Page 11 of Stunts and Sparks

Cole went to the main office and checked in. One of the hosts led him through a forested area to the cabin he would be sleeping in for the next couple nights. It felt like one of those places that called itself rustic in order to excuse having no amenities whatsoever. The place looked like it would fall over in the slightest gust of wind. The inside wasn’t any better. There was one old bed, a sink with dead insects in it, and worst of all, there was Heather, sitting at the foot of the bed, unzipping her bag, apparently to unpack.

“There must have been a mistake,” Cole said quickly. Heather clearly recognized his voice, glanced up, and gave him the icylook he fully expected from her. “We aren’t meant to room together.”

The host cocked his head at Cole. Then he pulled out a clipboard and started going over it. “That’s funny,” he said. “We have you down as a pair. Are you not?”

Cole shook his head. “We’re here together, but we’re not a couple. I believe we would both prefer not to be housed together. At the very least, we’d prefer two beds.”

“Sorry,” the host said with a shrug. “We don’t have any more cabins available. Everything’s booked.”

Heather spoke up in a harsher tone than Cole felt was necessary. “I amnotsharing a bed with this jerk.”

“You’ll have to work something out between you,” the host said with yet another, more irritating shrug. “There’s nothing we can do. You’re welcome to cancel your reservation, although, at this late stage, I doubt you’ll be getting much of a refund.”

“Oh, we’re not here by choice,” Cole explained. “It’s a work thing.”

“Odd,” the host said. “Not our usual clientele. Well, I hope it works out for you whatever you choose to do. Here’s your itinerary.” He handed both of them a pamphlet with times and events listed within it. “See you at orientation.”

Then, the infuriatingly useless host walked out the door, leaving Heather and Cole alone together.

“You can have the dresser,” Heather said. “I don’t trust this place not to cause an infestation in my wardrobe.”

“An easy problem to solve,” Cole said, smirking. “Just add some spiders to the mix, and you’ll be fine.”

“God, I wish we didn’t have to room together.” She glared at him. “So which side of the floor are you taking?”

“It’s cute that you think I’m sleeping on the floor.”

“You’re not sleeping on the bed,” Heather said, incredulous.

Cole just crossed his arms and stared at her, letting the silence speak for itself. She cursed under her breath and finished setting up her sleeping bag. “This is ridiculous,” she said. “They’re treating us like children.”

“Maybe that’s because we’re acting like children.”

She whirled around and glared at him. “Whose side are you on, anyway?”

“My own, obviously,” he said. “I can’t deny we’ve been a pain in the ass to the cast and crew, though. Can you? I mean, if we could just do the job without fighting.”

“I wouldn’t be fighting with you if you did the job right.” She plopped onto the foot of the bed and crossed her arms over her chest.

Cole took the risk and sat beside her. To his surprise, she didn’t scoot away from him. Maybe he would finally be able to make some headway with her. Even though her risk-averse attitude made her an irritating partner, making peace with her would go a long way toward a more pleasant work experience. “Maybe I just have different idea of what doing the job right entails.”

“Like going off the rails and injuring yourself so you can never do the job again?”

Why was she always so uptight? He took a chance and nudged her with his shoulder. “I do take risks, but I do it carefully. I wouldn’t characterize it as ‘going off the rails.’ Life and stunt work is just more fun if you don’t let every little thing scare you.”

With that she stood, her expression darker than he would have thought. He’d been trying to say the right thing to settle her down, cheer her up, maybe make her understand him a little better. He was trying to be her manic-pixie-dream-boy in a way, stupidly thinking he would be able to convince her to live her life spontaneously, to appreciate every second and live to the fullest, to have a little fun. But she seemed unwilling to even consider it.

Bitterly, she said, “I’m going to orientation. Please don’t sit next to me.” And she marched out the door without even zipping her suitcase back up.

Later that day, they were meant to participate in two activities. Orientation had taken place outdoors, and it included calisthenics, lots of pushups and sit-ups. They were essentially forced to pair up — it was a camp for bonding couples, after all — and Cole held her feet while she did her sit-ups, giving him the coldest look every time she sat all the way up. He tried to encourage her the only way he knew how. “Come on, sweetheart. You can do better than that,” he said

The look on her face when she came up that time made him think she might actually take a bite out of him. “Shut up,” she snapped, barely out of breath after all that exercise. The couples around them were all panting away, and Heather looked like a professional skier on the bunny slopes in comparison. She really was in great shape, Cole thought. It was a shame she hated himas much as she did. He really did admire her hard work and dedication.

He waited until she sat up again and gave her a charming smile. “Doesn’t your anger give you a boost of strength? Maybe you should just give in to it.”

“What are you, some kind of evil space wizard?” she said, breathing a little heavier now.

“Maybe.” He squeezed her ankles. “Do you like evil space wizards?”

---