring. You try to scare her at a suspenseful moment and she just kind of glares.”

“Alright, because I have sisters. And they can never make it because they start crying.”

“Well, duh they cry! Victoria is barely twelve, you can’t expect her to watch an entire horror movie without crying. Seriously, Liam, what kind of older brother are you?”

“Hey, I’m a very good older brother,” he told me, “but that doesn’t deny the fact that people crying during a movie ruins it.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not a big crier,” I assured Liam.