Nao Summers hates drama, but life becomes full of it when he's paired with the school delinquent on a film project. He's also in dire need of a way to break up with his girlfriend who wants to have lots of sex, while Nao would prefer to die. To crow...
There were several factors that made interviewing media students a frustrating endeavor. Firstly, filming them was like operating on a surgeon; the subject knew what you were doing, and had opinions on every single aspect of it. Secondly, people who studied media were usually more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it, which made them awful subjects to begin with. Thirdly, they tended to be creative souls, but ultimately fickle and indecisive as hell, which was how I found myself arguing loudly with my classmate on a dreary Thursday afternoon.
"...And I think you should go with frog perspective! I thought the whole point of this reel was to highlight our strengths, so—"
"— That does not mean we can play into your power fantasies, Kurt! Besides, no one looks good from that angle, have you seen your nostrils—
A book slammed against a table nearby, shutting us both up. I was perched on a desk in my classroom, balancing the Canon while arguing hotly with my friend Kurt. He was sitting on a chair facing the tripod, cheeks red and eyes wild. We glared at each other while Axel retrieved his book and sat down next to me. While my feet dangled from the height of the desk, Axel's reached the floor easily.
"Can we all agree that this is a useless argument?" he muttered, sending me a flat look. The bruise on his cheek had faded to a soft yellow stain now.
"If Kurt would just let us do our job, this wouldn't—"
"— If you would just do your job properly, I'd be happy to—"
Axel thwacked me across the head with the book. "Focus," he said simply, and he was right.
It was just past lunch, and we'd been trying to interview my class all morning. The problem was that most of my classmates were busy with their own projects, and the ones that weren't shied away from the camera. Kurt was the only one that had volunteered to help us out, and he was being a pain in the neck about it. I'd asked Seth to step up and take responsibility, but he was out doing field work at Mr. White's request. The media department was starting to look bad, even to me.
"We do the interview, and we do it now," Axel said, voice even. His dark eyebrows were drawn into a deep frown. "There's no time for bickering."
Kurt opened his mouth. He looked like he wanted to keep arguing, but nothing came. His eyes were on Axel's face and the fading bruise. Kurt slowly closed his mouth, lips drawing into a thin line.
"Fine," he said.
"Fine," I echoed, and fit the camera back on the tripod. "Face this way."
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The afternoon dragged into evening, and clouds blanketed the darkened sky. Looking out the windows, I inspected the thousands of lit up rooms in the buildings around us. Skyscrapers raced for the heavens, reaching up with their spires and lofty apartments. The time was 6 pm, and the place was Axel's apartment.
"How's the footage looking?" Axel asked, returning from the kitchen with two cups in his hands. He deposited them on the coffee table and sat down next to me on the couch. A thin ribbon of steam rose from the drinks. He was being unusually civil today, even offering me something to drink. I was trying not to overthink that particular detail.
