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Colt’s life was turning out a whole lot better than he expected. He had a fun job, a beautiful, wonderful, amazing, graceful girlfriend (that he could list a hundred more synonyms of beautiful to describe her), and he happened to be in town near where his twin Ryland Grace worked.
He didn’t expect his brother to go into teaching of all things, but what could he expect from a man who’s been ostracized by his peers for simply having an unpopular opinion. Though Colt was proud of the way he stood up for himself and called that one guy a waste of carbon. Ha! So proud. But from what he’s heard and seen when he’s visited Ryland in the past, he was arguably the best teacher his school had.
Jody’s next film had brought them near Ryland’s school. She’s met his twin before a few times but they’ve never had the chance to sit down and talk. From the little time she’s spent with him, she, like his students, adores him. Colt swears he hears her ask about Ryland more than she asks about what’s for dinner. And Jody loves food probably more than she loves Colt. Nobody else really knew about Ryland because Colt never really had chances to bring him up. It was just work, work, work, end shoot, move location, shoot shoot shoot. If people did ask if he had family, Colt happily showed them pictures of him and his brother.
As they worked through the day, Colt began mentally planning his visit with Ryland. He’d spotted a cute looking coffee shop on the way in to set. Maybe Ryland knew about it? Or he heard from passing locals about a pretty good pizza joint a few minutes down the road from the school. Colt would definitely be hungry after they were done filming, and Ryland would be itching for something to eat after the day he’s had. He loved teaching, but sometimes it was a lot for him.
Colt stood still as the stunt crew doused him with fire extinguishers. This was his second stunt for Jody where she set him on fire. He was beginning to see a pattern here… one he didn’t really like. Of course, he’d do the work because it was fun, but he thought they were past the whole resentment on set thing. Who was he kidding, they definitely were, she just liked setting people on fire without killing them.
“That was great, honey!” Jody exclaimed from her director’s chair. “We’re gonna go one more time and this time could you… flail around a little more? Struggle a bit more to sell it, yeah?”
Just to annoy her, he gave her a thumbs up. She rolled her eyes as everyone began resetting. Colt let himself be set on fire. That feeling of adrenaline pumping through him never got old. It was addictive, the feeling of danger but never really being in danger. He always felt like he could do anything.
“Aaaand, action!”
Colt ran around, arms flailing as the main actors performed their fight choreography. Two other stunt men ran around, also on fire as extras screamed and dodged them. In this film, it was a dramatic enemies-to-lovers sort of deal. They were filming the big battle in the streets of the hero’s hometown, which the villain attacked. But what they don’t know is that the real villain is on his way and the original villain and hero must team up to defeat the bigger bad. It sounded basic for the scene, but for the whole film which built up to this, it was perfect. Beautiful.
Another absolute gem from Jody’s mind.
“Cut!” someone shouted.
The stunt crew extinguished the flames again.
“Let’s get reset for another round!” Jody said in her megaphone. She motioned for him to run over to her.
“Thanks, guys,” he said to his fellow crewmates before running over to her. “What’s up?”
She pointed at the monitor. “How about you try a different route of running? You’re in the shot but you’re not as close to the actors as I would’ve hoped. So maybe when you run could you cut into a kind of semi-circle around… here?”
Dan came up and clapped Colt’s shoulder. “Lookin’ good, man. We’re gonna need to give you some more gel in a sec.”
“Oh, good, Dan,” Jody said with a smile, “could you tell the other stunt men to take a more rounded path and to whip their arms a bit more? It needs a bit more…”
“Umph?” he said.
“Umph,” she agreed.
Colt glanced at the two. “Wow, that just happened. It’s like I’m not even here.”
Jody slapped his arm. “Whatever. Let them put more—”
“Colt!”
The three of them whipped their heads at the call of his name. Who did Colt see but his baby brother bypassing security like it was nothing, smiling and waving while balancing a box in his left hand. Were those donuts? Colt hoped they were donuts. Beside him, Jody beamed and Dan tilted his head. He knew Colt had a brother, of course he did, but he’d never gotten to see Ryland in person. Their schedules didn’t align most times before Colt’s accident, so he didn’t get to see him.
Ryland bounded up to them, greeting Colt with a brief hug that he returned with a squeeze. “I got to see that last take, that was awesome!”
Colt’s pride preened, making him puff his chest out. “Pretty cool, huh?”
“Yeah! Oh, hi Jody, how are you?”
Jody brought Ryland in for a hug. “I’m fantastic, how are you? Oh, you’re glowing! Someone’s happy,” she said as she pulled away to pinch his cheeks. Colt rolled his eyes. It was an irresistible urge she had for his brother, for some reason. She claimed he was just too cute not to do it.
Ryland just smiled brighter. “I am happy, I got to see you!”
“Stop it, you’re too nice! Your brother could learn a bit from you,” she said with a playful smirk sent Colt’s way.
“Hey, I’m nice,” he defended.
“I’m sorry, are you—?” Dan started before pausing, glancing between the twins and Jody with a confused frown. Speaking of, most of the people around them had stopped to stare at the newcomer in his favorite yellow raincoat even though the skies were clear.
Colt wrapped his arm around Ryland’s shoulder, ruffling his hair. “Dan, you’ve never met my brother in person, have you?”
Dan balked. “This is your brother? The molecular biologist?”
“School teacher,” Ryland corrected with a shy nod. “Ryland Grace, nice to meet you… Dan?”
Dan shook his extended hand, still shocked. “Wow, I uh… you really are identical. Colt said it but wow, look at that. You have the same face but you’re so different.”
“It’s all the wrinkles on his face, right?” Ryland joked, pointing at Colt’s forehead. “He’s older, if you couldn’t tell already.”
Colt stomped on his foot as Jody laughed. “Who’s side are you on?”
“Mine,” she replied. “And I think that was funny.”
“Oh, really.”
“Yes, old man.”
Ryland chuckled, glancing around only to notice a handful of people staring at him. He immediately tensed up. “Uhhh, here, I-I brought some donuts.”
Colt shook his brother by the shoulders. “You’re my favorite brother, Ry.”
“I’m your only brother—”
He snatched the box from Ryland and opened it to a divine sight. Normal glazed, white frosting, chocolate frosting, sprinkles, strawberry frosting. He took a chocolate frosting donut and took half of it in one bite, chewing obnoxiously just to annoy Ryland. Jody took a glazed donut and Dan took one with sprinkles.
“Thank you, Ryland. It’s just what we needed,” Jody said with a smile and brushing a piece of lint off of his shoulder. “Do you want to stay for the next take?”
Ryland’s eyes alight with joy. “Can I? I-I mean I don’t want to be a bother—” he said, gesturing to the people staring.
Dan shook his head. “Let them stare. They’ve got nothin’ better to do. Stay as long as you want, man. As long as I can have another donut.”
“Of course.” Ryland offered him the box and Dan took another donut of the same kind.
Ryland hardly got to visit the set. Colt was itching to get back out there, to get set on fire so he could show off how cool he was because he knew Ryland would eat it up regardless of him showing off. He shoved the rest of the donut in his mouth and chewed quickly. Jody smirked at him with a raised brow.
“Going back so quickly? Ryland just got here. You should spend more time with him before the next take,” she said.
“Godda—” he said, words muffled by the donut. He swallowed. “Get the perfect take for him!”
He smiled at Ryland, who grinned back, as he went over to his crew to get ready for the next take. He would make sure it was perfect. Colt let his team do their magic, all the while he could see the question in their eyes.
Soon enough, he was standing back in the middle of the set, waiting for Jody to say the word. He could see her explaining the scene to Ryland with a handful of gestures, and his brother nodded along, hanging off her every word. He could see Dan just staring at Ryland as if he were an alien, still processing that there was another person who looked exactly like Colt but was his polar opposite.
He stood there, watching with a small smile on his face. It was always nice to see Ryland, even better when he got to see Colt work. It felt like when they were kids again playing pretend in the back yard, or when Ryland would try and read big textbook words and Colt was no help in trying to figure them out. Even if they couldn’t be together all the time like Colt wished, they were always connected through blood and memory.
“Aaand action!” Jody called.
Colt grinned as he was set aflame, seeing Ryland’s broad smile but worried eyes land on him. Colt took Jody’s feedback and cut his route to be close to the actors, stumbling about and flailing his arms as she wished, passing the extras once again as they ran. He had to admit, the flames looked pretty cool when they were licking at his boots, at the other stuntmen’s arms and hair. Even better knowing that it didn’t hurt at all.
“Cut!”
The flames were extinguished and Colt jogged over to Ryland, who was wide-eyed and full of awe. He jumped up and down excitedly as Colt approached, laughing.
“That was so cool! It doesn’t hurt, right? Like, you aren’t getting burned at all?” Ryland questioned as his eyes raked over Colt’s clothes covered in soot.
“Nope, all extremities good here,” Colt said with his signature thumbs up. He took another donut. “How’s it looking?”
“If only you’d give me that much oomph without your brother around, we could have this done on the first take,” Jody said with a smirk.
“Hey, I’ve got a reputation to uphold, alright? Everyone knows I’m the cooler brother.”
Ryland rolled his eyes, matching Jody’s exasperated expression. Maybe it was a mistake letting them talk for more than five minutes at a time. They were a bit too much alike and they were already strong individuals, but together they were bound to be a monster of concern and questioning brows whenever Colt says he’s alright. Colt loved it deep down.
He watched the take back on the monitor. Damn, was it all coming together. Jody’s mind truly knew no bounds. And her ability to work with other people so well was what made the wheels on this bus go round and round. No wonder she was on the way to being an award-winning director. He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead.
“You’re so amazing,” he whispered to her.
She looked up, smiling wide. “I know. You stink, get away from me.”
“But then I wouldn’t be able to do this—”
He wrapped both arms around her and smothered her. Indeed, he did stink, but that’s what made it all the more fun, especially when she shrieked and giggled, trying to push him off.
“Colt, if you don’t stop right now, you’ll be out of a job!” she threatened. They both knew it was fake.
“Does that mean I get to spend more time with you?”
“You already spend enough time with me!”
Not enough, he thought. He continued to smother her anyway, ruffling her hair and trying to rub off his sweat onto her just because he could.
“Ryland! Help me!” Jody called.
Colt felt arms wrap around his middle and tug him backwards.
“I think you’ve done enough damage, Colt—no!” Ryland shrieked as Colt tried to do the same to him. He pushed Colt’s face away. “She’s right, you stink! Get away from me!”
“C’mere!” Colt shouted as he took off after his squealing brother.
He chased Ryland around the set, laughing all the way as the crew looked on with confusion and humor. He even got Dan to cut off Ryland’s path and catch him, Ryland screaming traitor over and over again as Colt brought his brother into a loose chokehold. He dug his knuckles into Ryland’s scalp. Ryland protested and hit him, but he was having fun, too. He shook with giggles.
So, yeah, Colt’s life was pretty good. He’s got his brother, his girl, and his job, and at the end of the day he no longer has a heavy and depressed heart. His heart sang just like Jody—beautiful and light—with the thought of family and love at the forefront of his mind. It was all he could’ve asked for and more.