Junior Year Box Set

“What else are you looking at?” Chubby asked.

“I have an audition for the Disney spinoff, the one from the Star Wars franchise about the young Han Solo. There might also be a Star Academy 2 and 3. Then Saul has a few others he wants me to look at.”

“Good. Have Saul call me and confirm a meeting. I want to talk to you about what we plan to do,” Chubby said.

“Is there a role for me?” Zak blurted.

Chubby gave me a look as if to ask if we were a package deal. I gave a slight shrug.

“Have your agent send me over your information,” Chubby said neutrally.

Chubby had somewhere else to be, and we needed to get back to the set.

◊◊◊

Doing magic was hard. Of course, I couldn’t do actual magic; they would add it all in with computers later. The hard part was reacting to things you couldn’t see. I was glad that I wasn’t the only one to have troubles. Tanya and Jessica also missed their marks a couple of times. Halle, Zak, and Leah seemed to have no problem at all and teased us about it. That was until a climactic scene where the magic was supposed to get out of control.

The scene was set in a basement of an abandoned house deep in the woods. The group had decided to make it their home base. It had been where their parents had established their circle. Halle’s character Cassie was the missing part that made their magic work to its full potential. On their own, they were able to do minor things, like light a candle or move a book, but with Cassie, they could light a thousand candles.

Leah’s character Diana was their leader and wanted to explore their capabilities before trying anything too elaborate. The problem with magic was that if it got out of control, it could kill you. That was what had happened to their parents’ circle: some of them had died when their magic went wild.

In this scene, Tanya’s character Faye was tired of all the rules. She was the wild child of the group, and she and Zak’s character Jake had an on-again/off-again thing for each other.

Jessup’s special-effects people had built a replica of the basement over a wind tunnel. They wanted to have the air circulating so fast that it created a tornado-like effect. The idea was for things to start to move, and before long books and anything loose would begin to fly around the room. They put something down in the center of the room so we would be in a ‘safe’ zone as debris flew around us.

Diana: “The circle is now complete. Concentrate on your wish so that it will come true.”

Action: Everyone closes their eyes and does their spell. A breeze begins to circle around them.

Jake: “What’s happening?”

Action:

The wind intensifies. Everyone looks around except Faye. She continues to concentrate.

Diana: “Faye, stop! Faye!”

That was when they turned up the fan. Crap began to fly around the room like they wanted, except if it bounced off a wall, it might zing into the ‘safe’ zone. Zak was the first one to get whacked. I thought he was acting when he slumped over. I guess things weren’t flying around fast enough, because they turned it up even more. That was when the flooring protecting the ‘safe’ zone gave way, and we lifted off the ground. Tanya’s eyes snapped open when she felt her butt leave the floor. That was the cue to stop the mini tornado. Everything, including us, crashed to the floor.

Zak, who played Jake, had a final line, but he looked out of it, so I did it.

Jake: “Is everyone okay?”

Action: Room is plunged into darkness.

“Cut,” Jessup called.

None of us escaped unscathed. I was lucky and only had a couple of scratches on my arms. Leah had the beginnings of a black eye. Zak was taken to medical to be checked out.

They had to stop for the day. I hoped they got what they wanted because I wasn’t sure I would go back into that again.

◊◊◊

Since we had the rest of the day off, Halle decided to go shopping. Rita was busy dealing with what had just happened. I wandered back to my trailer and found Fritz and Caryn there, and we decided to go home.

“Let’s work on our business plan,” Caryn suggested.

We started by looking at my life goals.

 

Financial Stability

a)    Comfortable Life

b)    Good Education

Physically Fit

Solid Moral Foundation

a)    Religion / Faith

b)    Man of Integrity (Man of my word)

c)     No Gossip

d)    Think before saying ‘yes’

e)    Learn to say ‘no’

Healthy Sex Life

No Regrets

Make a Difference

 

“Looking at this, how many hookers could I buy for half a million?” I asked.

“I suspect that would go against your first goal of financial stability.”

Caryn got us focused, and it became apparent that I didn’t want to just put my money into a stock portfolio. Something that kept hitting me in the face was the last goal, to make a difference.

“Here’s where I’m having a problem. I want to help people, but I also want to make money. Are the two mutually exclusive?” I asked.