Pencils & Polaroids

37: it-picture

"--Hence, one it-picture out of a thousand takes gets published as the cover page. And that one click might be the first one, or post five clicks, or after a thousand dry runs. And it's worth a ton of money." Collin Hunt chants at 11 am in the theory room. "You might think the photographer has it cut out tough, but by a dint of my personal experience, I can say that models vaguely balance on the line of sanity and biting the heads off of the production crew because a thousand shutter takes is beyond triggering." 

"Did you bite someone's head off too?" Charlie poses a question with a raised hand. 

Collin grins. "Almost did. I broke a set." A handful of us gasp. "And a professional camera because I was hungry and the model I was paired opposite to drove me crazy. We weren't on good terms, ever." 

"Ooh, scandal!" Sadie whispers to me before yelling out, "You have an arch nemesis, Skip?" 

"I did. We got close for a brief moment, but she and I don't talk anymore." Hunt shrugged. His eyes gently surfaced through mine before he gave Sadie a sad smile. 

"It's a she," Sadie whispers to me again. 

Collin walks in front of his desk and leans against it, half-sitting but still standing with his long legs stretched out. His hands hold the edges of the desk as support while he waits for any more questions regarding his personal life. 

"I have a question," Grayson's hand gets half-raised before Collin nods at him and his hand falls back to his desk. "How do models not fall in love when they get so close to each other for the shots? Same for the actors too. How is it that despite such steamy scenes being acted out, how can they, on a scientific level, not fall in love?" 

Collin clears his throat and a knowing smile comes on his face. "Love? You'll need a lot more than just steamy scenes to fall in love with someone, buddy. But attraction? Sure. Nine out of ten times, your body and mind invariably get attracted to the opposite partner in such scenarios. It depends on whether you act on it or not. Early on, actors and models lack self-control and judgment on a professional basis. So they end up going on a hooking spree and fucking half the industry. But as you grow up, it gets pretty easy to say no." 

"Quality over quantity," Rainer smirks at Grayson. 

A crushed ball of paper comes directly at his face from Grayson's desk. "Stop preaching your sex-detox phase." 

"You should really take inspiration from it." Rainer retorts. 

Jayden pops into the conversation. "Gray, people give it all kinds of spiritual labels when they're not getting it." 

Half the room erupts in snorts, mine being one of the loudest. Rainer merely rolls his eyes. "Jayden, if you really think I am not getting it, I'd be concerned about you. I'm practicing for my professional career, alright? I'm on a disciplined lifestyle of healthy habits."

"Good for you, Cross." Hunt gives him a thumbs up. 

"And he certainly gets more offers than you." From nowhere, Selena just speaks in her mean-girl voice and the entire room shouts 'Oooh' in unison at her response. 

I sigh. "And there's his offer number one." I gush to Sadie who chuckles. "If she could, she'd probably build a house in Barkhole's pants and stay in there forever." Sadie laughs again. "If he was on an auction, she'd sell her's and her father's entire existence to buy him off. Even make bounty loans--bro, she would be a martyr for him." Sadie hides her face between her folded arms on her desk beside mine. "That's the kind of love I want to see, you know? In this world full of Jayden Banks, be a Selena Hodan." 

I'm amidst laughing with Sadie when I suddenly hear Collin call my name. I look up at him holding back a grin. "If Miss Harper and you shared your humor with us, we could all join in on the laughter."