I smirked and flipped them off. “Sorry, guys. I had a rough night with Jack Daniels.”
Dante came over and smacked my back. “Happens to the best of us. Take your seat, and we’ll get started.”
I scanned the room, waving apologetically at Anderson and the others. There were two tables set up. The main table was filled with the cast, writers, and director. The second was the producer’s table. The main table was long and arranged for us all to face each other. Off to the side was a smaller one. Chairs were all on one side, allowing everyone sitting to face us. They would be studying us, making decisions we wouldn’t even know about until later. Everyone was where they were supposed to be, except for one person. I took my seat and pointed.
“What are you doing over here,producer?” I asked Glenn, spitting the title like a curse.
He turned from where he was flirting with Evie. All the chatter in the room stopped.
“Me? Waiting for thestarto show.” He snickered and stood, putting his hand on Evie’s shoulder and staring me down. “I’ll text you later.”
“Everyone have both versions of the script?” Dante asked.
I looked down at my spot on the table and picked up both scripts. I hadn’t read the updated one yet.
Dante continued, “Let’s start with the first version, in which Riley, played by Skye, is the Final Girl.”
Skye squealed beside Evie, bouncing up and down.
“Are we sure we need to bother reading that version?” I said, cutting through the chatter. Again, everyone stopped to look at me.
“What?” Dante asked from the head of the table.
“I want Evie to be the Final Girl. There’s no need to read both,” I said firmly but cool.
Everyone was watching Dante and me, gazes volleying between us. Who would win, director or lead actor?
Dante seemed to be thinking the same thing. “Be that as it may, I still want to read through each of them to see how they feel. So do the producers and the studio executives.”
I bit my tongue. I wanted to tell him this was all a waste of time. Evie was going to be the lead, no matter what it took. Anderson cleared his throat and came from behind to offer me another energy drink. He elbowed me as he did so, reminding me that I had a job to do, and that job was to shut up and listen to my director.
I clenched my fists under the table. Taking a deep breath, I grabbed the top script and opened it to begin the read.
It was a pretty basic slasher. My character had been through hell and back in the first five movies. In this version, Riley, Skye’s character, was my girlfriend, and Lucy, Evie’s character, was a siren of sorts, luring me to cheat on her. In between all the body count padding, Riley sets up a dinner and confronts me. We have sex, and right in the middle of it, Lucy comes in and tries to hack Riley to pieces, revealing herself as Simon Says’s daughter. Riley escapes, which leads to the epic final battle between Lucy and me. I chop off her head and walk away from an explosion, smoking a cigarette and calling Riley to ask her to move in with me.
Overall, the first updated script wasn’t bad. The girlfriend wasn’t even a named character in the original version I’d read a few months ago. She’d only had a brief moment in the beginning. This script gave my character depth and would give Skye potential to come back for another movie, but overall, I was bored and found it uninteresting. There was a break between scripts, and before I stepped out to have a cigarette with the others, I paused on the other side of the table to speak to Evie.
“I think my mask of sanity is about to slip,” I quotedAmerican Psycho, asking her to speak to me privately.
She stared up at me, her jaw ticking, as if she were going to speak. Before she could, Glenn came over and stole her attention, sliding smoothly between us. She completely turned her attention to him, and getting the hint, I stormed off to smoke.
Returning to the table, we opened the second script. The beginning was overall the same. I began to zone out until I noticed Evie on her phone, causing me to perk up. I glanced to see if anyone was paying attention. A moment later, my phone vibrated.
So, she did still have my number.
Unknown: Sometimes dead is better.
I quickly saved the contact as Final Girl, noting that it was a new number from the one I’d had before. I looked down at the script to make sure I was in the right place, then considered the text. She was telling me she didn’t want to revisit our old relationship. I stared at the phone, forgetting my script. If she didn’t have feelings for me, then why was she still using our code?
I shot back a text, quotingScream.
Me: Not in my movie.
She snickered as she read, then focused on the table read, driving me bonkers. I tapped my foot under the table, trying to pay attention to my lines. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her raise her phone, and my gaze shot to her.
Final Girl: The power of Christ compels you.
She wanted me to leave her alone. She texted me first! My mouth fell open, but I snapped it shut quickly as Dante cleared his throat and glared at me for having my phone out.
