Dancing in the Dark ✓

12 | theo

"Sir Director!"

I turned around at the familiar voice, breaking out into a wide grin. "Davi! You're finally back!"

He greeted me with a tight hug. "Ah, I'm ready to rumble. I saw there's a new person in the group chat?" 

"Yeah, Sasha Li," I explained. "She's our writer -- I'll introduce you to her later."

"Awesome! And we're going to start filming closer to Christmas right? 'Cuz Hiransh and Daisy are still in NYC?"

"Yep, that's when Hiransh and Daisy will be back in Toronto." 

"Good, good. Surprised Halima hasn't freaked about the time cutting kinda close to the festival, though."

I shrugged with a smile. "We work with what we've got."

"Very true. Well, where's Raphael and Lars? I've got to make my presence known. Bet you Lars has missed my kisses, too." 

I chuckled. "I think they're in the cafeteria -- let's go. How's your family?"

Davi sighed, a hint of fatigue showing. "Not everything's perfect, but at least the biggest drama has been resolved, I guess. Luckily I have my film family here in school." 

"It really does feel like a little family of ours, hey," I grinned. Davi, Halima, and Raphael were part of the original crew I started out with when we first began high school, so we had experienced and grew a lot together. 

"And it's growing even more," Davi added. "I don't want to think about what we'll do once we graduate -- I mean, Halima and Lars will still be here -- but we'll cross the line when we get there." 

"Yeah," I said, sudden bittersweetness washing over me. 

"Okay, let's not spiral," Davi joked, then squinted as we entered the cafeteria. "Mr. Kumar? Is that you?"

Raphael stood up so quickly that his chair screeched. "Ain't it the man himself!"

"I'm back in all my glory, baby!" Davi chortled, pulling Raphael into a hug. He then turned to Lars, who had already started backing away slowly. "Come back here, Greenlander!"

Lars grumbled as Davi planted a fat kiss on his cheek. "I missed you, you goofy."

"I think you're the goofy one in the relationship," Raphael remarked. 

"Hey, it's part of my charm. Where's our Queen Halima?" Davi asked. 

"I'll let her know we're all here," I chuckled, pulling out my phone. "I think she might be doing some Interact Club stuff." 

"Anyone seen Sasha?" Raphael asked. "Davi can finally meet her." 

"There," Lars said simply, jerking his head in a general direction. 

I craned my neck to follow his line of sight, and sure enough, at far corner of the cafeteria, sat Sasha. There was a boy with long dreads next to her, hunched over a notebook. I recognised him as Jacob, who was also from the science stream. I glanced back at Sasha as she hovered a pen over her notebook, lost in deep thought. Eyebrows furrowed, eyes downcast, jaw slightly clenched -- I could understand why people found her a little intimidating, but this wasn't her usual defensive scowl. I surprised myself for noticing the difference.

I glanced away sheepishly, as if she had caught me staring at her. 

Davi peered at me questioningly. "Are you going to introduce me or...?"

Sasha was now looking over Jacob's book, using a finger to trace over whatever she was focusing on. Jacob was pointing at different sections of the page, probably clarifying his questions. 

Davi clapped me on the back and dragged me towards them. "You can throw me under the bus for this one."

"Wait --"

Too late, Davi dragged me towards the occupied pair, catching their attention. Sasha raised her eyebrows, mirth twinkling in her eyes as I reluctantly made my way towards them. 

"Hello!" Davi chirped brightly, as if he hadn't interrupted a study session. "I'm Davi, part of the film crew. Theo was telling me about you, so I wanted to introduce myself."

"Nice to meet you," she replied amiably. She gestured to Jacob next to her. "This is my classmate, Jacob. We were just working our way through some Organic Chem."

Davi crinkled his nose. "Sorry, but eww."

Jacob grinned lopsidedly. "Fair enough. I saw our top student right here dozing off in class herself." 

Sasha groaned. "I'm so sleep deprived."

I gestured to the coffee in front of her. "The usual, mocha?"

Surprise danced across her face. "No, but how did you know I liked mocha?" 

"You mentioned it briefly at the diner," I shrugged. 

Jacob sighed apologetically. "Sorry, I didn't know -- should've gotten you mocha instead, then."

"All good," she said. "Thanks for the coffee anyways, I needed caffeine." 

"So do I," Davi admitted. "Jet lag has not been kind to me."

Sasha's brows furrowed. "Isn't Brazil only an hour ahead of Toronto?" 

"Shh," Davi hushed, dramatically flipping imaginary hair over his shoulder. "I still need my beauty sleep."

I snorted, and Sasha raised her gaze to mine, her face a mask of neutrality, an expression I couldn't quite read -- but there was a sparkle in her eyes that gave her away. 

"I haven't really seen you around before," Davi interrupted the moment. 

Jacob chuckled. "I swear she's always hiding out in the library. I managed to convince her to come here by treating her to lunch."

"Food is always the way to the heart," Davi agreed. 

"We should let you get back to it," I said. "Halima's coming all the way downstairs just to say hi to this dude." 

Jacob exhaled dramatically. "Back to stu-dying, comrade." 

"That's such an old pun," Sasha retorted, but a ghost of a smile touched her lips. 

There was a different kind of easiness she had, next to Jacob, that made it hard for me to look away. She was usually so closed off, that seeing her more relaxed than normal made me want to stay around for a little longer. 

Davi elbowed me. "Isn't that Halima? Sorry team, gotta go meet the boss lady. See you soon, Sasha! Nice meeting you, Jacob!" 

"See you," Sasha and Jacob chorused. 

Once again, I was dragged away by an overly enthusiastic Davi, but I couldn't help the warmth spreading in my chest, glad that my film crew was finally complete.