Pillars

Chapter 23: Day One (Kelci)

"Come here, hold this." Lorin was attempting to board a flimsy raft in the shallow end of the pool.

I held my phone in one hand and the corner of the raft in the other as I squatted at the edge of the pool. I was waiting on an important phone call. 

"Aren't you coming in?" Lorin asked.

"Maybe later."

Lorin had insisted that we hang at the pool so she could work on her tan. She was feeling pale after seeing me when I returned from my beach date.

Before Lorin was fully on board I accidentally let go and stood up. The raft capsized dumping Lorin in head over feet. She stood up cussing.

"What the hell, Kelci!"

"Sorry," I stifled a laugh. "I'm texting Cassidy."

"Again?"

I know I had already called twice and texted once today. I was just anxious to get my call time for my first day on set. What if they changed their mind, and just forgot to tell me?

"Sometimes they just don't know their schedule for the next day until they are done with the current day's shoot," Cassidy explained when she returned my call at 9:30 that night.

"Oh. Sorry for blowing up your phone," I said.

"No worries. You're shooting on location tomorrow. I sent the address to your mom. Call time is 8AM. You need to report to Josh, he's the 2nd AD. Be sure you have your ID and the parking pass I gave you."

"Anything else I need to know?"

"Nope. Just follow directions. And be your adorable self."

"Thanks Cassidy."

"Kick ass, kid."

***

Mom's gps on her phone took us to an abandoned warehouse. I got out and looked around, but there were no trailers, and certainly no Josh.

"Are you sure you put the address in correctly?" I asked mom.

"Get back in the car, Kelci," mom said as a homeless man began walking toward us. "Yes. This stupid phone said to turn on the other street but it was a one way. Let's circle back."

After making the u-turn, I spotted a yellow sign. "Look. There, follow the sign."

A couple more turns and we were at the base camp for Jaded's on location shoot.

"I'm so sorry we're late," mom told Josh.

"No problem. Right this way." He directed us to a trailer. The tape on the door read MIRANDA. When Josh left, mom pulled out her cell phone and took a picture of me posing next to my name on my very own trailer door.

"This is so exciting," mom said.

"It is, but chill," I said. Her mom's excitement was making me anxious.

Inside the trailer was nothing special. There was a place to sit, and a mirror with a sink. A sliding door led to a miniature bathroom. I sat down at the tiny table and began filling out my paperwork.

"How was your date the other night?" mom asked.

"Fine." I did not feel like chatting. I was there to work, and I did not want to be distracted. When I was done with the paperwork, I passed it to mom to sign.

After about an hour, the sides for my first scene and my wardrobe were delivered. I put on the jeans and flannel hoodie. My character was the opposite of prissy Sloane, and her mother, Jade, was not happy they were hanging out. Cynthia Riser played Jade, and like most of her roles, she was a bad-ass leading lady.

Another half hour went by and someone stopped by to offer us breakfast. I wasn't hungry, but my mom was happy to have a little food to settle her own stomach.

"You sure you don't want to split this bagel with me?" mom asked.

"No. I'm fine." I continued to pour over the script. Not that I could forget those lines. It was the exact scene I had auditioned with, and royally screwed up. How I even booked that job is still a mystery to me. Nevertheless, by the time I was called to hair and makeup, the lines were firmly planted in my memory.

"Kelci!" Lena jumped out of the make-up chair to hug me. "You ready to do this?"

I nodded but was distracted by Cynthia Riser in the chair on the other side of Lena. I tried to play it cool, but I'm sure she could tell I was completely fan-girling.

"Is that?" I whispered to Lena.

Lena smiled. "Hey Cyn. This is Kelci. She's playing Miranda."

Cynthia was having her hair curled so she stayed in her chair, but she offered her hand instead. "It's great to meet you Kelci. I've heard so much about you."

"Really?" Cynthia Riser had heard about me. Ho-ly shit! She probably heard about what a fool I made of myself at the audition.

"This is Delanie, our hair magician, and Wanda over there paints our faces," Lena introduced the hair and make-up technicians. "I like to call them my fairy godmothers."

The ladies just smiled and went about their work. I took Lena's seat in Wanda's chair, while Delanie finished up Cynthia's hair. No one really chatted, they were all so serious and focused. Cynthia read over a script, while Lena flipped through her cell phone. I tried not to move as Wanda applied my makeup with precision and care. Once Delanie had completed my hair, Lena invited me back to her trailer to go over our lines.

Waldo yapped at our feet the moment we walked in the door.

"Hey boy. Remember me?" I said petting Waldo's head. "How's his social training going?"

"He's confined to this trailer. So, what's that tell you?" Lena said shaking her head.

"Oh, no. Sorry boy."

"He makes the crew nervous. Not all sets are the same. This one is sort of intense, with very little time for goofing around."

Lena's trailer was much roomier than mine, and I sort of felt bad for leaving mom alone. But running my lines with Lena gave me confidence and calmed my nerves.

We took a golf cart when we were called to set. On the way, Lena gave me the run down. "We are going to run the lines in a camera rehearsal first."

At that point I was just along for the ride. I had no idea what to expect, but I felt comfortable anyway. The preparation and buzzing around of the crew kept me occupied. After the camera rehearsal, we sat in folding director's chairs to wait for the crew to finish setting up.

We did several takes from different angles and moved quickly to the next scene, which was also inside the house.

"That was fun," mom said on the way back to the trailer.

"Yeah. It went so much quicker than I expected."

"So, are we done for the day?"

"I think so."

I had just finished hanging my wardrobe when another was delivered.

"Oh, I thought I was done," I said to Josh.

"Not yet," Josh said. "We're waiting for the sun to go down, then we're doing this outside night scene." He handed me two more pages of sides.

This final scene was a walk and talk between Sloane and Miranda, and two other characters. I was psyched to get to use the skills I learned from working on the Sheppard brother's film last summer. We nailed the scene in two takes.

"Great work, Kelci," Jenna, the director, told me when we wrapped the scene. "See you tomorrow."

That first day on set was easily one of the best days of my entire life.