Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Maybe it was boredom or maybe it was due to tedium, but Jay didn’t feel like doing anything.

Although his desk was littered with documents and notebooks pertaining to whatever classes he had signed up for, Jay didn’t feel like completing any assignments. In fact, as Jay succumbed to the feeling of yawning, all he wanted to do was sleep and pretend that everything was okay. His thoughts were sluggish and his eyes fluttered close every so often, his eyelids heavy with exhaustion that any college student could relate to.

Was it even okay for him to nap now? Or would it be indulgent when he already knew that he still had loads of work to finish?

When Jay had checked his phone for the time, he hadn’t expected it to start vibrating in his hand. Upon flipping it open, he was greeted with a low, but welcoming voice. It took a second, but Jay realized that it was one of his fellow film majors. Seth Wilson. Admittedly, Jay wasn’t that close to Seth, but they had worked on a few projects together and had hung out a few times. Interestingly enough, Seth’s strong suits lay in editing videos, which complimented Jay’s attention to detail and passion for telling a story. 

“Hey, Seth.” With his left hand, Jay muffled the upcoming yawn from disrupting his greeting. “I didn’t finish the puzzle you gave me if that’s what you’re calling for.” Jay eyed a spare notebook that he kept on the side of his desk. Despite the neat handwriting written on the lined paper, there were rips and crinkles throughout the page. It looked like Jay had decided to throw his notebook into a shredder, but the shredder had rebelled and thrown the notebook back at him. Throughout the first page—and many pages after—there were various scribbles and notes along the margins of various combinations and solutions that Jay was still trying to decipher. 

On the other end of the conversation, Seth chuckled a bit. There was a sound of rustling and a faint barking in the ground. 

“Did I overdo it this time?”

Jay rolled his eyes. “Kind of. Just give me a few more days and then I’ll get back to you.” Jay yawned again, not even bothering to hide his drowsiness. “Is that—is that all you wanted to talk about? I also have a couple projects to finish and all that jazz.”

“Now that you mention it,” Seth paused in the middle of speaking. Jay heard something crinkling, as if he was flipping a paper open. “Yeah, there’s an independent film production in the works and I’ve been invited to be the cameraman and editor. It’s going to be a small crew and I was wondering if you were willing to help out.”

Well, that was interesting.   

“Oh.” Jay didn’t know what to say. He had been part of other film productions before, but it was usually because he was partnered with somebody or someone needed him in the group for class. It was rare for people to consider him in independent productions. “ I’m not really—“

“Some guy called Alex Kralie is heading the thing. He’s currently looking for crew members and if you ask me, he’s kind of getting desperate.” Before Jay could interject, Seth’s dog must have done something adorable because he began cooing away from the phone. After Seth’s dog yipped in happiness (possibly due to Seth cuddling him or whatever), Jay heard Seth speak again. “Ever heard of Marble Hornets?”

Jay may have been a film major, but wow, that title oozed pretentiousness. 

“Why is… Why does it sound like an obscure anime from the nineties?”

Seth let loose a low chuckle. “Don’t ask me, but you know how pretentious film students are.” Both of them shared a laugh at that. “I’ve taken a glance at the script and wow… It’s as if Dr. Warren told us to find a script of things we shouldn’t do and Kralie went ahead and wrote it.” They groaned over the phone at the reminder of how particular their shared professor had been when they had taken her class. “I can’t fault him for it, though. Apparently, he had been working on it since he was in high school.”

Jay felt a little bad that he bad mouthed a person he barely knew. 

“A passion project, huh?” Jay leaned back in his chair as he contemplated the opportunity that Seth presented to him. Without hesitation, he asked, “Any positions open?”

Seth must have been smiling on the other end because when he spoke, his voice sounded a bit too cheerful for Jay’s taste. “I knew you were gonna cave. Man, you are so soft when it comes to these things!”

Jay vehemently shook his head before realizing his friend couldn’t see him. “Hey! I respect dedication and hard work. More power to, um…” 

“Alex.”

“Yeah, him! For bringing his dream to life. If he’ll have me, then I’m willing to help any way I can.”

“…You don’t even know what position is available.”

Jay felt his face color, thankful that their conversation could only be conveyed through phone. “Your point?’

“You can be really impulsive at times.” On the other end of the phone, Jay could make out Seth sighing and the soft clicking of fingers on keys. “Trust me, Jay. that’ll get you into trouble one day.”

Jay rolled his eyes at Seth’s exasperation. Geeze, they might not have been the closest of friends, but surely—surely!—Seth would have more confidence in him. They just didn’t mutually become partners in most projects because Jay couldn’t prove himself as a dedicated and able student in film. 

“Regardless,” Seth continued, “I’ll talk to Alex and I’ll let you know.”

“Cool, cool.” Jay’s eyes caught sight of his notebook, still looking like it had been chewed through a food processor and given to a raving madman. “Hey, while you’re at it, why don’t you give me a hint? I’m going loopy looking at your damn puzzle.”

“So loopy that you’ve been losing sleep over it?” 

If Jay knew Seth, and at this point, he kind of did, he knew that he probably had a smirk on his bespectacled face. At times, especially when he knew that he got Jay beat, he could be quite insufferable at times. 

“Don’t be so smug. I’ve just been studying a lot.”

“Because you’re spending more time on my damn puzzle, right?”

“You know what? Never mind,” Jay decisively scribbled over some of his notes pertaining to that stupid puzzle, only pausing to make sure that his pencil wasn’t going to accidentally stab the paper. “I’m going to solve this and then I’m going to make one even better and then you’ll be the one getting little to no sleep.”

Seth’s dog howled in the background.

“... You must be really tired if you think that was a nice comeback.”

“Oh, shut up.”

After Seth hung up after a short farewell, Jay fiddled with his laptop for a couple hours. He had been browsing through a new website that hosted videos on its platform when he felt his phone vibrate on his desk. Intrigued, Jay paused the video before flipping his cell phone open.

It was a text from an unknown number. A little confused, Jay opened up the text and quietly read through the contents.

Hey, this is Alex Kralie. I already have a cameraman, an editor, and potential actors, but I could use a script supervisor. You in? Just contact me at this number or you can meet me right now.

The text ended abruptly.

That didn’t make sense. Meet where? 

Without much thought, Jay typed a response and waited for a reply. 

Maybe, Jay thought, if he got this Kralie guy’s approval, life wouldn’t be as boring. 

It sure beat schoolwork and slaving away at Seth’s (im)possible puzzles. 

The phone vibrated again, as if heralding the start of something new.

Chapter Text

Jay pushed the doors open, only halting momentarily as the glaring, bright lights almost blinded him. As his eyes slowly adjusted from the dim environment outside, he approached the door nearest to the right. As he glanced at the room number, Jay noted that this was his destination when he checked a small note that he had written after discussing the details with Kralie. 

Although their conversation was brief on the phone, he knew that Kralie was someone he knew in passing. It had taken a few minutes into the conversation before Jay had realized that this was the same guy who always partook in the conversations in class and had great passion for film. They had never talked before, but it was understandable. 

Their friends ran in different circles even though they were majoring in the same area of expertise. In class, Jay was usually diligently taking notes or playing around with new editing software on his laptop while Alex was the one who always asked questions—he was that sort of person who could be classified as a teacher’s pet if it were not for the fact that he was relatively charismatic and genuine in his attempts to want to know how to best produce a film and be a better director. 

As Jay took in the piece of paper that rested on the wall underneath the sign of the room number, he noted the project name and the time for auditions. How many people actually tried out for Marble Hornets? He brushed that question aside when he angled his head in a way so that he could peek into the room. 

Almost immediately, his eyes seemed to catch Alex’s. 

“Oh, uh…” Jay hopped to the side so that he could face Alex straight on. Everything in Jay told him that he had already made himself look like a total weirdo. People don’t just peek into a room looking so suspicious—like a ne’er-do-well or whatever. “You must be Alex. Alex Kralie.”

Like an idiot with no real sense of social sense, Jay just leaned against the doorframe, his eyes never staying too long on Alex’s inquisitive face. 

Still, if there’s anything Jay is good at—something that a few people have told him in the past—is that he’s quick to catch on to the details, no matter how minuscule or trivial. 

Alex is everything and nothing Seth had described. He’s tall and lanky, with a pair of glasses magnifying his eyes. Normally, Alex would have cut an imposing figure, but Jay can’t help but notice the blue flannel, the cargo shorts that are baggy around his legs. Jay wasn’t sure of what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t a young man who had a smile as bright as the sun when Alex steps forward and gestures Jay forward.

His voice is easygoing, kind. Encouraging, even. “You can come in, you know. Free country and all that.”

Immediately, Jay’s ears warmed and he inwardly cursed when he tripped over the threshold not once, but twice. “I’m here for… not auditions… I’m Jay? Jay Merrick?” Jay turned away a bit after realizing that once again, he ruled at social interactions. Ha, as if.

A noise interrupted his little pity party. At that, Jay collected his senses and saw an amused Alex Kralie eyeing him in that bemused manner often associated with parents entertained by their young child’s antics. Thankfully, it wasn’t the type of bemusement that can be confused with malice. In fact, as the blond steps forward, it is quite the opposite. 

“Nice to meet you, Jay.” The blond extended a hand that Jay took. “Alex Kralie, but I bet Seth told you that.”

“Yeah. He also told me that you were also looking into crew members?” Jay realized a little too late that maybe he’s speaking too fast and too nervously for Alex to understand. Don’t get him wrong, he’s not a shy person, but he has dealt with too many situations where, unfortunately, he is the main catalyst for awkwardness. “That is, if—“

Alex claps a hand on Jay’s shoulder, which was probably a way to get him to stop rambling, but it was an effective method. 

With a hand still resting on Jay’s shoulder, Alex asked, “You’re good with editing and detail oriented stuff, right?”

Jay shrugged. “I mean, a lot of film majors are.”

Alex snorted. “Come on, Merrick, you know what I mean.”

“For the most part, yeah. However, Seth told me that you and him were already going to be editing the footage.” Although Jay was questioning Alex at that point, he was still curious. What would Alex have him do?

Nodding, Alex gestured for Jay to follow him to a desk where he saw that there was a camera mounted on top of a tripod. A little to the side, there was a stack of papers. Some of them were crinkled; others were still crisp and straight, as if they were freshly printed. As Jay’s raked over the document, he saw that it was the script for—

“Marble Hornets.”

“Yup, took me a couple years, but I finally created my magnum opus.” Alex’s eyes gleamed with fervor and pride as he took one of the scripts and handed them to Jay. He thumbed through the pages, his eyes catching certain phrases here and there, a few scribbles on the margins that maybe Alex or some of the expected actors must have made. “What do you think?”

Jay stopped on a random page and—

“…stuck in a loop of unhappiness.”

Um.

Well. 

Jay flipped to another random page. 

“…four balls on the edge of a cliff.”

Jay slowly, ever so slowly, tore his eyes away from the… 

Well, this was definitely not a masterpiece. Not even close. Maybe, with a little tweaking this could be kind of…watchable?

Perhaps Jay must have taken too long to say something because Alex butted into his space with, “Well, what do you think?”

Jay thumbed a page and managed to catch “a vampire” before he glanced up at Alex. 

“You want my honest opinion?”

Alex nodded.

Choose carefully, Jay! 

“While there are some…” A lot. Alex, there are a lot of things that stand out and that isn’t a good thing. “... some things that I feel need to be changed, there’s definitely a lot of potential!” 

There, Jay said it. Hopefully, Alex wouldn’t be too angry at him. After all, Jay had told the truth. 

“Hmm…” 

Oh God, Alex was going to murder him wasn’t he? Jay could see it right now. His body would probably be splattered in this room and maybe Alex was going to film the murder and use it as B-roll for future projects and—

“I think I like you, Jay.”

Jay started at that. 

“Yeah, I’ve seen some of your previous work with Seth and I talked with him. You’re good with continuity and cutting out stuff that isn’t central to the core story. Plus,” Alex gave Jay a pointed stare, “you’re not the type to bullshit me. I could use a script supervisor.”

Why not an editor? That’s what Jay wanted to say. 

But Jay had the presence of mind to say—

“Cool. I’ll keep one of these—“ Jay waved his chosen script as if to make a point. “—and I’ll be sure to take some notes.”

Alex laughed and clapped Jay on the shoulder again.

“Nice, Merrick. Once I contact my actors, we’ll meet up soon.”

As Jay said his goodbyes, script in hand, Jay made a silent vow to himself. 

He was going to use his powers as a script supervisor for good. In this case, he was going to make sure that this movie was going to be somewhat better than this garbage script.

Like, God.

Seth was right. 

This was basically the equivalent to all the things that people should not do when making a movie.

Chapter Text

Jay let his head fall heavily onto the cover of a worn textbook. Although it had been a few days since his last dealing with one Alex Kralie, he could already tell that his job as a script supervisor was going to be fraught with trials and tribulations. Namely, he was definitely going to have a chat with Alex at one point concerning… well, if one were to read the script, they would know exactly what Jay was dealing with.

That was not something he was going to look forward to. 

Even as a young adult, Jay Merrick was still, decidedly, quite adverse to the idea of confrontation. He was somewhat shy; an observer at best and a wilting wallflower at worst. However, he had the quintessential talent of being so socially incoherent that it was probably for the best that Jay keep his mouth shut.

For the sake of the movie and the sanity for all those who wanted to participate, Jay would have to step up and actually come up with things to say that wouldn’t accidentally offend Alex.

Which was kind of hard considering he didn’t know him very well.

The tip of a cheap pen tapped against his cheek. 

With a groan, Jay opened his eyes and glared at Seth.

Seth’s easygoing grin was more than enough for Jay to feel the bubbling urge to snap. Fortunately, Jay was more than used to Seth’s antics after previous exposure from old projects and assignments. “I was going to ask if you were okay, but I have a feeling that you’re kind of drowning in doubt and insecurity.”

“Gee, Seth,” Jay mumbled half-heartedly. “I thought we were friends.” He sat up straight from his hunched form and stretched, a yawn escaping his lips. 

Seth watched him with a bemused look before he deliberately drove the tip of his pen into Jay’s ribs. Unfortunately, Jay was still stuck in his stretched pose, which only exacerbated the tingle of tickles that erupted from the point of contact. 

“Relax, Alex isn’t going to bite your head off. I mean… I can picture him chewing you out, but he isn’t going to go over the deep end if you criticize his work.” 

Jay, unimpressed, looked at Seth with a pointed look. “Have you read the script? He needs more than criticism to get him to change some…” He shook his head. “No, he needs to change a lot of what’s on there.”

At that, Jay withdrew a sheaf of papers that he had within the depths of his backpack. Although torn and wrinkled in several parts of the document, Seth could still make out the title, different highlighted phrases, and scribbles in Jay’s recognizable script. When Seth took it from Jay’s proffered hand, he noticed that most of the scrawled phrases were—

“Wow. You’re really riffing on Alex here.” Seth whistled low in his throat. He knew that Jay could get particular over aspects of storytelling and plot points, but something must have been terribly wrong with Alex’s work if Jay was already getting stressed and worried this early on in the project. He adjusted the glasses that rested on the tip of his nose. “I skimmed through the first part, but… I got bored.”

“Good for you.” Came the bitter reply. “The sooner you drop the script, the better. You probably saved yourself the horror of such awe inspiring lines like… Get this, ‘I feel like this town is sucking me dry. Like a vampire? Yeah, like a vampire.’” Jay’s groan was quickly overshadowed by the guffaws that escaped Seth’s throat. 

“You-you—“ Seth held up a hand as he tried to stop himself from laughing so that he could continue with whatever he was trying to say. “You have got to be kidding me! Which page?”

Jay rolled up the script and smacked his friend upside the head with it.

“Ah, geeze!” Seth slumped over in his seat and proceeded to look like he was about to start crying pathetically on the floor.

“Seth,” Jay called out in warning. “Come on, it was a tap. Get over yourself.”

“Get over myself? Get over myself!” Seth retaliated with a pen to Jay’s side, which Jay happened to evade by grabbing Seth’s wrist and plucking the pen out of his hand. “Come on, man. Rule number one: don’t hit a man with glasses.”

“Fine, the next time I want to teach you a lesson, I’ll wait until you take your glasses off.”

“Thank you. You’re so considerate, Jay.”

“Ha.” Jay unfurled the script and let it drop onto the table. He sighed before turning to Seth, an apologetic look in his eyes. “You think it’s too late to back out?”

Surprised, Seth immediately turned to his friend. “Are you all right, Jay?” His concerned eyes seemed to burrow deep into Jay’s soul. Although they weren’t the closest of friends, Seth knew him well enough to know that one of Jay’s main traits was that he was very determined.

Back when Seth would often make up weird codes or puzzles for Jay to solve, Jay would often spend hours poring over them. At first, some of Seth’s easiest puzzles were solved within a few hours. When Jay began to catch on, he started solving them quicker.

When Seth realized this, he began to invest more time into giving him more complicated codes. 

It was nice knowing that he had someone to talk to and solve his ciphers. 

Not everyone would do that.

“You don’t seem like the type of person to just give up without… you know…” He trailed off, not sure as to how to continue. 

Jay shrugged. “I know, but I’m not sure if I can work with…” His head turned towards the document that lay innocently on the table. “… that.”

“It can’t be that bad,” Seth tried to counter. With an almost lazy gesture, he starts to flip through the pages. His movements are slow, measured almost, as his eyes take in bits and pieces of dialogue. It took a few seconds, but Seth frowns. “I was joking when I first told you about this train wreck, but I didn’t know that it was this bad!”

Jay’s forehead made an impact upon his textbook. 

“That’s what I’ve been telling you!” He ran a hand through his brown locks, the greasiness of which alerts him to the fact that he should wash his hair soon. “Geeze, I’ve started writing comments and ideas for new dialogue, but I have this bad feeling that Alex is going to say no.”

Seth laughed. “You’re not… well, I don’t think you’re wrong.”

Jay sighed. “Can’t you tell him that his script needs a lot—A LOT—of revision before anyone thinks about adapting this for the big screen.”

“Here’s the thing, Merrick, I can’t.” As Jay’s head flew up in astonishment, Seth held up a hand so that Jay wouldn’t have the gall to interrupt and complain. “Look, I’m just the editor-slash-cameraman, you’re the script supervisor. It’s kind of under your jurisdiction to tell Alex if there needs to be any major changes to the script. Which means…”

“Which means…” Jay collapsed onto the table as Seth leaned his head against the ball of his fist. “Which means that I alone have the power to stop this.”

This time, it was Seth who rolled up the script and slapped Jay with it.

“Ow!”

“Lighten up, Jay. Could be worse. You could have been working with McCay.”

Both of them grimaced. That kid was a nightmare. 

“When you put it like that…” Jay trailed off uncertainly before focusing on the script once more. 

For some odd reason, there was a series of numbers followed by a single letter…

“Are these a set of coordinates,” Jay couldn’t help but ask. He looked at Seth who gave him a gesture that signaled that he was guilty as charged for messing with Jay’s stuff. 

“Yup.”

“For…?”

“Well, that’s for me to know and for you to find out!” Seth patted Jay on the back. “Until then, you better start thinking of ways of breaking Alex’s heart gently.”

Scowling, Jay turned to his laptop, eager to ignore Seth as his insides churned uneasily. 

He hoped to God that Alex was willing to compromise on his vision. 

If not… this was a movie that he definitely did not mind skipping out on.

Chapter Text

Rosswood Park. 

The coordinates led to this particular area and when Jay had asked Seth, he was informed that Alex was planning on having the entire cast and crew meet there to get to know each other and get started on some shooting. Was there any chance that Jay could catch Alex at an earlier time so that he could voice his concerns? 

The answer was no.

Why?

Because Alex was a stubborn young man with a dream and nothing could get in his way. 

Or that was what Seth had claimed as he relayed the time and directions so that Jay wouldn’t be late for the first shoot. 

Spoiler alert: Jay was late.

It was a short, funny story that had something to do with a faulty alarm clock, a botched order of coffee, and the fact that he had to rush back to his apartment for his copy of the script. At that point, the papers were barely attached to each other, the staple valiantly holding together what barely passed for scraps of paper. 

Jay was late.

Jay was late by fifteen minutes, but when he jumped out of the car and into the late morning sunlight, he feared that maybe the clock on his dashboard must be wrong too because Alex stared at him like would if he had been an hour late. It’s only because Seth welcomes him with a smile and a shout and the loosening tic in Alex’s jaw that Jay gets the courage to wave his hand in a shy address before he observes the others who have also arrived. 

Seth, assigned cameraman and co-editor, started wielding a tripod and a camera from the trunk of his car. A pretty girl (the only girl that Jay can see), stood next to him as she listened intently to what Seth is saying about aperture size, lenses, and other menial trivialities that cameramen are supposed to know. A few feet away, two young men stand off the side who talk quietly between themselves. Jay’s face burned when he heard his name in conversation. Convinced that they’re talking about him and his terrible first impression (who arrives tardy to something this important and on the first meeting to boot!), Jay had half a mind to hang his head in shame and hide in the car until he could go back to his apartment. 

God, what a bad first impression.

A hand on his shoulder disturbed Jay from his mollification. 

“You okay there, Jay?” Alex, with his bright smile and his curious eyes, stopped Jay from feeling overwhelmed with anxiety. Maybe Alex isn’t as pissed at him as he thought. It’s a small thing, but it warmed Jay’s heart as he smiled at Alex in return. 

“Yeah, thanks for waiting for me. I’ve had a rough start this morning.”

Alex’s brows quirk at that, obviously wanting to know more. “How so?”

Jay laughed as he leaned against the door of his car as he recalled what happened. As Jay spoke, the two men from earlier (one short and dark, the other slightly taller and far more fairer) approached them. As they come closer, Jay feels like he can recognize one of them. The lazy smile on his face, the dirty blond curls that are the result of fingers brushing through the locks as opposed to an actual hairbrush, it’s all kind of obvious of who that person is.

Brian Thomas. 

“Hey!” Brian immediately made his way towards Jay, the latter of which instinctively leaning away so that his personal space doesn’t get compromised by the bright, shining star that was Brian Thomas. 

“Hey,” Brian says again when Jay does nothing but smile a little dazedly at him. “I’ve seen you around sometimes.” He canted his head to the side as he took in Jay’s features. “Didn’t we have the same video editing class?”

Jay blinked. It was rare for people to remember him. He was an observer, always the person to watch and listen rather than interact unless he was absolutely needed. Maybe that was why he had such a good idea for detail: he noticed a lot of things. 

“Yeah.” Jay chuckled a little when he remembered that Alex and Brian were usually seated together and talking in class during lectures. Those two were nearly inseparable, always partnering for projects. “Did you get roped into this? Marble Hornets?”

“I wouldn’t say roped into it.” Brian winked. “More like blackmailed—“

Alex coughed a little, clearly annoyed with Brian’s insinuation.

“Okay!” Brian held up a placating hand, his eyes rolling in good humor. “Fine, I decided to come to the auditions and I freaking nailed the part!” 

Maybe it was because Jay wanted to rectify his earlier impression. Or maybe it was because Brian was a charmer (as was attested by many people, girls and guys alike) and Jay was just as easily taken in by his angelic features like everyone else. 

“Ah, so you’re the main character!” Jay chewed the inside of his cheek. If that was the case, then Brian would have to read… the script… the script that Jay had to talk to Alex about because it was so, so— “Did you read the script?” Jay couldn’t help but blurt out. 

Brian blanched, a look of confusion overcoming his handsome features. 

“Er, yeah. Good stuff, right?”

Good God, did everyone here have bad taste? Or was Brian faking for Alex’s benefit? As Jay tried to wrap his head around the fact that he might be facing more opposition to editing the damn script than what he had originally thought, Brian shoved a young man in front of him. 

Unlike Brian, who practically lived and breathed happiness, this man looked withdrawn, almost sullen under the bright morning sun. He was hunched into himself and his limp hair hung over his face. 

“Jay, this is Tim.” Brian nudged his friend a little with his shoulder. “Tim, this is Jay.”

As their eyes met, Jay noticed that Tim’s eyes held his own for a second before darting off to the side. They were a nice shade of dark brown, but the glance was so quick, Jay didn’t have time to appreciate how the sun’s rays seemed to have made the dark brown almost molten gold.

He was shy. Almost shyer than Jay whenever he was confronted with an unexpected social interaction.

He could work with that.

“What’s up, Tim?” He held out his right hand for a shake, which was quickly reciprocated with Tim’s own hand. 

“Er… uh…” Tim’s eyes darted to meet with Brian’s. If he was expecting some sort of encouragement from him, Jay couldn’t tell. Instead, with a smile and a wink, Brian wandered off with Alex in tow, leaving the both of them to their own devices.

Talk about awkward.

Feeling a sense of confidence that Jay rarely, if ever felt whenever he was just first meeting someone, he asked, “You excited about working on Marble Hornets?” A part of Jay hoped that Tim would share his view that the script needed some drastic changes, but something told him that Tim wasn’t a film major. 

Tim shrugged, almost as helpless and lost as Jay was. 

“I just happened to be with Brian when it came to auditions.” Tim caught Jay’s eyes. “It was, uh…” He glanced away before determination set in his jaw and he locked eyes with Jay again. “To be honest, I think that Alex is hyping the plot and the symbolism and whatever else too much.”

Jay raised a brow.

Tim must have mistaken that action for displeasure because he immediately tried to backtrack, but Jay grinned a little at that.

“You’re actually right about that. Alex can be kind of… pretentious. Can’t really blame him.” Jay chuckled. “All film majors are kind of like that.”

Tim smirked at him. “Does that happen to include you?”

“Heh, depends on your definition of pretentious because Alex takes it to a whole other level.” The both of them share a small, if stunted laugh, but it’s the start of something that Jay hopes will become friendly camaraderie. “I’m actually hoping to change the script and—“

“What was that, Jay?”

Jay froze at the sound of Alex’s voice cutting into the conversation. As he turned around, he caught sight of Alex wearing a smile that seemed just a hint too tight, his head canted to the side in question. 

“Oh!” Seizing the chance before it could escape him, Jay reached into his bag that he brought along and pulled out the sheaf of wrinkled papers with his handwriting scribbled all over it. “Yeah, it’s a great start, but you know… It doesn’t hurt to have another pair of eyes to look over your work and edit some stuff.”

Alex looked at him hard. For a second, Jay thought that he was going to get chewed out. It seemed like his thoughts were predicting the future as Alex seemed to tower over him, however, that was simply not the case. 

“Thanks, I’ll look into this! But,” Alex gestured towards one of the worn paths that led into the park, “we should start setting up at the location before the other visitors starts getting too loud.”

With that, Alex took his leave. 

Tim moved towards Jay’s right side. 

“You do realize that he might not even take your advice? Or even look at it?”

Jay shrugged. 

“Hey, at least I did my best to save the movie. The most that I can hope for is that the process might end up being fun, even if the entire premise of the movie is hilariously stupid and over symbolic.”

Tim hummed a little; it was a tune that Jay had never heard before, but found soothing. Without any further prodding or conversation, the two young men walked after the rest of the crew.

High above them, the sun rose higher and higher into the sky, the heat rising ever so slightly. As they passed under the canopy of leaves and the haven of shadows, Jay looked around, mesmerized by the sounds and sights of the forest.

He had to hand it to Alex.

Rosswood Park was a scenic location.

Perhaps they would make many lasting memories here and if they were lucky… The movie wouldn’t turn out as bad as Jay feared it would.

Ah, well, he tried. 

And that’s what counted, right?