The Real Z

by Jen Calonita

  I heard a loud rumble of thunder and everyone stopped moving. “No!” I cried as the rain started to come down harder and everyone ran under the tents again. “Not now! We were just getting started!” I yelled at the sky, which responded with another rumble.

  We couldn’t film outdoors in a thunderstorm. It was too dangerous. Ugh! Why did I ever think this was a good idea? Why?

  “Roll with the punches, Z,” Mom said gently. “That’s what a filmmaker does.”

  Thanks, Mom, I thought, but at the moment, it isn’t what I want to hear. The day was failing miserably. “Maybe it will stop soon,” I suggested. A crack of thunder and a large flash of lightning said otherwise.

  “We should head for cover till this storm passes,” Dad said. “Let’s get everyone in the cars.”

  Everyone raced to the cars to wait out the storm. Dad jumped in his, and the band, Lauren, and I jumped in Mom’s. The band didn’t seem bothered at all about the weather. They chatted and laughed in the backseat, while Mom checked the weather on her phone, and I stewed, reviewing my shot list. Lauren leaned over and gave me a hug.

  “Maybe it will stop raining the minute the guitarist’s mom gets back with the new string,” Lauren said. “Actually, wait, we don’t want it to stop raining completely, right? Just no more thunder and lightning?” The sound of more thunder rumbled continuously outside.

  “I feel like we’re wasting time,” I said, feeling fidgety. I drew a raindrop in the condensation that was fogging up the window. “I wish we could film something!”

  “You got the dancing in the rain part,” Lauren said, being optimistic.

  I shrugged. It wasn’t enough. I’d had a whole day of filming planned.

  “Too bad we don’t have your laptop with us,” Lauren said. “I really want to see the Kit video before our presentation on Monday.”

  I banged my head on the car window. How could I have forgotten our presentation was that Monday? Lauren had been asking to come over for days and I’d been so wrapped up in the CloudSong movie, I pushed her off. “I’m sorry. Want to come over today?” On second thought, I was probably going to try to edit some of my movie footage after we got home. “Or maybe tomorrow?”

  I watched Lauren pull her wet blonde hair off her face and into a high ponytail in one quick move. “Don’t we have some sound to finish? I found some great music I thought we could use.”

  I bit my lip. “I already did that.” Lauren’s face fell. “But you should bring yours over and we’ll try that, too.” I didn’t want to add that I had rushed through the music so I could go back to work on my CloudSong stuff.

  Lauren smiled. “It’s okay. We’ll just use yours if it’s done already. But I still want to come watch it once before we present.” I nodded. “Have you had a chance to read my ‘Homework Hacker’ script yet?” she asked.

  Groan! I had totally forgotten about that, too! “I keep meaning to start it …”

  Lauren gave me a look. “It’s only three pages long …”

  “Sorry!” I said, my cheeks flushing. “But I promise to read it this weekend.” I crossed my heart, and Lauren seemed satisfied.

  “Bad news,” Mom said, turning and looking at me and the rest of the car. “The weather radar indicates that heavy rain will be moving through for the next few hours.”

  “No!” I cried. “It didn’t say that this morning!”

  Mom showed me her weather app as proof. “I know, but that’s what it’s showing now. We’re getting the worst of the storm.” Mom put her hand on my shoulder. “You should probably call the shoot, Z,” she said quietly. “There’s no sense in making everyone hang out in the car.”

  “But …” I stalled. I barely shot any of the footage I needed. I wanted my first cut of my movie to be done in a week and a half so I could spend the following three weeks before the deadline fine-tuning the edit. But now that today was a bust, I couldn’t imagine making that deadline. I crumpled my video plan up in a ball. “Fine,” I said dejectedly.

  “Z,” Mom started to say, but I turned away.

  I knew I shouldn’t take it out on Mom, but I was so mad! I turned to the window and drew a picture of the sun with my finger, right next to the raindrop. “Rain, rain, go away—and come back another day.” My circle grew bigger and bigger, giving me a view of the world outside the car window. The rain was practically coming down sideways. I didn’t think I was getting sunshine or rainbows anytime soon.

  Mari tapped me on the shoulder. “Hey,” she said. “I’m sorry about the video. Maybe we can shoot it another day.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled. “With school and everyone’s activities, there’s no way there’ll be time to make it happen now.”

  “Maybe not, but I still wanted you to have this.” Mari pulled a flash drive out of her pocket. “This is Needles in a Haystack’s amazingly awesome version of ‘Singin’ in the Rain.’ We recorded it the other day for you to use for your edit.”

  I took the flash drive and held it wordlessly.

  Mari smiled. “I think we’re even going to start performing it at the Beanery. We like it that much! Even if you can’t use it in your movie, I want you to have the file. Maybe it will cheer you up.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  I was sure I’d like listening to Mari’s song, but it wasn’t going to cheer me up. How could it? My first real film shoot had been a bust. I just had to hope it didn’t mean my movie would be, too.

  I had my notebook open in front of me, balanced on my knees, as Mom edged along the crowded street to school. I had made a list of everything I’d shot so far that I could use in the CloudSong movie, but I still couldn’t figure out what footage went where.

  Should I open with footage of me in my neighborhood or use some of the stuff I’d gotten at Kite Hill on Sunday? What about trying to squeeze in paddleboarding on Lake Union with Mom, or scrap it and just let the ice cream shop footage run longer? Was there anything from the Beanery I could use? That was the most fun footage I had.

  “Start with one scene you love and build your movie around it,” Mom had told me the night before, when I was struggling. “Don’t forget your vision.” I felt like my vision had been washed out by the rain, just like the music video shoot.

  I scribbled over my list of footage and then tore up the paper, piling the scraps next to me along with the remains of four other torn-up pieces of paper. I pulled a fresh sheet out of my notebook and felt the car come to a stop. We were in front of the school. I’d run out of time. Again. I looked out the window and saw kids getting off the bus. I could see Lauren pacing in front of the entrance as kids streamed inside the building.

  “Thanks for the ride, Mom,” I said as I got out of the car.

  “See you tonight, sweetie,” she answered. “Don’t forget to spare some brain cells for school instead of your movie, okay?”

  I gave her a little smile. “I promise,” I said before heading over to Lauren. “Hey!” I greeted her.

  Lauren turned around. Her face was full of worry. “Oh good, you’re here! When you didn’t text me back this morning, and then I didn’t see you get off the bus, I thought you were sick.”

  “Sorry,” I apologized. “I was trying to cut some of my footage before I got the bus this morning and completely forgot to turn on my phone. Everything okay?”

  Lauren hiked her backpack higher on her shoulders. A neon-yellow soccer ball hung from the back. “Yeah, I just wish we could have gotten together once this weekend to watch the presentation again.”

  I felt a pang of guilt. I’d really left Lauren flat this weekend. “I know, I was going to call you, but we were all so tired after the shoot on Saturday, and Sunday I didn’t realize my parents were taking me hiking so we weren’t home,” I said. “But I promise our video is going to be the best thing Mr. Kozak has ever seen. Trust me.”

  “Okay.” Lauren shrugged. “I trust you. You have the flash drive, right?”

  I pulled the flash drive out of the front pocket of
my bag and held it up for her to see. “I checked three times to make sure I brought it.”

  “Good.” Lauren pushed her blonde hair out of her eyes and exhaled slowly. “I think Mr. Kozak said we’re up first.”

  I threw my arm around Lauren. “If you get nervous, just look at me and I’ll make a face like this.” I stuck my tongue out and rolled my eyes, then shimmied around. Lauren started to laugh. “Do you think Mr. Kozak will notice?”

  “Possibly,” Lauren said, loosening up. “But when he sees how good our project is, I’m sure he won’t mind.”

  I kept it going. “I bet he grades us an ‘E’ for ‘Emmy-worthy.’”

  “Now you’re going too far,” Lauren said as the first bell rang.

  We had only three minutes to get to class so we rushed into school and upstairs to social studies on the second floor. Kids were chatting and getting their books out. I gave Lauren a thumbs-up and headed straight to Mr. Kozak to give him my flash drive. He put it into his computer and began setting up the file for the SMART Board. He pulled up my drive for me, and I scrolled until I found the file labeled FINALCALIRUSH. Then I went back to my seat to wait for class to start.

  I glanced at Lauren as Mr. Kozak called attendance. She looked worried again, so I made my eyebrows go up and down and flashed her a goofy grin. She finally cracked a smile.

  “Let’s call up our first two presenters, Lauren and Z, to give their report on the California gold rush,” Mr. Kozak said to the class. “They did something unique for their presentation—a video.”

  I smiled at Lauren as we walked to the front of the class. Lauren headed to the right of the SMART Board while I stepped to the left to recite our short opening. Andrew gave me a thumbs-up from his seat.

  “Lauren and I were assigned the California gold rush,” I told the class, “but instead of doing a verbal presentation, we thought we’d put our own spin on the project and make a stop-motion video to really show you the history.”

  I pressed PLAY, and the title appeared. Lauren had edited this part, and it looked fantastic, like an old silent movie opening. It was black and white with the words CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH in a jumpy print. Then the movie faded into view.

  “Hi, I’m Kit!” Lauren’s voice-over started with an image of my Kit doll standing in front of the papier-mâché mountain. “And I’m here to—”

  The movie jumped to a clip of Mari’s band playing at the Beanery.

  “One-two-three-four!” Mari shouted in the clip and started to play.

  The class looked confused, and Lauren and I looked at each other panicked.

  Where was our California gold rush video?

  I darted back to the computer to see if I’d clicked on the wrong file. “We just need a second,” I said to Mr. Kozak, my palms beginning to sweat. “I must have opened the wrong video. Let me find the right one.”

  “What’s going on?” Lauren whispered. “Where is the video?”

  “It’s got to be on here,” I whispered back, but my heart was pumping. I scrolled through the files again. The only one that said FINAL on it was the one I’d opened. Maybe it was under an older title? I clicked on another video that said CALIFORNIA GOLD RUSH and a silent version of the same opening began to play.

  “Z, where is it?” Lauren said urgently. “You said you checked.”

  “I did!” I whispered back. I clicked on another clip that said the word RUSH. A video of Popcorn racing around my room with a squeaky movie popcorn box began to play. Everyone laughed, and I quickly shut it off. I could feel my cheeks burn. I looked at Lauren’s and hers was equally red. So were her eyes—I could see tears starting to well up. I couldn’t blame her for being upset. This was all my fault.

  “Mr. Kozak, I’m so sorry,” I said shakily. “I must have grabbed the wrong flash drive this morning.”

  Mr. Kozak wrote something in his notebook. Was he deducting points off our grade for this?

  “I’ll give you a pass today, ladies,” he said, and I audibly exhaled. “But you should be ready to present on Friday.”

  “Thank you,” I said for the two of us. Lauren was quiet. “I promise I’ll bring the right file in. We can even go tomorrow.”

  “I’m sorry, Z, but that wouldn’t be fair to the other students scheduled for tomorrow,” Mr. Kozak said. “I can’t bump them because you weren’t prepared today.”

  I made eye contact with Maddie. She gave me a sympathetic look. I’d embarrassed Lauren and myself in front of the whole class. “We understand,” I said, and Lauren nodded. “Thank you. We’ll be ready on Friday.”

  I tried to get Lauren’s attention after we sat back down, but she wouldn’t look my way. I barely heard Maddie and her partner present on the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. All I could think about was our video. Could I have accidentally deleted it? Was our movie gone? My heart started to beat faster. No, it had to be on my hard drive. I just messed up. Big-time. When the bell rang, Lauren was the first one out the door. I rushed after her to our lockers.

  “I don’t know what happened,” I said, but Lauren still wouldn’t look at me. “The last time I watched the video, it was all on there. I must have given it a new file name or something. I know it’s at home on my hard drive.” Lauren didn’t say anything. “We’ll present on Friday and everything will be fine. I don’t think Mr. Kozak will take any points off.”

  “I hope not,” Lauren said quietly. “I need a good grade on this. I didn’t do very well on the last test.” Her face was scrunched up tight. “It’s just … this is important, and it doesn’t seem like you care. The CloudSong Film Festival is not the only thing going on in the world, you know.”

  Ouch. I felt like I’d been hit in the stomach. “I know that,” I said quickly.

  “Really?” Lauren asked, shoving some books around her locker instead of looking at me. “So that means you read my ‘Homework Hacker’ script?” I looked down at my sneakers. “See?”

  I tried to change the subject. “Why don’t you come over today and we’ll find the Kit video together? We can put in the song you suggested, too.” I felt panicked. Lauren and I never fought. I’d really screwed up.

  Lauren’s blue eyes were super stormy. “No, thanks. I have plans with some of the soccer team after school. Besides, it’s not like you need me. You edited most of the movie yourself anyway.” Lauren shut her locker and walked away down the crowded hallway.

  “I feel awful!” I told Mariela when we scootered home together after school. “I don’t think Mr. Kozak is going to take off any points on our project, but Lauren is still really mad at me.”

  “Do you blame her?” Mari asked.

  “No, but it was an accident,” I said miserably.

  “Did you tell her you were sorry?” Mari asked.

  I tried to remember if the words “I’m sorry” ever came out of my mouth. I wasn’t sure they had. “She didn’t really want to talk to me the rest of the day. We didn’t speak at Camera Club, either. All she said to me was that I had taken over the whole project and the only thing I could think about was CloudSong.” We scootered to a stop and waited for the light to change. I looked at Mari. Her lips were pursed.

  “You do talk about CloudSong a lot,” Mari said finally.

  “That’s because it’s a big deal,” I said, getting worked up. “It’s a film festival. I need my movie to be perfect if I want any shot at winning. And if I win, I was going to use the money to buy Camera Club a new camera. The one we used for filming broke.”

  “That sounds like a big deal, but it doesn’t mean you can just ignore everything else, Z,” Mari said tentatively. “Lauren was really excited about this project, and you pushed it aside like it didn’t matter.”

  “Wait, did she talk to you?” I asked accusingly.

  Mari nodded. “She was really upset.”

  “Well, so am I!” I said. “Now I have to spend more time finishing this social studies project instead of working on my movie. A movie that isn’t coming together. All I have
is an arrangement of a silly song and a bunch of scenes that don’t go together.”

  “A silly song?” Mari repeated gruffly. “I thought you liked the arrangement we did.”

  “I do!” Uh-oh. I had put my foot in my mouth again. I fumbled for the right words. “That’s not what I mean. I just … Nothing is working out the way it’s supposed to. I wanted to be done with my first cut by now and—”

  “You know what, Z?” Mari said. “I think Lauren is right. CloudSong is all you care about right now.”

  I immediately regretted my words. “That’s not true. Mari, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that.” We crossed the street and scootered down the block, Mari keeping a little ahead of me. She didn’t say anything as we came to a stop in front of our houses.

  “Hi, girls!” Dad called out, and I looked over in bewilderment. I hadn’t seen him weeding in the front yard. “Z, ready to head down to the Locks to film?”

  I was so distracted by what happened with Lauren, I forgot we’d planned that for today. “Uh, yeah,” I said, glancing at Mari. “But could Mari and I have a quick snack together first? We’ve got to talk about something.”

  “Sure!” Dad called back. “I just made the meanest batch of chocolate chip muffins.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Yang, but I have to get home,” Mari said stiffly, and scootered off without even saying good-bye. Dad gave me a questioning look, but I shrugged and rushed inside.

  It was the second time in the same day that I had watched one of my friends leave in a huff. It wasn’t a good feeling.

  Here we go,” I said as Dad and I watched the small drone take flight like a super expensive paper airplane.

  But even as I was flying it, all I could think about was Lauren and Mari. I can’t believe how mad they got, I thought to myself as I used the remote to take the drone higher to get a good view. Lauren and Mari are wrong. I do not only think about my CloudSong movie!

  “Z!” Dad shouted. “You’re going to hit the top of that boat!”

  I was so worked up, I wasn’t paying attention to where the drone was headed!