Breaking Free (Tom Holland) BOOK ONE [COMPLETED]

Breaking Free Chapter 18

It was time to shoot my first scene and I was a nervous wreck. Luckily, only a select few people were actually allowed on set. That made me feel a little bit more comfortable. But only a little bit.

I stood off to the side of the set nibbling on a bagel. Tom, Alex, and Tristian were huddled together having a quiet discussion. It was no doubt probably about me. Tom glanced in my direction. I shoved the entire bagel in my mouth like an idiot. I began choking. Somehow I managed to save myself from further embarrassment by discreetly getting rid of the bagel. I want discreet enough.

"Are you okay?" Tom asked from behind me. I assured him I was. The frequent gasps I made as I attempted to catch my breath did not help. Tom gave me a few firm pats on the back. They did nothing but it was the thought that counted.

"You two lovebirds ready?" Tristan called out.

Tom and I took our places on the set. It was strange to be in the middle of an actual scene and not in a practice room. There were desks, chairs, a chalkboard, everything you would need for a real classroom. I took a seat at one of the desks and put my backpack on the side. As Tristian yelled "Action!" I began writing the same sentence over and over again until Tom entered the room.

"Olivia!" he called to me as he stuck his head into the room.

I looked up from my desk and straight into the camera lens.

"Cut!" Tristian said.

"Don't look directly at the camera," Alex advised.

"Sorry!" I said.

We began again. But this time I was hyperaware of the presence of the cameras. My hands began to tremble. Once again Tom poked his head through the door and called out my character's name.

"Yes?" I responded. This time I looked at him.

"I've been looking all over for you. Trish said you ran off after tryouts. What gives?"

Tom was now directly in front of me. He had his backpack thrown over one shoulder. His usual lopsided grin had been replaced by a look of concern. I saw his eyes quickly dart to my hands and the concern turned genuine. Before I could deliver my line, Tom took my hands in his and crouched down in front of me.

"Cut!" Tristian yelled.

"Just give me a minute!" Tom shouted at him. Then he turned his attention back to me. "Calm down. I want you to close your eyes. Do you hear the sound of my voice? I want you to focus on that. Don't look at the camera. Only look at me. Try to pretend we're just having a conversation. Can you do that for me?"

I nodded. Tom held my gaze for a moment longer before going back to his starting point and announcing that he was ready. We ran through the scene a third time. This time I was actually able to get through the whole scene mostly unscathed. Tristian was very pleased. He gave me a few pointers, I applied them in a practice run, and then we shot the scene again. After monitoring my body language I was able to get through two more shots before we had footage that Tristian was confident in.

We spent the rest of the day re-shooting some of the scenes Valerie had already shot. Since we had totally different body language, Tristian decided it was better to re-shoot them than to try and make it work. By the time we reached our lunch break I was exhausted. In lieu of eating I instead went back to my trailer and laid down for a nap. All too soon my nap was over and Uncle Travis was shaking me awake. I went back to set feeling even more exhausted than before.

Once back on set I got my hair and makeup retouched. I didn't even have time to say anything to Tom before Tristian was yelling for us to begin our next scene. We both got in place and went back to work.

It wasn't a particularly hard scene. In fact, it was a pretty easy scene even for me. But due to my exhaustion I just couldn't get it right. We tried again and again but I couldn't produce a shot that Tristian was proud of. We took a five minute break and I managed to chug an entire bottle of water. It didn't help.

After two hours of working on the same scene I could tell Tristian was close to calling it quits. "Let's just run through it two more times," he said. He didn't sound very confident.

Tom and I took our places. We began the scene just as we had done hundreds of times. I got about halfway through before I began messing up. At first it was an awkward pause. Then the world began to get a little fuzzy around the edges. Suddenly my vision blurred and in an instant the world went black.

When I came to I was back in my trailer. Someone had carried me there and laid me on the couch. From the blanket draped over me and the cold compress across my forehead, I could only assume it had been Uncle Travis. I sat up in order to get my bearings. Unfortunately, I sat up way too quickly and nearly passed out again. Fortunately, Tom was there to catch me.

"Are you okay?" Tom questioned as he held me up by my shoulders.

I nodded. Bad idea. My brain felt as though it were rattling around in my head. The throbbing sensation caused me to hold my head and groan loudly.

"Clearly you are not okay," Tom commented. He rushed over to a table and grabbed a bottle of water. Pushing it into my hands he ordered me to drink it. Once I had drunk an acceptable amount he proceeded to shove a plate of food into my lap. I attempted to refuse but was shot down immediately.

"How's she doing?" Uncle Travis asked as he entered my trailer. He saw me sitting up and eating and immediately rushed to my side. "What happened?" he wondered.

"I think I just got overwhelmed," I said quietly. My head was still pounding.

"To go from not having performed in front of a camera to suddenly shooting sixty takes in one day is a lot," Tom added.

"I know. I let Tristian have it too. He feels really bad though. Says he just got really excited because you were doing so well," Uncle Travis said.

The room began to spin again although less violently than before. I handed my plate of food to Tom and laid back down. A knock on the door sounded and Tristian entered the trailer. He looked extremely sheepish.

"How are you doing Vanessa?" he asked. I gave him a thumbs up. Tristian continued, "I'm really sorry I pushed you so hard. Why don't you go on home and get some rest? You can even take the day off tomorrow."

"But won't we fall even farther behind?" I wondered.

"Right now your health is more important," he replied.

And so home I went. Uncle Travis sent Tom home not long after we arrived so that I could get some rest. He didn't protest. What he did do was text me as soon as he got home.

Tom: Get some sleep. I'll see you tomorrow.

Vanessa: But I won't be on set tomorrow.

Tom: I know 😉