The Static In Your Eyes - Tim Wright x Reader

Chapter One - Old College Project

The sound of pattering rain knocked against the windows like a symphony of not-so-rythmic drums. It started off as a drizzle, but it was obvious when the sky turned into a fog of grey that hid the beams of the sun, that it was going to be a day full of crying skies. It wasn't unwelcome, though. It was spring after all, and the plants and trees had been desperately reaching for the clouds in desperate attempts to drink right from the greedy clouds. It's just the perfect day to bask indoors on my day off work, huddled on the couch with my nose dug deep into an old book, enjoying that familiar book smell that wafted from each flipped page. Thinking of work tomorrow was a dread. Having graduated college, I was expecting a higher paying job or work in the movie industry considering the work and classes I took in university. But, alas, as if work force fate had chained and weighed me down, I ended up staying in my hometown working overnight shifts in a gas station, walking distance from my apartment. It was convenient, considering the lack of a vehicle I owned, and it paid just enough to afford everything needed to live in a one bedroom apartment.
With a yawning sigh breaching my throat and out my nose, I felt the subconscious stretching of my back and legs, my body's way of indicating that it had enough of being lazy and was ready to get moving around, even if the rain caused a slight ache in my joints. Marking the inside spine of my book with one of those free plastic book marks from the library, I finally willed myself to set the book aside and get up, finishing the race of stretching my body had begun. My mind, like a book of its own, flipped through its folds like the pages of a book, for an idea of what to do, only to be disturbed and given the answer by my body. A burning ache forced the base of my abdomen to rumble, crying out for nourishment. I could make something here, but it was a lazy day, and the idea of forcing myself to commit to making a meal was too much. I rolled my eyes at myself, knowing that I'd not invest in the dishes and they'd be left to, "soak," in the sink, only to be put off and left to swim in cold water until it became something I didn't wanna touch at all. So, for the sake of today's sanity, I decided a small walk to the gas station wouldn't be a bad idea, also the thought of employee discounted food made my wallet feel a bit better. So, I had done the bare minimum to make myself look presentable, by grooming myself and putting on a pair of ashy-black jeans that had been left hanging off the edge of my bed, and one of those near-plastic feeling windbreakers that made the sound of crinkling with every movement you made. It was good enough for the wander over, something to keep the raindrops at bay without having to lumber with an umbrella.
The walk was forgettable, just a walk through Rosswood Park, and a couple extra street blocks through town to get to the specific gas station. The sky, still muddled grey, continued its elemental sobbing. It wasn't as sad as before, now just dropping heavy droplets onto my shoulders and into the roots of my hair. The small breeze carried around the pleasant smell of rain, keeping it a decent chilly temperature, making me almost wish I brought something heavier with me to wear. The sidewalks were wet, letting me slap up water with a few heavy steps of boredom, almost like a child relishing in puddles, except I wasn't jumping around and laughing, for the shame that would bring as an adult gave me second hand embarrassment just thinking of it.
A small shiver ran up my back from the base of my spine the second I was engulfed by the temperature difference entering the gas station. I briefly greeted a coworker that I never had a lot of time to make buddy buddies with, considering these were single person shifts. I shuffled my wet combat boots across the floor and weaved through the aisles to make my way back to the drink section. Picking out a drink, I didn't take to long to start making my way back to the front section of the store, snagging a few extra things, like candy and a bag of plain chips. I found myself in front of the cooler, glaring at the different sandwich options, not paying any mind to the bell indication that someone had entered, I wasn't on shift after all.
My time being alone was short spent, feeling the presence of someone next to me, I couldn't help but let my curious eyes glance over, only to realize that this specific person came over just to try to start a conversation. "Hey, uh, do you work here?" Odd question to ask someone who was obviously shopping. I bit back that sarcastic remark and decided to indulge, only because this man looked familiar. His lanky body and slightly slouched shoulders drew my eyes up to his face, to his tired eyes that swirled with a blue-grey that almost resembled the sky's grey features. "I mean, I do work here, I'm just not on shift right now." I raised my hand after letting it wander to snatch the chosen, plastic-wrapped sandwich, raising it slightly to show that I was in fact shopping, not stocking. "Oh, yeah," he started, one of his slim hands raising to wave off any ideas I might have of him asking for store associated help. "Actually, I was just wondering about you, like specifically. Is your name Y/N, by chance?" His curious eyes found mine, as if invading them and forcing out the thoughts I previously had of familiarity with this man. "I am," I confirmed, my voice lowered to show that it was laced with suspicion of who he was. His hand came up to his chest, gesturing to himself awkwardly. "My name is Jay, I- I'm pretty sure we've met before. I actually helped with that unfinished movie project that Alex Kralie was making back in college. You were semi-apart of it."
Oh right, I had totally forgotten about that project, it escaped my mind like some sort of old piece history learned and forgotten in the same years college history class. The memories of that project hit my brain and exploded pebbles of images across it's surface. That was a silly project, I recall how much fun it was to goof around in public or, "on set." The movie had been labeled a romantic comedy, and there was a lot of comedy and silly times at the beginning. Kralie had been a fantastic and fun director at the beginning... Until either stress or college life made him a very irritable person and the entire thing was called off. "Oh, yeah- Marble Hornets, right? I totally forgot that project existed." My eyes bore into Jay once more, finally recognizing him from a few shooting sessions regarding the movie process, I'd never gotten too close with him. Nor anyone else on the project to be completely honest.
"Yeah, actually, I had recently picked the project back up for Alex and I was wondering if you'd be interested in helping or answering some questions about Alex or the set, or something like that." I felt my eyes perk up at that thought, making the movie was so fun in college, and now that I've graduated college and only had work and zero social life, this could be a gratifying opportunity to meet more individuals my own age and have fun doing a frivolous movie project. "Oh for sure. Yeah, the idea of that movie was very out there and the beginning of that process was something I enjoyed. Did you want my number?"
With a quick exchange of digits on our measly flip phones, I smiled at Jay and turned to retreat to the counter to pay for the array of items I had chosen. Almost as not to seem awkward, Jay grabbed something miscellaneous to also juggle along to the counter. Headed for the door my eyes and ears picked up sign of the wind and rain and how it had picked up, looking like the very early beginnings of a rain storm. I huffed to myself, and before I could push the door open, Jay placed himself beside me, pointing to one of the two cars out in the parking lot, being violated by the rain. The other, silver sedan was presumed to belong to him. "Is that car yours?" Man, Jay was pretty nosy. I sigh, not wanting to come off rude, but I was frustrated that I had decided to walk at an awful time of day. "No, I actually walked here."
"I can give you a ride, if you'd like? Maybe we can do a bit of talking about Marble Hornets on the way if you wouldn't mind?" It wasn't much of a discussion, it felt like my only other choice was to get sick and cold in the thundering rain and chilly winds. It was a short walk to Jay's vehicle, my arms coming in a futile attempt to grip onto the sleeves of my windbreaker to block the rain. I tugged open the door of Jay's sedan, plopping myself down into his dry car, now tainted from the droplets of rain on my clothes. I let a huff rip out from my throat as Jay made himself comfortable in the drivers seat next to me. "Hey, I appreciate the ride." I didn't know if I wanted him to have an idea of where I lived, we knew eachother in school, sure, but barely. Maybe I could have him drop me off at Rosswood, or down the block from my house. "Yeah, it's no problem really, I don't have anything going on today, it's a plus also, because I get to ask questions about, y'know, Marble Hornets." He had taken a camera up from the middle area between our two seats, settling it on the dashboard to be pointed at us, the red light blinking to further prove that it was, in fact on. "I hope you don't mind if I record, just for, like, behind the scenes stuff." Now you ask. "I don't mind," my response was a bit dry, my eyes focused on the small lens of the camera for a moment, giving it an awkward wave. My vision then shifted to focus out of the window, at the grey that painted itself over the sky. Jay pulled out of the lot with ease, the sound of water splattering under his wheels that faintly heard, along with the pitter patter of heavy rain on the roof and windshield of the car came together to replace what could have been Jay's stereo.
"Where exactly did you want me to drop you off?" He asked, keeping his eyes in front of him. I directed him with ease to Rosswood, letting him ask very specific questions about Marble Hornets. They seemed less directed about the movie and more about Alex himself. I stayed as honest as I could, without attacking Alex on a personal level. 'How was Alex as a director? How did Alex treat you as a friend or as an actor during the film making. What happened after the movie was canceled and who did you keep in touch with.' This was a list of some of the questions that stuck out to me, I answered in a pretty basic way, not wanting to take too long responding. "Alex was a very friendly director at the beginning, his ideas were creative, but I think that school had gotten stressful for him because of how irritable he got towards the end of production." I went on to verbalize that he treated me just as everyone else was treated, and that I never bothered to keep in contact with anyone after the movie's cancelation due to the fact that none of us were close during college. Or that I specifically wasn't close with anyone.
Nothing was incredibly note worthy to me, and as we pulled into Rosswood, I took notice of how the wind and rain did not calm down. Jay's eyes came to me, his brows raised a bit as if he understood why I asked to be dropped off in a public area rather than where I lived. Then, he came out with an offer one that I almost instantly took up. "Hey, I'm not some creep or weirdo, I can drop you off in front of your house, it's just cold and rainy outside." My hand was raised over the door handle of his car, my teeth biting at the side of my tongue during a moment of thought. He didn't seem like an awful guy, and I did know him during college, and he has only been asking about Marble Hornets. "Yeah, actually I live a few more blocks down."
The rest of the drive was mostly silent and I presumed that Jay had run out of any questions to ask, with that in mind I wondered why the camera on the dash was continuing it's virtual spying on us. Why hadn't Jay turned it off? He'd certainly have to cut this. When his car rolled to a stop in front of my apartment complex, I told him he could call me and what days off work I had. We made no specific day to meet up, keeping our schedules vague. I slipped easily out of his vehicle, and once again into mother natures tantrum. I securely shut his car door behind me, giving him a bidding wave through the window, which he graciously returned with a lip pressed smile. My legs carried me with a trotting jog to hurry inside the building with my bag of goodies. I looked back once more to see Jay almost immediately pull is car away once he saw me enter the main door to the building, I wanted to think he was ensuring my safety instead of trying to catch a glimpse of which unit I might reside in.. I took a moment to myself in the hall before entering my apartment, slipping off my wet boots and settling back down where I started on the couch, but instead of a book, I was remedying that forgotten ache deep in my gut and heavily pondering about that old college project.