<🎧 Song Recommendation: Stay Strong (Sophia’s Song) by NEFFEX>

...

Without waiting for a response, Sofie grabbed Harry by the sleeve and dragged him away toward the buffet table.

"Yoo, Chloe," Von greeted casually after they were left alone.

But before he could say another word, she had dragged his hand and marched him to a secluded hallway just outside the ballroom doors where there was barely anyone in sight.

"You...! You lied to me!" Chloe burst out the moment they reached the hallway, her hands grabbing onto Von’s collar.

Von raised his hands in defense, though he didn’t feel threatened in the slightest by her outburst.

"I mean... It’s not my fault. I would have gotten in massive trouble if I exposed myself for breaking the quarantine." 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Chloe let go of his collar the second she heard the last line he said. Her eyes widened, and she took a couple of quick steps backward, pressing her back against the wall.

"So... You have The H?"

"No, you don’t need to fear," Von sighed, finding her reaction slightly amusing. "You made them impose a second quarantine which was really mature from you, but you don’t have to worry about me. I didn’t sneak out again. I’m clean."

Chloe was still not entirely convinced. She looked at him with intense scrutiny, especially when she remembered all the terrifying videos about death counts she had watched while locked in her room.

"Yes, Chloe, trust me. Why would I lie about something this serious?" Von added calmly.

"I don’t trust you..." she muttered, crossing her arms tightly.

Von pulled back his hair in exasperation at her stubborn words. "So you’re going to report me now? You can’t be serious."

"Maybe..."

Chloe narrowed her eyes before dropping her shoulders with a sigh. "No, I won’t report you. I want you to be my co-star, and I don’t think you will endanger us all."

She said the last part sounding more like a hopeful prayer than a statement of fact.

There were some moments of slightly awkward silence between the two before Chloe finally broke it.

"I found out you were a musician... A big one," she said, looking away slightly.

Von just gave a casual shrug. "Yeah, I guess."

"Then why did you take my money over there in the hallway?" Chloe snapped her attention back to him, her brow furrowed.

Von was taken aback by the sudden question. He couldn’t help but laugh.

"Chill, it’s just a thousand dollars. I’m pretty sure it’s not a big deal to you."

Von’s words made Chloe puff her cheeks in sheer anger. "What made you think so? Okay, hand it back since I’m very sure ’it’s not a big deal’." she demanded, holding her palm out flat.

Von placed his hands inside his hoodie pockets and dramatically pulled them inside out, revealing empty fabric.

"There’s nothing there," Von said with a playful smirk. "Forget the money and think about the shooting. See you on set, Chloe."

He gave her a mock salute before excusing himself down the corridor, leaving her standing there, still glaring at him madly.

***

"Even though it cost my two hours of staying still, they had done a really great job."

Von stared at his reflection in the mirror of the small, portable dressing room.

His hair was messier and unstyled, falling flat over his forehead. His skin looked pale, and they had spent an absurd amount of time carefully painting dark, heavy bags under his violet eyes to make him look sleep-deprived.

He was wearing a faded grey hoodie that looked like it had been washed a hundred times, paired with cheap, worn-out jeans.

Remembering the request his manager had made earlier that morning, Von pulled out his phone, snapped a couple of quick selfies in the mirror, and sent them directly to Emily.

Almost immediately, the "typing..." bubble appeared on his screen.

Emily: Oh my god. You look terrible.

Emily: I love it. It’s so different.

Von: You have no idea. I had to sit still in a chair for two hours just for them to make me look this way.

Emily: Well, it worked. Are you shooting right now?

Von: Nope. I’ve been sitting in this holding room for an hour doing absolutely nothing. Just waiting.

Emily: Waiting for what? Didn’t your call sheet say 8 AM?

Von: Yeah, but the camera crew is still setting up the lighting and the tracks for the classroom scene. Apparently, Marcus is a perfectionist with shadows. So I just sit here until they call me.

Emily: Welcome to Hollywood! Let me know when you wrap for the day. I might use one of these pictures for something.

Von simply liked the message and locked his phone, tossing it onto the makeup counter with a sigh.

For the first entire week of the production, Von hadn’t shot a single scene. Because movies were shot by location rather than the actual story order, Marcus had decided to clear out all the college campus scenes first since the hotel wasn’t running away.

So for the past seven days, the focus had been on Chloe and the other side characters.

Now, it was finally his turn. After they finished his shared scenes with Chloe today, she would get a few days of rest while he shot his solo scenes.

Once the campus was cleared, they would spend two days shooting the outdoor driving and recreation montages, before finally retreating into the hotel bubble for the next three weeks to film all the indoor room sets.

Knock, Knock

The door to his holding room suddenly swung open, breaking Von’s train of thought.

Chloe peeked her head inside. She was fully dressed as Camila, wearing a bad girl outfit that contrasted with Von’s cheap hoodie.

Chloe chuckled seeing his new looked but passed the info. "They’re done with the set, are you ready?"

"About time... Let’s get this over with."

***

Meanwhile in the Pinecrest mansion, Emily was still thinking about how to use the pictures Von has sent her.

’We need to keep the movie a secret until the trailer drops. But we can’t let his engagement die while he’s locked away for a month.’

A smile crept onto her face as she got an idea.

***

🎹🎸🎶

Why do bad things happen to the best of us it seems

Like they should be blessed

They just might be angels here as guests

Teaching us to be our best

When everything breaks at the seams

And you feel like your losing bеlief

Well dammit, you just gotta stay strong!

🎹 🎸🎶

Meanwhile in New York, Sasha was lying on her bed with a smile on her face. She had just returned from the hospital trip, and it wasn’t easy to have chemotherapy with the pandemic reigning, but she still felt motivated to continue fighting against her cancer.

Playing softly from the speaker on her desk was a deeply emotional track. It was one of the two copyright-free songs Von had dropped before he traveled to Los Angeles.

The first one was a heavy, fast-paced synth track that the entire gaming community had immediately adopted. But this second song was different.

Von had written it specifically for her.

He had heard about his Fan Club President’s diagnosis through Emily, and since then, he had collaborated with Patch to make a song that would be really special to her.

Behind the scenes, Naomi had also set up The Varley Foundation. Every single cent of streaming revenue generated by the song went directly toward paying Sasha’s massive hospital bills, with the overflow being donated to other teenagers fighting cancer.

Sasha closed her eyes, letting Von’s soothing, powerful vocals wash over her. It was the only thing keeping her sane on the days when her body felt completely broken.

Suddenly, her phone screen lit up, buzzing loudly against the nightstand.

Sasha opened her eyes and reached for it. It was a direct message and it wasn’t from a fan.

[Ely_Management: Hello Sasha. Hope you’re resting today. I wanted to pass some pictures of Von, you can send to the community or whatever. It’s related to his new project.]

Sasha saw the pictures and her eyes went wide in surprise. She didn’t pressure Emily into revealing what it meant, instead going to their SubVerse server and sending it immediately.

[THE PRESIDENT 😏: @everyone EMILY JUST SENT ME THIS. I HAVE NO WORDS. WHAT IS HE DOING?!]

[RamenEast: Is he okay?! He looks terrible!]

[Don’tSearchTisOnGoog: Ei! A girl must have broken his heart 💔😭 Don’t worry, tell us her name, we’ll fight for him... I’m a professional boxer btw ☺️]

[Mr.KnowItAll👁️‍🗨️: Wait, guys, think about it! He won’t just send us this picture randomly. I bet this is for a music video!]

↳ [imma_rage_quit: Yeah! Maybe it’s a visualizer for the gaming anthem? Like hes playing a tired burnt out gamer?... (hes playing me 😪)]

↳ [QueenVonnie 🤭: I think it’s a music video, but it can’t be the gaming track... It’s definitely for Sasha’s Song]

↳ [LOWERCASE GUY: NO IT CAN’T BE THAT, IT HAS TO INVOLVE @THE PRESIDENT 😏, IF THAT WAS IT]

↳ [THE PRESIDENT 😏: I wasn’t informed about what it is, but I wouldn’t mind if it’s a music video either... There’s no obligation to be involved 🤷🏼‍♀️]

If one went further down, they’d see a heavily downvoted post with replies that were upvoted.

[Clueless Blue: be nice to me, but what if he finally decided to venture into a movie, and this is his new look for a movie he’s acting think 🤔]

↳ [Mr.KnowItAll👁️‍🗨️: No. There’s a lockdown across the country, that’s common knowledge 🙂]

↳ [FakeMadridFightClub 🤍: even if they found away to film, hollywood doesn’t work that way... The music video was the best thing I’ve watched but he won’t get casted solely based on that 😃]

***

(18th July, 2020 — Los Angeles )

The production crew was stationed at the edge of a dusty hill overlooking the massive Los Angeles skyline.

It was their second time being here, and it cost whenever they didn’t nail it perfectly because they’d have to wait an entire day to get the exact scenery

The sun was just beginning to set, casting a beautiful golden-orange hue over the sprawling city below. It was the perfect evening lighting.

This was officially their final outdoor location shoot. Once Marcus called wrap tonight, the entire cast and crew would be retreating back into the Grand Beverly Hotel to film all the indoor scenes for the rest of the month.