Free Accidental Action Star by Emily Evans

this?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Does the AD?” Cutter turned and yelled, “Guy! Guy! Have you seen this?”
    The AD, who didn’t let me call him Guy, jogged over. When he saw me, he snorted in a sharp breath and rubbed his hand over his forehead. “We’ll work it in.”
    Cutter crossed his arms over his chest. “We’ll have to re-shoot the bed scene with the short hair.”
    “No.” The AD shook his head. “That footage looks good. We’ll get her a wig. He pointed at Cutter. “Contact Makeup.” He lifted his eyes as if thinking. “Next Snow Queen shoot is…tomorrow.” He ground his teeth. “No more changes without consulting the team.”
    I nodded.
     
    ***
     
    Wardrobe had me ready by eight-thirty and they sent me after Max. I tapped on his trailer door, watching as the crystals on my white satin dress made rainbows on the tin. Not an effect I could capture on canvas, but it would be cool to try.
    “Come in,” Max said.
    “The screenwriter’s adding a scene next week where I fight.” I punched the air lightly so I wouldn’t rip the seams. “Our training paid off.”
    “Always does.” Max stood in the kitchen in his Rogue costume. Barbarian meets modern. His blender whirred off, and he poured an orange-veggie concoction into a tall, narrow glass. He offered me some of the carrot-smelling mixture. “Breakfast?”
    Liquid orange mush. My mouth curled in disgust. “No thanks. I ate on campus.” I looked in his fridge. “You’ve got all this and you choose to drink that?”
    “I can make you something else if you’re hungry?”
    No guy had ever offered to cook for me before. Ever. The chill from the refrigerator gave me every excuse to turn around, but I needed a moment. The simple gesture hit me on a deep level, cracking my heart open a little. “I cook.”
    “What can you cook?”
    “I can cook anything.”
    He tilted his head.
    “Really. I don’t want to take over Mom’s show or own a restaurant but occasionally, I even like cooking.”
    He grinned.
    “Tell no one.”
    He glanced between me and the stove.
    I heard the unspoken request. “I’ll cook for you sometime. If you tell me something about yourself.”
    He drank instead of answering, but his expression didn’t say no .
     
    ***
     
    “The Snow Queen has broken through the veil between realms.” The AD guided us through blocking.
    We’d been practicing the scene for thirty minutes. “I’ve got it. I glide over to where Max is stuck in the black tar pit. I put both hands in the boiling tar, frown, bite my lip and the tar will cool to a molasses-like substance in CGI.”
    The AD nodded. “Then step into the vat. Walk straight to Max. And put your arms around him.”
    “Got it.”
    “Okay. Looks like we’re ready to shoot.”
    Cutter wrung his hands. “We only made two of those dresses. Get this in one shoot or you’ll have to switch to an alternate outfit.”
    My face must have said how much I didn’t care about his having to find me another dress because his expression grew more pointed. “Maybe even the cat suit.”
    Molasses and lycra. I flinched. No.
    “We’re not going with the cat suit,” the AD said. “Get this in one shoot and you’ll save a ton of time.” The AD looked at my hair. “Compensate for that haircut.”
    I missed my hair. I started to rub my temple, but at the death-glare from Powder, who stood by with her makeup bin, I refrained from touching my face. I had no idea how often I touched my face until filming prohibited it. 
    “Quit freaking her out.” Max took my elbows in his hands and rubbed his thumb over the inside of my arms. He drifted back to the tar pit while doing it.
    The motion soothed and distracted me all at once. Max knew entirely too much about the human body. I’d have paid a million dollars to have him do that exact thing for another hour.
    He grinned and let go. The crew set up a plank over the faux tar pit and Max walked across it until he reached the center of the vat. Then