CHAPTER ONE

𐐪✭𐑂

HARPER awoke in her trailer, feeling the peculiar tingling of her tongue and the slight numbness of her lips, signs of a too-deep slumber. Despite it being her first day on set, she had already succumbed to sleep, having arrived just a few hours prior to filming. Director Shawn Levy had assured her he'd have her on set in no time, but what felt like a moment had turned into over an hour.

With a grunt, she stretched herself awake, disentangling from the cozy blanket draped over her legs. A craving for freshness led her to reach for a mint from her backpack, popping it into her mouth like a pill.

The trailer door rattled, a knock interrupting her solitude and causing a slight startle. "Yes?" she called out, opening the door to find a boy her age, with blonde, curly hair and bright blue eyes.

"Hey, sorry to bother you. Shawn needs you— us for the table read. Do you need a minute?" he asked, a shy smile playing on his lips. Harper shook her head. "Yes, I mean— no. I'm ready. We can go." With a friendly smile, she closed the trailer door behind her and followed the curly-haired boy to the set.

"Name's Walker," he says, extending his hand for a shake. "I already know who you are. We met at the chemistry read, remember?" Harper chuckles awkwardly, shaking his hand. Walker nods. "Oh, right, ..Harper! I have short term memory, it's bad." he jokes, snickering.

Harper shrugs, smiling softly. "I also recall you're the same guy from Percy Jackson."

"I'm not from Percy Jackson, I am Percy Jackson," he teases, injecting a playful tone into his voice. Harper scoffs and smiles. "Sassy on the first day? Can't even imagine."

As they approach a small building, they enter and find themselves in a conference room, where the table read is about to take place. Harper's eyes widen with excitement as she sees the main cast assembled: Jennifer Lawrence, Malachi Barton, McKenna Grace, Momona Tamada, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, and Shawn Levy.

Harper and Walker take seats next to each other, with Momona on her other side. Eager to begin, Harper awaits the start of the table read.

"There they are," Ryan smiles, his hands resting on the table. "Sorry for the delay, folks, but we're here now, so lets not start complaining." he jokes, eliciting a few giggles from the table.

Shawn smiles, nodding as he addresses the group. "Now that we're all here, shall we begin?" The table nods in agreement, flipping open their scripts to the first page.

"Scripts ready? Alright, let's dive in," Shawn says, taking a sip of his coffee before starting the read as the narrator, setting the stage for the story.

...

The read went on for a bit, until it finally came to the page where Harper, alongside with the other teens get to start. Harper was ready, clearing her throat and everything.

__

The five teens were all together in one of their bedrooms, one of them was in front of a laptop, researching in the new invention, everyone else surrounding him, intrigued.

Zachary(Malachi): "This looks like a scam."

Addisyn(Momona): "Based off the science and the people who bought it, it's not. But I can't blame you, it's crazy how a person can just invent something that makes you ten times as smart as you are."

Julie Anne(McKenna): "Bought it? How much do people pay for this?"

Jonah changes the google search to "How much is the Neurogenesis?" The whole groups eyes widen, a small gasp croaks from Addisyn.

Anyia(Harper): "It's  free? Why would they make such advanced technology free?"

Jonah scans through the website, reading it carefully.

Jonah(Walker): "I guess Dr. Helena Weiss wants the world to be.. smarter? Millions of people have already signed the contract to get the Neurogenesis in their brain. And this is just the online submissions."

Jonah points at a number on the screen, the whole group seeing as the numbers go up in insane amounts of speed.

Addisyn(Momona): "You guys think our parents or other family members happen to be one of those many people? If so, wouldn't we get wrapped around this?"

Zachary(Malachi): "My mom said that that is was obviously a scam. And I don't blame her. So it's safe to say that I'm not doing this."

Jonah sighs, shaking his head.

Jonah(Walker): "Me and Julie Anne are most likely doing it."

Julie Anne(McKenna): "Shut up, how?!"

Jonah(Walker): "Remember? Uncle David form moms side? He works for Helena Headquarters. Moms been talking to me about it, we might be getting chips inside our brain."

Julie Anne smacks herself in the forehead, a longing sigh.

Julie Anne(McKenna): "I don't want a chip in my brain! What if it malfunctions, and next thing you know, I start lagging.. in real time."

Zachary(Malachi): "Maybe you don't need to worry about it? I mean, the chip goes into brains, so.."

Julie Anne smacks Zachary on the arm, Zachary flinches back as he places a hand over his arm. The scene cuts back to the laboratory, where stood Helena and David.
__

...

As the table read concludes, the room erupts with applause and cheers, having successfully run through almost the entire script. Discussions ensue about script changes, character development, and other related matters.

Shawn claps his hands together to regain attention. "Alright, that wraps it up for now. Some of you have schoolwork to attend to, so I'll release the five of you to your trailers or elsewhere, while I keep the three adults here," he announces. Groans escape from the teenagers at the mention of "schoolwork."

The teens rise from their seats and make their way to their trailers. Harper and Walker find themselves with trailers conveniently situated opposite each other, walking side by side in silence.

Arriving at their respective trailers, they share a moment of eye contact. "Sorry for the silence," Harper awkwardly chuckles.

Walker shakes his head as he opens his trailer door. "It's alright, I actually enjoyed the quiet," he smiles. "The table read was fun, you did a great job. See you tomorrow?" he asks, tilting his head expectantly.

"See you later," Harper nods, entering her trailer and closing the door behind her.

...

ON SET

In the room with the younger portion of the cast—McKenna, Momona, Walker, and Malachi—Shawn held onto his phone, tapping and typing before handing it over to Walker.

"Alright, everything noted, yes?" Shawn confirmed as Walker took the phone, receiving affirming nods from the cast.

Shawn's phone displayed the camera within the Instagram app. They were tasked with filming a video, soliciting Q&A questions from fans now that the movie had been announced.

Walker pressed the record button, raising the phone high. "Hey, everyone! Walker here with the cast of our new movie... Neuro..." he trailed off, attempting to pronounce the word. Momona and McKenna giggled, while Malachi awkwardly stood in the back, flashing a peace sign once the camera focused on him.

"Neurogenesis," Harper chimed in, leaning into the camera to reveal herself.

"Yeah, yeah, neurogenesis," Walker repeated, extending his arm further to include the group. "So here we have... McKenna and Momo," he directed the camera towards them as they posed together, Momona waving. "And there's Malachi," Walker said, shifting the phone towards him. "Hey, guys," Malachi greeted, aggressively chewing his gum.

Slowly, Walker moved the phone towards Harper. "And uh... whoever she is, but we don't know her," he joked, a playful smile on his face as the group laughed, leaving Harper with her mouth agape. "Wow," she muttered, nodding slowly and crossing her arms.

Walker smiled at her before panning the phone to capture the entire group. "As you can tell, Neurogenesis now has an official Instagram account. So, to kick off our first story, we're taking over the account and inviting you guys to ask us some questions as we film!" Walker announced, flashing a wide smile as he panned the camera through the group, then released the record button.

Shawn smiled. "Perfect, great! Thank you guys so much," he said, retrieving his phone and uploading the story without hesitation.

Harper glanced over at Walker. "You're a very rude person, Walker," she teased, playfully nudging him. Walker chuckled. "I'm actually just an honest person, get it right," he retorted with sass.

...

Harper, having finally memorized her lines, set her script down, feeling prepared for her scene.

Ryan approached, holding a steaming cup of coffee, sipping it cautiously. "You're up," he announced between sips. "I can smell that from here. Where'd you get it from?" Harper inquired.

"I'll tell you if you nail this scene in one take. Even if it's not your fault," Ryan replied with an evil grin. Harper sighed, "It's probably going to be me who messes up."

...

Shawn would sit on the directors chair, cameras everywhere and speakers held above Harper and Walkers heads. They would be hiding near a wall of a building, a head quarters. Though to them, that headquarters was just green screen.

"Action!" Shawn yelled as the clapboard smacks.

__

Jonah and Aniya would hide, peaking their heads out one of the walls of the large laboratory, seeing all of the workers who walked around the outside, two bodyguards guarding the entrance.

Aniya(Harper): "I cant believe you dragged me into this."

Aniya shook her head in disbelief.
Jonah turns around and looks at her.

Jonah(Walker): "You're the person I'm closest with. I cant do this by myself, besides, if we get caught, I can just tell them that my uncle works here and that we're trying to meet him."

Aniya(Harper): "Bullshit. They're gonna throw us into a pit full of fire if they catch us here, regardless of who were related to."

Jonah(Walker): "Yeah, right.. Look, I'm just here to look at some stuff. I did some more research when you guys left, and apparently, information on this invention is super secretive. They don't explain the technology and all is described is 'The future is here, grow ten times the brain you already have.' And that's all."

Aniya sighs as she pushes her head back, no longer peaking, her back against the wall as she sighs.

Aniya(Harper): "I don't wanna get shot! How am I the closest person you know? What about Zachary, or Addisyn, or Julie Anne? Julie Anne is your sister."

Jonah(Walker): "Have you met Julie Anne? Scariest girl I know.  She's an evil sister. And I tried to get Zachary into doing it, but he was too busying at the skate park, and I don't even talk to Addisyn. She's Julie Anne's friend, not mine. And she'd definitely say no, and she's so girly to the point where she'll just be talking about her boy problems, her friend problems..-"

Aniya(Harper): "Girly? What's wrong with being girly? Almost every girl has some sort of love issues or issues in general. And I'm a girl, and I'm your friend."

Jonah(Walker): "Well, you're my only girl-friend."

Aniya(Harper): "I'm sorry, repeat that?"

Jonah(Walker): "A girl.. that's a friend?"

Jonah wrinkles his brows at her as Aniya looks away, nodding.

Aniya(Harper): "Right, I figured."

Jonah(Walker): "What else could you have possibly thought of.."
___

Walker begins to stammer, not aware of his line.

"Cut!" Shawn's voice boomed, eliciting chuckles from some of the crew. Walker, feeling embarrassed, covered his face. "Sorry, my bad." he laughed nervously. Harper glanced at Walker, a smile playing on her lips. "What was the actual line?" Walker inquired.

"The line was: 'What else could you have possibly thought of? You're my only friend that's a girl, no other definition.' " Ryan corrected, appearing seemingly out of nowhere beside Shawn.

"No coffee for you," he mouthed playfully to Harper. Harper dramatically placed a hand over her heart, feigning the pain she felt at Ryan.

"It's fine, let's run through the scene again!" Shawn declared, smiling warmly at the kids.

...

HOTEL ROOM

Alone in her hotel room, Harper sat poised with her phone in hand. With her mom out and the room to herself, it was time to address some fan questions about her upcoming movie.

Clicking on a random question, she propped her phone up against a lamp and hit record.

The question read; "I've been DYINGG to have Harper and Walker in a film together. how do one of you feel about it now that they are?"

Harper chuckled awkwardly at the phone as she fixated her hair, "Me, personally, I've always loved Percy Jackson as a kid and so I've been aware of him and his work on the show, alongside with The Adams Project. So I definitely was excited when I first met him, but let me tell you guys something.. That kid.. nothing like how he is on camera. Meanest. Person. Ever. And that's on judging a book by its cover."  Harper jokes, stopping the video as she posts it on the movies Instagram story.

Walker sends her a text, Harper instantly clicking it before she even began to read it.

____

kelp face:
feelings are burned and torn from your part of the Q&A😞

Harp🎵:
WTH, I JUST POSTED THAT

kelp face:
Im almost always on Instagram

Now apologize before I bust through that hotel door of yours

Harp🎵:
The way I just sobbed at that threat

You owe me, because you messed up on that one scene, smh 💔💔

Ryan promised me coffee if we did it in one take

kelp face:

Womp womp

Wait

*kelp face deleted previous message*

THAT WAS MEAN IM SORRY

That counts as my apology btw🙏

Harp🎵:
Apology not accepted until I get my coffee😒

kelp face:
WOW.

...

SOCIAL MEDIA
...

view 635 comments...
⤷
walker.scobell: caption? Feelings are HURT.
↳ harper.thorne: stay hurt
↳ walker.scobell: just know my hotel room is right next to yours..

SithSpideysvsp: I'm actually going feral for this movie rn.. anyone else?😭 their not even done filming yet.
↳ morganxvs: LITERALLYY

momonatamada: I LOVE HELLO PANDAS❤️
Liked by harper.thorne
↳ momonabrazil: WLY MOMO❤️❤️

TIKTOK
Harperthorne: The things we do during stunt training..
🤍: 2.5M
comments: 1,029
favorites: 10.6k
•••: 978
view 1,029 comments..
⤷

walkerscobell: I TOLD YOU NOT TO POST THIS
↳ harperthorne: I HAVENT POSTED IN 4 MONTHS, I NEEDED TO POST SOMETHING

Mckennagrace: Ryan in the background has me dead
↳ harperthorne: I DIDNT EVEN REALIZE

harpereditszx: the way you fell 😭
↳ harperthorne: he didn't even bother to help me up
↳ harpereditszx: am I breathing okay?!

walkerscobelledits: I need to edit this duo

walkerscobelledits: DYNANAMMIC DUO

mctristans: HELP

mctristans: A duo we all needed

mctristans: RYAN IN THE BACK??😭

Authors note!

I know this is kinda cheesy and all, but trust me, I'm trying to peek through and make this more interesting. Just bare with me 🙏