“Scene one, take one… and action!” Sonia shouted at the top of her lungs. Finally, Honey no longer needed to listen to her nag about rehearsing lines for the millionth time. She delivered her peak performance, practised until she was sick of it, and then Sonia yelled “Cut!” Did she prefer Sam to be directing during acting?

And then for some reason she decided to take a trip to the toilet, asking Erin to take over. This odd habit always confused everyone, and most have concluded she simply used it as an excuse to slack off. Everytime she returned, her eyes looked sore, and if not for Erin taking over, she would’ve abandoned her post to chase after her.

For some reason, today seemed more dire than usual, and rather than pushing it out of her mind, she walked off the set despite Erin’s increasingly impatient commands. “Hey, are you free later?” Bryan asked. A mild-mannered student amongst the cast that she befriended; the rare few who actually appreciated her acting in ‘Singing Doll’. To her dismay, most who’ve watched it didn’t come fawning all over her like paparazzi.

She went to the most obvious spot first, the girl’s toilet, and surprisingly did not find her there. Now she grew truly worried. She walked down the hallways, calling her name. “Sonia…Sonia!” No response. All the classrooms on this floor were deserted, and she entered each one to check. The stuffy air made for a chilling atmosphere, reminding her of the production of ‘Singing Doll’. Everyone else had to hide inside these classrooms to ensure they didn't get caught in the frame during filming.

The first two were empty, but when she reached for the third door, something pushed against it. “Sonia?” She pushed again, catching a glimpse of her skin. “What are you doing here?” The door won’t budge, blocked by the sulking director. “Can you move?”

Finally, after a few minutes of pushing, the door swung open. She saw her sitting by the wall, staring into nothing. “What are you doing here?”

“Go away.” She answered like a robot.

“What’s wrong?”

“Go away!”

“Why?” Honey sat beside her, and felt a sharp jab on her shoulder. “Ow! What!”

“Go back. We have scenes to film, if you just keep sitting here we’ll never get this done!”

“Nothing can get done without you there, you’re the leader.”

“I know! You don’t have to tell me!”

Honey got taken aback, and slowly understood the source of her troubles. “What needs to be done? Besides filming? What other stuff do we still need to do?”

“A lot, okay? Sam’s storyboard is stupid so we need a new one, and the idiot didn’t even make a shot-list to go with it! And the script still needs revisions, there’s still a major plot hole at the ending! And just tying planks of wood together doesn’t make for a raft whatsoever, and why did I think making the background a green-screen was a good idea? Who could even make that believable? What am I doing? I literally messed it all up, but it’s been months and I can’t possibly restart now otherwise everyone will lose their minds! And they already hate me for some reason, and then Sam is still being sour and I don’t know how to keep him away from you so you won’t get anxious…” She covered her face and sniffed.

“What… You’re trying to keep Sam away from me?”

“I don’t want you to get scared again. I’m trying to protect you!”

Her heart split into two. “Ok…”

She sat with her for a few more minutes before guiding her to wash her face and making their grand return. They could see Erin balding over both their absences as she frantically apologised and asked a million questions about the two.

**

Honey kept a closer eye on Sonia now, trying to spot any red flags as she acted her lines, which ironically pushed Sonia towards them. “Cut! Honey, stop looking at the camera!”

“Sorry, sorry.”

“Back to one!”

She rubbed her fingers together, stumped on what to do with her, besides delivering her lines to absolute perfection so she needn't retake the scene. The other members of the crew had a different attitude however, rolling their eyes and groaning exhaustively at her commands. Morale plummeted.

After they’ve wrapped for the day, Honey made the spontaneous suggestion to stop over at her place for dinner. She vehemently disagreed.

“No!”

“Why? I love your mom’s food.”

“You’re not coming to my house. Why do you even want to come to my house all of a sudden?”

“I want to keep an eye on you. You look off recently.”

“I always look off.”

“Well you look off-off.”

“What does that even mean? And since when did you get so good at reading me.”

The cab stopped at her place, and Sonia stepped out. Honey did so too despite her wishes, and the two had a catfight outside until Sonia’s mother interrupted.

“Honey! Long time no see! How are you!”

“Hi Ms Kristen! I’m doing great!”

“Jeans?”

“Huh?”

“What brings you here today?”

“Can I have dinner here? Sorry to trouble you-”

“Sure, in fact I wished you had dinner here more often.

Honey stuck her tongue out, gaining a victory over Sonia’s stubbornness.

They finished their plate of pasta, and Sonia immediately disappeared into her room, “There, you ate dinner, bye.”

Honey disagreed, staying to help do the dishes.

“Why are you here today?” Her mother asked. “Did something happen in school?”

“She’s not looking good…” Honey sighed.

“Yeah. Thanks for helping with the dishes, you’re pretty responsible.”

“Oh.” She shook her head, swatting the compliment away. If only her mother knew half the things she did.

“Why not? Do you think you’re irresponsible?”

“Well…”

“What makes you think that?”

She froze, unable to formulate an answer. “I’m gonna go check on her, bye!”

She found Sonia wrapped under a cocoon of blankets in the midst of darkness. Flicking on the light switch, she immediately protested. “Why are you in my room! Go away!”

She drew a blank, unsure of how to get through to her. “I’m worried about you.” She felt repulsed by the utter mess in the room. Piles of clothes in the corner, table cluttered with stationary and other spare items. Dust can be seen collecting on top of the closets and cabinets. She didn’t dare to look at the bathroom.

“Ew. Why?”

“Come on!” She stomped her foot in frustration. “Just talk to me!”

“You won’t get it!”

“I know you’re overwhelmed with becoming the leader, and I know you’re being a complete perfectionist right now and driving yourself crazy.”

She scoffed. “Nice ten-out-of-ten analysis, let me guess, my mom briefed you?”

“No.”

“Turn off the light, I want to sleep!”

“As if you can sleep! It’s not even 9 yet!”

Honey sat on her bed, seeing the outline of her body on the blanket’s surface. “Move over.”

“What?”

“Scooch to the side abit!”

Sonia rolled her eyes and shifted herself.

Honey pulled out her phone and started watching Charlie Chaplin. Five minutes later, Sonia popped her head out and watched along on the tiny screen. The two exchanged no words for the next hour, nothing but ragtime music from two generations ago filled the silence.

**

She continued barking orders at everyone the next day. “Tripod in frame… Sam!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.

“Ok, sorry, ma’am.” He rolled his eyes.

Contrary to her expectation, Sonia did not shut him down with a painful remark.

“Wait, cut, lighting issue.”

“What?” The lighting crew asked. “Where?”

Sonia continued chewing all of them out one by one, rubbing the side of her head with three fingers. “Make it darker.” She requested.

“But it would be under-exposed on the camera.” Sam argued. “Look.” Sonia looked at the camera, and reluctantly agreed.

“Actually where even is the light supposed to be casting from?” The crew asked. “Where is the sun right now?”

Sonia seemed stumped. Honey had been standing at her spot for the past five minutes so as to not disrupt anything they rehearsed. “Oh my god, I’ll do it myself.”

“Sonia, no!” Honey blocked her. “Look…” She spoke a little softer. “Why don’t you take a break now, okay? Come on, I’m tired as well.”

“Go back to your position, I need to see if the shadows are casted properly.”

“We can fix it in post if it’s wrong.”

“What? Do I look like Sam to you? We can’t just ‘fix it in post’.”

Sonia elbowed her away and walked across the set towards the lighting stand. It towered over her, but that didn’t stop her from interfering.

“Dude, I can do it.” The student managing lighting complained to her.

“No, you can’t. You don’t get what I’m going for.”

“Lower the stand if it’s too tall, you’ll trip.” Sonia ignored his advice, and he lowered it for her. The light blinded her and sent her tumbling back. Her foot got caught in a wire and she fell down. Honey raced to her rescue as the equipment started to topple like dominos, and everyone took three steps back. Sparks could be seen coming from one of the stands.

“I told you I could do it!” The lighting crew complained, shouting curses towards her.

“Whatever.” Sonia displayed her signature black face. Honey guided her out, but the crew got in their way.

“No, no, no, you’re not disappearing now, not after destroying school property.”

“Leave her alone! She’s stressed.” Honey defended.

“Stay out of this.”

“No!”

Someone sprinted out to call for Ms. Eva.

“What are we gonna do now, you’re lucky that didn’t start a fire!”

“She’s sorry, okay? It was an accident, just drop it Max.” In between her pointer and middle finger lay her house key, with its edge sticking out like a small knife. Her fists trembled like a leaf as he towered over her, dreading the second he turned aggressive.

He gave Sonia dagger-eyes, then walked away. “You’re explaining it to Ms Eva.”