Will the Real Abi Sanders Please Stand Up? (7 page)

…

I’m leaning against the tree at the entrance waiting for Matt to arrive to give me a ride home. I persuaded Mel to let me stay in full wig and make up until he gets here so I can fool him into thinking I’m Tilly. Especially as I’m sure he has a crush on her. Maybe that’s why he’s always offering to pick me up. He wants to bump into her. Well, today he will. Sort of. I can’t stop laughing to myself. I can just imagine his face when finds out it’s really me.

After a few minutes, Matt’s car turns into the parking lot, and without staring over there directly, I watch as he jumps out of the car and strides toward the entrance. As he gets within a few yards of me, I start walking in his direction and keep looking ahead, acting like I don’t know who he is.

“Hey,” Matt says as I walk right past him. I don’t turn around just keep on walking. “Hey,” he repeats.

I slowly turn my head around and look at him from under my lashes, in the same way I’ve seen Tilly do on screen hundreds of times. It takes me all of my self-control not to break down and give myself away. “Yes?” I say in my best Tilly East-Coast accent.

He frowns. “Abi, what are you doing?”

My jaw drops, but I quickly pull myself together. “Excuse me? Do I know you?” I say, except this time my accent slips slightly.

“I think you do,
Abi.
” His eyes always sparkle when he teases me. And that’s what they’re doing now.

“I’m not Abi. I’m Tilly.” I start to giggle, the effect now completely ruined.

So much for fooling him. But I don’t get it. Everyone says I’m identical to Tilly. I even fooled Zac. So how on earth did he know that it’s me under all this disguise?

He arches an eyebrow. “Nice try. But no cigar. I’ll always know you, no matter how much crap you have on your face.”

Chapter Six

“Ready?” Vince yells, as he revs the motorcycle engine.

“Ready,” I shout in his ear, keeping my face turned into his neck so I don’t choke on the gas fumes.

We’re attempting, for about the twentieth time, the scene on the bridge where Hui and Princess Wairere escape her tribe, and he takes her back to his, where his father is chief.

Zac’s instructions are for me to look exhilarated while we ride across the bridge at breakneck speed, which is easier said than done.

Vince nods, which is the signal to show we’re okay to start.

“Action,” shouts Zac.

I sit up, keeping my neck straight, plaster on a fake excited look (which isn’t too difficult, seeing as facial expressions for exhilaration and scared are closely related), tighten my grip around Vince’s waist with my extremely sweaty hands, and start to pray.

It only takes a few seconds before we get to the bridge, and as we hit the wooden planks and the bike wobbles, I can’t stop my eyes from glancing down into the ravine.

Crap, if we fall, we’ll die. How can it be otherwise when we’re not wearing helmets or any other protection?

“Cut,” Zac shouts.

“Abi,” Zac growls, when he gets within hearing distance. “Do you know what exhilarated means?” I nod. “Then why do you insist on looking like a scared rabbit all the time?”

“I’m sorry,” I mumble. “It’s just the…”

“Don’t give me your excuses. Just get it right. We have little enough time as it is, without you delaying us even more.”

My whole body tenses. It’s easy for him to say
just get it right
. Doesn’t he get that I’m trying my hardest? It’s like being back at school when teachers would lose their patience and finish off my sentences for me. Well, he should try looking exhilarated when his life flashes before his eyes. And FYI, hollering isn’t gonna help. This is all new stuff to me. And maybe he should remember that I’m way better now than when we first started. And I’ll be even better soon. That’s a promise.

“I’ll do it.” Tilly says walking up to Zac. She heaves an exasperated sigh and flips her hair over her shoulder in that trademark way she has. It used to seem such a cute gesture. Now it just makes me want to disappear into a hole in the ground.

“No, Tilly,” Zac says. “It’s too dangerous. We’ve had this discussion before. You’re too valuable. We can’t risk it.”

Tilly wants to do her own stunts? Who knew? She’s never given any hint of that so far, apart from getting me to show her some moves. Her coordination was only average, and that’s putting it nicely. Good to know she’s valuable and I’m not. I know that’s the life of a stunt double, but it’s not nice to hear someone put it into words.

“Then do something.” She gestures in my direction, and I feel the color shoot up my cheeks.

“Why don’t you spend a few minutes going over the scene with Abi and show her some moves and facial expressions?” Zac suggests, although his suggestion doesn’t seem open for discussion. “Back in twenty,” he calls to everyone.

“I suppose so.” Tilly sighs, clearly not happy with Zac’s idea. “Come on,” she says to me before heading toward the trees that lead to the river.

I hurry to catch up. “Th-th-anks,” I say when I get close to her, but she doesn’t reply, just keeps walking until we get to a small clearing in the trees.

“Right. Just watch,” Tilly says. “It’s not rocket science. Even for you.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” I reply, actually getting angry enough that I don’t stutter. I don’t get her. She’s acting like I didn’t help her the other day. But if I can help her, then she should be nice about helping me. In my world, that’s how it works. “You’ve been acting your whole life. You’re a star. I’m a kickboxer.”

Something about my words seems to penetrate her icy exterior. Her face softens for just a moment as she brushes the long, black wig back from her perfect cheekbones. “Seriously, it’s really not that hard. Let me show you something my first acting coach taught me…”

…

“Good work,” Zac shouts. “Everyone meet back here after lunch.”

Yay! After the twenty-fifth take, Zac is
finally
satisfied. I feel like punching the air, but that isn’t cool. So I just act like it’s nothing. After Tilly’s demonstration, which she actually managed to make helpful and deliver in a patient tone once she got going, everything seemed to fall into place. For all her faults, there’s no denying she’s talented.

“Yo, Tilly. Good job,” Nathan says, as he walks past.

Nathan has never said anything about my work before. He’s Tilly’s leading man and so nice. And gay, much to Liv’s disappointment. I’d never heard of him, but she remembers him from some obscure children’s TV show on cable about ten years ago.

“Thanks…but it’s Abi,” I mutter, more to myself than anyone else as Nathan is way out of earshot.

“Abi. Or should I say Tilly? You were smoking.” Vince rests his arm across my shoulder and grins. “I wonder what Tilly will say when she sees your performance on screen.”

“Something nice I hope, seeing as she helped me,” I say.

“Wonder no more. I was watching.” The sound of Tilly’s voice from behind makes me jump.

I spin on my heel until I’m facing her. “H-h-h-hi, T-T-Tilly.” I inwardly squirm under her scrutiny. And a flush creeps slowly up my face. Typical. Would it really hurt if just once I could play it cool?

A smirk crosses her face. Yeah, well, stuttering might be funny to Tilly, but it’s not to me.

“Just don’t get any ideas,” she says, a teasing grin on her face. Although, am I the only one who notices how her normally big brown eyes have narrowed to tiny slits? Or that there’s a definite smell of whiskey on her breath that wasn’t there earlier? “There’s only one Tilly Watson. Got it?” I nod. She turns, takes a couple of steps then glances back at me from over her shoulder. “You did well. Eventually.”

Excuse me. Either I’m dreaming, or Tilly just complimented me on my stunt work. “I don’t believe it,” I say to no one in particular.

“Believe it,” says Vince. “You’ve just been Tilly’d. She knocks you down, then gives you a pat on the back to show you no hard feelings. Because whatever she says, she wants you to love her. She
needs
you to love her. To idolize her, even, like all her fans.”

Yeah, well she’s not going the right way about it. At least, not with me.

“Why?” I frown.

“Insecurity,” Vince replies.

“And on what planet does someone like Tilly feel insecure around someone like me?”

“You’re good at what you do, and she sees you as a threat,” he says, shrugging.

Me a threat. That’s a joke. The only time I’m a threat to anyone is when I’m on the mat kickboxing.

“I’m not a threat. It’s the other way round. If I upset Tilly, then she could get me kicked out. Zac’s hardly going to choose me over her, is he?”

“Abi,” Vince says in an exaggerated impression of Zac’s I’m-trying-to-be-patient voice. “Who’s running the show?”

“Zac.”

“And does Zac strike you as someone who can be easily manipulated?”

“Okay, okay. I get it. But, it’s easy for you to say.”

“Just go with the flow,” Vince says. “She’s under contract, too. And her life isn’t as perfect as people think. She’s under a lot of pressure.”

“Really? I would have said her life was pretty near perfect. Doing a job most girls would kill for. Fame. Money. Can do anything she wants. How bad can that be?”

“Don’t get sucked in by the myth of Hollywood glitz and glamour. I’m not saying that she doesn’t enjoy being a star. Just that it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. Why do you think she has a problem with alcohol?” Vince shakes his head.

“I guess. But it’s hard to cut her some slack when she has so much attitude.” Which makes me sound like a petty child.

“I’m not asking you to,” Vince says. “All I’m saying is try and remember that she doesn’t have it easy a lot of the time.”

Chapter Seven

“I want ten jumping jacks and then run in place until I tell you to stop,” I say to a group of juniors who are standing in front of me, eagerly waiting to start.

When Bill called, asking if I could train the juniors for him since he’d been let down by one of the other trainers, I said yes right away. As much as I love working on the movie, the thought of coming back to the dojo excited me, particularly since I would see some friendly faces and be able to tell them what I’ve been doing. Except, when I went to see Bill, all he did was wave and continue shuffling papers on his desk. You’d think he’d show a little more interest seeing as he was the one to start the whole thing.

While the juniors are warming up, I scan the dojo and out the corner of my eye notice Matt walking around the edge. My heart does a quick flip. He looks as gorgeous as ever. He doesn’t see me immediately, but when he does, his face lights up. I beckon for him to come over, and he heads in my direction.

“Hey,” he says when he reaches me. “You didn’t say you’d be here today.” He gives me a hug and ruffles my hair.

“I wanted to surprise you,” I say, pulling away from him and smoothing down my hair. He knows the trouble I have with my hair because it’s so fine and thinks it’s funny to mess with it. I pretend it bothers me more than it does. “Bill’s asked me to help out with the juniors. I thought we could go out for lunch after. My treat. Unless you have other plans.” I arch an eyebrow, knowing full well that if I’m offering lunch, there’s no way he’ll refuse.

“I’ve got to go to the store for groceries for Mom, but that can wait until later. Especially if
you’re
paying, I’m not missing out on that.” He ducks out of the way of my pretend swipe around his head. “Actually, if I give you Mom’s list, you could go for me since my class ends after yours. Then we won’t have to rush lunch,” Matt says, shooting me a lopsided grin that’s guaranteed to get me to agree. He sure knows how to play me—all girls, actually. Not that I mind. It’s just how it is.

“Okay, I guess. But you owe me one,” I say. Actually, he owes me more than one, the number of times I’ve done his chores for him.

“You got it,” he says, winking.

“Cool. See you later.”

“By the way, if you don’t want Bill on your back, then you need to get your class in line,” he says, pointing behind me.

I turn and notice a couple of the juniors pushing each other. Typical. Can’t they even behave for one minute? And now I look bad.

“Well, he should be grateful that I could help him out, considering how busy I am.”

“Listen to Miss Fancy-Pants Movie Star.” Matt looks toward the ceiling and shakes his head.

“Shut up. You know I’m not like that. But there’s no harm in a bit of appreciation, is there?” On set, the stunt coordinators are always saying how well I’m doing. Well, maybe not always, but a lot. And here? Well, there’s certainly no fear of compliment overload, that’s for sure.

“Of course not. You know we
really, really, really
appreciate you,” Matt teases.

“Go away,” I say giving him a gentle push. “I’ll see you after class.”

I jog back to the juniors. “Okay, listen up. In pairs I want to see one of you kick and the other block. Do that ten times and then swap over. Anyone misbehaving has Bill to answer to.”

…

After the juniors finish, I go to the locker room to shower. I pull on my street clothes and, instead of doing Matt’s grocery shopping, decide to go and watch the senior class—we can shop later after lunch when there’s more time. Matt won’t mind.

Leaning against the wall gives me a good view of Matt sparring with one of the other guys. He lands a strong roundhouse kick to the chest, then blocks. Then he does an effective front kick. The other guy is on the defensive, mainly blocking, and doesn’t seem to notice the gap that Matt keeps leaving when using his left arm. I’m the only girl who’s allowed to work with Matt, since I’m the only one so far who’s made it into the advanced ranks like he has. Maybe that’s why I can see the gaps, because we fight so often. He knows all of my weak spots, too.

Bill calling the end of class distracts me from my thoughts, and I wander to the main entrance to wait for Matt. After ten minutes, I see him walking toward me, his hair damp and clinging to his face.

“Ready?” he asks.

“Yep. Should we go to the Fountain?”