Pencils & Polaroids

51: ̶F̶L̶A̶M̶E̶S̶

His eyes were exactly where I wanted them to be—on my wrist, ogling the bracelet that now contained both the teddy bear charm with, not the lavender, but the green detailing, and the newly hooked sun charm. 

I'd switched the bracelets and he noticed. I'd worn what he'd brought for me for the first time ever. It wasn't a big step but it was a step ahead. His eyes never left me or my wrist while we explored the modular sets in the mini cottages. 

Today was all about making a note of minute details. Each cottage was designed to hold up a theme. Some were recognizable, while the others were basic settings. The most thrilling set was the Fuller House set. The mindblowing aspect of it being two-storeyed with both floors being used for filming purposes. Word had it that they did shoot a couple of episodes in this house before they took the show off the air. 

"Park, no danglers." Jackson Cain referred to the bracelet on my wrist while I took over the video camera from Dorian Kent to continue filming the camp documentary of the set.

Grunting in dismay, I keep my bracelet on one of the shelves, making a mental note to pick it up as I venture further up the stairs. 

"Clearly, the Bronte sets were better. It had a vibe going on." Sadie comments following me. As I zoom in and out of details on the top floor, she continues. "Can we go back there, please? This is boring. All the others must be getting a live tour of Fitzwilliam Darcy's makeshift Pemberley." 

"We mustn't do what everyone does, Harper." I continue filming. 

She flouts. "You're just looking for an opportunity to avoid Hunt." 

"Shh," I whisper-yell nudging my eyes to the video camera in my hands. 

"It does not record audio." She points out. 

"This is Gen D50, it does. Shut up." 

I don't know what the hell Gen D50 is but it sure worked like a charm in shutting Sadie Harper up. 

She was right, I was avoiding Hunt. So was Rainer, for obvious reasons. And because Rainer's sired to Cain, we're stuck with him instead. With Collin Hunt, we'd probably get the actual set tour. But with Jackson Cain, it feels like we've come on a museum tour with a grandpa guide who is running on border levels of OCD uttering nothing but sentences having the phrases "No" "Don't touch that" or "Careful!" 

Well, those words were apart from the silent judgy eyes he gave both Rainer and me each time we answered a question. With every new point, Cain gave us an unnecessary attitude. His eyes screamed "Shut up and let someone else answer" but he was bound by the law of Ravenford and Skipper duties to not verbally curb any student. 

Once I finish my part of the recording, Sadie takes the camera. She converses in whispers. Not that I'm dying to tell her I was joking about the microphone, but I play along just for the fun of it. 

She breaks another one of my long stares with Jerkcross by nudging her elbow to me. "Is this just a San Fran thing or is it valid in Santa Monica too?" 

"The scholarship? It's valid everywhere around the world." I purposely look everywhere but her. 

"Touche," Sadie narrows her eyes. "I meant this thing you and Rainer are doing." 

Just at the mention of his name, I peek a glance at him. Our eyes meet, and we watch each other for a prolonged second before both of us look away. 

"There's nothing going on between him and me." The biggest lie of this era. 

Sadie snorts. "Yeah, sure. All this sexual tension between these two floors is making me nauseous." She pretends to gag while I roll my eyes. "Okay, seriously, are you aware and deflecting from confiding in me, or are you as clueless as I am?"