Rise To Stardom - Chapter 231

Chapter 231: New Trick

The fifth scene following up from the fourth scene yesterday, had been a fairly long scene.

And in that scene, Malakai, after lectures, had called over Nathan to meet him at his office.

There, the Professor had informed the young man that he knew of his mother, Caitlyn North.

He also informed him, that he was quite limited on what he could tell him about her.

But, as his mother’s colleague, it felt imperative upon him to at least, shed more light onto her story, especially when her son was involved.

So Malakai had told the young man to ask any burning questions he might have and he’d do his best to give him an answer, if he could.

But for Nathan, whom had always wanted to figure out what exactly happened to his mum years back, especially since he didn’t buy into the agenda that she simply died in a plane crash, it had been more than enough.

So he did, asking question after question, each one bringing one revelation after the other.

Malakai, during the scene, in response to Nathan’s questions, had explained extensively how he and his mother worked together for many years, focusing their efforts on trying to make a serum that could cure any sort of disease.

This intrigued Nathan greatly as he realized the prospects of what a serum that revolutionary could have done.

During this conversation of questions and answers, the Professor had also informed Nathan that the experiment had unfortunately, being unsuccessful and was scrapped, never to see the light of day again.

He also explained that, the failed experiment itself, was most probably the root cause of Caitlyn North’s disappearance and her eventual death in a plane crash.

To that, Nathan had asked what exactly said serum et experiment was but Malakai, refused to divulge the info as it was highly classified and could get him in trouble with the Feds and the wrong people if he was made aware.

As a result, the Professor of the prestigious college for special individuals, once again made it clear to Nathan, that he shouldn’t try to dig around for info pertaining to the serum, or the experiment because it really could, get him into some serious trouble with the wrong people.

And just like that, Nathan seemingly listening to Malakai’s sincere warnings, assured the Professor that he’d do as he was told.

The young man also gave his genuine appreciation to Malakai for shedding more light on his mother’s death, something he had struggled for the past fifteen years of his life, trying to get the tiniest bits of info about.

With that, the fifth scene had ended and Nathan was off to attending other lectures for the day.

At the same time, it had been the last scene of the day and Kyle, upon returning home, took a shower first, after which he then sat before his laptop, intent on pulling up his Digital Audio Workstation to compose a score for some of the scenes they’d shot today.

As the laptop booted up in no less than a few seconds, Kyle himself was staring at his panel of notifications;

| You have acted before everyone and impressed them! |

| You have obtained a huge amount of exp. points! |

| 10,000 exp. points have been awarded! |

| Total exp. points available (166,525) |

| Acting has advanced from level 14 to level 15! |

| Advancement in acting will become exponentially harder from here on out! |

| Keep acting to improve your skills! |

With a satisfied nod, Kyle dismissed the notifications, refocusing his attention on his laptop as he pulled up the DAW app.

But just as he did, he caught sight of an e-mail notification from the corner of his eye, prompting him to casually click on it.

Reading the message from Maria, one that had a link to a cloud app which they frequently used to exchange videos she and her crew filmed for him, it suddenly hit Kyle!

“Oh yes! The music video for [Your Odyssey]!” he exclaimed in excitement as he swiftly navigated over to the cloud to download the video file.

* * *

A few days later, having filmed other scenes from the movie with other cast members, most of which involved a few mundane and reference scenes here and there, the sixth scene was about to be filmed.

It was also the scene where Nathan would get his powers.

But before that scene, Lily needed to act out a flashback scene at the house, one that Nathan had recalled during the second scene of the movie when he had been coming down the stairs for breakfast.

“Hmmm…” Lily thoughtfully hummed out loud mid-conversation as she gazed at Sharon.

“So I sai–– What?” Sharon whom was engaging in a conversation with the dark-blonde, inquired, her tone curious.

Currently, both were individually seated next to the other on a patio chair, the others scattered about various spots across the lawn as the production team, moved about here and there.

The lady had already filmed the scene that was required of her a few minutes ago and so the room was being prepped for the filming of the sixth scene.

“Well, it’s just, having gotten to know you these past few weeks, you’re nothing like the rumors say. It’s really refreshing.” Lily honestly commented.

“Ah… that…” Sharon, appreciative of Lily’s honesty, remarked casually, her fingers gently tapping on the patio table before them where their drinks were placed.

“Well, let’s just say, circumstances made me a bit of a wanton woman. A bit egotistical too.” she then stated lightheartedly, her lips pressing into a thin smile.

“Just a little bit?” Lily arched a teasing eyebrow, not wanting to prod deeper into her reasons.

“Pinch of salt.” Sharon grinned knowingly as she gestured with thinly pressed fingers, earning a light chuckle from Lily who then inquired curiously;

“So you don’t dislike Jasmine?”.

“Contrary to popular belief, no. Not at all. I think she’s amazing.” Sharon gave an honest-to-god response.

“But once again, circumstances.” the honey-blonde haired actress, let out a tired sigh, after which she then mused to herself;

‘Should apologize to her when next we run into each other…’

No sooner had those thoughts settled in her mind though, she and Lily had their attention grasped by Kyle who walked past them, the good-mannered Sir. Pouncealot, once again perching atop his head.

And then, with one brief look-over in their direction, he flexed his brows playfully and then went on his merry way.

Was it the cat atop his head? Or was it his surprisingly playful persona that merged effortlessly with his more reserved demeanor?

Sharon couldn’t really say.

Nevertheless, she and Lily, shared mild yet similarly mirthful chuckle in response as they watched his back retreat, into the house to film his scene.

“Say, Lily?” Sharon then asked, eyes glinting with interest after Kyle was completely out of sight.

“What?” the lady responded, her hazel-irises warm.

“Do you think Kyle has anyone he’s interested in? Romantically, I mean?” Sharon curiously inquired.

Tilting her head slightly, Lily questioned instead;

“Why are you asking? You interested?”

Blinking her eyes a few times, Sharon quickly clarified;

“No. Heavens no.”

“I’d say I really admire him though. Kyle’s a…”

“Breath of fresh air?” Lily offered, completing her sentence.

“Yeah. That!” the lady clasped her palms in agreement.

“Also, he’s made it pretty clear he’s not interested in me like that so I figured I might as well respect that.” Sharon came clean and Lily burst into laughter!

“That’s dreamboat, alright. Not the type to string a lady along.” she commented cheerfully, after which she then pondered for a few seconds before stating;

“Normally, I’d say no…”

“Oh…” Sharon arched a curious brow of interest.

“But a few months ago, during his tour, we caught up on a lot of stuff…” Lily continued, after which she then let out a knowing smile as she remarked;

“… and I think he just might be unaware, that he does like her. A lot.”

* * *

Nathan was a liar.

Sure enough he told Professor Malakai he wouldn’t dig into the details of the experiment that cost his mum her life but deep within, he already had his own mindset.

And so, instead of heading over to his dorm room later that very evening, he had instead, opted to head back home to do something he had been avoiding all this while.

Rummaging through his mum’s stuff.

At the same time, Kyle on the other hand, in an effort to test [Deep Dive] at Grade S and figure out how exactly it differed from the previous grade, similarly activated the skill the moment he was given the order to begin.

‘Activate, [Deep Dive].’

“Lights… Camera… Action!”

{Tech Wiz: Year One | 4th of July 2022 | Act 1 | Scene 6 | Take 1}

As Nathan opened the door to his home, he called out to his Gramps.

“Gramps. I’m home.”

Casually tossing his messenger bag asides onto the living room couch, Nathan rounded a corner and found himself in the kitchen, a note on the fridge;

Will be working late. In case you decided college’s not for you, help yourself to some takeout. Add it to my tab.

Yet, almost instantaneously, Nathan–– or in this case, Kyle–– who should’ve given a light smile in response as he walked out the kitchen while reading the note, abruptly halted in his steps, his entire being freezing on the spot in sudden realization.

This, on the other hand, immediately prompted Xavier to call out;

“Cut!”

–

“Kyle. Everything good?” the Director walked up to him and asked, gently tapping him by the shoulder as everyone on set, looked just as concerned as Xavier was.

Snapping him out of the trance he was in, Kyle, realizing what he must’ve looked like to everyone on set, genuinely apologized with a seemingly honest excuse as he diffidently rubbed his nape;

“Sorry. Had an idea for the movie’s score suddenly hit me.”

“Oh.” Xavier remarked, his tone understanding.

“That explains it then.” he added with a light nod, same as the cinematographers and lighting technicians on ground who had a light of understanding in their eyes.

After all, asides from being the lead actor in the movie, Kyle was also juggling creating a good chunk of the movie’s soundtrack, a pretty herculean task in its own right alongside also acting.

“I can give you a few minutes off to jot down your thoug––”

Xavier was almost about to complete the sentence when Kyle shook his head as he stated firmly in assurance;

“No. I’ll make sure to get the scene down in the next take without any interferences on my end. I promise.”

“Alright then.” Xavier nodded in acknowledgement, turning to face the filming crew who seemed to have garnered even more respect for the young star’s work ethic.

“We’ll take the scene again from the top.” the Director stated, to which they all gave, curt, professional nods.

Film scores are an essential part of film-making.

They shape a movie’s emotional landscape, tone, atmosphere and even tempo.

In fact, a fantastic movie score, could elevate an already amazing scene to new heights, or in fact, make a less interesting scene, feel all that much impressive when in actuality, it’s really not.

And for Kyle whom had activated [Deep Dive] at its max level…

‘I could hear the background score of the scene in my head!’ his internal thoughts were a mix of awestruck marvel, despite his outer countenance saying otherwise.

This, inevitably, would make composing the movie’s soundtrack, a lot less taxing on him mentally even though he’d still need to put in a lot of hardwork to match and remember exactly what he had heard during the scene.

That was why, once again, the moment the Director gave the order, the young star, activated [Deep Dive] once more, this time, completely losing himself to the role and the world Nathan inhabited.