by Jen Calonita
"Really? You don't mind?" Keiran asks, her shoulders relaxing.
"Of course not," Addison says. "We knew your babysitting skills were very much in demand. We love shooting this sort of stuff."
"You guys are awesome," says a camera guy named Hank. "The way the sun hits Charlie's hair is perfect."
"Perfect," seconds Phil. "She looks like an angel."
"Me? An angel?" I joke. "That's a new one."
"The rest of you look great too," Addison adds and I hear her phone ring. Again. Her face darkens. "I have to take this. Excuse me."
I lean back in my chair as Keiran gets whisked home with a small camera crew of three people. "This is pretty cool," I say to the others. "I thought it might be a little weird taping our conversations, but I don't mind it."
"Me either. But I hope we all get to shoot some individual scenes, don't you?" Brooke asks.
"I'm sure we will," says Hallie and nudges me.
"Hal! Hal! Someone here for you," a voice crackles over the intercom. We turn toward the Crab Shack window and see a cute guy wearing shorts (in April no less) and a hoodie, with curly blond hair, waving at Hallie.
"Whoa, who is he?" I have to ask.
Hallie's whole face flushes. "Patrick Waters. He goes to Greenport. He works here at the restaurant and--guys, do I look okay?"
"You look great," Brooke tells her. "I dressed you so I should know. Go talk to him. Why do you look so nervous? You never have trouble talking to guys, Hallie."
"This one is different," Hallie says shyly.
Addison appears again. "Oooh... who's that?" she asks Hallie.
"Hallie's crush," Brooke teases.
"Do you think he'd appear on camera?" Addison asks. "If so we just need to ask him to sign a release."
"Let me run and ask him," says Hallie. Hallie talks animatedly for a few minutes and then we watch as Phil hurries over with a camera while Patrick signs the form. Hallie backs up and they tape her walking over as if it 's for the first time.
Brooke sighs. "She's getting good airtime." I hit her. "I know, we're all going to get it. I just wish mine was now. I really like being in front of the camera."
"You?" I tease. "Never." She swats me back.
"All this talking is making me thirsty," Brooke says, holding up her empty Coke.
"Me too," I realize. "I'll get us refills," I grab our cups and head to the counter. Hallie's mom is always telling me to just walk into the kitchen, but I feel funny doing that when there are paying customers around. Instead, I wait in line, making sure to stay out of the way of the cameras taping Hallie. I feel a tap on my shoulder and turn around quickly, almost knocking the cups of ice into the person's chest.
"Whoa. I wanted a cool drink, but not extra ice." It's Zac, and we're standing so close, with the cups between our chests, that I can smell his minty mouthwash. His curly hair is damp and he's wearing a plain navy long-sleeved shirt and khakis. But it's his eyes, those awesome blue eyes that seem to pick up every speck of light in this place and reflect my image back at me.
"Hey." I try to sound calm and natural even though I'm anything but.
"Hey yourself," he says. "I have a confession to make: I thought I might find you here."
"Really?" He came here looking for me?
Zac nods. "I didn't see you at the office at lunch, and someone mentioned you were heading here after school, so I decided to track you down."
He tracked me down? Wow. "Here I am." I try to smile. "Everything okay? They didn't kill my piece on the band's trip to Disney World, did they?"
"Nope, nothing like that," Zac says. "I just wanted to make sure we were still on for Friday night. I was hoping you weren't avoiding me."
"I wasn't avoiding you," I say quickly. God no. Never. It killed me not to go to the office today. "I had to get some homework done early since I'm..." I realize I've never told Zac about the show.
Zac looks over to where Hallie is talking to Patrick. "Is there a reason why a camera crew is following Hallie?"
"Um..." Okay, this is awkward. How do I explain this in less than five minutes? " You see..."
"Charlie?" Addison has now joined our little twosome. Her clipboard is in hand and she's smiling. "Who is your friend?"
"I'm Zac," he says, extending his hand and shaking Addison's.
"Addison," she says. "I'm Charlie's show producer."
"Show producer?" Zac says with a cock of his head and a curious grin. "As in theater?"
"As in TV," Addison corrects. "For The Cliffs, Charlie's new TV show."
"Charlie is getting her own TV show?" Zac looks really confused now.
"Um... yeah," I admit, feeling awkward.
Addison looks at me apologetically, but I smile. "Addison, could you give us two minutes so I can explain?"
Addison nods. "Sure, and make sure you explain this too." She hands me a release. She walks away, dialing her phone again.
I stand there holding the release in my hand. "So."
"So," Zac repeats. "Let me guess, you're secretly Hannah Montana and you've never told me?"
"Not exactly," I tell him sheepishly. "Remember how we were talking last week about paying for college? Well, the short story is that I was approached to do my own reality show on the Fire and Ice Network. If I do this for even one season, it will probably pay off all my college and then some."
"What kind of reality show?" Zac looks interested. We've moved off the line now and I'm still holding the empty cups, which are freezing my hands thanks to all the ice.
"One about me and Keiran, Brooke, and Hallie," I say, knowing how silly it sounds out loud. "This executive from the network was watching me at work and she approached me about the show. Today is our first day of taping." I glance over at the table where Brooke is talking to Hallie and Patrick. Addison motions for me to hurry up.
"Do you they follow you all the time?" Zac wants to know.
"No, they have to get our permission to tape things before-hand, which is why I'm holding this release," I explain, feeling embarrassed. "If I talk to you on camera, you have to sign this saying you're okay with being on the show."
"I think I'll leave the spotlight to you today," Zac says, and winks. "I want to hear more about your new career tomorrow though. See you at the office? Without the cameras, of course."
"Of course! I'll see you there," I tell him.
When I walk back over to the girls, Addison is eagerly waiting. "Charlie, he's adorable! Did he sign a release?" She watches Zac closely and 1 see him grab a brown bag from the pickup window and take it to go. He gives me a little wave and I wave back. "Where is he going?" Addison asks worriedly.
"He didn't want to be on camera today," I tell Addison.
"Oh, okay," Addison says, looking dejected. "He's just so cute. He'd look gorgeous on celluloid."
I giggle. "Back off, Addison, he's my crush." She laughs.
"Did you tell him Patrick signed a waver?" Hallie asks me. I shake my head.
"Maybe he'll change his mind," Addison suggests. "The more, the merrier! We want to feature you four and your larger circle. Patrick is a cute addition, and Brooke said she has some prospects that sound good. Zac would be perfect too. We want this show to cover your whole lives, not just pieces, so we're interested in seeing everyone who's a part of it if we can."
"Sure," I promise. I like how into showing the real us Addison seems to be.
"Okay then, let's get back to work." Addison puts her headset back on and I feel a rush of excitement. "Hallie? Make sure you talk about Patrick now that he's gone," Addison instructs us. "And Brooke, tell that story about the girl in gym class. I loved that. And Charlie?" She smiles. "You just be Charlie. Got it?"
"I think so," I tell her.
Addison grins. "Good. And we're rolling!"
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