dancing queen (beck oliver)

7. indie gets crushed

indie really didn't know why she was surprised when cat did weird shit, or when anyone at hollywood arts did weird shit for that matter. it was nine in the morning, and she was modelling for beck's photography project. the theme was beautiful people in ugly places, and he was taking pictures of her next to the only non-decorated lockers in the school.

"okay. f-stop at 2.8..." beck was saying. "...and focus."

just as he was about to snap the picture, cat jumped in front of the camera, and he lowered it.

"hey!" she said in her usual whacked-out way. "hi!"

she was bouncing on jupiter boots, shoes that were built like mini trampolines.

"hi," said beck, wanting to get back to the project.

indie broke her pose and smiled at his annoyance.

"i'm wearing jupiter boots," she said, still bouncing.

"any reason?" asked beck.

"so i can be bouncy," said cat.

beck laughed as she bounced off, and they resumed shooting.

"you know, you really are beautiful," said beck later that night as they were looking over photos at her house.

"thanks," said indie, blushing. he'd said things like this before, but never so directly.

"no problem," said beck. "c'mere. i do you think i need to edit this out?"

he was sitting in the swivel chair at her desk, using her imac to edit his pictures, and she was laying on her bed. so she hopped up and went to go sit on the arm of the chair. but just before she sat down, he turned in the chair so she sat on his lap instead, and once she sat down he turned the chair so both their legs were under the desk in one smooth movement, causing her to blush.

"so i'm looking at the locker in this shot," he said, like nothing had happened. "and i'm seeing that there's, like, a little gum stuck to the side that we didn't catch. it's not as prominent in the other shots, but you can really see it here, so i don't know if i should edit it out or not."

"uh," said indie, still reeling from being on his lap, "i wouldn't. i mean, the theme is beautiful people in ugly places, and the gum just makes the setting all the more imperfect."

"you're right," said beck. "good observation."

just then, his phone buzzed. indie, still on his lap, looked away out of respect and busied herself playing with his hair as he read it.

"andre has a big songwriting project due in, like, two days, and he needs someone to do the vocals," said beck. 

"ask tori," said indie absentmindedly, twisting a particularly long strand around her fingers.

"he said--wow, that feels really good-- he said that he asked tori, but she's cramming for an exam."

she sighed. "okay. i'll do it."

"great," said beck. "he wants you to meet him in the studio tomorrow during free period."

"gotcha," said indie.

the next day, beck got to the studio before indie.

"hey, man," he said, seeing andre hunched over the controls.

"oh, hey," said andre. 

"indie's not here yet?" he said, looking around.

"um, about indie," said andre, fidgeting with the piano anxiously.