Generations 2.7 kindle (13 page)

……

I
t was beautiful really, the way the dance was turning out. They were on day two. They’d filmed all the close-ups yesterday and Ben had reviewed tape first thing this morning. They’d done it. She’d done it. Her emotions were there. She wasn’t holding back. There were points where she looked so happy she could float up to heaven, and points where she looked at him with such yearning that it gave him chills. It was good. Beyond good: it was brilliant.

Ernie’s choreography was seamless. At certain times in the dance, it looked like Ben was a puppeteer, controlling Katrina’s every reflex. Like without him, she’d collapse into a heap on the floor. And it wasn’t just Ben who saw it this way. Paul saw it as well. “This is genius, Ben,” he said. Ben felt his chest grow warm from the compliment. “I was worried yesterday,” Paul stated. Not that this was a surprise. In the emergency conference yesterday, Paul had told Ben that this was a horrible mistake and they should have gone with a professional dancer, just like Paul had first insisted. “But it’s coming together. She’s fabulous.”

“I know,” Ben said. It was everything Ben had imagined. Maybe more. He was relieved … so relieved that she’d pulled it off. He wanted to be right on this one. For many reasons—one of them being that he wanted to prove Paul wrong. And score, he had.

Today they would film the dance from a few more angles. Today should also be the last day. Everyone seemed to be happy: to have that light at the end of the tunnel feeling. They were already two weeks behind schedule. It was time to get this baby wrapped and on to editing.

Ben didn’t know how he felt about having it all end. He’d enjoyed it, the entire process. He’d enjoyed being introduced to two average all-American kids. And developing relationships with them. Even though playing video games during down-time had begun as a way to keep himself distracted from Katrina, Ben had come to enjoy Jackson. And that friendship. Jackson never seemed to be impressed with Ben’s wealth. Jackson had this “whatever” attitude. He never asked questions … never started conversations just for the sake of talking. He seemed to be comfortable to just hang. Which was a rare attribute in most of Ben’s friends.

Of course, there was the Katrina aspect that made Ben reluctant to have the filming end. He didn’t quite know what would become of this little thing he had growing with her. It might not continue on. Paul had reminded him of that little fact earlier today, before they reviewed tape.

For one thing, their lives were very different. It could prove to be difficult. Maybe even impossible. And the other thing was something Ben didn’t know if he agreed with. Paul thought that dating Katrina would be bad for business, so to speak. It might make Ben look average. Or like he wanted to look average. Which no Wilder should ever aspire to. Plus, it could bring on an undesirable effect: every high school girl in America would be thinking that if Katrina Hayes could get a date with Ben Wilder, then why not give it shot? They might all think that they had a chance as well. Which was absurd. Katrina wasn’t like every other high school girl. She was special.

Ben’s fan base was primarily female. Okay, it was entirely female. American girls loved them some Ben Wilder. He already was met with thousands of screaming girls at every event he attended. They threw him clothing. Jewelry. Underclothing. Pictures. Phone numbers. He even had his share (very large share) of stalker fans. Girls who followed his every move. Girls who his security force knew by face. And their faces weren’t all that was known, unfortunately.

So if it became public that Ben was dating the girl next door, pandemonium might break out. On one hand, pandemonium meant more money, and Paul never was one to turn his back on added revenues. But. Paul said that pandemonium would make security more difficult. “It would be harder to ensure your safety,” Paul had said somberly. “And that always has to be our primary concern.”

Yes, dating Katrina could raise some issues—but Ben thought she was worth it. Even if it meant having to ramp up the security forces.

The dancing today was just as riveting. He really felt as if they were the only ones in the world, even though they were dancing in front of an entire film crew. He was completely transfixed. He had no doubt how Katrina felt about him: this wasn’t acting. He wished that he could see this same response from her: off camera. When they really were alone.

Thinking about being alone with Katrina probably wasn’t a good thing while trying to do the dance as choreographed. There were a few times that he held her a little too tight, or paused, staring into her eyes, for a little too long. Today, they had to do a few retakes because of his … overzealousness. He was about ready to call for a break so he could take her to his dressing room where he could hold her as tight as he wanted. Look into her eyes for as long as he wanted.

They were filming the part where he pulled her out of a low dip, with the camera square on both their faces, which were just about an inch apart. He was supposed to pause and stare at her for five counts. He counted it in his head. One, two … and then he kissed her.

That wasn’t in the script, nor was it his intention. But he really couldn’t help it. She was right there, looking so impassioned. It was an impulse. And hadn’t he told her not to hold back, to let loose of her feelings? Shouldn’t he be doing the same?

It was a quick kiss, lasting only those remaining three seconds. But it wasn’t like the quick kiss he’d give his grandma. It was the kind of kiss he’d give his girl before he headed off to war. That one last kiss before running to catch the train. The kiss that would be the last memory between two lovers whose lips may never touch again.

When he pulled back, she looked surprised. And like she wanted more. He felt her go weak in his arms. Her mouth was still open, and he heard her sigh. He smiled when the director yelled “cut!” He even laughed a little. Everyone was cheering. Whistling. Whooping. It was a tad embarrassing.

“I … hadn’t planned that,” he said. He felt like he should explain. He hadn’t kept that a surprise so he could capture her expression on camera. “I just got carried away … a bit.”

Her face was pink. Not like she was embarrassed. But like she was enlivened. “Yeah, just a bit,” she said softly. She didn’t say it like she was scolding him, but like she was asking him for more.

He would have liked to have found out if that’s what she was really asking for, but he was called to the control booth. They wanted him to review the footage of what had just been taped. That mistaken indulgence. Paul would probably scold him for not being professional.

But what Ben saw on tape was even better than what he’d witnessed. Because he could see his face too. It looked like it felt: like a sudden urge that couldn’t be restrained, even if he were shackled and chained to the wall. It was très romantique.

“We have to use it,” he said.

He didn’t get any argument from his director. Not even from Paul. Jackson didn’t say anything against it either. Jackson didn’t say anything at all. Ben just realized he’d kissed his buddy’s sister. Oops. He decided that he didn’t want to look at Jackson right now.

“Play it again,” Ben ordered the techie. “And the music. Bring that up too.” Ben had the music played in sync with the video. And then he got an idea.

The part where he’d kissed Katrina was the part where there was a pause in the song. Following the pause was a synth-crescendo: the climatic point in the song where the entire spectrum of notes was heard in an ascending slide, ending with a brusque pop. The song stopped for two beats and then started in again with the final verses.

Rock-n-roll

Sex

Drugs

The change is upon us

Are we happy now?

Now do we feel free?

Were we oppressed or do we digress?

The wars are unceasing

A new world we’re releasing

And this is where I come in

Are we happy now?

Were we happy then?

Can we see the past?

Can we see up ahead?

The mistakes that we’ve made

How oft will we repeat

Repeat

Cause every generation …

The script called for that pause where he looked intently at Katrina for five seconds, then decade scenes would flash through the crescendo giving the effect of a strobe light, but with images. But the kiss was so much better than the dance scenes with random extras. It needed to be Ben and Katrina flashing through that crescendo, holding the kiss. They needed to flash through as the characters of each decade, then back to the modern-day version.

When Ben expressed his idea out loud, he was met with hesitation this time. “Getting you guys back into costume for each of the eight different scenes will take time, Ben,” Paul said. Yeah, yeah, Ben knew what was next. Time is money.

Ben rebutted, “Not that long. It’s just two people, not all the extras. We’d have a few more days filming, that’s all.”

Tim, the director, said, “But we are already pressed for time getting this to edit. If we wait a few more days, we won’t release on time.”

“Why can’t we send what we already have to editing? They can get started on the majority of the video and then get going on this part in a few days.”

Everyone seemed to contemplate this. Tim nodded in agreement. The editing team nodded and said that it would work. With one stipulation: that they could have the rest of the video by Friday. That gave them three more days. No problem. They could get through three costume changes a day if they really hustled.

So it was agreed upon, and everyone congratulated Ben. Even Paul. But not Jackson. He still hadn’t said anything. In fact, he was scowling.

Chapter Nine ……

T
icked off. Majorly. Jackson felt like he was about to erupt lava out his ears. They would not be finished today. Or tomorrow. Or the next day. It would be Friday. It felt like decades to him. And all because Ben had to pucker-up.

Jackson felt like this project was a sliver under his skin, growing and festering. He couldn’t wait to remove it. It took up way too much of his time. His schoolwork was getting neglected. He was never home to help out, which meant no allowance, which meant no spending money. And since he hadn’t gone back to his paper route after what had happened last fall, his tiny allowance was his lifeline. He didn’t even have enough money to buy a pack of Twinkies—sweet nectar of life. But being at home wasn’t just about doing chores—he kinda missed all the little kidlets as well. They were always in bed by the time he got home from the studio. While they did get on his nerves more often than not, they were still a source of normalcy in his life. And he missed that.

In addition to staying up late to do homework, there was this constant sense of malaise that he carried with him. Even while he slept. The sense that his sanity was slipping farther and farther away. Watching Kat and Ben kiss for the next three days wasn’t going to help the situation. Jack knew that something had to give, or he might explode. Hopefully it wouldn’t happen around anyone too influential.

……

T
he next few days passed quickly. Without incident. Jackson didn’t have any eruptions to speak of. Just a few more sleepless nights. But that was nothing new. His mom kept suggesting he finally get in with that psychiatrist. Jackson pushed her off.

The one perk for having to watch Kat and Ben kiss over and over and over again? Ben had asked Jackson to plan the cast party, so not only did Jackson have something to do those last few days, he also got to plan the party of his lifetime. This was the blow-out birthday party Jackson had always wanted, but had never been able to afford.

Since there was no cap on the budget, this party was more of a conglomeration of a decade’s worth of parties rather than any one event. Jackson had rented Jumpin Beanz. That’s where he had wanted his twelfth birthday, but instead got the roller rink. It was cheaper. Jumpin Beanz was only the coolest indoor jump facility in So. Cal. They had everything inflatable, including those Sumo suits Jackson couldn’t wait to try out.

The food was being catered by three different companies. A burger joint, a pizza place, and … a sushi bar. That was Jackson’s one refined food selection. Burgers and pizza had been served at Jackson’s other parties (but never by companies of this caliber) but sushi? Never even been an option.

The Wilder’s party planner had insisted on doing the decorations for the party. Like she didn’t trust Jackson’s taste. Jackson was sure his decorations would have cost less: he’d planned on having thousands of post-it notes stuck on the walls with sayings like “Yay! We’re Done!” and “Way to go Jackson!” The swanky party-planning lady had laughed at him like he was joking. But he wasn’t. This was actually intended to be part of the entertainment as well. It would take someone an hour to read all the individualized messages, especially if Jackson spelled out some of the phrases with only one letter per post-it.

Jackson didn’t let the party planner off the hook very easily though; he insisted that the decorations be edible. He was being facetious, but she wasn’t detoured by Jackson’s request. In fact, it appeared that she took it as a challenge. The centerpieces were fruit sculptures and cookie bouquets. And sculpted chocolate was everywhere: the napkin bands, in floral-like arrangements around the platters of food and around the ice sculpture. Of course there had to be an ice sculpture. She hadn’t really thought out of the block on that one. The chocolate didn’t stop at eye level though. Little chocolate springy shapes were hung from the ceiling with fishing line. Jackson had to laugh. He knew how much Kat loved chocolate. Would she stand on a chair and lick those things off the fishing line? That’d impress Ben. And his
mom
.

Yep, Lena was there. Everyone’s parents were there. So Kat’s dad got to meet Lena Santareno-Wilder. Jackson wasn’t close enough to hear what Darin said to her, but Jackson was close enough to see a very goofy, very smitten grin on Darin’s face. Jackson realized that Kat couldn’t really help her infatuation with Ben. Being star-struck seemed to run in the Hayes family. But not that they were star-stuck with the Wilder’s just because of their money or celerity: even Jackson admitted that the Wilder’s appearances were godlike. Lena? That was one beautiful woman. Especially since she was way old, like fifty or something.

Along with the parents, siblings were invited to attend the party as well. Jackson was there when Taylor got to meet Ben. She couldn’t talk, which was a first for her. She looked like she might faint. And then after meeting Ben, she acted like a kid hopped up on Pixy Stix. It was a good thing that Jumpin’ Beanz was huge and filled with other screaming kids (namely Jackson’s siblings) or Ben would have noticed that Kat’s sister was a freak.

Having Taylor meet Ben brought an end to the secrecy that had been tied to this project. By Monday, everyone at Taylor’s elementary school would know that Jackson and Kat had not only met Ben, but had worked on his new music video. By Tuesday, that buzz would swarming through the halls of their high school.

Jackson felt kinda relieved. He’d had to put distance between himself and a lot of his school friends just so he wouldn’t give anything away. He was ready to put all this video nonsense behind him and move on with his normal life. And to get Kat back to normal.

For the most part, Kat had been acting like a kid hopped up on Pixy Stix as well these past few weeks. She had this non-stop energy. This … ecstaticness that she seemed to carry with her. Everyone had to be wondering what she was on. And the funny part? She kept trying to shrug off everyone’s inquires by lying about it. Which always backfired. Jackson wondered how many of their friends were planning an intervention. One would surely be on its way if her behavior didn’t return back to her normal abnormalness soon.

Ben and Kat had left the bounce floor and were grabbing some munchies. Jackson couldn’t help but notice the way that they were looking at each other: it was that same look that had been caught on camera. That look like they wanted to find a dark closet to play spin-the-bottle. Jackson had to wonder what would happen next. Surely Ben wouldn’t pursue this now that the video was over, would he? Jackson just couldn’t picture it being feasible for Ben. Kat, on the other hand—if it were up to her she’d be ordering the wedding napkins with their embossed initials tonight. Jackson had better make sure that Kat didn’t corner Kelsey, the party planner.

The amazing party was coming to a close. People were starting to trickle out. Jackson wasn’t ready for it to end yet … it was
his
party after all. It would be at least another decade before he’d be able to afford to throw himself a party like this one—that is, if he’s able to keep the charge from this jumpstart into his directing career.

Jackson grabbed Kat and Ben for one last round of bouncy basketball. But they were one man short for two-on-two, so Jackson left to round up one of his brothers. When he came back with Jayce in tow, Ben looked Jayce up and down and said, “Geez, how many brothers do you have? I haven’t met this one.”

“Just six.” Jackson responded. And Ben had met every one, except Jayce. He was way shy, and way afraid to meet Ben Wilder. But Jackson had threatened Jayce that if he didn’t come play basketball, he’d be forbidden to touch Jackson’s Xbox for a month. “This is Jayce.” He was closest in age to Jackson, and the one sibling that Ben really should have met, since he was one of Jackson’s best friends as well.

“All your names start with ‘J’?” Ben asked.

“Yep. All ten of us.”

“Ten?” Ben’s mouth popped open. This was a common reaction. Jackson’s house was often referred to as a rabbit hutch. “You guys
are
the Duggars.” Another common reaction. Not like Jackson’s parents had known about the Duggars back when Jackson, the first “J”, was born. Ben turned his head to Kat. “Good thing you didn’t get included on that. Your name would be Jaytrina.” Ben paused for a second, then added, “And your sister would be Jaylor.”

Jackson felt two sets of eyes dart to him. One set said, “What is this loony babbling about?” and the other said, “Don’t you dare say anything.” Obviously Kat hadn’t told Ben the truth yet. Even after Jackson’s insistence yesterday that the she should. Now that the filming was over, neither of them had anything to lose by coming clean.

And then Ben continued down the same path, “I have to say that I think it’s really cool how your parent’s handle … everything. They just act so normal. Not at all vehement towards each other. They’re especially civil. Friendly even.”

Again, the look of confusion from Jayce. And the look of warning from Kat. “Yeah, we’re lucky,” Kat said with a ridiculously high voice. “They’re really … grown up about the whole thing.”

That sounded lame. Jackson saw Kat give a little inward cringe.
Keep it up, Kat. This could get hysterical.

“Yeah, they are,” Ben said. “More than most. Which is weird, considering the whole wife swap thing.”

“The what?” Jackson asked. He was lost. But he didn’t get an answer. Instead, he got Kat bouncing past him in like a kangaroo on speed. “Let’s play ball!” she yelled as she bounded the ball into the hoop, then ricochet her body off the wall of the bounce house.

Jackson had never seen a more obvious subject change. But Ben somehow missed it. He just chased after Kat—while smiling like a lovesick fool—and rebounded the ball.