Big Break
BIG BREAK – September 15, 2023 – Carmel, Indiana, USA
Kaylie typically refused blind dates. She could find her own dates and did not need setups, thank you very much. Only after hours of pleading and promising did she finally agree to help her best friend, Annie. More precisely, she was helping Annie’s boyfriend, Hunter, whose boss had a wonderful son who needed to get out of the house with people his own age.
“He makes movies. He’s supposed to be brilliant,” Annie told Kaylie. “This could be your big break. He’ll put you in a movie and you’ll be famous.”
“I don’t want to be famous or in a movie,” Kaylie replied. “I’m only doing this for you, and you owe me big time.”
On the night she was supposed to spend with Annie, Hunter, and her mystery date, Kaylie tried on multiple outfits until deciding she was worrying too much about first impressions. She slipped on a comfortable pair of jeans and a sweater. Instead of curling her hair, she pulled it back into a simple ponytail.
Her apartment doorbell rang fifteen minutes after she expected to be picked up. She answered the door to find her date dressed even more casually than she was.
“Katie Eastwood!” he blurted out. His hair looked matted, as if he had barely woken from a nap. The effect may have been caused by a tragically bad haircut. His splotchy facial hair was equally tragic, or maybe just lazy. “I’m Luke,” he added with an eager grin.
Kaylie’s last name was not Eastwood, but she did not bother to correct him. She was too fixated on whether his sloppy appearance was accidental or meant to show he was a tortured artist. After several awkward seconds, she said, “Luke, what?”
He reacted as if she had just fallen for a prank. He raised his eyebrows and tried to sound clever with a vampire accent. “Luke into my eyes and you’ll fall in love.”
Kaylie grimaced before sarcastically replying, “Ha ha.” She already wanted to kill Annie and Hunter for dragging her into this.
“Can I come in?” Luke asked.
Kaylie did not have the foresight to refuse or ask him why. Inside her head she was busy cursing her friends. She thoughtlessly muttered, “I guess so.”
Luke barged in and inspected the apartment like he was a detective at a crime scene.
“What are you doing? Are you looking for something?” Kaylie demanded.
“Yeah, a broom.”
“Huh? What for?”
Luke smiled devilishly and then repeated a line he had obviously practiced. “So I can sweep you off your feet.”
Katie rolled her eyes and uttered something that sounded like, “Eech.” She wanted him out of her living space as soon as possible so she added, “Don’t we need to leave? We’re already late for meeting Annie and Hunter.”
“Yeah, you’re right. And we’re gonna have an amazing time. I can tell you like being creative and spontaneous.”
As Luke spoke, he moved closer and closer to Kaylie until he was clearly violating her discomfort zone. His breath smelled like black licorice. She leaned back and contradicted his conclusion about her. “No, I like having a plan.”
Luke’s eyes lifted toward the ceiling as he slowly said, “Plan, bran, flan, Pakistan.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I like the way words sound. Don’t you? I find there’s always time for rhyme.”
Kaylie made the “Eech” sound again.
Luke did not seem to mind or notice her expression as he said, “Shall we depart?”
“Yes, yes. Let’s totally depart,” Kaylie replied in exasperation.
“Is that what you’re wearing?” Luke asked, critically looking her up and down.
“You have a problem with what I’m wearing? Look at what you’re wearing.”
“It’s just that Hunter said you were elegant. I imagined something more sophisticated.”
Kaylie nearly screamed for him to get out and never come back. Instead, she pushed him toward the door and then followed him through it. She was definitely going to kill Hunter and Annie.
Luke traipsed down the apartment staircase before saying, “You’re gonna need to drive.”
Kaylie brightened up and asked, “Oh, does that mean we’re taking separate cars?”
“I don’t have a car. Well, I do, but my license is suspended.”
“How did you get here?”
“My mom dropped me off.”
Kaylie groaned before saying, “Fine, we’ll take my car.”
She walked to her eight-year-old Toyota Corolla parked nearby. Luke circled it as if he was about to give her a ticket.
“Where are your hubcaps?”
“They fell off, okay? I kind of get too close to curbs and they ripped off one by one.”
“So, you’re not a very good driver.”
“At least my license isn’t suspended.”
Luke slipped into another rhyming trance. “Suspended, upended, pretended, offended.”
They got into the Corolla and Luke adjusted the slack on his seatbelt three times.
“So where are we going?” Kaylie demanded.
“I may need a map.”
“What for?”
“I’m getting lost in your eyes.”
“Get out if you’re going to say anything else cheesy like that. Did you look these things up on the internet? Just tell me where to go.”
“The Dollar Store. It’s close.” Luke lazily gestured toward the apartment parking lot’s exit. “Hunter and Annie will be there. It’ll be fun and stimulating, I promise.”
Kaylie huffed to show she did not believe him and was not interested in being stimulated. She started the car and drove in the direction Luke pointed. When she happened to glance over at him, he was staring intently at her hands.
“You’re a good driver. Sorry I doubted you.”
“Don’t look at me. Look at the road.”
“Road, load, toad, geode.”
The drive to The Dollar Store was mercifully short. The place sat in the middle of a strip mall, surrounded by other retail shops and three restaurants. Kaylie parked next to another Corolla almost the same year as hers.
“That car has all its hubcaps. Want me to get them for you?” Luke asked, sticking his head out the window.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll pull them off and put them on your car.”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“It’s no problem. I’m happy to do it. It’ll be a thank you for the ride.”
Kaylie could not tell if he was serious, but she strongly replied, “No, I’m good.”
They got out of the car and Kaylie locked it behind them. She spotted Annie and Hunter standing in front of The Dollar Store and glared angrily as Luke rushed forward. Behind his back, Kaylie made a finger gun, pointed it at her own head, and pulled the imaginary trigger.
“Here’s what we’re gonna do,” Luke enthusiastically explained. “We’ll fill out a Mad Libs page and that will be the outline for a movie. Then we’ll buy a few props inside and film with our phones. We’ll edit the footage together and have a watch party.”
Annie smiled and tried to sound supportive. “Where’s the book of Mad Libs?”
“We’ll borrow one from in there,” Luke replied, pointing his head toward the store.
Without waiting for the others to agree to his plan, Luke hurried inside. Everyone reluctantly followed, with Kaylie mouthing to Annie, “I hate you.”
“Here we go,” Luke said, pulling two pens and two blank Mad Libs books from a store shelf. He handed one book to Hunter and kept the other for himself.
“Wait, we’re making two outlines?” Kaylie asked with alarm. “Two movies? I think it would be much better if we all worked on the same one.”
“Oh, we’ve gotta do two. That way, we can compare,” Luke answered. Then he added, “Compare, share, flair, spare.”
Kaylie tried to argue but Luke insisted. Hunter and Annie were no help and Kaylie found herself standing in an aisle at The Dollar Store while Luke asked her for nouns, verbs, and adjectives to fill in the blanks of the Mad Libs page. She kept her answers as boring and generic as possible, using words like shoes, sad, sleep, floor, and tired. She did not want their Mad Lib story to be the least bit interesting or require any stunts while filming.
The Mad Lib outline turned out to be about an alien invasion and someone’s last day on earth. Even with Kaylie’s toned-down responses, it sounded way more outrageous and action-packed than it deserved to be. Luke gleefully read the sentences, stopping to highlight each of Kaylie’s entries like he was a gameshow host.
Luke instantly had ideas for props, so Kaylie trailed him around the store as he picked out a pink wig, water gun, and plastic alien ships. He ransacked shelves until he found transparent string for dangling the ships during their flight scenes.
“Put on the wig. I’ll give you your first line,” Luke said to Kaylie.
“Why don’t you go first. I’m not an actor. I’ll be better at holding the camera.”
“No, no. You’re the only actor,” Luke immediately replied. “I’m the cinematographer. And the screenwriter. And the director. Director, inspector, perfector, elector.”
Kaylie saw no chance at compromise in his face, so she put on the wig. Hunter and Annie happened to walk by and Kaylie grabbed both of their arms. “Stay close! Whatever you do, you have to film right next to us!”
“Alright, scene one,” Luke announced, pulling out his phone and angling it down one of The Dollar Store’s aisles. “You act like you’re terrified and talking on your phone. You yell, ‘What do you mean it’s the last day on earth?’”
Kaylie took a deep breath and thought of something terrifying – seeing Luke in the future. She convincingly recited the line.
“Now do it like it’s funny.”
“I can’t just fake emotions that fast. I’m not an actor.”
“Oh yes you are. The camera loves you.” Luke elevated his eyebrows to show he had something else clever to say. “I hope you know CPR because you’re talking my breath away.”
Kaylie put a finger in her mouth like she was trying to gag.
“Away, filet, crochet, display,” Luke said thoughtfully.
Kaylie did her best to laugh as she repeated the movie’s opening line. Then she pretended she was in a tragically doomed romance and sharing a last goodbye on the phone with her fiancé.
After a few more shots inside the store, Luke decided it was time to move locations. He returned the Mad Lib book and pen to a shelf and paid $5 for the props he wanted to take with them. Kaylie dragged Annie and Hunter along as filming continued in the shoe store next door, then in a neighborhood Walmart and adjoining park.
Luke seemed to be reading from a script inside his head as he fed Kaylie lines. She repeated them in three versions – horror, comedy, and romantic tragedy. With Annie and Hunter lurking in the background, she pushed shoes off racks, ran screaming down food aisles, and hid under picnic tables in the park.
“That’s a wrap,” Luke finally announced.
Kaylie collapsed in relief and replied, “I can’t believe I did all that. I should have quit in The Dollar Store.”
“I think it’s time for dinner. Dinner, winner, sinner, spinner.” Luke pointed toward a McDonald’s that shared the parking lot with The Dollar Store.
Kaylie was too frazzled to argue and soon found herself in the McDonald’s ordering line behind Annie and Hunter and next to Luke.
“I can only spend like $5, so I’ll get us some fries to share,” Luke said after glancing at the menu.
Kaylie shook her head and said, “I’ll buy something for myself.”
“Then maybe order extra fries. Fries, eyes, lies, prize.”
When they all sat at a table with their food, Luke practically disappeared into his phone while editing video footage. He absentmindedly ate one French fry after another, including most of those on Kaylie’s tray. She did not stop him and was happy to chat with Annie and Hunter while he stayed distracted. Almost thirty minutes passed without Luke saying a word.
“You gonna show us what you’ve got?” Hunter finally asked him.
“It’s not done yet. I don’t want you critiquing an unfinished product.”
“How much longer?”
“I can’t say.”
“Then we should probably call it a night and let you keep working on it.”
Kaylie was quick to say to Hunter, “How about you drive Luke home? I’m sure his house is on your way. And I’m low on gas. And I just need to get home. Alone.”
Luke continued to frantically edit with his phone and was barely aware of where he was going as he followed the others out of the McDonald’s. He got in the backseat of Hunter’s car before looking up and saying, “Farewell, Kaylie Eastwood.”
Kaylie rolled her eyes and quietly replied, “Farewell, Luke. Luke, Duke, kook, puke.” Then she mouthed to Annie, “You owe me!”
For the next month, Kaylie was afraid to go near the door of her apartment. She kept imagining Luke standing behind it, ready to show her his finished movie. But she never heard from him and neither did Annie or Hunter. The memory of the painful date faded until January, when Kaylie received a mysterious phone call. A talent agent was on the line and sounded very excited.
“You go by Kaylie Eastwood, right?”
“No.”
“Isn’t that the name you used for the film at Sundance?”
Kaylie remembered the night with Luke. “Well, maybe someone called me that once.”
“Great! I’m so glad I tracked you down!”
Kaylie found out that Luke had finished his movie and entered it into the Sundance Film Festival. He spliced different takes together, some from the horror version, others that were supposed to be funny or tragic. Critics called it brilliant and daring. Cutting edge. Kaylie Eastwood was labeled fresh-faced and naturally mesmerizing.
Kaylie got calls from more agents who wanted to represent her. She got offers to be in TV shows and in supporting roles for feature films. At least one offer was too good to pass up. The next time she saw Luke was in California on the set for a new series for Disney+.
“I guess I should thank you for making me an actor,” Kaylie said with a laugh.
Luke smiled slyly in return and said, “Actor, tractor, contractor, benefactor.”
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