CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

shifting focus



"this scene is missing something," said maeve, clicking the mouse on mom's desk and referring to the climactic kiss. "it needs an epic song behind it. like rock, don't you think?"

"you seriously think i can think right now?" i whined. we had been at editing for an ungodly amount of hours. the term sleepover had lost its meaning at this overnight event because we had not slept one minute.

she scoffed. "we made coffee at three. why are you still tired? can we just get through a few more minutes of the film?"

"it was decaf!" i threw my face into my palms. "editing is giving me a worse headache than caffeine does, anyway," my muffled voice said quietly.

"look, i'm tired too," maeve admitted with a sigh.

"i can't look. my eyes can't open."

she ran past my groggy blague. "but we need to get this done!"

"maeve," i groaned, sliding lower in my chair, "if i stare at this screen any longer, i'm going to start hallucinating scenes that don't exist."

she waved a hand dismissively. "that already happened hours ago. remember when you thought the raindrop on the camera was a ghost?"

i peeked through my fingers. "...that wasn't a ghost?"

"no, idiot," she laughed. "but if it makes you feel any better, i was about five minutes away from believing you."

i groaned, tilting my head back against the chair. "great. so not only am i sleep-deprived, but i'm also losing my grip on reality."

maeve clicked through a few more frames. "relax. it's just part of the creative process. hallucinate, suffer, and then, maybe, produce something genius."

i exhaled through my nose, staring at the screen. the same paused shot of the kiss scene stared back at me, unchanged, waiting. it was a freeze-frame of the moment our lips met, which meant it taunted me too. "okay, so what do we do? just hope delirium leads to a breakthrough?" i asked, trying to ignore the memory of the conversation walker and i had just outside the night prior.

maeve drummed her fingers on the desk. "that... or we push through like the filmmakers we are."

"what are you in such a rush for?" i had a weird feeling her eagerness was not caffeine-induced.

she hesitated, spinning around evilly in mom's desk chair. "i might have made another bet on how quickly we finish this."

i looked up at her now, eyes wide with fury. "you did not."

"i'm sorry! i couldn't lose my winning streak," she said in weak defense. "spare me, please."

i took the nearest copy of the script off the surface and lightly slapped it against her head a few times like we were in a broken game of whack-a-mole, knocking some sense into her noggin. i didn't deserve to be dragged out of my sleep schedule and into her bet!

"how much are you betting you survive until daylight?" i played.

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

monday came along before i knew it, and i was still recovering from our "sleepover." maeve had finally allowed me to get some shut-eye when i threatened to take away her ability to wake up, but it had already been five in the morning, so we ended up watching twilight movies for the rest of the sunless hours. popcorn for breakfast was my idea of luxury, anyway.

i didn't hold back in name-dropping maeve when explaining to walker why i was late that morning, which took place after class, of course. we spoke like normal, but that was because we tried not to speak about our unfortunate quandary. we just tried to be a happy couple conversing in the hallway, even if we had to act it out.

during ap world, maeve made an exuberant announcement to me across the table, "i have the perfect idea for the music in the kiss scene!"

her voice's volume woke me up a little. "i'm all ears!"

"i have grant seventh period, right? so why don't i make him and his band write us a song? it'll be like reparations for locking us in the worst classroom in the building!"

my jaw dropped. "maeve, that's a perfect idea. do you really think he'll do it, though?"

"he owes us," she insisted. "besides, i'm sure his band needs more exposure. what better exposure than our film? we could get the song featured in the credits, and bam! instant fame for his band. it's a win-win."

"flattery gets you everywhere," i said, twirling my pen between my fingers, barely paying attention to the swirling mess of notes and maps in front of me. i had no idea what was going on in this class anymore. "but are we sure we trust grant with this? he doesn't seem very reliable after the flash kit catastrophe."

maeve waved me off. "worst case scenario, he gives us some garage band disaster and we pretend we lost the file. best case? we get an original song that makes the scene ten times more dramatic."

i had to admit, the idea had potential. it would be different, and it would mean our film had something original no one else had. "alright. but you have to convince him. i'm too sleep-deprived to negotiate today."

maeve grinned like she had already won. "consider it handled."



✦•······················•✦•······················•✦



thank you for reading chapter 63!

happy valentine's day!