"Hey, Catherine, what are you doing here?" A group of girls came by, playfully pushing and shoving each other. The tall girl leading them, the same one who had shared a scene with Catherine earlier, called out to her. Her name was also Annie.
"Hi, Annie, and everyone," Catherine greeted them lazily. She got along well with these girls, who were acting as extras, but right now, she didn't feel like talking much.
"What's wrong? Need any help?" Annie noticed something was off and asked with concern. The other girls chimed in, echoing her question.
"Nothing, I just don't know how to act," Catherine forced a smile.
"Don't know? God, you're doing great!" Annie's eyes widened in surprise.
"Yeah, I think Catherine's fantastic," another girl with glasses added.
"Did the director scold you? Let's go talk to him!" a smaller girl exclaimed.
Seeing these girls' unwavering support, Catherine couldn't help but feel amused, though her spirits lifted a bit. She quickly said, "Alright, everyone, calm down. I'm just trying to figure out how to perform better. There's nothing else to it. Thank you for your concern. Could you let me be alone for a while?"
Annie quickly replied, "Okay, no problem. We'll leave you alone for now. Good luck."
The other girls wished her well too, then followed Annie back toward the cabin. But before they had gone far, Annie ran back and hesitantly whispered, "Catherine, if... if the director really scolded you, please don't take it to heart, okay?"
Though puzzled as to why Annie came back to say this, Catherine smiled and replied, "Don't worry, I'm fine. That didn't happen."
Annie nodded and gave her an encouraging smile before running back to the group. Catherine watched them walk away toward the cabin, then turned back to the lake. Although the little interruption hadn't solved her problem, it had lightened her mood. A new thought popped into her head.
"Maybe I could try this?" she muttered to herself. Facing the lake, she closed her eyes and placed her hands at her sides. As her body gently swayed to maintain balance, she took a deep breath and held it. After three or four seconds, she slowly exhaled in a measured rhythm. She repeated the deep breaths, extending the holding time by two seconds with each cycle, then returned to the initial rhythm. After several repetitions, she stopped.
A gentle breeze stirred the lake's surface, creating ripples. Catherine's golden hair fluttered in the wind, and her light gray plaid dress gave her an almost ethereal look, adding a touch of mysterious charm to her demeanor.
Catherine opened her eyes slowly, gazing at the lake with a confident smile, her dimples deepening charmingly. She turned and quickly walked back to Charles and Nancy, smiling as she said, "I'm ready to start again, Mr. Shyer."
Charles, not understanding what had transpired, exchanged a glance with his wife but said nothing. He immediately set everyone in motion to resume filming. They soon noticed the change in Catherine. Mr. Buck, in particular, felt it acutely. Having shared several scenes with her, he couldn't quite pinpoint what was different, but it almost made him miss his lines again.
From his director's chair, Charles saw it differently. He noticed that Catherine's occasional awkwardness had been replaced by a refreshing innocence, giving her an unusual charm. Surprised, he didn't stop filming, instead reshooting the scene from all angles.
Mr. Buck's scene wrapped up after that. With only one scene in the forest park, he wouldn't need to return until the crew moved to the Palig Hotel for further shooting.
Nancy then announced that Catherine could take a short break.
"It's 4 o'clock now. In two hours, it's dinner time. We need to shoot the first dining scene at the summer camp before then, and resume night shooting at 8 PM," Nancy informed Catherine about the upcoming schedule.
"So, the scene where I'm allergic to strawberries is next?" Catherine asked, blinking. She had lost the ethereal quality from earlier, looking more endearing but less enigmatic.
"Yes, it's time for Jessica's first appearance. Although we'll replace her with you in post-production, she still needs to deliver her lines naturally," Nancy said, turning to Jessica.
"I understand, Mrs. Myers," Jessica replied excitedly, nodding vigorously. Her rosy cheeks made Catherine want to pinch them, though she restrained herself. Her focus was on improving her acting. The breathing technique she'd used—a trick learned from her grandmother, who had some Chinese heritage—had helped calm and center her. According to her grandmother, this technique, passed down from her own mother, had a calming and possibly self-hypnotic effect.
However, Catherine couldn't rely on this method to empty her mind and act purely on instinct. She had taken on this role out of curiosity and a desire to try something new, but that didn't mean she wouldn't take it seriously. After the two main scenes today, her competitive spirit was ignited. She needed to continue refining her performance. If she hadn't taken so long with the afternoon scenes, the crew might have completed the sword fight scene as well.
"Let's go, Jessie. Let's rehearse our lines. I hope we can get it right in one take," Catherine said, pulling Jessica aside, feeling a surge of ambition.
The crew continued with other filming tasks while Catherine, Jessica, and Jennifer, acting as the camp counselor, practiced their lines. However, this didn't last long, as the arrival of the tutors hired by their parents meant the two girls had to start their mandatory three-hour study period as required by the Child Labor Law—though not three consecutive hours.
The tutor, Mrs. Alma Brown, was nearly fifty and appeared kind but was very strict, almost to the point of being old-fashioned. She even denied Catherine's request to sit on the ground for lessons, much to the girl's annoyance. Catherine thought dealing with Charles Shyer's stern demeanor was bad enough, but now she had another strict authority figure. Was this a conspiracy to drive her to rebellion?
Of course, rebellion was out of the question. Though strict, Mrs. Brown made her lessons engaging and interesting, enough to capture even Catherine's usually inattentive interest for a couple of sessions. However, Catherine silently blamed her two NGs during the pre-dinner filming on the disruption, even though it was more likely due to her own mistakes and not Jessica's. She knew the director's expectations for her were higher than for Jessica, but this didn't stop her from feeling sorry for herself. Thus, Mrs. Brown became the scapegoat in her mind.
The dining scene wasn't as focused on her as Annie's scene, so after two NGs, Catherine finally recaptured the feeling she had during the afternoon shoot and successfully completed the scene, much to everyone's relief.
"Maybe I should buy a book like 'An Actor Prepares' before the next shoot," Catherine remarked to Jessica over dinner.
Jessica, unfamiliar with the book Catherine mentioned, didn't grasp the reference. She could only blink curiously at Catherine, waiting for an explanation. But Catherine had lost interest in talking and focused on her salad, leaving Jessica to shrug and reflect on her day's work.
As night fell, the crew became busy again. Catherine knew night shoots required meticulous preparation for lighting and camera work, but she wondered why they started so early, and why at the... lakeside? Was it possible...?
A sudden realization hit her. She stood up abruptly. No, they couldn't be shooting that scene now! At that moment, Mrs. Brown's gentle yet firm voice broke into her thoughts, "Miss Mason, do you have a question?"
Startled, Catherine realized she was still in her lesson. Damn! She mentally cursed and glanced at Jessica. Thankfully, Jessica was pretending to read intently, her finger tracing a line on the page. Taking a cue from this, Catherine quickly improvised, "Well, Mrs. Brown, we all know President Lincoln's hardships shaped him into a great leader. But I think his tough experiences made him a bit too rigid. If he had been more gentle and subtle in his approach to abolishing slavery, maybe the Civil War wouldn't have happened."
It was complete nonsense, but it distracted Mrs. Brown long enough for Nancy to arrive. "Mrs. Brown, may I borrow Catherine for a moment?" Nancy asked.
"Go ahead," Mrs. Brown said, gesturing Catherine to leave.
Catherine wasn't particularly happy about her temporary escape. With a sigh, she looked at Nancy with a pitiful expression and asked, "Am I going to have to strip and jump into the lake?"
"Don't worry, dear. We'll clear the area of all non-essential personnel," Nancy reassured her with a smile. "And you won't be completely naked. We'll only film close-ups of your head and legs, and use backlighting for the long shots."
Catherine sighed again. This was a self-inflicted ordeal. If she had known, she would have requested a change in the script. But back then, she never imagined she'd end up playing this role. Feeling distressed, she thought about how uncomfortable she felt even wearing a skirt, let alone stripping in front of people. Since the age of two, only her mother and Jennifer had seen her naked, not even her father.
What could she do now? Ask Nancy to rewrite the script? Refuse to act? Impossible! After much hesitation, Catherine finally emerged from the changing van, shivering in a tight-fitting outfit that exposed her shoulders and legs. The makeup artist had cleverly adjusted the outfit so it wouldn't be noticeable from the backlighting angle.
Trying to suppress her embarrassment and discomfort, Catherine walked to the wooden dock by the lake. The evening breeze made her shiver again; it was still a bit chilly in early summer nights.
"I swear I'll never, ever do a scene like this again!" Catherine stood straight, gritting her teeth. As soon as the director called "Action!" she took a deep breath and plunged headfirst into the lake!