Perfectly Imperfect(37)

Hello, adventure.

His motives might be a little foggy right now, but I meant it when I told him I would ride it out. Throw caution to the wind and get off the safe kiddie rides of life. If he doesn’t need me here, then I go back to New York with fond memories of this little jaunt of exploration.

“Ready?” Kane asks and gestures to the door.

“Yeah, I think I am.” I smile and turn to tell Kirby bye.

She walks over to me and gives me a hug, turning her head to whisper in my ear. “Don’t be mad,” she says.

I could laugh. But I don’t. So I got played to get me here, so be it. I know Kirby, and she wouldn’t have led me here if she wasn’t sure it was worth it.

“I’m not, Kirb, but later, we’re going to talk.”

She releases me from her hold and gives me a nod followed by a wink. “I have a bottle of wine with our names on it.”

“Make it two and we’ve got a date.”

I turn to Kane, and clearly, he wants to say something, but he just holds his arm out and waits for me to exit before following.

He doesn’t speak but settles his palm against the small of my back, leading me without words toward the madness set up around us. I watch people scurrying around with not a clue as to what they’re doing, and we walk around them until we settle in behind where the crew is busy setting up what I can only assume is the set where today’s shoot will be.

“Are you hungry?”

I sit when he points at one of the two chairs set up in front of a bank of monitors and settle in. “I’m okay.”

He takes the seat next to me and doesn’t question me further. A few people come up to question him about the lighting and whatnot, but I tune them out and watch the action around me. I’m clueless as to what each of these monitors mean, but given they each display a different angle of the classroom in front of us, it doesn’t take much to figure things out. Kane continues to talk to a few people, directing them to change some of the angles.

“What do you need me to do?” I ask when the last person walks away.

“Have you heard about this movie?” he asks, not answering my question.

“Impenetrable. That’s the title and about as much as I know.”

He smiles, his dimple winking deeply in his cheek. “It’s been my pet project for years. An idea I had a few years ago when the bullying stories seemed to be the highlight of every news channel. I wanted to paint light on it with a different take.”

“Meaning?”

“It seemed to me everything we had heard about led us in one direction, which was obviously the negative. Nothing showed us what it was like for someone to go through such a terrible situation, and instead of drowning, they overcome and become someone better. They take the hate, the viciousness around them, and become, well … impenetrable to the harm others wish to cause.”

“So what you’re saying is instead of the bullied being influenced by those doing the bullying, they are closed off from their influence?”

He studies me. “Yes and no.”

“Well, that clears it up.” I laugh.

“Yes, they are influenced by it, at first, but the point is to show the audience that instead of tainting their future negatively, they thrive and become a better person because of it. I want to give hope to those who need to know life isn’t what others want for you, but what you want for yourself. Strength in the face of weakness.”

I frown, dissecting his words. “I’m guessing by the location that we’re dealing with high school age people here?”

“You would be right.”

“And you think someone at that age, without a wealth of maturity on their side, is capable of seeing past the hate that such an influential time in their lives would cause them and be strong instead of crumble?”

“The point is to show that someone, regardless of their age, can make the decision for themselves and thrive instead of fail when faced with adversity.”

“You’re hoping to change the way society as a whole looks at the challenges they’re faced in life?”

“Yeah. And give hope to those who need it.”

“Hope is a fickle word, Kane.”

“How so?”

I study him, thinking about the best way to explain something I know all too well about. “Hope isn’t always something people can understand, regardless of the picture you paint. More often than not, the promise of something better is more terrifying than the horrible situations life can throw your way. Sometimes, they just aren’t strong enough to believe in something so unpredictable. They aren’t capable of being or becoming impenetrable against life.”

He leans back in his chair and studies me in a way that makes me think he can see right through me. “You’re right, Willow, but I believe that by showing the audience you can overcome something as huge as this, it would give someone struggling a little bit of that so-called fickle hope and plant a seed of doubt that can grow into the knowledge that their future is their own. The influence of others only holds as much power as you let it.”

“That’s easy for someone to say when they probably haven’t had to struggle with a bully once in their lives,” I return. “How will you show that the hope is worth taking a chance on? Make the audience believe in something that isn’t always so easy to take a leap of faith on.”