On Wednesday night, I check to see if I brought my hiking boots from home, and I frown when I realize I didn’t. On Thursday, I check out a few thrift stores, but I don’t find any boots in my size. On Friday, I suck it up and buy some from the clearance rack at Wal-Mart. And on Saturday, I curl my toes in them as I stand in a blanket of barn-red leaves, staring out over a vast open meadow in the middle of a forest far from the city. Rustling autumn trees form a perfect circle around the wooded oasis, standing sentry around the glittering pond in the very center of the meadow.
“Finally,” Dee and Danica complain in unison, cutting each other with dirty looks when they realize their mistake. I never thought I’d see the day when they actually agreed on something, but it didn’t take long today before they both started grumbling about the long hike here. Even Rowan started drifting toward the dark side, repeatedly asking if we were close yet and if the guys were sure they knew where they were going. Forty minutes and a nagging blister on my pinky toe later, the trees finally broke and revealed this secret pond.
“How did you ever find this place?” I ask in a quiet voice, not wanting to disturb the serene beauty of it. Long whispers of clouds float across the blue sky, teasing the long grass that dances in their shadow.
“We went to a party up here once,” Shawn says from somewhere to my left. There are a bunch of us—me, Shawn, Kit, Adam, Rowan, Dee, Joel, Danica, Mike—and we all stand in a line with the trees.
“Our friend Driver has friends that knew about this place,” Adam adds, finally taking the first step. He turns around and walks backward, a beaming smile on his face. “This video is going to be so sick.”
“How are you going to get all the stuff up here?” Rowan asks, and Adam chuckles.
“With Mosh Records’ money.”
Shawn follows Adam into the field, and the rest of us follow. “So we’re going to set up on that dock out there,” he says, and my eyes travel the length of a steel grate dock that stretches onto the pond, leading to a large circular platform, “and we’re going to light up the pond with all sorts of colored flames floating on top, and maybe glow sticks or something hanging in the water.” His long legs push through thick tangles of grass that wrap around his ankles, and he turns around and gestures at the surrounding trees. “And since the song is called ‘Ghost,’ we’re going to have tons of people in the trees, but we’re going to get the special effects team to make them look really washed out, and, like . . .”
He struggles to find the word, and Joel finishes, “Like ghosts.”
“Kind of, yeah,” Shawn says. He turns around and continues walking toward the dock. “And as the song continues, the extras are going to start coming out of the trees.”
“It’s going to be so fucking creepy,” Adam gloats. He turns around to walk backward again, practically dancing with excitement.
Shawn casts a grin at him before continuing. “So they’re just going to get closer and closer, and it’s going to be really eerie, but the closer they get, the more their color is going to start to come back. By the time they get to the edge of the pond, their faces and clothes are going to be really vibrant, and they’re going to start jumping to the song.”
“And they’re just going to keep coming and coming and coming,” Adam says.
“We have hundreds of extras signed up for this,” Shawn agrees. “They’re going to keep coming out of the trees until this entire meadow”—he gestures at the huge expanse of open land—“is completely filled with kids dancing to the song.”
And as if that wasn’t enough, as if I wasn’t over here going into some legit shock at the sheer weight of their stardom, Mike adds, “We’re getting drones.”
“Drones?” I ask, and Adam laughs outright.
“Oh man, this is going to be so badass.”
“Yeah,” Shawn says, and even he starts to lose his professional composure, a boyish smile stretching onto his face. “They’re going to get aerial shots.” He gives his whole smile to Kit, who gives one right back to him.
It’s no wonder they’re all bubbling with excitement—between the video and the international tour Mike mentioned, Mosh Records is investing a ton of time and money in them. I smile as I imagine what it must feel like for Mike and the rest of the guys to have so many huge dreams coming true all at once.
“Do you know what else you should do?” Danica suddenly chimes in, and Shawn’s smile disappears. Adam’s smile disappears. Kit’s smile turns into something murderous. “You should have like one star ghost in the video. I mean, the song is about her, right?”
“Who says the song is about a girl?” Kit challenges as her heavy combat boots bang onto the steel dock, but Danica just smiles as we walk.
“Well, isn’t it?” Kit’s jaw ticks, and Danica continues. “And she’d be super hot. I mean, think about it. What hit music video doesn’t have a hot girl? You wouldn’t even have to pay anyone.”
Shawn stops walking when he gets to the end of the platform in the middle of the pond, turning around with his eyes narrowed. “And why is that?”
Danica’s alligator smile widens, her long brown hair snaking behind her in the breeze. “Because I’d do it for free.”
She’s dead serious. Utterly serious. Which, I’m guessing, is why Kit completely loses it. She starts laughing, quietly at first—normally, like a normal person. But when personal offense writes itself all over Danica’s face, she starts laughing harder, and harder, and harder. Dee joins in, and Joel tries not to, but fails. Shawn tries to suppress a smile that won’t stay hidden, and eventually, Kit laughs so hard that she descends into a full-on coughing fit.
Sneezes and coughs from nearly the entire band made up the soundtrack of our hike through the woods, but Kit coughed more than anyone else, wiping her nose with her sleeve and insisting that she was fine every time Shawn lectured that she should have stayed home. Now, those coughs get the better of her, and she doesn’t stop until she hacks something up and spits it into the water at Danica’s side.
“Gross,” Danica scolds, which only makes Kit laugh again. “What is your problem?” she snaps, and I wait for her to murder Kit, or Kit to murder her, or someone to murder someone and turn this place into a real-life crime scene, when Mike wraps his arm around Danica’s shoulder.
“Kit’s just delirious,” he says, giving Kit a pointed look. He turns to stand in front of Danica, his big hands on her shoulders. “And they’ve put a lot of thought into this. We all have.”
“I’m just trying to help.” Danica pouts, and Mike studies her for a moment before replying.
“I know. I appreciate that.”
“My idea wasn’t bad,” Danica insists, looking past Mike to implore Shawn. “I could take this music video to the next level. Having a sexy girl in it would make—”
“You realize Kit is sexy as hell, right?” Dee snaps, and I can’t tell if Kit’s cheeks are red because she’s embarrassed or red because she’s sick, but I don’t remember her being that flushed a minute ago. “Look at her. She’s a fucking bombshell. This video will already have a hot girl in it.”
“Well, yeah,” Danica reluctantly concedes, “but—”