"Do you need some help?"

The assistant gratefully handed over the large boxes and wiped her brow, smiling at the girl in front of her. The weather had decided to take a detour to Death Valley level temperatures. "Thanks. They weren't supposed to be this heavy."

Amber smiled and adjusted the boxes so they were more secure in her grip. "Don't worry about it, Min. I'm here to help."

"Yeah," Min replied, grimacing as she stretched. She wasn't high on the totem pole and had been regulated to helping move props all morning. "Here to help Krystal."

Amber rolled her eyes, motioning for Min to walk ahead of her. They started walking towards the prop tents, swerving around light features and various people running around the field. Today, they were supposed to film some classroom scenes, but Amber hadn't yet any opportunities to do any real watching. Just a quick glance at a scene Krystal was filming.

"It's not so bad, you know," Amber said, walking through a tent. It took a second for her to locate a table with enough space. After setting the boxes down, she flexed her fingers. Damn, those boxes were heavier than they looked. "I mean, it's better than nothing."

Along the way, Min had grabbed two water bottles sitting on a set of camera cases. She hummed, handing one to her. "If you say so."

Amber waved away the comment, somewhat used to the crew reacting that way. Apparently, Krystal managed to develop quite the reputation amongst the crew. "Aw, don't be like that. She's just a little rough 'round the edges."

Laughing, Min recapped her water and held the tent flap open, letting Amber walk ahead of her. "I think she hates me, actually."

"What? Why?" she asked after taking a long drink.

"Well," Min dragged out the word, causing Amber to roll her eyes and motion for her to just spit it out, "every time she sees me, she glares."

"Maybe she has something in her eye," Amber defended, smirking at the other girl. Krystal did seem to have a permanent scowl.

"Yeah, my face," she grumbled, playing with her water bottle cap.

"Hmmm..." Pursing her lips, Amber her chin and turned to face Min. She stopped and leaned in close to look at the other girl's face.  "Yes, it's qui–"

"Ah!" Min exclaimed, smacking Amber's shoulder. Amber laughed, rubbing her shoulder in mock pain. "Don't even start!" 

Amber opened to reply, but was interrupted by Luna's sudden appearance at her side. The manager smiled–but Amber's been on set for a week now and hasn't not seen the young woman smiling (it does nothing to tell her if she's in trouble or not). If Luna noticed her interruption or Amber's unease, it didn't show. She pushed up her glasses and looked down at her planner. "Ah, Ms. Lui, I've been looking for you."

"Really? I'm sorry. I was just helping Min," she said, wiping her brow. She contemplated taking another sip, but it was probably be considered rude. Despite the unbearable humidity.

Crap, it's hot.

Luna nodded and sent a small wave in the assistant's direction, but didn't look up from her journal. Min gave a closed-mouthed smile and made a vague pointing gesture, indicating her need elsewhere. Amber smiled, waving farewell to her friend; Luna nodded absentmindedly, furrowing her brow as she crossed out a mistake.

Feeling awkward with the silence, Amber cleared . Seemingly startled, a flustered Luna hugged the planner to her chest. "Right, right. Sorry. Ms. Lui, I was wondering if you could run to the store? We're out of drinks."

"Oh, sure. Was there a particular brand, or...?" She let the question trail off.

Sure enough, Luna quickly produced a list. Swiftly scanning the list, Amber tucked it in her back pocket. Luna tried to hand her some money, but Amber shook her head and gently declined. Luna–again with that smile–bowed slightly and thanked her.

As Amber was walking off set, a shiny pebble caught her eye. Walking over to it, she crouched down and picked the pebble up. It was a beautiful emerald mixed with streaks of white and a good size.

Maybe? No...

"Having fun playing in the dirt?"

She could practically feel the smirk coming from the actress. Amber chuckled and pocketed the pebble. She stood up and brushed her hands on her pants. "Of course. Want to join? Plenty to go around."

Krystal gave her a blank stare. She was dressed in a traditional schoolgirl outfit–dark blazer, tie, and a skirt. Amber knew the girl must be burning up, but, disregarding a lightly shiny forehead, she appeared otherwise unscathed.

She's as cold as ice! Willing to sacrifice my love~!

Inwardly rolling her eyes at the song, Amber grinned. "You did well in your scene."

Krystal raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "I do well in all my scenes."

"That's what Henry tells me." Amber shrugged and patted her pocket that contained her phone. "He keeps texting me about how lucky I am."

"Aren't we all?" Krystal asked, finally breaking down and fanning herself. Amber's eyebrow raised, and she had to look away to hide her smile. So she does feel...

Amber hummed, kicking a rock in front of her. "It's usually not this hot. Do you want me to pick you one of those fan things?"

"From where?" Krystal asked before she could stop herself.

"The store?" Amber wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "I mean, unless you know another place?"

Krystal glared, not pausing in her self-fanning. It had taken Amber three days to break away from that apologetic girl diving into the sea into one that she couldn't decide if she liked or not. The only indication she gave that she heard the other girl was a slight nod.

Amber just shook her head, smiling at Krystal's behavior. "As you wish, princess."

I hate that nickname, Krystal thought. The media had dubbed her the Ice Princess during her stint on a figure skating show (originally, it had been because of how she skated, but soon morphed into a general term to describe her somewhat frosty behavior–she couldn't help it if some people where just dumb–and her frightfully awesome genetics and workout routine).

Krystal's eyes narrowed at the silly bow Amber threw in. "Are you mocking me?"

"Nope, never!"

"Just go to–"

" –the store. Right, got it."

"Stop being dumb."

"Superstar, you wound me!" Amber brought her hand to her chest, throwing in an exaggerated pout for fun. Krystal rolled her eyes, but Amber could see her smile. "I'll pick you one up. Red?"

"Red?" 

"Isn't that your favorite color? Henry mentioned it." She could have sworn he said it was, but the memory was hazy at best. In her defense, it had been Mexican night and, like, tacos. Not her fault.

"Hmm. I'm guessing he read it in a magazine."

Amber shrugged. She didn't know where Henry had heard it. "Well...?"

"Well what?"

"Your favorite color."

"Oh, blue, I guess."

"You guess," Amber stated, internally rolling her eyes.

"I guess," Krystal said, looking bored with the exchange. Amber remained silent, looking at the actress with an eyebrow raised. Sighing, Krystal crossed her arms. "I like blue."

"Okay." And, look! You didn't even die!  "Blue it is."

***

"You're dumb."

"You said that already."

Krystal rolled her eyes and sat down next to the other girl. "You're rather impulsive."

Amber let out humorless laugh, "Yeah, I guess. But admit it, you're touched."

"What?! No, I-"

"Come on, superstar. It's not every day a y young woman, such as myself, dives in freezing water for you."

"Oh, really?" Try as she might, Krystal couldn't deny that Amber's actions had touched her–if not in a small, almost minuscule way. She raised an eyebrow, "y?"

Amber laughed, throwing an arm around Krystal. Krystal grimaced, but accepted the touch, despite how wet it was. The night was warm and if she ignored the increasing dampness of her side, it was oddly comforting. They sat in silence for a few moments, looking at the ocean before them, and  listening as the waves crashed against the rocks. The sky was gorgeously clear–the stars seemed to dance across the surface and the moon smiled down upon them.

Even though jumping into the ocean wasn't one her smartest ideas, she didn't regret it. Amber looked at Krystal from the corner of her eye. The girl was beautiful, but here, without makeup and in the moonlight, Krystal just seemed sad (and thin, but now that she thought about it–weren't all actresses skinny? She'd look into it). I don't know what happened to you, but I'm sorry.

"Wait... No! It can't be. I think I see a smile." Amber smiled gently, quickly squeezing Krystal's shoulder before removing her arm. She stood up and offered a hand to the other girl, who rolled eyes and accepted it. "Up you go."

Once Krystal was standing, Amber walked in front of her, leading the way across the dark, slippery rocks. They walked in silence to road, both lost in their thoughts.

"Krystal," Amber said, breaking their silence. They were back to the main road and under one of the few working streetlights. She stopped walking and turned to face Krystal, who had her arms crossed with a faraway look.

"Hmmm?" Krystal replied, focusing her gaze on the other girl. She had just been about to speak, but let the older girl go first. She uncrossed her arms and put her hands in her pockets.

"About your necklace, I wanted to apologize," she said. Amber did feel bad about her involvement in the missing jewelry, even if her intentions were pure. "I know that probably means, like, nothing. 'Cause it obliviously meant a lot to you, but, still. I'm sorry."

Krystal nodded. She opened to respond, but Amber didn't seem finished.

"And, I just feel really bad about it. I mean, I know I'm, like, partially responsible for it disappearing, even if I totally thought you were going to, you know," she paused in her rambling to smile quickly at Krystal, "kill yourself. But now I know you so aren't trying to do that. And I didn't even know you were, like, famous. Which in my opinion, is only another indicator of how good a person I am. A person you should forgive. 'Cause I didn't mean to, like, almost drown you. And-and make you lose your necklace. So, yeah. I'm sorry."

Amber blushed and looked anywhere but the actress, embarrassed at her long-winded apology. Did not come with a shut-off switch?

"You're actually sorry?" Krystal asked, head tilted slightly in thought. She hadn't expected all that word vomit, but she could roll with it. Still not looking at her, Amber nodded. Krystal smiled. "Okay. I forgive you."

Amber let out a breath (one she didn't even know she was holding). She smiled, finally looking back at Krystal. "Really?"

"Hmmm."

"Krystal, thanks. That means–"

"On one condition."

"Condition? What condition?"

Krystal smirked, definitely feeling slightly evil. "You work off the cost of the necklace."