I shoved it back into my jacket and got back into the script. In this version, I meet Lucy and fall for her. Riley comes in and tries to get me to leave Lucy for her. Lucy gets attacked by Simon Says, and when I find her safe, we have sex. Riley comes in afterward, revealing she’s Simon Says’s sidekick, and detains me—naked. Then the girls have the epic last fight. Lucy wins, saves me, and we run off together, escaping the villain once again.
During the slow parts, I tried to think of a comeback. I wracked my brain. Dozens of quotes came to mind, but everything felt too creepy. I typed a line fromThe Bride of Frankensteinand hesitated.
Me:I’ll make sure we’re together forever.
What was I doing? Was this flirting, or could that be interpreted as a threat?
All these things ran through my mind while I tried to stay focused. This was part of my job, and I was being incredibly unprofessional. On any other project, where I wasn’t tied to the entire franchise, playing on my phone in the middle of a table read could get me sacked. It was then I realized she’d done this on purpose. She wanted me to not give this version of the script a good read so that the producers would see me as unenthused and choose the version with Skye as the main lead.
I stared at her, unblinking. She sat across from me, smiling like a cat having just ate its mouse.
“Sebastian?” Dante called.
I tore my eyes away from Evie. “Huh? Oh, sorry.” I read my lines and fumed silently as we ran through a few more pages until I didn’t have any lines. I deleted my creepy message and typed a new one, ditching the movie lines.
Me: He’s no good. Drop him.
Final Girl: Why? Because he’s not you?
Me: Yes, but also because he’s a bad guy.
Final Girl: I like bad boys.
“Sebastian!” Dante snapped.
“Sorry, one second,” I said.
“If you don’t put that phone away, I don’t care what you want. We’re going with the script I pick.”
I bit down hard on my lip. Inhaling deeply, steadying my rage caused by the woman across from me, I handed my phone to Anderson, who’d stepped forward to take it. Evie cackled and sat back, crossing her arms. Did no one notice her phone being out?
We took a short break, and I bee-lined for my agent, snatching my phone back. Heading outside, I checked my notifications and found a text from her.
Final Girl: Flexing your muscles isn’t going to win me over. I’m not interested.
Me: That look you gave me last night when I unbuttoned my shirt says otherwise.
I looked around but didn’t see her anywhere.
Final Girl: You really think you’re hot shit now, don’t you? When did you become so damn cocky?
Me: Five years ago, the same night I made you come.
I shoved my phone into my pocket and stormed back inside.Irritation seeped into me as I walked back into the room. Evie stood by her chair, staring at her phone. The shocked look on her face told me she was reading my last message. She looked up and typed something quickly. Then,just as everyone was sitting down, my phone vibrated.
Final Girl: You didn’t.
My mind went blank as I stared at her. She grinned, knowing she’d finally pissed me off. My breathing grew heavy as I tried to rein in my anger, but her relaxing deeper into her chair like a satisfied cat tipped me over the edge. Caught up in the moment, I leaped back up and pointed at her.
“You liar!” I shouted.
The room froze, and I realized what I’d just done. Slowly, I lowered myself back into my seat.
“I—apologize. That won’t happen again.”
Silence filled the room, and heat flooded my face as I lowered my gaze to my script and kept it there until Dante stopped seething and called for us to resume. For the rest of the table read, I was on my best behavior. When it was over and people stood to go, I rushed to Dante and profusely apologized for my unprofessionalism.
He sighed deeply and rubbed his jaw.
