Chapter Sixteen
Vera
The ball is everything I imagined it would be. Which I suppose makes sense since I am in fact the one who came up with it.
Still, it’s weird that this place looks exactly like it did in my mind while I wrote the screenplay. I always knew when it was made into a movie that details would differ based on the producer and the director’s personal tastes, the budget, and who works in the prop and costuming departments.
I try to soak it all in, realizing that this is probably the only time I will see a perfect execution of my vision, but I can’t seem to make myself enjoy it. I’m beginning to hate my vision, just a little bit.
Although, a faint voice in the back of my head tells me that if I’d written the story my younger self dreamedof then I would not be so stressed right now. This story was always supposed to have a happy ending, but after so many nights eating ramen noodles in front of the TV alone before waking up at six in the morning to go work at a department store just to make ends meet to be able to afford to keep living to write another day… somehow the ending got dark.
Somehow, I lost my hope, and happiness bled out of my story, making it become dark and twisted just like I had slowly realized the world actually was. My dream was killed by senseless acts of violence in the news, crushing poverty, and never managing to catch a break.
Now it looks like my dream is going to get its revenge and have me killed.
I swallow hard, glancing out the large paned window to the surprisingly well-lit clock tower. Half an hour till midnight, how am I supposed to wait till then?
I need to know if this works now. I need to know if I’m foolish for holding onto the hope that I can get home.
“Stick with the plot,” I whisper to myself as I turn back to James. He is fiddling with his mask, lot of good it does him. With his tall stature, decidedly pirate attire, and hook, he is pretty easy to pick out from a crowd.
I knew we should have kept the cloak….
He must be thinking the same thing because he tucks his hook into the pocket of his coat. “I don’t think I’m dressed for the occasion,” he says with a nervous chuckle.
I straighten, trying to hide my grimace. “Then it’s best to act the part.”
His eyebrow hikes up, visible over the silver filigree of his mask. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means… it’s time to get dancing. We have half an hour to kill.”
“Ironic word choice,” he mutters. Then he looks up at me, starting slightly when he sees me looking at him expectantly. “Wait, are you serious?”
I give a small nod, stepping a bit closer to him.
James edges away. “Do you even know how to dance?”
“I’ve watched videos,” I say simply as I grab his hand. I move it over to my hip. I reach for his other arm, tugging his hook out of his pocket and wrapping my hand around it. “Now, you walk in a square, leading me.”
“How does one walk in a square?” he asks, baffled.
“For someone who likes boxes as much as you do, I would think you would know how to walk in a square.” I roll my eyes and shake my hair back over my shoulders. “Like this, one… two, three, four.” I move in four decisive steps, one to the side, one back, then to the side again and finally forward. James stumbles after me, forgetting the last step so I wind up running into him. I pull away, narrowing my eyes. “You’re going to draw more attention to how bad you are than this ever did.” I slide my finger across his hook to punctuate my point.
“I don’t dance,” he replies stiffly.
“Well, today is going to be a day of firsts for you,” I say as I start moving again, but I take the steps slower. I have no idea if I’m doing a proper dance, but it seems right. Especially when I count while I do it, so I have to think I’m doing something correctly. For his part, James starts to fall in line after me. I’m still having to lead even though I know enough about dance to know that’s the gentleman’s role.
“I feel ridiculous,” he hisses, glancing around.
“Well, you look dashing.” I had been hoping to help him do better and maybe boost his ego, but it only leads to him tripping over his own feet and nearly falling into me.
James straightens with a grimace. “Don’t distract me.”
I laugh slightly and shake my head.
I see his eyes narrow through the slit in the mask. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just… you couldn’t be further from the real Captain Hook. He was so full of himself, and you don’t even know how to take a compliment.”
