Bleed Until You Heal

35- End The Silence

"I'm freaking out," Abby breathes on the day of the film festival. We're standing in the parking lot of the theater that's holding the festival wearing nice dresses and we're standing with Scott, Jasper, Conner (nobody knows what's going on with him and Jasper anymore but he shows up sometimes), Haven and Felix (made their relationship official the day after the meeting with the board).

"I know," I sigh, putting my hands on her shoulders to calm her down. I adjust my black maxi dress so that my black wedge heels aren't stepping on the hem of the sheer fabric at the bottom of the dress and then look back up at Abby. "But it's going to be okay. We're about to make a wave in society and that is so cool."

"A huge wave," Jasper adds. "A tsunami, really."

"After tonight, when people see Sebastian, they aren't even going to remember his photography career at all, they're just going to say 'Sebastian King, that weird pervert from Atlanta?'." Haven adds with an encouraging nod. "It'll be totally awesome."

"Okay. You're right. We're going to make a wave," Abby breathes and nods before we all start walking into the theater. I keep an arm around her shoulders just to keep her calm. This is her second film festival but her last film was about zombies, not about social injustice and it wasn't meant to have a huge impact on other people's lives.

To be honest, I'm a lot nervous too about this film being publicized at this film festival but I had my nervous breakdown this morning when it was just me and Scott so that Scott could just make out with me and I felt better, just like he did right before the Broken Doll showing. Kissing Scott does have a wonderful calming effect for me. And I have my moon and stars necklace around my neck to keep me calm too, so that helps.

Inside the building, there's a lobby area outside of the theater that has a wall lined with booths that describe each film student that's being displayed at the festival tonight so we go around and look at all of the artists. Each table includes a picture and bio of each film student and then the title, summary, and cover art of the film being shown.

The title for Abby's film is "End the Silence" and the cover art is a picture of a girl standing in underwear and a ripped up t-shirt with tattered hair and a confused/pissed off look on her face. Photographed by me, designed by Jasper. The summary of the pieces reads,

This documentary explores what happens when a student finds out some troublesome secrets and demands justice for those before her. She pushes through many trials that lay ahead of her, including the threat to her career in and out of academics, to find out the truth. She will not let more people suffer no matter what. She will not be quiet. But she can't do it alone and she needs your help. Help her end the silence.

"This is really cool," I say after reading the whole thing.

"You think? I kind of just put together the summary. It could be way better," Abby says with a small shrug. "But thanks."

"Hey, Jo. Isn't that the guy?" Jasper wonders curiously, motioning toward a tall man standing beside a brunette girl as they examine another booth just a few down from Abby's. It's Sebastian and a lady who looks to be about his age but I don't recognize her.

"That's Sebastian," I confirm, surprised that he's here. I feel Scott tense up beside me but I just grab his hand in mine just to make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid or incriminating or both. We then walk together over to where he's standing, just to say hi and everything. "Be good, alright?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?" Scott grumbles beside me, obviously unhappy but I know that he won't actually do anything if just ask him not to. Especially since I have a strong grip on his hand and he has no choice in the matter.