The Songs in Our Hearts: A Young Adult Romance(50)

“Never Be Alone”

Shawn Mendes





WE STARTED TO FILM FRANKENSTEIN in my backyard, the Saturday before Halloween. It was the only place we could find that was free from fall decorations. I wanted to laugh at the costume I had been able to borrow for Micah from the school’s theater club. He definitely looked the part of Victor Frankenstein. I, on the other hand, wore a leftover costume from a previous Halloween. That was the year I had been obsessed with The Phantom of the Opera and my mom’s co-worker made a Christine Daaé gown for me.

“You look fancy.” Micah smirked, scanning the length of my dress. I blushed as I adjusted his necktie. My dress was soft pink, adorned with small roses around the skirt, and a lacy bodice. As I slid my fingers over the fabric, I felt as though I had been transported to a different time.

“You’re one to talk,” I replied with a playful smile.

“Let me assure you, you will never catch me wearing anything like this, ever again,” Micah said, tugging down the sides of his tweed jacket. He looked as though he had stepped right out of an old Victorian film. Most of his hair was slicked back, with exception to his bangs, the same way Leonardo Dicaprio’s hair looked in Titanic.

“Enjoy it while it lasts.” He sighed.

“Oh, I will.” I turned my attention back to Paul and Marshall, who were working on the finishing touches of the first scene. Victor would propose to Elizabeth and promise to return to her after he completed his schooling. Victor wanted to become a doctor, at least in our version. Similar to the Robert De Niro film, we would pretend to be at a party, which explained the costumes. My stomach twisted with nerves as Paul finished setting up the flower archway he had built. Because it was autumn, we weren’t able to find fresh flowers; everything was dying. It was also too expensive to buy real flowers from the hardware store or the florists, so we resorted to decorating it with what we found on the clearance rack of the craft store.

“Are we ready to get this part over with?” Marshall asked the two of us.

Micah gave Marshall a thumbs-up as he went to the small outdoor set. “Come on, Charlie.”

I got in place. Micah stood beside me, looking unsure of where to put his hands. I suddenly felt as though we were back at the fire hall, about to slow-dance again. My stomach clenched tightly as I took another step, closing the space between us. The air was almost electrifying. The same mysterious and powerful something had returned to Micah’s brown eyes. I almost said his name when Marshall suddenly called out, “Action!”

On queue, Micah carefully took my hands in his, reciting his scripted lines. I became lost in the scene as I watched his lips move, listening to everything he—or rather, Victor—had to say. When I finally realized it was my turn to speak, Marshall shouted, “CUT!”

“I’m sorry.” I pulled my hands out of Micah’s. “Let me try that one more time.” Marshall did something to the camera and motioned for us to get closer again. Micah took my hands and repeated the lines. This time, I did everything in my power to focus and get it right. We flew through the first scene after that, and before I knew it, Marshall was giving Paul the camera. Then, Marshall slipped into a long black cloak and slid a mask over his face.

“Really? A Frankenstein mask?”

“It’s all we have,” Micah said. “It’s fine, we’ll make do.”

“Come on, Micah!” I laughed. “I could paint lines on his face or something. I thought you wanted David to do the makeup.”

“He wasn’t available today. It’s fine,” Micah assured me. “It’ll give it an element of comic relief.”

Marshall, dressed as the monster, started to make grunting noises. What a joke. Paul filmed a few scenes between Victor and the monster, which would appear later on in the movie. I stood back and watched as the two of them really got into acting. When I finally glanced at my phone again, almost four hours had passed. It hadn’t felt so long.

“Do you want to wrap it up for now?” I asked as Paul replayed some of the scenes on the mini-screen.

“I thought we could do one more. We just have to kill off Elizabeth, and then we can take a break until tonight when we do the burning raft scene. Monday, after school, we’ll only have to film the ‘he’s alive!’ scene.”

My eyes darted to Marshall, standing near the burner barrel on the edge of the yard, smoking. I’d have to remember to pick up the cigarette butt before my dad saw it in the lawn.

“I guess it’s time to get my throat ripped out,” I said, wondering just how imaginative the three of them would get with the scene.

“In the novel, he strangles her. I figured we should stick to the original, rather than the movie version.” Micah grinned. “So, no fake blood needed.”

“This’ll be the first and only time I’ll be grateful to hear those words.” I muttered. “I don’t want to ruin this dress.”

Marshall pulled a long string of rope from his pocket. “I came prepared,” he said. “Now we get to cuddle up while I pretend to kill you.”

I wasn’t thrilled about that idea. I wasn’t crazy about Marshall to begin with anyway. How was I supposed to trust that he wouldn’t actually strangle me?

“Be careful, man,” Micah warned him. I was sure he had read my facial expression.