in which you, an aspiring filmmaker,
find the perfect actor for your breakout short film.
casting is difficult for the main love interest,
but once a certain blue-eyed boy comes into your life, you know he's the one...
maybe in more ways than yo...
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CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
black eye
"so... how'd you guys do? do you think we have a chance?" i asked maeve, walker, and jordyn once mr conley kicked everyone out. we were going down the stairs to the lobby. other kids lingered in the school, but for the most part we were alone with an awkward tension radiating from jordyn.
"one of us is winning. i have a good feeling about it," said maeve, her voice echoing in the acoustic stairwell. "anyways, jordyn what do you think? you haven't uttered a word since y/n stepped into room 206."
"yeah, and we haven't seen you in gym in weeks," added walker.
jordyn didn't turn around to face us as he opened the door that lead into a first-floor hallway. "look, i'm sorry. gym and french are my skippable classes and i've been busy with junior year things."
"excuses, excuses," said maeve. jordyn probably felt like he had two moms.
"you missed out on seeing me getting slammed to the ground by a basketball," i said after some internal debating.
he opened his mouth to speak, but muffled yelling from just outside caught our attention. two males. indistinct but just audible enough to tell that it was an argument.
we all approached the nearest window. to the left, just behind a brick wall, was a small crowd of people facing away from us. "is there a fight out there?" asked walker.
"uh, well, we're going this way," said jordyn for him and maeve, pointing over his shoulder, the direction away from this apparent craze.
"me too," noted walker. he adjusted his backpack and started to step backwards.
"oh. okay. happy valentine's!" i waved to the three and headed the other way. my house was closest to the door that seemed to be right where the fight started. how convenient.
when i pushed the side exit open, the voices became crystal clear. and the sources were almost directly in front of me. jake and michael shoved each other back and forth like opposing magnets constantly repelling.
"it's so obvious," cawed the blond. "you're trying to steal my girl."
i attempted to sneak behind them, but before i could, their shoving shifted to in front of me. embarrassed, i went the other way. and then of course, so did they. jake unknowingly pushed me ( gently compared to that morning ) into the crowd.
"what?" he asked, appalled. a few snickered around me.
"your hair," yelled michael. he aggressively ruffled his opponent's fresh perm like he was his older brother. michael was the taller, more stocky of the two, but both had an equal mental age.
"what about it?"
i had a feeling i was going to be there for a while. but i wasn't mad, this argument had me hooked. plus, i had front row seats. a few familiar faces accompanied as well. madeline was to my left, a hand over her mouth but i could tell she was smiling, and michael's cousin was on her phone in the back nonchalantly.
"you got it permed to look more like me. so you can take madeline all for yourself!" he accused.
madeline and i turned to each other. for a split second we had this unspoken alliance, an agreement about how stupid these boys both were.
jake laughed under his breath. "the fuck are you talking about?"
the first punch was initiated by michael. his fist plummeted straight into jake's cheek. as he stumbled backward and caught his balance, i replayed the sequence in slow motion a few times for personal entertainment. also, i came to the conclusion that my similar injury was more epic.
"you didn't deny it." a cunning grin smeared across his face, michael took a second punch to jake's eye. the crowd made a collectively pained sound. i could not believe what i was seeing. between this absurd, playground bully behavior and the cupcake throwing, this kid had some serious anger issues.
jake seemed to be transported into a dimension accessed only by exceptional anger. either that or he channeled his past life of a professional boxer because he went berserk and returned the gift to the sender.
today i was in more of a tearjerker movie mood rather than action, so i watched madeline's expression as the fight intensified. her mouth hung open, eyes glued to her ex and -- from the looks of it -- soon to be ex. they wore a mix of fascination and pity.
"stop it," she finally cried. her tone was clearly angry, demanding the attention of everyone in and outside of the ring. she was supposedly the subject of the feud, so she held the power to end it. first michael froze, then jake. their anger didn't waver, but they got time to catch their breath and watch as madeline stepped forward with her arms crossed. "listen. i'm flattered that you guys are fighting over me. it's really hot actually. but i'm not going to date anyone who thinks giving each other black eyes will solve something."
"what are you saying," huffed jake.
"are you seriously breaking up with us," asked michael furiously.
she nodded slowly, only making her exes' angers grow. i was mentally cheering her on.
"come on, baby. it's valentine's day, for christ's sake," he said, defeated. "yo, gricelda! let's go." he motioned to the back of the crowd and his cousin, apparently named gricelda, followed him as he made his exit.
"you know what? i'm just gonna say it now that i can," said jake next. "i didn't get the perm to look more like that asshole. he and that walker guy have the same hair and i wanted to look more like walker, because he's my crush's crush." madeline's jaw dropped and she came closer to the brunette, but he cut her off. "you cheated on michael to get with me. don't be a hypocrite."
i knew jake was referring to me as his crush from that time in ap world. he probably saw me and thought that i didn't know, so he kept me nameless. if he didn't, i would have been the one punched by madeline, so i had to thank him for that.
"well now that we're officially over, i can say that i also like walker. hah! how do you feel about that?" she said, hands in fists but retained to her sides. he shrugged, appearing bored. "okay, and who is this completely unachievable crush of yours, jake?"
he hesitated. oh crap. any possibility of him revealing that would be a threat to my safety, so i didn't hesitate to make a run for it through the crowd. the long way home wasn't the most desirable, but it'd do.
as i was just far enough to be out of sight, behind the brick wall, i heard my name announced. what followed was a few chuckles, and i prayed that that was because of some comically angry face made by madeline, not because it was me.
