Shuck Face (A Dylan O'Brien Story)

Chapter 3

Four hours later we stopped for lunch. I grabbed my food and walked over to a long, empty table, waiting for Hartley. My table filled up quickly. Hartley sat on my left side, Thomas across from her and Dylan across from me. On the right of me was Kaya, Jacob, and Dexter. Across from them was Ki Hong, Wes, and Braxton.

    "I don't think we have been properly introduced. I'm Dylan and this is Thomas, Kaya, Jacob, Dexter, and Ki Hong."

    Looking at each face, I smiled and waved. "Nice to officially meet you. This is my best friend, Hartley." I pointed to Hart and then to myself. "I'm Charleston. But as you've probably heard, everyone calls me Charlie."

    "Hartley, that's a pretty name. What is it you do here? Are you an intern as well?" Thomas was smiling at Hart.

    I glanced over to see her blushing, knowing exactly what was going through her mind.

    "Yeah, I am. I'm doing Stills photography, shadowing Braxton."

    His eyes grew wide. "You're a Stills photographer?! Did Braxton tell you our request?"

    Hartley just shook her head, looking thoroughly confused.

    "We love pictures, but we're sort of annoying on the fact we just HAVE to 'approve' them before you all release them."

    "I think we usually release some photos a few weeks into filming. So I'm supposed to show them to you guys then?"

    Dylan shook his head, butting into the conversation. "I don't really care. But Kaya and Tommy prefer to see them at the end of each film day."

    Thomas winked and grinned at Hartley. "We're making it easier for you. Less pictures to go through in a few weeks."

    Kaya leaned towards us with her mouth hanging open. "Don't you wrap me in with this one. I don't ask to see them EVERY day. I'm not nearly as picky as TBS is."

He just shrugged. "Well I'm willing to be even more picky now if it means getting to see this pretty face more."

    Hart gripped my knee under the table. OW. She's had the biggest crush on Thomas for years. When she found out what movie we were interning for, she didn't believe it. It wasn't until we pulled up at the movie studio that she started screaming.

    Dylan laughed and turned his attention to me. "So Charleston. Like the city?"

    Nodding, I took a sip of my water. "My parents are from there. My mom thought they were going to have to move after I was born, so she named me after her favorite place on earth."

    "So did you? Move, I mean?"

    I looked for the source of the question and found Ki Hong joining the conversation.

Shaking my head, I responded. "Ha, not until I was 10."

Another laugh came from Dylan. "So you were Charleston from Charleston!"

My nose scrunched up at his comment. "Charleston will forever be my home. So technically I still am haha. But now I'm just Charleston from Charleston and Los Angeles."

"You're currently living in Los Angeles?" Thomas asked.

"Yup. Me and Hart. That's where my family moved when I was 10. I met Hartley in high school. After we graduated, we traveled the world for two years and finally ended up back in LA. That's how we met Wes, actually. Turns out we had mutual friends."

Wes turned his head after hearing his name. "You talking about me, Chuck?"

A grin broke out across my face. "Only good things, boo boo."

Laughter erupted from the table's occupants.

"Damn, always lying to me." His mouth lifted in a sly smile. "Alright folks, time to get back to work!"