“She’s huge in India,” Halle said as her eyes got excited. “She’s about to release her first album here, and she is out of this world. I was just listening to her cover of
She handed me her headphones, and she started the music. I was embarrassed to admit that one, the song was before my time, and two, the only version of it I could recall was from the TV show
When she sang the first line, my head snapped up, and I locked eyes with Halle. A big smile broke over my face as I heard a bluesy, sexy, Janis Joplinesque version of the song. The girl had some pipes. Her voice growled and cried in ways that could never be taught. I began to bounce to the beat as she shredded it.
There was no way I was going on stage next to her.
“You’ll have fun singing with her,” Halle assured me.
“No way! I might be a fanboy, but I absolutely will make a fool of myself if I do that.”
“Come on, goof. We have to get on set.”
◊◊◊
Today’s scenes were mostly with just Halle and me as she blathered on and on about Ben’s character. I played the dutiful best friend who was secretly in love with her. It was similar to the J-drama’s plotline. How could Halle not see that I was a better choice than Ben?
“I need you to act with more longing. I want to see the emotion that pours out of you as you see your world crumbling before your very eyes,” Kitty urged me.
Suddenly, I had an epiphany. If I thought of Halle as Brook, and her telling me she’d met the perfect guy …
“I think I’ve got it,” I said, and we reran the scene.
This time I felt the emotion deep in my gut. Each time Halle spewed another line about her longing or how perfect he was, it felt like she’d thrown acid in my face. I was about to explode in frustration.
“… he does the funniest thing when …”
“Enough!” I exploded and stood up.
Halle looked up at me in disbelief. I threw my hands over my head and stormed out of the room.
“Cut!” Kitty called out and hurried over to me as I leaned against the set wall and tried to gather myself.
“What was that all about?” Kitty asked when she found me.
Halle peeked around the door behind Kitty.
“I’m sorry. I got into character, and if I had to listen to her prattle on about Ben one more second, I was going to have to throttle her.”
“David, I love you, too,” Halle said as she came and hugged me.
“Okay. Get back into character, and we’ll reshoot it. This time, dial it back just a notch,” Kitty suggested.
“Kitty, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” I promised.
“Don’t do that. There are times I want honest emotion. You should never be sorry when you expose yourself like that,” Kitty assured me.
Thinking of Halle’s character as my girlfriend probably wasn’t a good idea. I think if I saw Ben right now, I might punch him. I realize it made no sense, but that was how I felt at that moment. Then I got the giggles. It struck me as funny that I’d fallen so hard for Brook. I knew I loved her, but it was just hitting me that the mere thought of her talking about another guy might send me off the deep end.
I went back, and we reshot the last scene without incident.
◊◊◊
After we finished, Halle dragged me back to her trailer. As soon as the door closed, she turned on me.
“What was that all about?”
I closed my eyes to give myself a moment to think.
“Kitty wanted me to show more emotion, so I thought what it would be like if Brook was reciting all those lines. I forgot for a moment that it was make-believe and sort of lost it.”
Halle sat down on her couch and looked defeated.
“I messed up, didn’t I?” Halle asked.
I’m sure I looked confused as I tried to decipher what she’d just asked me. Halle saw I wasn’t about to answer, so she pressed on.
“I know I did what was right for me, and I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s just that when I see what you have with Brook, I get jealous.
“I knew when I moved to go to school with you that I’d made a mistake. You were so sad when Tami rejected you. I should have packed up then and come back to LA. You weren’t ready for a serious girlfriend. But I stayed, and I got comfortable. Even though I only had you part-time, it was enough.
“I kept thinking that we would just be casual during high school. You would get over Tami, and we would figure it out when you finally came here and made movies. We would be the perfect Hollywood couple,” Halle said.
“You had it all planned out.”
She shook her head.
“Is it wrong of me to wish you had never fallen for Brook?”
“Can I tell you a secret?” I asked.
“If you make me cry, I will beat your ass,” she warned.
“I’m not sure Brook is my forever girl,” I admitted for the first time out loud.
This time it was her turn to look confused.
“Think about it. We’re in high school. My mom assures me that I will only keep in touch with a handful of friends once I graduate. She also warned me that the odds of a high school sweetheart being your wife someday are slim to none,” I said.
