Electric Moonlight Shuffle

9. Out of My Head

Everyone gets off their horses and splits up.

One assistant director leads the bridesmaids down a stone path, another leads leads off the boys. The horses are led away.

Tanner and the main camerawoman bring me and Jason over to the waterfall. We stand on the edge of the pond. Christmas lights are wrapped around the tree trunks, and more fairy lights hang overhead.

The waterfall is quiet enough to talk over, but the sound of it calms me down. I stand close to Jason. Electricity radiates off our fingertips.

Tanner gives me a pair of wings and gives Jason a crown.

The camera crew sets up in the background.

"So I'm going to have you guys wade in the pool," says Tanner. "It's shallow, it should only go up to your knees. I want shots of you splashing each other. A playful fight. We're going to have seven minutes when sunrise hits to get the shots right, so just go for it. Try to avoid each other's faces: we don't want the makeup or hair to get ruined too quickly."

"Cool," says Jason, "Got it."

Tanner checks his phone. "Three minutes, and then I'll have you get in."

"Cool," Jason echoes. He turns to me. "Hey thanks for keeping me safe back there. That horse was terrifying."

"Yeah you really needed me, Lancelot. You seemed really scared," I say sarcastically.

Jason grins. "Okay, you caught me. But maybe I just wanted to get a little closer to a pretty girl. Kill me."

"I might have to," I say. "That's definitely the punishment for your crime." (Oh my GOD, when did I become so LAME?? I'm so self conscious—all my funniness is blocked. Is this what love is?? Making gross lame jokes, because your mind is such a pinball machine that you can't think straight anymore?! Maybe this is why I've always been the funny one—funnier than Jamie. Maybe I'm not actually funny, but he's always been too busy thinking about love and if girls to devote any brain power to humor.)

Now the sky turns pink and gold. Sunrise sparkles through the trees, stains the pond. It's breathtakingly beautiful, even I'll admit.

"In the waterfall!" orders Tanner.

We get in the waterfall. Jason takes my hand and helps me into the water. It's freezing. My bare feet sink into ice-cold slimy muck.

"Everyone good?" says Tanner.

A fish swims into my dress, gets caught in the tulle. I turn my surprised shriek into a convincingly excited: "ALL GOOD!"

"Great."

I thought that bridal dress was heavy without the water—I might as well be wearing a sponge! I can hardly move.

If it wasn't for Jason standing a few inches away and smiling his adorable derpy grin, I'd be out of this pond in a heartbeat.

Being in love and looking cool is hard motherfucking work!

But there's no more time to think.

We're rolling.

Tanner claps the clapper, gets out of the shot, yells: "Action!"

Water hits my chest immediately.

Jason smirks. What you gonna do about it?

I splash him back. He ducks out of the way, laughing.

Jason runs across the pond.

I chase him toward the waterfall. He's way faster—he doesn't have this super-absorbent dress to deal with!!—but soak his back.

He almost falls, but catches himself, comes back up, splashes me.

We chase each other and splash each other for what feels like forever.

I completely forget that the cameras are around. Completely forget how heavy the dress is and how disgusting is the muck. Everything melts away, except Jason. I feel like I've known him my entire life, feel like I'm a little kid again.

"Cut!"

We freeze. We stand, soaked, in the water, catching our breath.

"Amazing," says Tanner, looking at the camera screen, watching what just happened. "Now do that two more times."

***

After the shoot, we come out of the pond. We towel off.

"Go change," says Tanner.

"Together?" says Jason, grinning.

"No," says Tanner. "Jason, come right with me, we're running late. Wren, follow Jessie back to the clearing."

We each do as we're told. Jason blows me a kiss over his shoulder, while he walks away.

I play it cool, turn and walk away.

Back in the clearing, more people have arrived. A woman--the costume designer--brings me behind the changing curtain and helps me out of the soaked dress. She tells me I can just hang out for a while, so I wander off, go find Jamie.

Jamie sits on the edge of the clearing, slumped against a log, eating peach rings from a crinkly plastic bag.

I sit in the cool grass beside him.

"I finally understand you, Jame," I say, taking a peach ring. "I can't think of any jokes. I'm self conscious about everything. I constantly want to tear my hair out of my head. And no matter what signs Jason shows that he actually might love me, I don't believe him. I'm going crazy."

"Welcome to love," says Jamie.

"Is this how you feel all the time?"

"Yeah pretty much all the time, but you get used to it. Like with Sage I think of her all the time, but it's my natural state, so I'm used to it."

"How is she?" I say, sucking a peach ring.

"She's totally over Flynn," says Jamie. "Back there, she got put as his partner briefly in the second photoshoot back there, but she looked at me the whole time. And then she told me there's nothing there anymore. I believe her, too but I still can't stop thinking about it. Obsessing over it."

I suck on one peach ring until all the sour comes off and just the slippery ring is in my mouth. "For once I understand," I say.

"Wow," says Jamie. "Wren finally met her match."

"It's like, I don't even want to make out with him. Or like—I do, but..I want more."

Jamie smiles, cocks his head.

"What?"

"You do have a heart," he says. "I was worried. Thought you might be a sociopath."

I throw a peach ring at him. "Don't be lame."

"That's my name," says Jamie. "Anyway how was the kiss?"

"It was magical," I say. "Electric."

"Who are you and what have you done with my Wren?" says Jamie.

"Don't make it weird!" I say.

"Okay, okay," says Jamie. "I actually like this new Wren, I want to keep her around. So what happened after that?"

"We went to the waterfall," I say.

"You get him wet?"

"Jamie you perve!!" I say. "But yeah. Little bit."

Jamie laughs.

"God, Jamie, I never thought I'd be the one calling you a perve. I hate us—we're a bunch of gross lovesick puppies. Make the love stop."

Jamie smiles, ruffles my hair. "Nope. I'm proud of you, kid. You finally let the magic in."