Jade's point of view
After you hung up with Jess, you walked over to Davey. He was in the middle of a very deep conversation with Trish, the new executive producer, about the studio. You sighed and waited for them to finish up so you could talk to Trish about an idea for a new music video. You really wanted to make a video for The Interview. But you also had an idea for the killing lights. You really needed help with what to choose.
As soon as Davey finished talking, you filled her in on everything. The final decision ended up being The Killing Lights because the fans were already assuming it'd be The Interview ahead of time. She told you that she'd let you know what the director had to say about it. You nodded and continued thinking up ideas for the video.
You got a call later from Marc Webb saying that he liked the sound of it and that you should keep updating him with a basic story line.
A few weeks later after some adaptable planning, you were all ready for the video shoot. For the storyline, the video would start out with all of you guys in one room in separate corners of an all-wooden room. Davey would be leaning against a window singing the first line while the rest of you are propped up against the wall and/or lying down like a drag. When the words "Am I beautiful?" came up, you would stand up and run out of the room at the end of "Am I useable?" as a light comes in and blinds you all. Then the scene would just change to you running down a series of hallways and looking in doors and seeing weird things happening in every room. By the time it reaches the end of the chorus, you look in one room and you'll see the band including you playing your instruments and such. You stare confused seeing yourself in front of you. Then you continue to run past another room where you notice a winter-like scene with a tree in the middle of the room. There are a few lost kids staring distantly, none of them acknowledge you. Except for one. It's a girl and she seems to be trying to say something to you. But you can't understand her and ignore her and run away. Then at the part where the songs changes a bit and you hear the breathing intro to the 'cut you up' part. This is where you stop running and find yourself at the end of the wooden hallways and in a winter setting. But this one is a whole world of winter. You then realize you found yourself in DecemberUnderground. That's when the guitar solo breaks out and the scene changes to the guys of AFI all wearing white playing in the middle of the snowy atmosphere. Of course it gets all emotional and stuff and the band goes crazy and starts kicking snow all over when the chorus breaks in again. Then as Davey sings the last long note, they all turn and see the kids from before all standing and watching them. But only one is smiling. You can guess who that one person was. The girl you ran away from.
The only problem you've overcome so far in the video shooting process is that you haven't been able to find any people to play the kids in DecemberUnderground. You wanted them to look a little roughed up but at the same time, you wanted them to be a little normal.
All you knew is that you wanted a special person to play the girl. You wanted Jess to do it. You didn't know how you'd work it out. But you really wanted to make it work the best you can.
Jess' Point of view
"You want me to do what? I can't, Jade! People will think you're giving me some special treatment or something because I'm always involved with your band! I want to be famous, Jade, but I want to do it on my own!" you yelled.
He sighed. "Jess, I really want you to do this. You fit the part perfectly and I know that we haven't seen each other in a while but I am in the position of doing anything to persuade you,"
"Jade, you're going to have to do a lot of persuading because I think this will just piss people off if I'm in another one of your gigs. I just don't know. I've never done anything like this and I'm working on getting together a band and this is just so sudden."
"Yeah, I know. But maybe you can bring that Caleb guy with you and he can do a part as well. Can he stand not smiling for a long time?"
"I don't know," you said before adding, "Why him?"
"I don't know. The way you described him made him seem good for this video. I can't wait until you figure out the whole plot! And to think, I made it up by myself!"
You sighed and said, "Well whatever. I'll do it but you owe me big time as soon as I get there. So where are you filming at?"
"Somewhere between Sunnyvale and San Jose. I think it's at this weird warehouse building. Oh yeah, there will be a lot of green screening on your part so be prepared. You don't have to meet us anywhere. Just go to the Hampton inn and say that you have a reserved room under Puget. That should work as long as you say you're my wife or something."
"Okay then? So I'll drive down there tomorrow night. I think I'll be ready by then."
"Alright. I'll talk to you soon. Thanks so much for doing this! I will love you lots when you get here!"
" Yay! Bye!"
You then got everything packed and ready as you tried to think about the kind of stuff you'd need for a video shoot. You didn't want to think about what kind of stuff they'd make you wear so you just decided that you dress down a bit. You brought 4 long sleeves even though you knew you wouldn't wear them because it was so hot out. You brought 3 teeshirts and like 3 pairs of jeans. You didn't think the video would take too long.
You then called Caleb and told him about it all.
"Wow, really? I don't know if I want to accept an offer that great. I don't know what to say,"
"Don't say anything. Just get your stuff together and be here at 6 tomorrow night."
"O-Okay" he stuttered out before hanging up.
You then wondered if he was as shocked as you were. You were going to be with Jade again. Only for a short period of time but there'd be hour spent at a time. You sighed dreamily and finished your packing and looked at the clock and saw that it was 10:20 at night. You then got ready for bed and brushed your teeth before going to sleep.
The morning you woke up and went into the bathroom and did your makeup. Today you applied it strangely thicker than usual but it still looked really good.
You got dressed in a small army green shirt with a skull on it surrounded by jewels. The sleeves were a little poofier than you'd like so you flattened them a little. You put on some skintight dark blue jeans that are flared at the bottom. You then put on your black and green starred converse. You grabbed a few wristbands and wrist cuffs and put them on one arm and then grabbed a camouflage arm sock and put it on your other arm. You were set.
You had a whole day before leaving so you decided that you would go out and run a few errands. You grabbed your keys and jumped in your car and backed out of the driveway.
When you came to the first red light as you come out of your neighborhood, you remembered how you spaced and hit Jade's car. You then shook out of it and drove through with ease as you drove towards the gas station. You'd need some snacks and stuff if you wanted to drive without stopping. Plus, you'd need gas as well.
After you put gas in, you walked up to the store and bought some food and paid for everything. But as you walked outside, you accidentally bumped into someone and knocked them down. "I'm sorry, are you okay?" you asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Man, for someone who is so small, you sure managed to knock me over easily. My name's Seth and I'm a total lightweight, apparently."
You laughed and said, "My name's Jess. Sorry for knocking you down. I'm just kind of antsy for this gig I'm doing,"
He smiled, as you looked him over. He seemed normal. He had mid length light blonde hair. He had light blue eyes and a real friendly face. His clothes seemed decent. They were simply a black hoody and jeans.
"Well, nice to meet you, Seth. I'm just going to be heading down to San Jose tonight with my friend, Caleb. We're doing this video thing and I guess we're in like a serious role or something,"
"Caleb? Does he have brown hair with blonde streaks all over?"
You nodded. "Oh my god, that's sweet. He's one of my friends. He told me about the video shoot yesterday! You guys are so lucky. I would kill to be in something like that."
You thought about inviting him but you didn't know if that would be alright with Jade and the rest of the band. You figured you'd take the risk. "Maybe you can come with us?"
"What? Oh no, I would have to take off work and It'd be so sudden and I don't want to take advantage," you interrupted him with,
"Oh come on, it'll be great! We always could use another person in DecemberUnderground."
He made a face and said, "I don't know. I just met you and this is kind of too great of an offer to accept. I mean, I would love to go but...December underground? What's the video about?"
You sighed and explained all what you knew about it. "Oh I see. Okay, I'll go but only so you don't have to be alone with Caleb the whole time. Man, he gets annoying on long trips! Trust me, I know!"
You laughed and explained to him where you live and told him to be there at 6. "Well, it was nice to meet you. It's good to know you'll come with us after I made you fall. Haha, I'll talk to you later," you said as you walked to your car and drove home. You found yourself in a quiet house and you were wondering what your roommates were up to. It had been so quiet since they came back and you remember never having quiet before they left.
You walked upstairs and found Schilling in her room listening to The Used. "Sarah, what's wrong?" you asked using her first name to show you were concerned. "Nothing. I just feel sad lately is all. You have so many new friends and it seems like you have a life and now you're leaving for a video shoot...it seems like we're losing you."
You sighed. "You're not losing me. I still will come home and things will be just like they always have been."
She shook her head, "No, they won't. You're getting a band together and once you do finally form one then you're going to go on tour and forget about us. This all happened because you met Jade."
"But, Jade is the greatest thing in my life. Things were so hard for me before and he's completely made my life so much easier. There are still things I can do on my own. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be pursuing this career at all. But now I feel confident that I can do this and make it. Now I've made all these new friends on my own. The feeling of having friends who can back me up and be there for me. You guys were enough for me but now I have more than I need. You and Geiger will always be the ones who brought me up to who I am now. Thank you."
She smiled and stood up. "It's really not going to be the same without you. I know someday you're going to move out of here and start a life on your own but, just don't forget about us. We're always going to be here thinking about you."
You smiled and said, "Thanks. But don't change for me. Live life how we did before where we'd laugh and listen to music really loud."
"Okay. We will."
The next thing you knew, it was 6 and both boys were at your house. You grabbed all your stuff and put it in the trunk as you all piled into your tiny car. Caleb was in the passenger seat next to you and Seth was in the backseat by himself. You drove until you reached the exit onto the freeway.
"Hey Jess, did Seth tell you he played guitar?" asked Caleb randomly.
"No. You do?" you asked Seth.
"Yeah, I've been playing for as long as I can remember."
"Wow, that's great. Are you in a band?"
"Nope, I don't know anyone with a band." He said completely clueless.
"Well, I'm starting a band with my agent and I think we have an opening for lead guitar," you smiled widely.
"Are you serious?" he asked.
"Completely."
"Dude, I'm so in."
"Sweet. We now can officially name our band as soon as we get home and meet with the others."
It was a good hour and a half drive there and you were feeling rather tired. As you pulled into the parking lot of the hotel, you turned and found both Caleb and Seth sleeping peacefully. You smiled and parked you car and climbed in the backseat and lightly shook them.
"Are we there?" Caleb asked as he awoke. "Yes, now wake up Seth. I'm going to go inside and get our room. I'll give you the signal when I get one okay?"
He nodded and you turned and walked to the lobby.
"Hi, I have reservations under the name 'Puget'." The man looked into his computer and then said, "Yes, that is the suite. Um, are you family?"
"I'm his fiancé and I'm here with his two brothers. We're meeting him here," you lied.
The man nodded and handed you the room key. You then made a signal outside and waited for them to get the stuff. As soon as Seth and Caleb walked in, the lobby seemed to get quiet. You ignored the utter silence and walked towards the elevator with them following. When you were all loaded in the elevator, you said, "Jade got us a suite. He didn't need to do that."
Caleb looked up and pressed the button to get you to the last floor and then said, "I don't know. Maybe it's not as nice as it sounds." You shrugged and waited until the elevator stopped. As you approached the suite, you grabbed your key and slid it through. The little light turned red. "What the..." you then proceeded to slide it through several times before Seth grabbed it out of your hand and slid it through properly. You glared at him as you walked into the room and dropped your stuff. You all kind of stared at it for a while before unloading.
The room was large and had 3 beds near the windows and 2 full couches. It also had a large window that had a beautiful view of the city. The walls were white with rose wallpaper bordering the corners. There were a lot of end tables that had roses on them to go along with the theme.
"Dude, check out this bathroom!" screamed Caleb to Seth. "They have separated toilets and urinals. Look, they're gold plated!" You shook your head and walked past them to look at the bath. It was one of those really big ones that are like a hot tub. It was deep too. "I could have fun with this," you whispered as you picked up the bath massager. You then laughed and shook your head as you laid on one of the beds. You then got up and noticed a cabinet above the bed. Then you noticed there was a large TV in there! "Oh wow, this is incredible. Jade really outdid himself!"
"Oh, but you're worth it," you heard a voice from behind you. You turned around and lost your breath for a second as you saw Jade standing there with his arms open. You ran up to him and lovingly embraced him for the first time in a long time. "I missed you so much," you said while taking in his scent.
"I missed you too. That's why I got you this room for you and your friend!"
You pulled away and said, "Um, yeah. I met someone else before we left and I brought him along. Is that a problem?"
He shook his head and said, "Not at all. I made sure there were enough beds, just in case. Plus, I know that there's an after party and they're most likely going thrash this place." You laughed and kissed him on the lips. He started to kiss back, until you heard a voice.
"Aw, how cute," said Seth.
"Sorry to break up the family reunion but man, I'm feeling vaguely unloved over here," said Caleb with a smirk. You smiled and looked at Jade and said, "Jade, I want you to meet my band mates, Caleb and Seth."
Caleb stood up and shook his hand as Seth did the same. "Nice to meet you guys. So have you been looking out for my little girl? Thank you, at least she had someone to entertain her," Jade said smiling. Jade wrapped his arms around you from behind and comfortably leaned into him. You felt so small compared to him because he was so much taller and bigger than you. But you felt so safe with him.
"Um, I'm going to go check out the hotel. I'll just leave you two to catch up," said Caleb grabbing Seth by the collar and dragging him out. "But I want to stay!" you heard his cries. You snickered and wrapped your arms around Jade's neck. He backed up a little bit and fell onto the bed dragging you with him. You smiled as you found yourself sitting on top of him. Then you felt a little awkward. You then looked down at him and then to the floor. You climbed off of him and sat on the pillow and sighed. "Not ready?" he asked. You shook your head and he patted you on the back and said, "It's okay. No pressure. It's completely up to you and if you're not ready, then I'm not either." You smiled sadly at him. "It's not like I don't want to. I just don't think it's time yet. Plus I'm still scared. Sometimes I hate my emotions." He sighed and gave you a hug. "We start shooting tomorrow at sunrise. You might want to get some sleep because they're most likely going to wake us all up at like 4 in the morning. But there is this warehouse out in the countryside and the sun hits it perfectly in the morning. It's going to be such a sweet I looked at the costume they're making you wear. You'll love it. I know I did."
You smiled and said, "I can't wait. I just hope I'm good at acting."
Jade smirked and said, "Well, if this helps, Davey is the worst person to work with when it comes to this so if you screw up you won't be alone."
You started laughing.
Skip to tomorrow morning
You opened your eyes to someone violently shaking you. You looked over and saw Jade lying beside you staring at the ceiling, obviously pissed that someone woke him up. "What?" you asked the person shaking you. He backed up and you saw that it was Davey. "Oh, its you. Do we have to leave?" he nodded. You sighed and got out bed and changed into a black teeshirt and jeans. You brushed your hair and didn't do your makeup because there would be people at the shoot who would do your makeup for the video. When you walked out, Jade was already ready. So were Caleb and Seth who woke up earlier than you. You sighed and walked out into the chilly morning air. You then got into a van filled with equipment and drove to the warehouse.
When you got there, you noticed there were cameras everywhere and there was a large green screen setup in front of the far exit door. As you walked through all the hallways inside, you found a lady who had your costume all ready. She led you out to a trailer and sat you down inside on a chair. A lady then came in and started doing your makeup. They brushed your newly dyed hair and made it lay down flat. They applied thick dark lines on your eyes and used loads of mascara until you had beautiful gothic eyes. Then they put pale foundation on your face and made you look almost deathly. Then one of the ladies came out with three dresses in their hands. They were all so beautiful.
She then explained that you'd be featuring in more than one scene and that'd you'd be wearing a different dress each scene. Your first scene you would be wearing a black dress that went down to your knees and had no straps. This was the scene where you'd look up at Jade in the first DecemberUnderground scene. You were going to wear black and white striped tights underneath with black high top converse.
Your second dress was a white satin one with no straps as well. But this one had a pretty design on it. This one went to your middle shin and was a lot more feminine than the last one. This one was for a scene Jade failed to tell you about. In the scene, you were in a dirty bathroom with a mirror on the wall to the left. It starts out with you making yourself look pretty for prom or something. As you apply the eye shadow, the light comes in and you're on the ground crying with cuts that's go up yours arms and on the mirror it says, "Am I pretty enough for you now?" This all happens during the chorus.
Then the third dress was for the ending where the band turns and sees you and the others all watching them. But you alone are smiling.
You sighed as you got ready for the first scene with you in it. You changed into the first dress and looked at yourself one final time in the mirror. You look so deathly white and the way they did your makeup made you look like you've spent your whole life crying. Your hair, you noticed, stood out vibrantly with the dark clothes and pale skin. You had such pink lips though. You chewed on your lip ring as you walked out of the trailer. You walked up to the room you were supposed to be in and asked the director what you were supposed to do.
"Well, we just got done with Jade's whole running scene and the beginning scene. Now it's up to the scene where he stops at the room that is a part of DecemebrUnderground. So pretty much he's going to walk in there and no one else is going to even look at him. Except you. Just kind of glance up distantly and stare. Then you start crossing your arms over your heart like you're tearing it. Act like you're trying to talk to him with your hands and try to tell him what happened without making it look funny. Then when he runs out, just lean back against the tree."
"Tree?" you asked. He pointed to the middle of the room where this realistic tree stood. The room was filled with fake snow and there was a fan blowing to make it seem like it was windy and cold. "Yeah, we're also going to edit this so you can see your breath in the air." He added. You took a deep breath before taking your place. When Jade walked in, you were mesmerized. He was wearing a black turtleneck with tight black pants and boots. His makeup was beautifully done and his hair was somewhat spiky in the back part and the blonde patch was split so it covered his eye more. When he glanced at you, he smiled warmly and said, "Wow, you look...amazing," You smiled and said, "So do you," You then noticed that Caleb and Seth both had the hair slicked over their eyes. Seth was wearing knee-length green shorts with a black shirt with a black trench coat over it. Caleb was wearing stretchy black pants with a white collared button up shirt with a black tie. He had a fitted black hoody over it. He wore it with the hood up.
Then Jade walked out of the room for a second. There was going to be a camera following him as he walked into the room so they could use that and then switch to the other camera view of being inside the room. Makes for good editing.
"And action!" The music started playing loudly as you started the scene.
Jade ran and almost passed the door when he stopped and looked inside. He then walked up into the doorway and looked in at you. You stared at the ground and looked up with a pained look on your face. You tried to pull yourself up using the tree, and you held on to a spot on your dress that symbolized where your heart was. You then made your fingers touch and pull apart. You reached your hand out to him and mouthed, "help"
He shook his head because he couldn't understand you and he ran away. Then the camera was on you alone as you slowly acted as though your heart was disappointed as you sighed and fell to the snowy ground. "Cut!"
Of course, you only had to reenact that over a million times before they finally moved on to the next scene.
You changed into the second dress as you wiped off the makeup from earlier. This time you would only have eyeliner and eye shadow and not as much mascara. Your hair still stood out beautifully as you put in a white headband. You were also wearing a corsage around your wrist as apposed to the scene. You wore white heels.
You then walked to the gross looking bathroom. It kind of looks like the bathroom from that from first to last video "Note to Self"
As the music started up, you automatically looked in the mirror and acted as if your prom date would be here any second. You were so happy. You didn't even realize Jade was in the scene. "It's killing time again, put on your face and let's pretend these killing lights won't kill us all again."
"Cut! Next scene," the director yelled. You sighed and went for make up. They did horror movie makeup all over your arms and legs and face. It looked all bloody and stuff. You had to cry in this scene. You sighed and went back to the scene. It was now completely covered in vandalism of "I hate you" and "Ugly" all over the wall. And in lipstick on the mirror said, "Am I pretty enough for you now?"
You sat propped up against the wall and stared at the camera. "Action!" Then there was a large flash before you were seen staring at the camera. Three tears rolled down your cheek as you wiped the blood from your face.
"It's killing time again, Cover your face and we'll pretend these killing lights won't kill us all again,"
"Cut! Redo!" You sighed and continued to redo the scene. You were only 4 hours into the days so it was 8 AM. You figured you'd get done today since it's not that complex of a video other than the editing. The next scene was where Jade would walked up to the exit and see the winter place and he'd get all confused of why he's in DecemberUnderground and he'd be holding his head and freaking out.
"You see, they always remember. They never forget a face when they cut, cut you up. They remember." Then it'd cut to a scene that the band recorded earlier where they play their instruments in the snow. They got it all up to my point of entry where Davey turns around first before they all do and I stand there smiling with my Seth and Caleb watching.
So by the end of the day, you had recorded the ending sequence and the dress looked beautiful. The video was going to be edited and we'd hear more about it later in the week.
Eventually you all got to help edit certain parts until it was completely perfect and went in sync with the song. But the after party was the one thing you wish you could remember.
Jade's Point of view
You were standing around with everyone with a drink in hand. You had only had a few sips though since you were cutting down on drinking. You looked around and asked Davey, "Hey, do you know where Jess went?"
He shook his head and said, "No, I haven't seen her since we got to the hotel. Sorry."
You nodded you head and turned as you scanned over the large amount of people in the room. You then saw bright red hair in the far right. You started heading her direction but stopped when you realized she was laying on the couch with her head hanging over the edge. You ran over to the her and put her head on your lap as you sat down.
"J-Jadeyou look so sexy," she slurred. You shook your head and said, "How much did you drink?"
Her eyes seemed to wonder around curiously as she held up four fingers and said, "This many,"
"Wow, I didn't think you could hold your liquor so well," you laughed. Then you sighed and picked her up and walked out of the crowded hotel room. You walked into the open hotel room next door and laid her on the bed. You turned around and sighed again as your mind developed rather obscene images of what you could do with her in this state. You shook them out though, as you walked to the bed and started unzipping her corset so she could be more comfortable. You tried to look away as her top slipped off but your heart was racing as you fought to keep your eyes on the ground. "Jadeyou know how much ILoooove you, right?" She garbled. You nodded as you continued to take off her corset. Then she slipped out, "Well, I've been thinkingand I think I might be readyIt's what you want, riiiiight?" She then sat up on her knees revealing to you her body as she sat in her bra and jeans. She put her arms around your neck and tried to kiss you but you remained there twitching. "This isn't right, Jess." You said as you pushed her off of you.
She then started to giggle and spread herself out onto the bed. "Silly Jade!" she yelled repeatedly in a childish voice. Then as you tried to walk out she grabbed your arm and whispered, "Please? I can't control myself any longer,"
You pulled away disgusted and ran out of the room and into the elevator. You didn't like this side of her at all. It drove you crazy that you were pulling away from her when you had all the opportunity but if you were going to do anything with her, you wanted it to be when she's sober.
You held onto your pants as you were trying to resist all urges but man, that was harder to do than say. As the elevator reached the lobby, you decided you'd go for a walk.
As you came back, you felt like something was wrong. You went up the elevator and walked down the hall and looked inside the hotel room and saw Davey lying on the bed, with Jess face down in his crotch. "Dude, what the hell?" you screamed in dismay, "Dude, this is sooo not what it looks like!"
"Bull shit!" You yelled.
"Oh come on, why would I hit up on your chick? She's the one who's drunk as a skunk! Did you ever think that she might be a little more reliable on the stuff since you left?" Davey screamed in reply. Then it hit you. She turned to alcohol because of you leaving. "Oh shit, I had no clue." You said as you sat on the bed. Davey sighed and said, "Dude, for you information, she laid down on me. She was all sad because you walked out on her. What happened anyway?"
You moaned and said, "She was trying to force me to sleep with her."
"And you denied, why?"
"Because I'm not going to sleep with a drunk virgin!" You screamed louder than you meant to.
"Wow, she's a virgin?"
Your hand immediately hit your face.
"Eh, I'll be leaving now. Make good choices and use a condom." Said Davey as he kissed you on the cheek and ran out of the room. "Idiot..." you mouthed as you went and laid next to your passed out girlfriend. "You're going to be a handful," you sighed and lay down and fell asleep.