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I continue. “If you changed any of those things then you’d look like everyone else. And where’s the fun in that? We’re all meant to be different. That’s what makes the world such a beautiful, interesting place. Promise me you won’t talk about yourself like that again.”

She gives a small nod.

“Say it.”

“I promise,” she squeaks.

“Good.” I release her chin, then stroke a finger up her cheek back to her nose, where I was working. “It’s like you’ve looked in the mirror too much,” I muse, letting my eyes wander over all the things she perceives to be less than perfect. “Like when you stare at a word too long and you convince yourself it’s misspelled.”

“I never thought of it like that,” she says quietly. “But you’re right.”

“Of course I am.”

“I guess I’ve always thought it’s my appearance that typecasts me in secondary roles, starting way back in junior high when I auditioned as Juliet and had to play Mercutio.”

“I don’t know what happened there, but it’s not because of your appearance, trust me. You’re stunning.”

Ellie sits up straighter, glowing from my praise. “You’re pretty gorgeous yourself.”

I snort. “Thanks.”

“Seriously! Your hair is amazing, and you have these lush lips and full cheeks, and you’re so tall! Plus, you have the exact body type I always wanted. When I was a kid they always told me I’d grow boobs when I got older, but that never happened. You got my share, apparently.”

“What are you talking about? Your boobs are great.” I look at them a little too closely. They’re small, the perfect size to fit in my hand. “And I bet they don’t give you lower back pain.”

“True. But look at you, you fill out your clothes so nicely, and there’s so much to squeeze! I love it!”

I snort a laugh, amused. “Yeah, that’s true. I’m high on squeeze-ability.”

We settle back into silence, though this time it’s a little different. I’m not sure if Ellie compliments every woman’s figure or talks about their boobs. She probably does. But part of me wishes it was something she only did with me, and I have no idea why.

Several minutes later I’m finished with my design and release Ellie to stretch her legs and go to the bathroom.

“Holy shit!” she shouts when she sees herself in the mirror. “I’m an alien warrior priestess!”

I wait for her to finish going to the bathroom and come back out. She’s right, she does look like a badass crossover between anAvatarhumanoid and an H.R. Giger monster. It’s not my best work since it’s late, I’m tired, and I didn’t want to take more than an hour to do it, but it’s still pretty good.

Ellie slinks around the space, embodying the creature, making weird clicking sounds. “Okay, that’s creepy,” I admit. “Can I take your picture?”

“Picture?” She shakes her head. “Fuck that, let’s make a film!”

Ellie is an amazing actress, but it turns out she’s also a phenomenal director. Within seconds she has a story in mind and is placing me around the cabin, telling me where to look, how to arrange my face, guiding me as she films. Then she hands me the phone and gets me to film her for several shots. Afterward, she balances the phone precariously on a stool for the shots we both need to be in. The last scene has her pressing me against the fridge, face-to-face. I’m not sure how it’s going to turn out, because I had to squat down to get Ellie’s height right for the take.

Afterward, Ellie goes to wash off her makeup while I arrange the clips in TikTok.

“It’s done, I think,” I say as she comes out, patting her face dry with a towel.

“Oooh, excited!” she squeals, though it’s fairly subdued.

Neither of us has complained that it’s one o’clock in the morning and we both have to get up for work in a few hours; we’re having too much fun to care about how tired we’ll be.

Ellie settles on the couch so close to me she’s practically on my lap. I show her the film, which, for all of our work, is under two minutes long. It hasBlair Witch Projectvibes, with the shaky camera and the random close-ups, but it gives the whole thing a gritty, raw feel.

I’m shocked at how well it came together. Even though I was there for filming, I still shiver when Ellie slinks into the cabin and tense as we play a coy game of cat-and-mouse through the small space. By the time Ellie catches me and traps me against the fridge, fully embodying her creepy-yet-powerful makeup, I’m engrossed.

I hold my breath as the alien encounters the woman in the film, how its nose glides up the throat of its soon-to-be-victim, then comes to face-to-face with her. Eye contact is made, and I hadn’t seen it while filming, but there’s a palpable shift right then, from fear to curiosity. The alien’s head tilts, her mouth parts, and her eyes drop down to the woman’s lips. The woman swallows, her tongue darting out of her mouth, running along her bottom lip. Then their eyes meet again, sparking with electricity. Slowly, cautiously, they lean in—

The film ends.