THE VAMPIRE UNDERGROUND

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR

As her little strut brought her closer to Ms. Frost, Brin tried to keep smiling, even though she wanted to growl in frustration. She slowed down and waited, as Anaya pushed two of her binders into her locker and then tried to pry a small folder out from the back.

She cleared her throat as loud as possible, and Anaya turned around, an obnoxious smirk on her face. “Yes? Can I help you?”

Brin couldn’t believe her ears. The girl didn’t seem to remember her. “May you help me? No, I’m Brin. I was just in Film class with you.”

“I know,” she said in a calm demeanor. “May… I… help… you.”

“I just… the bell rang… we didn’t get to finish our conversation.”

“What’s there to finish?”

Brin crossed her arms and glanced at the exit door past the lockers. Part of her just wanted to make a run for it. “I would really like to direct this movie. Now I know you do, too, so I thought it would make sense tomorrow to leave it up to a vote from the rest of the group.”

Anaya shook her head. “That wouldn’t work.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, first of all, there’s four others in the group, so if two vote for you and two vote for me, we’re back at square one.”

Anaya slammed the locker shut and Brin jumped from both the abrupt noise and the increasing tension. “But I—”

“And plus, I’m at a disadvantage, because you know one of the members of the group. That Dylan kid, right?”

“Uhh… well, yeah.”

“I don’t know anyone in the group. Therefore it would make sense that you would get more votes than me. And that’s not fair.”

“I don’t—”

Anaya kept interrupting her. Brin couldn’t get a word in. “And furthermore, I’m at a disadvantage for purely obvious reasons.”

Brin couldn’t wait to hear where she was going with this. “Obvious?”

“Yes. You’re attractive. I wouldn’t go as far as calling you pretty, but you’re attractive. And I’m not stupid. I know I’m not gonna be Prom Queen. So just on appearance alone, I think it’s obvious you would receive more votes than I would. You’d be the director, and I’d be the writer. You’d make me write the whole damn thing, and then I’d never hear from you guys again. And that’s not OK.”

Brin waved her arms around in the air. “Will you just… please… shut up!”

Anaya finally closed her mouth. She stared back at Brin with venomous eyes.

“Look, I don’t know about you,” Brin said, “but I’ve never made a short film before, and as I try to figure out what the hell I want to do after high school, I think directing a movie right now would be smart, to see if I like it. I’ve started thinking about applying to film schools in the fall.”

“Well good for you, Brin. So make a movie.”

“Yeah?”

“Not this movie. Your own movie. On your own time. For this class? For the actual grade? I don’t trust anyone else making this movie but me. If you make it, if someone else in the group makes it, we’re gonna fail. With me at the helm, it’ll be amazing. With you at the helm, it’ll suck the big one. And that’s a fact.”

“Are you freaking kidding me?” Brin had never punched anyone before, but she was getting close now. “Can I ask you a question, Anaya?”

“Of course.”   

“Have you ever made a movie?”

“Only about a hundred.” She pulled her sweatshirt down; now only some of the fat underneath her belly button was poking out. “I was chosen as Best Youth Filmmaker at the Reno Film Festival, and I’ve got an in at Cal Arts in Los Angeles. I’m gonna be the next major female filmmaker. I’m gonna be the first woman ever to win an Oscar for Best Directing.”

“I think a woman director’s already won.”

“Nope.”

“Kathryn Bigelow? The Hurt Locker?”

Anaya smiled. “Why can’t you just let me make the movie?” She took a step forward. Brin took three large steps back. “I mean, we’re all gonna get the same grade, anyway. Let me do the work. You can just show up, relax, hang out with your friend Dylan. And we’ll all get A’s. It’s a win-win.”

Brin stared back, annoyed.

“How about this,” Anaya said. “If we don’t get an A, I’ll pay you fifty bucks.”

“Fifty bucks?”

“Mmm hmm. And you can use the money to fund your own movie.”

Brin shrugged in defeat.  “All right. Fine.”

Working less, with the possibility of cash, suddenly sounds like a better gig after all.

Brin could feel her phone buzzing. She figured it was Ash. She ignored the call. “So what cinema masterpiece are you gonna come up with? Do you even have a story yet?”

“Not in detail,” she said, “but I have a general idea.”

“I mean, it’s not gonna be easy. Mixing western and horror? We’re probably gonna have to make it a period piece.”

“Not probably. We have to make it a period piece.”

“Hi,” a male voice said from behind. “Brin, right?”

She turned around to see Mr. Barker sipping from a giant bottled water. “Oh, hi.”

“And Ms. Frost,” he said. “Everything all right over here?”

“We’re just talking about what we want to do for the movie,” Brin said.

“I see. Which one of you is directing?”

“I am,” Anaya said, raising her hand high.

“OK. And what’s your job going to be, Brin?”

She pouted and scratched the back of her head. “Writing the script, I guess.”

“Sounds great,” he said. “I look forward to what you guys come up with.”

He walked away and out of the building, before Anaya said, “You’re so not writing a word of this script.”

Brin glared at the maniacal beast, but then replaced her sour attitude with a phony positive one. “Fine. Write and direct the movie. Less for me to do, anyway.”

“So you agree to be my production assistant?”

She wanted to rip the girl’s throat out, but she kept her hands at her sides. “If you swear you’ll give me the fifty bucks.”

Anaya nodded. “Sure thing.”

“Now tell me Miss Director,” Brin said. “Just how are you gonna make Grisly look period? I imagine you don’t have the money in the budget to dress up downtown like it’s 1886.”

“No, I don’t. So we’re not gonna film the movie here.”

“What do you mean?”

“There’s a ghost town a few hours south of here. I’ve been there once with my parents. It’s a town literally in the middle of nowhere. It’s super old and super creepy. It’ll be the perfect setting for the film.”

Brin had no idea what she was talking about. “Did you say… a ghost town?”