Chapter 13
One week
later
“Let’s try that again.
Brian, I need you to give me some more expression.”
That day had been one of the longest of Brendan’s life. It was his first video shoot, for the song
“More Than That”, and so far, it was not going as well as he had expected. The director, Marcus Rayboy, was extremely
picky and made them repeat the same scenes over and over again until they were
exactly perfect. Brendan was so tired of
lip-syncing the same thing over and over again, he could scream.
“Fine,” he muttered, going back into his position, as the song
started up again.
Pasting a cheesy smile on his face, he began to mouth the words to
the song. Well, at least he attempted
to.
“Cut!” Marcus yelled. The
music cut off. “Brian, why are you
smiling? This song isn’t happy. I need some real emotion. And you need to make your lip-syncing look
more realistic. Your mouth isn’t lined
up with the words.”
Brendan rolled his eyes, but nodded. “Okay,” he said, forcing a tight smile. And then the song started again.
***
“What’s going on with Brian?” AJ asked Kevin. The two were standing off to the side,
watching their band mate shoot his verse of the song. It was not going very well.
“I don’t know. He does seem
a little off today, doesn’t he?” Kevin replied.
AJ snorted. “A little
off? He isn’t even singing the right
words half the time, Kev!”
Kevin sighed. “I know. Maybe he’s just not feeling well or
something.”
AJ rolled his eyes. “Well,
he better get over it. He can’t afford
to be sick right now.”
“Come on, Bone, cut him some slack.”
“Why should I? He’s not
even trying! Look at him.”
Kevin did. And AJ was
right; it didn’t look like Brian was giving it much effort. He stood stock still, mouthing the words at
the wrong time, his hands at his side, and his eyes wide open. Anyone could see he wasn’t putting anything
into it. Normally, when Brian sang, his
eyes were closed, and his fists were going at it. Today, that was just not the case.
When Marcus finally told Brian to take a break, Kevin and AJ
approached him.
“Dude, Brian, what is going on with you? Are you sick or something?” Kevin asked,
partly concerned and partly annoyed with his cousin.
“Sick? Well, uh… yeah, I
have sort of a headache,” Brian replied, color creeping into his cheeks. He was clearly embarrassed.
“I’m sorry about that, Bri, but you really need to put some more
effort into this shoot. We only have a
couple days to do it, and you’re wasting our time,” Kevin said. AJ nodded in agreement.
“I’m sorry, guys,” Brian said, but he didn’t look that sorry. “I’ll try harder.”
“Good.”
And with that, the guys walked off in opposite directions.
***
What am I doing wrong? Brendan wondered. He knew he wasn’t performing up to Brian’s
standards, and that had to change.
Instead of grabbing a bottled water and chilling out like the
other guys did on their breaks, he dug his portable CD player out of his
backpack and put the “Black and Blue” CD into it. He put on number 8 and listened. He was going to get the lyrics to this song
right if it killed him.
Twenty minutes later, he was back in front of the camera, trying once
again to get his verse right. This time
he at least got the lyrics right. But
he could tell the director still wasn’t happy.
When the final “cut!” of the day sounded, Brendan was more than
relieved. He and the guys got together
their stuff and rode in a limo to the hotel they would be staying at.
The hotel was a nice one, with two pools, one of which they had
rented for later that night, so they could swim alone. As Brendan tagged along with the rest of his
band mates and their bodyguards, he could not help but stare at his
surroundings in awe. He had never been
in such a fancy place in his lifetime.
Yet, he knew these guys were used to this luxury.
And soon, Brendan thought, grinning inwardly, I
will be too.
***
“Hey, Bri, the guys and I are heading down to the pool now. Do you feel up to swimming?” AJ asked later
that night. “Or do you still have a
headache?”
“No, it’s gone now. A swim
sounds great,” Brendan replied honestly.
The video was being shot in California, and after shooting scenes in the
hot desert for a good part of the day, a plunge in the pool sounded like heaven
to him.
“Okay, cool. Get your
trunks on, and we’ll meet you in the hall in a few minutes,” AJ said. As soon as he had left the room, Brendan
opened up his suitcase and fished through it for his swim trunks. He found them and quickly put them on. He slipped a pair of Nike soccer sandals on,
grabbed a towel, and left his room.
Kevin, Howie, AJ, and Nick were waiting in the hall.
“Ready?” Howie asked.
“Yup,” Brendan replied.
“Let’s go.”
A couple of bodyguards walked along with them down to the pool
they had reserved. Then the two burly
guards sat down in lawn chairs, while the Boys tossed their stuff down and
removed their T-shirts and sandals.
Brendan did the same, relieved. Swimming was something he was used to
doing. Shooting a video was not.
Nick, just as mischievous as he seemed on TV, gave Howie a shove
from behind, sending him falling into the pool. He laughed hysterically, as Howie came to
the surface, sputtering and laughing at the same time.
With a swift motion, Kevin gave Nick a push. Caught off-guard, Nick lost his balance and
fell into the pool as well. Playfully
sticking his tongue out, Nick splashed Kevin.
The three were so involved in splashing and pushing each other
that they did not even notice Brian.
But AJ did.
He watched as Brian took off his T-shirt, tossing it over to where
his towel and sandals sat. He continued
to watch as Brian walked around to the deep end of the pool and climbed up to
the diving board. As his friend bounced
on the end of the board, AJ cocked his head to the side. Something didn’t seem right. Something seemed different than usual. But what it was, AJ had no idea.
Brian did a cannonball off the diving board, sending water spewing
in all directions. AJ shrugged. Brian was sure acting like his normal self
now. Telling himself that he was just
imagining things, AJ jumped into the pool.
***
