“Fine,” she sighs. “I promise. But you better prepare for something fun!”
She hugs me and then hurries off, hopefully to plan a casual, tiny non-celebration. Usually, I can count on her not to make a big deal. Tegan was always as low-key and downbeat about this stuff as me, but ever since getting together with Ryland, she’s become all shiny and happy, full of romantic ideas.
I’m all for shiny and happy, just as long as it doesn’t make me the center of attention.
“How come you’re so down on birthdays?” Blake asks, still with his arms wrapped around me. He kisses my neck, then turns me around to face him. His brow knits in a frown. “You know, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you celebrate. But you would have been staying with us plenty of times over vacation. What gives?”
“I’m good at keeping a secret, that’s what.”
But Blake won’t release me. His blue eyes are questioning, so I sigh. “It’s just… Growing up on my own, birthdays always reminded me what I didn’t have, you know? I’d be off on my own at a new school or international placement. Everyone else had parties, and trips to the zoo with all their friends,” I remember, “but my parents were always too busy to organize anything, so my birthday just made me feel alone.”
Blake kisses me gently. “But things are different now,” he reminds me. “You have plenty of people in your life now. Why not make some new memories?”
I smile. “I said OK to Tegan, didn’t I? Just make sure she doesn’t go crazy. She’s still all amped up on love hormones with Ryland, I never thought I’d see her this happy.”
“It’s great, isn’t it?” Blake smiles fondly. “She deserves it, after everything she’s been through.”
“She does,” I agree, happy for my friend. “So, what’s next for you: another take on this scene?” I look around the yard. “Where’s Dash, anyway? I thought you and Lila had a bunch left to do today.”
“Me too,” Blake shrugs. “But he took a look at my script, and then disappeared off somewhere. I don’t know what’s keeping him now.”
“I better go find him,” I say, checking my watch. “We’ll lose the light by six, and I know Kira’s ready to get them all set up for the next shot.”
I make to leave, but Blake tugs me back. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” He arches an eyebrow.
I blink.
“This,” he says, and leans in to kiss me again. I sink against him, savoring the heat of his mouth, and the sweetness in every touch. It’s a moment of magic, the whole world melting away.
I understand why Tegan is walking around with a smile on her face all the time. Because having this closeness with Blake for just a few hours has made me giddy with happiness; I can’t imagine waking up to it every morning, day after day.
I finally pull away. “See you tonight?” I check.
“Bet on it.”
I drag myself away before I spend the whole afternoon making out with him. I don’t know where Dash has gotten to, it’s not like him to leave the crew in limbo between shots. I check the trailers, and inside, before finally finding him huddled in a corner of the cottage living room, typing madly on his laptop.
“Dash?” I ask. “Are we still on break?”
He looks up, and his face changes when he sees me. “Did you do this?” he demands, getting up.
“Do what?” I ask, confused. He’s waving a copy of Blake’s script at me.
“This, the notes. I recognize your handwriting. Was it you?”
I look closer. Crap. He’s got the pages from the other night: the script I made notes on when I was waiting around for Blake. I cringe, bracing myself for a trashing. Is he mad? Offended? It wasn’t like I thought I could do any better than him, I was just passing the time.
Oh God, what if he fires me?
“I’m sorry,” I apologize quickly. “I was just messing around. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“So it was you.” Dash’s face changes. My heart stops, preparing for the worst—but then he thrusts his laptop at me. “Can you finish? I’ve been trying to type them up, so I can get the pages to Blake and Lila.”
“But, why?” I blink, confused.
“So we can use them, of course. Luckily it’s just the dialogue, but it made me think about the next scenes, how it would all play out, and now I’m thinking about adding a beat, back at the beach from earlier, to play up what you added about his father—”
His words wash over me. I’m still totally lost.
Does this mean I’m not fired?
Dash notices my dumbfounded expression and pauses. “Can you do it?” he asks. “I have the program all set up, you just need to copy in what you wrote. And anything else, if you think of something. If you get the pages done by tomorrow, we can shoot them straight away.”
“I… Sure… Yes!” I stutter, my mind racing. “But, I thought you’d be mad. I mean, going in and changing all your work…”
“It’s not my work,” Dash breaks into a grin. “The writer is good, sure, but there were still some issues. I had a feeling about it, you know? When you just get an instinct it’s not right. But, I figured it was better just to shoot and then edit it out later. But you’ve totally turned the scene around. It’s so much stronger with just a few tweaks. You did a great job.”