CHAPTER SIX

"PERSONALLY, I'M
TEAM WALKER."

𐐪✭𐑂

Harper stirred awake, her hair a tangled mess, and her eyelids heavy. She slowly realized her mom, Janice, was sitting on the bed beside her.

"I even gave you an extra five minutes. Time to get up!" Janice said, standing and pulling the blanket off Harper, who groaned in protest. "I don't wanna get up..." she muttered.

Janice sighed, "Harp, it's the last day on set. I know you have a kiss scene, and I get it. But you need to get up! You'll see everyone again at interviews, premieres, and other events." She gently pulled Harper to a sitting position as Harper rubbed her eyes and sighed.

"You just don't want to kiss the Percy Jackson kid, huh?" Janice teased, crossing her arms.

Harper looked up at her mom, still perched on the edge of the bed. "I wouldn't mind kissing Percy Jackson. But kissing Walker? That's different," she said, getting up and heading to the bathroom.

"Why?" Janice asked, following her.

Harper grabbed her toothbrush, wetting it before squeezing toothpaste onto it. As she began brushing, she mumbled, "Well, first of all, I hate that my first kiss is going to be on set. The romance isn't even real! It's only real for our characters, and they're not even real! Plus, everyone's going to be all over me and Walker, asking, 'Are you ready?' 'Is this your first kiss?' All of that stupid shit." Her voice was muffled by the toothbrush.

"Harper!" Janice exclaimed, her tone scolding.

"Sorry!" Harper muttered, spitting out the toothpaste and rinsing her mouth. "But seriously, what's the point of those stupid questions? Like, 'Are you ready?' What does that even mean? Am I supposed to be ready for a kiss? How do you even do that?" she ranted, now brushing her hair.

"Harp, I think you're just nervous," Janice said, sitting back down on the bed as she watched Harper.

"I am, Mom! No girl wants her first kiss to be in a movie. Like a movie, yes. But in one?" Harper walked out of the bathroom, opening her suitcase and picking out her outfit for the day.

Janice sighed, looking at her daughter with understanding. "Harper, you'll be fine. You and Walker are close; I'm sure it won't be awkward," she reassured.

"Besides, you're both teenagers. I'm sure Walker's freaking out just as much as you are."

...

WALKERS POV

zombies 4 kid

kelp face:
who does bro think he is

zombies 4 kid:
Walker Scobell, how do you feel about the upcoming kiss scene 🎤

kelp face:
It cannot be this serious..

ITS JUST ONE ON SCREEN KISS.

zombies 4 kid:
I fear it's more than that

kelp face:
You do not wanna catch this fade on set

...

Harper stepped out of the car and immediately noticed the group of teenagers clustered together, their heads turning as soon as she approached.

"Harper, finally!" McKenna called out, pulling her into a hug. "You're always late."

Harper returned the hug with a small smile. "You know me, always late," she said, pulling back.

"Yeah, but today's the last day you can get away with it," Malachi teased with a grin.

Harper glanced around, noticing that everyone else was already dressed in character, their faces and hair slightly disheveled to match the scene. She was the only one still in her regular clothes.

"You're all in character already?" she asked, a bit surprised.

"Obviously! The makeup and hair department's been waiting for you," Momona chuckled.

Harper raised her eyebrows. "Right, sorry. I'll catch up with you guys in a bit." She blew them a playful kiss and walked off towards the makeup trailer.

As she walked away, Walker couldn't help but watch her until she disappeared from view. His gaze lingered until a sudden pat on his back snapped him back to reality.

"He wants that cookie so bad," Malachi joked, causing Momona and McKenna to burst into laughter.

Walker rolled his eyes but couldn't help smiling. "Shut up," he mumbled.

"Why? I'm just stating facts," Malachi said, dropping his hand from Walker's shoulder. Walker shot him a look. "Doesn't she like that Aidan guy? You're the one who set them up."

Momona gasped dramatically. "Oh my goodness, Walker actually got his name right?"

"Probably because it's been haunting him since he first heard it," McKenna added with a cheeky grin.

Malachi shrugged. "Even though I did set up Harper and Aidan, I'm not 100% sure they'll work out."

"What?" Walker muttered, looking over at him.

"Personally, I'm team Walker. Just saying," Malachi confessed, raising his hands in mock surrender. "It's pretty obvious."

...

Harper sat in the makeup trailer, watching as the makeup artist carefully applied bruises to her cheek and hands, and lightly messed up her hair to match her character's disheveled appearance.

The door to the trailer suddenly swung open, and Walker stepped in, giving a small wave as he took the seat next to Harper for a quick makeup touch-up.

"What scene did you just finish filming?" Harper asked, turning her head slightly toward him.

Walker shrugged. "Just a regular scene with Emma, nothing much."

Harper raised an eyebrow. "You do realize her character is the antagonist, right? I don't think anything with her is just a regular scene," she said with a smile.

Marissa, one of the hair and makeup artists, chimed in, "Well, there are scenes that aren't so regular, yeah?" She hinted, glancing at them with a knowing smile, clearly referring to the upcoming kiss scene.

Walker shook his head dismissively. "It's just one scene. We'll get through it, right, Harper?" He turned to Harper for confirmation, only to see her nod awkwardly.

"Everyone's been bugging me about it, especially Leena. Sisters, right? Older ones, especially. She keeps texting me about it. And of all days to visit the set, it had to be today? She was exactly the same when I had to do the same with Mo—" Walker stopped mid-sentence, realizing Harper was distracted, her attention focused on her phone as she texted.

Walker furrowed his brows. "Harp?" he muttered, but she didn't seem to hear him.

Marissa tapped Harper on the shoulder. "All done, you're good to go," she said. Harper looked up at the mirror, her eyes widening at the transformation.

"Thanks so much, Marissa. I'll see you later," Harper said, getting up from the makeup chair and heading toward the door.

"Harper," Walker called out again, this time catching her attention.

"Yeah?" She paused, turning her head back.

Walker wanted to say something, but he couldn't look at her directly in the eye. "Wh... Nevermind, I forgot," he said, clearly holding back.

Harper narrowed her eyes at him for a moment, sensing something off, but eventually shrugged it off. "..Okay," she said before leaving the trailer.

The room fell into an awkward silence after Harper left.

"I'll take over for Walker," Marissa said, stepping in as the makeup artist working on Walker took a well-deserved break. "You need a break anyway. I've got this."

As Marissa began touching up Walker's makeup, she broke the silence. "She was texting Aidan, you know."

"Hm?" Walker looked at her, confused.

"Earlier. Harper was texting that Aidan kid she's been going on about for weeks."

Walker's expression fell slightly. "She wouldn't shut up about him?" he asked, fidgeting with his fingers.

Marissa rolled her eyes. "Don't take it like that. I mean, yeah, she did talk about him a lot, but only because I kept asking her about him after she first mentioned him. Now I'm sick of it."

Walker glanced at Marissa through the mirror. "Why keep asking if you're so tired of hearing his name?"

Marissa paused, lifting the makeup brush from Walker's face. "Maybe because I was sick of hearing your name every day on set."

Walker's brows furrowed in confusion. "What?" he muttered.

"You heard me," Marissa said, placing a hand on her hip. "She talks about you nonstop. Walker this, Walker that—honestly, it's driving me crazy. I figured if she started talking about someone else, it would fix the problem... but clearly, it didn't."

Walker fell silent, processing her words as she continued working on his makeup.

"Maybe Malachi was right about the cookie thing," Walker muttered to himself, almost inaudibly.

Marissa raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What?" she asked, still trying to make sense of his words.

Walker shook his head, dismissing the thought. "Nothing, just talking to myself."

...

Harper sat in her director's chair, lost in thought as she waited to be called onto set. A sudden tap on her shoulder snapped her out of her daze.

She turned around to see Jennifer Lawrence, who played the on-screen mom to Walker and McKenna.

"Oh, Jennifer, hey!" Harper greeted her with a smile.

"Just a heads-up, you're about to go on," Jennifer said with a smile of her own. "It's our last scene before we wrap, so you know what that means..." She gave Harper a knowing look, clearly hinting at the kiss scene.

Harper's smile faltered a bit as she looked away. "Don't remind me!"

Jennifer gave a mock-offended look. "What do you mean, 'don't remind you'? You're going to need a reminder—you're about to film it right now!" She chuckled, guiding Harper towards the set.

...

Harper met up with Malachi, Momona, and McKenna, knowing Walker wouldn't be on set just yet.

"The moment we've all been waiting for has finally arrived..." Malachi said, drawing out his words with a teasing grin.

Harper clicked her tongue and sighed, moving to her assigned spot without saying a word.

Shawn, the director, sat behind the camera, taking a sip of his coffee before calling, "Action!"

___

Helena Headquarters was finally put into flames, making the fight over. Neurogenesis is done for, no more mind control. All thanks to the five teenagers.

Officers and firefighters would inspect the building as they let the five teenagers go after hours of questioning.

Aniya and Jonah walked besides each other, while the others were in front of them, watching the three ramble and freak out about how they basically saved the world.

Jonah gave a soft chuckle.

Jonah(Walker): "They seem very happy about all of this."

Aniya(Harper): "They are, and so am I. Aren't you?"

Jonah(Walker): "I mean, I am. Why?"

Aniya(Harper): "I just feel like you don't credit yourself enough for all of this."

Jonah(Walker): "What do you mean?"

Aniya(Harper): "You did basically all of the work. You found out about Helena's evil ways, you hacked into the system, and you put an end to it."

Aniya stops walking and turns around, waving her hand over the headquarters that was in flames. Jonah stopped walking and stood beside her.

Jonah(Walker): "Well, I couldn't have done that without your help. You were a big piece to all of this too."

Zachary, Addisyn, and Julie Ann took a halt on their walking and noticed the other two were a pretty far distance from them.

Aniya noticed and eyed the three before looking over at Jonah.

Jonah noticed the direction Aniya looked over and did the same thing, but Jonah made eye contact with Zachary, seeing his reaction.

Zachary(Malachi): "Make a move!" he mouths

Jonah turned his head back at Aniya, unsure of what to say.

Aniya(Harper): "You think so?"

Jonah nods, eyeing back between Zachary and Aniya.

Jonah(Walker): "Yeah, I mean.. In the middle of all of the chaos, you were probably the one thing that kept me going."

Aniya raised her eyebrows

Aniya(Harper): "I didn't know it was like that."

Her gaze softened as she looked down for a brief moment, thinking to herself.

Aniya(Harper): "And to be honest, it was the same for me, too. If you weren't here, I'd probably wouldn't be here either."

Aniya and Jonah stood in front of each other for a moment in silence, eyes pierced together in silence.

Jonah looked down to her lips as they both slowly felt each other pull closer together uncontrollably.

After one last breath, they finally felt their lips touch for a few seconds.

Zachary widened his eyes and placed both hands on his head,

Zachary(Malachi): "Your little brother got his first kiss before you did." Zachary teased towards Julie Ann

Julie Ann(McKenna): "Shut up. Don't turn the moment to me!" She rolled her eyes.

Addisyn(Momona): "They are seriously so adorable."
___

"And cut!" Shawn shouted, signaling the end of the scene.

The cast and crew broke character, a mix of emotions hanging in the air as they realized this was the last day of filming for Neurogenesis.

Harper and Walker stood awkwardly in front of each other, Harper clearly trying to avoid making eye contact.

"Hey, Harper?" Walker said, his voice breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" Harper finally looked up at him.

Walker hesitated, his eyes searching hers. "Marissa told me th—"

"Sorry, guys, I forgot to say... That's a wrap on Neurogenesis," Shawn announced, cutting Walker off. The room erupted in applause, but Walker and Harper remained still, their moment interrupted.

...

author notes/speaks! 📝

word count: 2229
finally.

I've been hibernating myself from writing WAY too long 😭 this is all I could write so Bear WITH ME.