Lights! Camera - ; Tyrus

Scene 15

Andrew: You can't just run out of ideas.

Teddy: Why not? You did

Act 2, Scene 34 of "The Big Idea"

Written and directed by Cyrus Goodman

Cyrus

Richard Roberts was my second choice.

He has so many little parts to him that create such a different character than what TJ does. But TJ Kippen is free now, I shouldn't even be enslaving him in my thoughts.

And of course everyone else on set is mad at him too, because all of this means we have to re-shoot a lot of the scenes. Luckily enough, the cast still want to get paid, so we haven't lost anyone else. Luckily.

On top of everything, Richard Roberts is trying to flirt with me.

Which I find ridiculous, because I know it isn't real. I know he doesn't actually like me. Not like TJ did, which at this point, seems inevitable to compare too. Rich doesn't want to date me, he wants to get more money, he wants to be famous. That kind of attack is the worse one, you can't even trust your own co workers.

The media was very mixed about my choice to come out about our history. I was surprised to hear that some even cared about the plot of the film.

But TJ didn't call me about it.

He hasn't tried to do anything, really. But I have to keep moving forward. I have more dreams, I have more goals. I have more than TJ Kippen. Luckily.

We're going over the same scene that we shot just a week ago with TJ. Rich keeps doing the little ticks and fidgets with his hands. But at least he didn't break up with me in middle school. Kira has tried her luck with this guy as well, but you can see through her cracks, and it's no use anyway. I don't think Rich likes anyone except money.

But at least it's something.

After two hours of the same repeated crap I call it.

Both of the actors wall off set and I put my head in my hands. "We're not doing great, Nick. Are we?"

Nick takes a very long sip of his kombucha. "No. No we're not. But at least the media has calmed down."

I know he's lying, the media doesn't just calm down like that. But I pretend nod and throw my cap back on. It's way too crowded in this set anyway. Not with people, just... emotions. Too many emotions to handle.

Outside is better, luckily. It's quite a warm day for Winter, so the snow hasn't slowed anyone down on their way to work. People are being relatively nice for such a crappy turn of events. Kira has moved on from TJ to Rich to now one of our camera men. I kind of feel bad for her. Kind of. Almost.

I think about making some kind of inspirational speech, or tell the people some good news. But nothing seems to scratch the surface of my mind. All I see is little crumbs of what used to be a feast of ideas and joy and motivation. Now it feels stuck.

But I breathe and tell myself to keep moving forward. I have luck.

Then TJ Kippen shows up.

He walks right through the security gate, waving at the officers as a thank you before looking right ahead.

Then he looks at me.

His hair is a mess, and you can see an unshaven stubble forming around his chin. But he still looks so perfect. And at that moment I can tell that he wants to talk, he wants to talk about everything. He wants this life back.