But it also meantbe smaller.
Want less.
Suck it up.
Mom only wanted everyone to be happy and together. She just… never understood that ‘together’ doesn’t have to mean next door. Or that I could be next door, but if I had to become someone I’m not to make her happy, then we’d never really be together anyway.
I open the folder of emails I’ve never sent and start a new one.
Hey, Mom.
This movie’s been pretty cool. New Zealand is so beautiful, you’d love it here. I think it might even make you want to take up painting again, if you haven’t already.
I’m glad Dad’s still going to his baseball games. Bet you still have to remind him to take his hat. Has he ever washed his lucky socks? God, they must stink even more now.
Give Rusty some extra treats for me. He’s only got so much longer, y’know? Just don’t tell Dad, or he’ll tell the vet. I still remember you handing me that box, telling me to open it carefully. He jumped right at my face, licking away. Scared the crap out of me. Even though I think puppies as presents are insane, that was the best tenth birthday ever.
I bet he still has to pee at that fire hydrant every time.
You should see the new Electra movie when it comes out. I think you’d like it. Well, as long as you close your eyes during the action parts. But the rest is pretty good too.
I think maybe you’d see… at least a little bit of why I love this. Why asking me to stop would be like… well, asking you to move.
Anyway… I just wanted to say that I miss you. And Dad. And Annie. And Rusty.
Take care of each other.
Love, Mylo.
Tears blur my vision, and I close the draft before tossing my phone onto the faded shag carpet, where it lands with a quietthump.
I pull my knees up to my chest and cry.
CHAPTER
THIRTY
MYLO
Three hours later
‘State-of-the-art sound stage’perhaps conjures a different image than a nondescript gray rectangular warehouse bearing no markings except a giant4painted on the side, sitting between a freight train depot and a graffitiedCombiwashwith teal paint long-faded by the sun.
The real magic is tucked inside.
We pile out of the van—me, Gabriel, Bella, and a cluster of the stunt crew. There’s less chatter than usual, breaths held as we step through the doors of the sound stage—and into another world.
At one end, Electra’s space plane perches on an alien landscape, rocks and rubble rendered with such detail that they look as if they were carried in from outside, except for their unnatural glow in neon pinks and oranges.
On the other side sprawls the interior of a gleaming glass facility, modern and slick, complete with cluttered desks and functional walls and doors to fill out the headquarters of the Vengeance League, the group of superhumans Electra allies with. The franchise’s other A-listers will be here soon for their cameos, schedules optimized so they can fulfill their contractual duties in a day or two.
Smaller sets fill the rest of the space: three walls of a cluttered bedroom, a series of small-town storefronts, a meticulously rendered cave. The warehouse feels like an otherworldly maze, one that lets you journey through space and time in the span of a few paces.
It’s a shame we won’t be here for longer. According to the schedule, they finished most of the sound stage shooting while waiting for the weather to be perfect for the outdoor shots. There are just a few more scenes to finish, and the briskly efficient schedule concludes in a little less than a week.
As we make our way back toward the green room, Bella rests a gentle hand on my arm, and we fall behind the others.
“Are you feeling alright, Mylo?”
