Sam felt a quick poke in his stomach as he heard a female voice behind him say, "Hey, Beek!"
"Hello, Katie," Meredith greeted. "James just ate. You shouldn't poke him in the stomach like that."
Katie only shook her head and smiled at her in response.
"G'morning again, Katie," Sam said, greeting her for the second time that morning.
"Hey, Katie," Kerr said, still a bit distracted by next week's script.
"You know, Katie, the ineffable joy you bring to the set is always a blessing," Sam joked.
Katie laughed. "'Ineffable'? You don't have to use big words all the time like your character does, James. Otherwise, you might start sounding like a quantum physicist."
She KNEW, Sam thought. Somehow, both she and Kevin Williamson knew that he was not James Van Der Beek.
Sam noticed all three of them were staring at him. Sam then realized there had been a long pause after what Katie had said.
Sam cleared his throat and started, "Well..."
Katie interrupted. "Well, it isn't like you don't go to Drew U., huh?"
"Drew," Sam said, "as in 'Barrymore'?"
That got a laugh from everyone and broke the tension from the awkward silence a few moments ago.
"Don't you wish," Kerr said, snapping out of his funk. "You and Drew Barrymore..."
"I can totally picture them together," Meredith said with a smile.
"Just because 'E.T.' was the first Spielberg movie you ever saw, James," Katie said, "and just because Drew filmed 'Firestarter' here in Wilmington, and just because Kevin worked with her in 'Scream', you still got a thing for Drew Barrymore, huh?"
Sam smiled back. He did not actually remember the fact that Drew Barrymore had filmed a movie here, her name simply popped into his head.
"Yeah well," Sam said, "not to change the subject, but I still have to go to make-up and wardrobe, guys. I'll see you all on the set later."
"Later," the three said in unison. As they walked away, Katie turned around and added, "Have a good day."
Sam nodded in response. Then, he headed over to the make-up trailer, greeting crew members along the way, even though he had no idea who they were.
Once inside the trailer, Eddie Mills entered and sat down.
"James, good morning," Eddie greeted.
"Hi," Sam said, not knowing who Eddie was.
"Oh, I forgot," Eddie said. "We just met in rehearsals. You probably forgot who I am."
"Kind of, yeah," Sam said. "Sorry."
"I'm Eddie Mills," he said, extending his hand. "I'm portraying Jen's love interest, Tyson Hicks, for this episode."
Sam shook Eddie's hand. "Pleased to meet you... again, I guess."
"I heard you were working with Rachael late last night."
Al appeared next to Sam and said, "That's Eddie Mills."
"Right," Sam replied to both of them.
"I wasn't here yesterday when Josh played that practical joke on her. I hear it was a very funny joke," Eddie said.
"That's what I need to talk to you about, Sam," Al said, sounding urgent.
"Yeah, it was," Sam said to Eddie. "Oh hey. I forgot something in my trailer. I'll be right back."
Sam stood up and opened the trailer door.
"Um sure," Eddie said, taken by surprise.
"Okay, what does Ziggy have for me?"
Sam walked briskly back to James' trailer, ignoring the crew this time as he walked by them.
"Well Sam," Al said as he activated the hand-link. "It doesn't look good. Ziggy says you're here to have James and Rachael start a relationship. The percentages now are up to eighty-six percent in favor of that. Ziggy also says if you do, then there is still a ninety-five percent chance that Rachael will die before she leaves the set for the last time."
"Dies how exactly?"
"Ah, still no data," Al replied.
"I checked the script and there's nothing in it that would put her in harm's way at all during filming. Did you and Gooshie run through the other possibilities? Maybe she gets in an accident on the way to or from the set?"
"We ran everything we could think of, Sam. Gooshie and I were up all night working on it. I also checked the script and you're right about the fact there is nothing in there that puts her in danger. I even talked to James in the Waiting Room. He had no information that was useful," Al said. "Gooshie believes it might have something to do with a practical joke that is played on Rachael sometime before things wrap up."
They were outside James' trailer. Sam opened the door and quickly entered. Stopping a second to make sure the trailer was empty this time, Sam asked, "What about the original history, Al? What happened to Rachael the way it originally played out?"
"That's just the thing, pal. There is no original history. You leaped into the present time. You are no longer in the past anymore. For both of us, it is the present day. For the first time, it is the same day and year on the calendar for the both of us."
Astonished, Sam speculated, "I didn't leap back in time? You mean, if I were in the Imaging Chamber or the Waiting Room with you right now, it would be the same time it is here?"