AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Why do you think I want something?”
“Why else would you be here?”
“I can’t want to see you?”
He was already shaking his head, saving his work, and closing everything out. “No.”
“Okay. Wow,” I said, meeting him as he stood.
“If you don’t need anything, I’m going to go.”
“Wait.” I sighed. “I do need help.”
“Ah, there it is. And no.”
“You don’t even know what it’s for.”
“I know that I don’t want to be involved,” he said, shouldering his backpack.
“Look, I’m working on my senior film thesis. It’s going to premiere at the SCAD Film Festival in October. I’ve been working on the concept with my advisor all quarter. I have all my positions filled—script, production, art design, actors.” I was rambling, but I couldn’t stop. “We both decided that I was going to need visual effects, erm … VFX, too.”
Maddox crossed his arms over his chest. “So?”
“And I could use your help.”
“Get someone else.”
“But you’re the best.”
He smirked. “Obviously.”
“And oh-so modest.”
“It’s not vanity when it’s fact,” he said, stomping out of the lab.
I followed after him down the old hallways and out into the Savannah summer heat. It was a beautiful day. Sunny and bright. No one would guess it had stormed all day yesterday.
I grabbed his arm, pulling him to a stop. “Look, everyone else is already teamed up. The only person available is Tuck Underwood.”
Maddox groaned. “I fucking hate that guy.”
“Yeah. Everyone does. He’s harassed every woman in the school, but daddy has big money, and there will never be any consequences. I cannot work with him.”
He cringed at my assessment. “Plus, his VFX are shit.”
“Maddox, please,” I asked, my voice wavering. I hadn’t thought it would be easy to convince him, but I hadn’t thought it’d be this hard either.
“I’m busy,” he said with a sigh. “I have my own thesis project, which I’m doing solo, except for the voice acting.”
“I can voice act,” I volunteered immediately.
He arched an eyebrow. “You’re not an acting major.”
“Maddox, come on. You know I’m a good actor. I was in all of my high school theater productions. I’ve done acting film work here at SCAD. Just because I want to be a director doesn’t mean I can’t act.”
“And I’m working on my girlfriend’s project.”
Ah.
There it was.
The girlfriend. I was surprised it had taken this long to get to this objection. Amanda Curtis and I didn’t get along. We never had. She was in the film school as well as on the producing track. A mousy, small girl who never spoke up in class when it mattered but still complained constantly.
“Well, what’s the use of that big brain of yours if you’re not working on multiple projects?” I teased.
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t try that with me.”
“What?”
“Flirting,” he growled.
“You’re mistaking charisma for flirtation.”
He looked over at me, disbelieving. We both knew that he wasn’t doing anything of the sort. But flirting with Maddox came naturally, like breathing.
We stopped in the parking lot. The building was three stories tall and home to visual effects, animation, and gaming. It contrasted with the building where the film department was housed in Adler Hall off River Street. I’d gotten used to stepping out every day to the Savannah River.
My BMW was parked next to the pickup truck he’d had since high school. We’d been the only two cars in the parking lot when I got here. A third one was parked next to Maddox’s now.
I turned back around to try to work on convincing him, but his gaze was still on that car.
“Friend of yours?”
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath.
And then we both found Amanda Curtis walking in our direction, looking pissed.
Fuck was right.
“Amanda,” Maddox said.
He took a clear step away from me as he went over to his girlfriend. Her blonde hair was cut short in a non-descript bob. Her clothes were plain—jeans, a pastel T-shirt, and Keds.
“Hey, I brought you lunch,” she said, holding up a bag from a local bagel shop. “Thought you might be working hard, like normal.”
“I was,” he said.
“With Josie?”
“Hey, Amanda,” I said with a bright smile.
“We weren’t working together,” Maddox said quickly.
“Maddox is helping me with my senior thesis film.”
Amanda’s eyes turned as big as saucers. “You are?”
“No!” he said hastily. “No, I’m not.”
“It’s that or work with Tuck Underwood, and we all know how that would work out.”
Amanda grimaced. “Tuck is a creep.”
“Right. Exactly. Maddox is a much better option.”
Maddox groaned. “Are you going to bother me until I say yes?”
“Yes,” I said definitively.
Let him save face in front of his girlfriend. I wasn’t here to be a homewrecker. As much as Maddox and I had history, I wasn’t that kind of girl.
“Fine,” he grumbled. “Send me what you have, and I’ll look at it.”
“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!” I said, jumping in excitement.
Amanda crossed her arms. “You’ll still have time for my stuff?”
