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-NINE
the flash kit catastrophe
the new flash kit came in the mail on wednesday and i rushed outside to get it. i was in my pajamas, an extra large hand-me-down tee from jordyn, but no one could see me in the pitch black night. i would have gone outside wearing nothing but nail polish if that meant i could chip it while opening this package. i'd been waiting for too long for it to arrive.
mom and dad were eating dinner in the breakfast nook, unaware that i had ordered filming equipment. they also weren't aware that i was making hats yet. i was going to be going to a lot of "study sessions at maeve's" next week, especially because my grades had been slipping -- no quotes there.
i ran upstairs to my bed and ripped open the cardboard box and threw out the protecting styrofoam like it was christmas morning. there the flash was in all its glory. i was going to attach it to the stands that i already had, and it even came with color gels which i couldn't wait to use for visual storytelling. it was perfect.
humans, on the other hand, weren't. the next day, i made the stupid decision of bringing the flash into school so i could show it off to my best friends.
"what've you got in there," asked walker before class, referring to the abnormal shape of my backpack. the lump must have been significant enough to be seen in this dim room where all lights were shut off.
i unzipped the main pocket and took out the flash kit. his eyes lit up as if i'd directed the light right into them when i held it up for him to see, the base resting in my hands faultlessly. the gadget was small enough to stay in my hands, so of course it was also small enough to keep out of fennel's vision. just as the bell rang and walker stood up, i slipped it back into my open bag.
"everyone, settle down and take out your materials for today's lesson. we're continuing our work with molecular structures," she said in her flat voice.
class went on as normal. until around twenty minutes in. as mrs fennel droned on about covalent bonds, i felt the corner of my backpack poking into my side. my thoughts immediately went from the boring lesson to the lens possibly being scratched if it didn't fit quite right. i used one hand to try and unnoticeably adjust the flash inside. but it was propped up right against the top of my bag, the many binders that needed to shed off some pounds pushing it, so i needed to pry it out. my attempt at doing so was unsuccessful. instead, i accidentally pressed the on button.
since the lights hadn't been turned back on yet, the artificial illumination was painfully obvious. and since i had been able to slightly shift the device when pressing its button, i couldn't find the off button in time before some students and my teacher's eyes darted to me in the back. shit!
i felt around more desperately, but fennel had already started over to me. "and what exactly is that?" she demanded, her eyes narrowing on the bag beside me. finally, i was able to shut it off. however, it was too late to shut fennel up.
"oh, it's nothing, mrs fennel, really," i giggled shakily.
"nothing?" she swooped down like a hawk, reaching for my backpack. before i could react, she had pulled the flash kit from inside. "i think this is something, something you brought in to break the rule i implemented just two days ago. ms l/n, were you trying to record another student?"
others murmured. great! now i was a prime suspect in the chilling case of who was responsible for getting everybody's phones confiscated. walker interjected from the row ahead, "mrs fennel, i can tell you for a fact that she wasn't trying to do that. she was just bringing it in for her photography class assignment!"
"yeah! don't you wish the school would fund the arts more?" i added. "then i wouldn't have to bring in my own equipment."
she lowered her voice and spoke directly to me. "i analyze and memorize every one of my students' schedules. and i can tell you for a fact that you don't take any photography class. you take only useful courses, actually, which is why i would expect better from you."
fennel walked away with the flash in hand. i sighed. i was watching the grinch steal christmas. bringing that to school may have been the dumbest thing i could have done. i knew she wasn't allowed to do anything damaging to it, but i didn't know when i was going to get it back. and i wasn't about to ask her. she would probably just growl at me like the guard dog she was whenever she took away a kid's personal item, or, according to her, frivolous distraction.
maeve was made aware of this self-inflicted crisis in ap world. i told the story in detail, but made sure to keep my voice low so that the antagonist's husband wouldn't hear her name.
maeve bit her lip in frustration. "we can't just not do anything. we have to get it back."
"how are we supposed to do that? she could have put it anywhere! i was too embarrassed to lift my head, so i didn't see. but i have heard some rumors from students that finally got their items back after like weeks."
"weeks? we're filming next week, y/n!"
"i know! this sucks, i'm sorry," i said.
"look, we can totally get this back," she assured me. "i have grant in two periods -- i can ask him to help us out."
"really? you think he could do that?"
she nodded with a smirk that seemed to have a maeve idea behind it, one that could either be total crap, or work and then get us stuck in some total crap. but i was willing to do whatever it took to get the flash back. there was no way i was gonna buy a third one.
˚ʚ♡ɞ˚
after school, i finished homework immediately so i could get started on wrapping blankets around me and watching the first percy jackson movie. the prompt was me thinking about the night walker and i kissed during my last period. only an hour in, i could confidently say that it was a cinematic disasterpiece -- so bad it was good. however, my internal critiques were interrupted by a text from the group chat with maeve and walker.
maeve can i have everybody's attention? your girl has an important announcement that requires everyone to have around an hour free RIGHT NOW.
walker damn, how long is this announcement?
maeve no i mean i have a plan to announce that will have to go through very soon. mr grant is available for just a little tonight. he says that he can let us into the school for a minute so we can search for the flash kit, but we have to be quick. like the flash.
walker are you sure this is legal?
maeve apparently! are you guys gonna be there or what? let's get this flash back in the right hands!
