Though she didn’t say it out loud, Mallory had to admit that she could kind of understand Zach’s friend. After all, he had big dreams and there was always a chance that they wouldn’t come true. How many people tried to become famous, and how few of them ended up making it? There were probably some depressing statistics on that. She doubted his friends hadn’t told him that already and yet he still seemed determined. It was honestly kind of heartwarming.
When Zach asserted that his friend Amy would have totally ratted him out to his parents, Mallory narrowed her eyes in suspicion. He really did start the fire, didn’t he? She was almost sure of it now. But still she didn’t call him out on it. Nothing bad really happened, everyone made it out alright and…well, she had no concrete proof to be accusing him with. Mal ordered the same thing as Zach, except with a doughnut on the side since she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. It wasn’t the most nutritious thing to order and she’d probably feel bad about it later, but she was too tempted by all the glazed goodness that was sitting beneath the glass displays of the café.
As soon as her doughnut arrived, Mal’s eyes lit up and she quickly started eating, all the while listening to Zach’s idea. He was talking about editing now. She paused, taking a moment to swallow her latest bite before she interjected: “But…don’t you need footage first?” She had no idea about the camera’s that usually followed him around, or the fact that they took off running after his fire-stunt went awry. “I guess if you have a camera and a green screen, it could work…” She tried to be encouraging, but she wasn’t sure how much Zach really knew about editing. She certainly had very little knowledge about it, it wasn’t like she could give him tips in that area.
“And don’t you need somebody to film, also? If we both need to be in frame at the same time, who will be behind the camera?” All sorts of questions were popping up in her head now. Honestly, it was kind of fun thinking about this project, even if it wasn’t her idea.
Zach picks up his frappe when it arrives and sips on it, a garbled scoff leaving him at her question.
“What, do I look like a guy that didn’t come prepared? Of course I have a camera and green screen.” He pauses to take another sip, holding up a finger as if to indicate that he needed a second. His face crinkles into a complicated expression and he exhales through his nose, fighting off a self induced brain freeze. A moment later, he’s once again ready to speak as if it hadn’t just interrupted their conversation.
“Way ahead of you-- I actually have my own camera crew.” He tells her, an excited laugh leaving him after. He would leave out the part about blowing his life college savings on said camera crew in order to obtain his uncertain fame. “They, uh... were on break when that whole thing happened.” He quickly makes up an excuse as to why they weren’t present at the theatre, going back to sipping on his frappe moments later whilst leaning back in his seat.
It doesn’t cross his mind just yet that she would be able to witness the start of the prior chaotic event through the footage they captured before editing and Zach was no professional editor. He just assumed one of his camera guys would know what the heck he was doing. “Mmm, this is so addicting. Next time I’m asking them to sprinkle chocolate chips on it.” Half way done with his frappe by this time, Zach stands quickly, his mind onto more important matters, i.e becoming famous.
“I only live a few blocks from here, come on! While I still feel inspired!” The tall young man quickly darts out of the coffee shop, beverage in hand as he makes his way back to his parents house. He slows down about half way, pausing to breathe. “Shit... I gotta... go slow. Otherwise this frap is gonna come back up…” a hand rubs at his chest as he attempts to contain his acid reflux before pressing on.
At Zach’s house, the camera crew had seemingly made themselves at home in his living room. His parents were out which was great because he didn’t want to hear any harassment about bringing a new friend over. Parents were so annoying sometimes.
“Hey, guys! This is Mallory, she’s a new friend and coworker.” Zach introduces her to the crew, glancing over at her with an excited smile. “She rescued me from the fire that you jerks left me to die in.”
“Well it wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t—“ The cameraman’s words are cut short when Zach interrupts.
“AH—we’re not… here to point fingers.” He laughs nervously, giving the man a look afterwards. “A-Anyway… I wanna show her the footage we have so far. We gotta edit it, you guys. Obviously. Who here knows anything about editing?” He asks, a finger lingering in the air, moving from pointing at one person in the crew to another. No one seemed enthusiastic about raising their hands nor does anyone end up raising them. “Goddamnit, you guys… I gotta do everything myself.” Not true.