Page 22 of The Summer of Christmas

“Nick!” Denise yelled. She was walking back into the auditorium. Nick snapped out of it and followed his sister inside. She was on stage setting up a table, putting down copies of papers. Stapled script pages.

“What are you doing?”

“Setting out the sides,” Denise said.

“What are sides?”

“The lines for the actors. For auditioning. I got a job.” She smiled.

“You already have a job. You teach here.”

“I got a job casting background extras for Ivy’s movie. Isn’t that great?”

Nick had no idea what a side was or a background extra—he didn’t care about that. “Good luck to you. Good luck to her. I don’t want to know anything about it.”

“I think you should read the script.”

“Why? I’m not interested.”

“You will be. Sit. Read it. You can’t take the pages anywhere. Pretend to be an actor. So I don’t get into any trouble.”

Nick sat down and started reading the script. “Fade In,” Nick read out. “EXT…”

“That meansexterior. That scene is going to be filmed outside.INTmeansinterior,” Denise said.

“I always thought actors made up the lines,” Nick confessed, feeling a little silly at his sister’s look.

“Just read!”

So Nick read. It was a page-turner. And two pages in, he knew he was right. It was about his and Ivy’s life being played out from second grade on. Except this was about a guy named Rick. And Ivy was named Ilsa. As he read, he forgot he was reading and felt like he was seeing a movie—their movie—his and Ivy’s love story. At one point he sniffled. They had broken up. Denise handed him a tissue. Another sniffle. Denise handed him the whole box. Nick read some more and then stopped cold.

Denise watched him go back a few pages…reread them. He finished the last page and looked up, his face a mix of shock and bewilderment.

“She killed me,” Nick said.

“Yep,” Denise agreed.

“In this movie, she kills me.”

“Well, it’s not like she murdered you. You died tragically.”

“I can’t believe she killed me.” Nick got up with the script in hand. “Where is she?”

“I don’t know, Nick. I need the script back,” Denise chastised.

“After,” Nick said.

“After what?”

“After I find her.”

Denise reached for the script. He held on. Denise ripped it from his hand, the cover page coming off in Nick’s hand. There on the cover was the address for the production office at the high school.

“She’s here. In this building,” he realized.

“Nick, don’t go there.”

“Oh, I’m going.” Nick stormed out, walking through the hallways of the high school. He could see the film crew setting up offices and editing bays. Nick got to where he thought Ivy might be. The principal’s office. There was a sign on the door:Brilliant Pictures. Employees Only.