DVD commentary: This Day Has Been Crazy
I realized when I went back to look at this piece, I'd written at the end that I'd probably come back and add notes later. So I guess I'm doing it now! So okay, hi. Here we go. This is a piece I wrote in fall 2009. If memory serves, I was originally pretty stumped on this "chain reaction" prompt because I thought it demanded something epic. I did have the idea of there being this photograph in the paper that causes a ripple through the high school, but I hadn't originally planned on escalating it to the point of absurdity…
And then I kind of did.
Anyway, it opens with this 'flash forward' (if you watched the recap, you might remember that we could NOT REMEMBER that word) because I was hoping that would lend to the ~epic~ feeling of the whole thing. Also, to make people curious WHY Tony is in the roof, in a dress. Very clever, right??
"Oh my God!"
"Are you guys seeing this?"
"How'd he get up there?"
"Is he wearing a dress?"
"Come, quick! Over here-look!"
Backlit by the afternoon sun, a lone figure stands on the roof of the gymnasium, an electric guitar in his hands and the lacy hem of his skirt flapping in the breeze.
Rejoining the crowd in the parking lot, Darcy peers over heads, squinting beneath the shade of her hand. "So..." she says, "That's Tony, right?"
"Yeah," Levee says, leaning back against the nearest car. "And that's my dress."
* * *
8 hours earlier…
Someone calls her name across the hallway. Darcy spins around, scanning the scattering of students.
"Darcy!"
She sees her this time-Levee, wedged between the lockers and the drinking fountain, cupping her hands like a megaphone. Tucked under her arm is what looks suspiciously like a school newspaper, which Darcy's sure Levee's been actively boycotting for at least the last few weeks after deeming it "popular propaganda."
So…I guess in my universe, the newspaper kids are the popular kids? Or at least Levee thinks so lol. High-school popularity was never a trope I found all that interesting to mess around with, which is why it isn't a consistent theme in these stories. Rayn and Tony are reasonably popular-the others maybe less so, but not to a comical extent or anything. To break out the TV Tropes (PREPARE YOURSELVES), I think Darcy and Mike almost certainly think of themselves as Cool Losers. Levee'd consider herself more the Informed Loner type. Not sure if either of those reflect reality.
"What-" Darcy starts to call back, before she's nearly run down by a pair of freshman boys. After stumbling out of their way, she catches herself on the water fountain and looks up, blowing a stray hair out of her eyes. "What's up? Is that-"
"Yes, it's the Shout"-Levee unfurls it from under her arm, glancing from side to side-"I thought you should see something."
"I thought you didn't read that." Darcy reaches for the paper, but it's snatched away again.
"I don't," Levee says. "This is a special occasion. Did you know they were doing a story on the Battle of the Bands?"
"Um, no?" Darcy makes a grab for the paper again. "Hey! Are you going to show me or what?"
Levee motions for her to step back by the drinking fountain and Darcy barely manages to squeeze in beside her. When Levee unfolds the paper to page three, BATTLE OF THE BANDS RAISES $700 FOR THE ARTS is splashed across the top left corner and below it, a picture-rather large for a non-feature article-of...
Wow, $700. I'm not sure if I'd intended for this number to be comically small or not. Maybe it's not bad for a high school fundraiser?? I don't have a baseline for this.
"Aw, it's Rayn!" Darcy says.
Levee frowns at her. "Look closer."
"What? It's a good picture and...oh, okay, there's Mike! And...wait." Darcy stops. "Are they holding hands?"
"Yes. Yes they are."
LOL okay, those of you who've watched Phineas and Ferb will understand how I just read that line in my head. (Hey, aren't you a little old to be holding hands with your friends?)
"What-how-when was this even taken?"
Levee shakes her head, crinkling the sides of the paper in her fists. "Cara Brewer was taking like a million photos there! Tell me, why would she choose that one?"
"I guess...because they're standing under the banner?"
"No one's playing an instrument! No one's holding an instrument! There are no instruments in this picture!"
Darcy squints at the image. "I think there's a drum kit in the background, but I can't even tell through the crowd...oh, shit. I know when it was taken. That's my elbow there in the corner. See!" She holds her wrist up to Levee's face. "You can see my bracelets."
"So...there a reason why they're holding hands?"
"It was this stupid spur of the moment thing-okay, my stupid spur of the moment thing...Rayn wanted to go talk to one of the other bands, but we had to walk through the crowd to do it and I was like 'grab my hand or I'll lose you,' and since Mike was also there, we all grabbed hands and then I guess I...let go?" Darcy curses, banging her fist against the drinking fountain. "I let go, and a second later, someone takes this picture."
"Okay," Levee says, after a moment's consideration. "That doesn't sound much better, but I think we can find a way to work with it."
Levee likes to have a project.
Darcy sighs, wiping her hands down her face and trying to clear her head. "Okay. Okay, I gotta find Mike."
"Don't worry about Mike. Go find Rayn." Levee nods to the paper. "He's the one with his full name in the caption."
See, it's not that Mike isn't popular. It's just that no one knows who he is.
Darcy grabs the page for a closer look. "Oh God, the one time they don't spell it 'Ryan'!"
I don't think the typo would have helped things that much.
The first bell sounds right above their heads. Sticking her fingers in her ears, Darcy waits for it to stop before she turns back to Levee. "How many people really read the paper though? I mean, I don't. There are always tons of copies kicking around outside the office that no one wants...maybe no one's even going to see it?"
"We should still run some damage control." Levee looks up at the bell. "We have five minutes til we have to be in class."
"Damage control," Darcy repeats, though she has no idea what that entails. She assumed she'd be finding Rayn, showing him the paper and then...what? Letting him take it from there, she decides, which is probably a better plan than whatever Levee's cooking up. Suddenly, she finds herself frowning, suspicious. "Hey," she says, catching Levee's arm as she folds up the paper. "It's weird that you care so much about what happens to Mike and Rayn."
Levee shakes off her hand, like she's unsure why Darcy's touching her. "Don't worry. I'm just trying to get the Shout exposed for the gossip-mongering shitrag that it is."
"Oh, all right, then. Let's go."
When they attempt to step back into the hall, Darcy's hipbone catches against the drinking fountain, Levee stays wedged against the lockers, and they have to do some serious wriggling to get free of the small space. Lurching forward, Darcy manages to pop free and Levee follows, almost tripping but catching herself at the last minute. Darcy straightens her pants and rubs her hip.
I think I just included this because I thought the visual was funny. WHAT?
"See, if they'd gotten a photo of that, it would look pretty gay too-"
"Yeah, I get it. Thanks, Darcy."
* * *
"So what am I supposed to do?" Rayn asks, sliding a book in his locker. Darcy's chewing her lip, still holding the wrinkled newspaper in her hand, and Mike won't stop apologizing.
"I'm sorry that-" he starts to say, but Rayn cuts him off, slamming the locker closed.
"Look," Rayn says, to both of them, "This isn't a big deal. I mean, there's nothing to it. No one read the paper anyway, and those who do are just going to snicker and get over it."
"But Levee said we should do damage control!" Darcy says.
Rayn shakes his head. "She's just trying to turn it into some big dramatic thing. She's always doing that. It's obvious we were messing around. Let's just laugh about it with everyone else."
Of course, Rayn is actually being the reasonable one here. He's giving good advice. It's like the advice your parents would give you-"it's okay honey, just give it time and it'll blow over." Which is how you can tell he's wrong and it's not actually going to work out that way.
He's so sure he's right though! He even gets annoyed with Mike and Darcy for suggesting otherwise (though he's trying not to show it.)
Darcy and Mike exchange a look, one of those looks Rayn can never quite read, always feels a bit locked out of.
"What?" he asks.
"I shouldn't have-" Mike says.
Rayn cuts him off again. "Why are you even apologizing? You don't have anything to apologize for!"
"He's right," Darcy tells Mike, "It's my fault. I dropped his hand."
"It's no one's fault," Rayn says, keeping his voice even. He's trying to be reasonable, but his patience for this is wearing thin. "I should get going-don't you guys have class?"
Darcy rolls her eyes. "First period computer lab."
"Teacher never takes attendance on time," Mike explains.
"Well..." Rayn slings his backpack over one shoulder. "Have fun loitering then." His first class is just down the hall, and if he's quick about it, he can avoid being late. He hopes Darcy will take his advice for once and let the whole thing go-and if he's lucky, she'll get Levee to back off too.
He can just never tell if Levee's on his side or not.
It's easy to tell, Rayn. Just ask yourself-does being on your side suit her purpose?
"Oh, Rayn! Hold up."
He turns to find Mike jogging up behind him, holding out a pen. "This fell out of your bag," Mike says. Rayn twists around to check for an unzipped pocket on his backpack, but Mike's already grabbed it and tugged it closed. "Here," he says, handing Rayn the pen.
"Thanks," Rayn says, but when he tries to take it, Mike's still holding on. Rayn looks up, and is immediately struck with the feeling that Mike's going to apologize again. Mike opens his mouth and then hesitates.
"Are you pissed at me?" he asks finally.
"No, of course not. I'm just..." Rayn searches for the right word. "Bemused as to why you were apologizing for a picture showing up in the school paper that you obviously have no control over."
Rayn: using logic again. And the word 'bemused' correctly.
"Yeah, sor..." Mike rubs the back of his neck. "I mean, I guess I was just having middle school flashbacks."
Rayn closes his hand around the pen. "What do you mean?"
"I mean...it sucks when people give you shit over something like that. You shouldn't have to deal with it."
I think Mike kind of wants to say, "hey, I know you're think you're right but JUST IN CASE why don't you defer to my knowledge on the subject?"in this part. But he can't think of a good way to put it. And he tends to assume Rayn is actually right about these things because Rayn makes his points with like 90% more confidence than Mike feels at any given time.
"No one should have to deal with it," Rayn says.
Mike laughs self-consciously. "Yeah, you're probably right. You're right."
"And...we're not in middle school." He makes a face before adding, "Thankfully."
"You're right," Mike says again.
Stop it, Mike, you're inflating his ego.
Rayn twirls the pen between his fingers. "Well, thanks for the..."
"Yeah, no problem." Mike gives a quick wave. "See you later."
When Rayn walks into Calculus, everyone looks up at him, and for a fleeting second he doesn't realize it's because he's late.
* * *
In computer lab, Darcy and Mike slip into their seats on either side of Levee. Levee clicks over from the story she was working on to the boring Excel sheet they're supposed to be filling in.
"Why do you always do that?" Darcy asks, plopping her backpack on top of Levee's messenger bag.
Looking down, Levee nudges it off with the toe of her book. "Do what?"
"Change your screen. It's not like we're going to tell on your for not working."
Who doesn't do that?
"Habit," Levee says.
"What are we doing?" Mike asks, logging into his computer.
This is a really awesome and organized computer class.
"More spreadsheets. It's all in the classwork folder." Levee watches the hourglass spin on Mike's screen, leaning her chin on her fist. "Did Darcy show you the photo?"
"Yeah." Mike doesn't look away from the computer.
"Rayn said just to ignore it," Darcy says.
"What?" Levee asks. Mr. Dalle glances over at her raised voice, so she lowers it to a whisper. "You're just going to ignore it?"
"As opposed to...drawing more attention to it?" Mike asks. "Yeah."
Levee shakes her head, and is about to explain why that is a completely stupid idea, but Mike surprises her by slamming his hand down on top of the monitor. "This is frozen," he says, scooting his chair out to stand up. "I'm going to restart, be right back."
"Oh, God!" Darcy exclaims. Levee spins around to find her looking annoyed, pointing to an e-mail on her own screen. "Why would someone send me that?"
The first thing Levee sees is the attached picture, which is of course, a hi-res JPG of what she thinks they should just call The Photo from now on. Cause it doesn't look like it's going away any time soon. Above the picture, the text of the e-mail reads:
from: shoutoffice@viewpoint.hs.edu
to: [show all]
subject: Re: page 3 photo
---
wait, is he gay???
The three question marks are KEY. I think it took at least three people in the Shout office to draft this wonderful e-mail.
"Hang on." Levee points to the header. "I don't think this was sent to just you..."
"Wait..." Darcy stutters "They couldn't have..."
Levee reaches over and seizes the mouse, clicking the ominous [show all].
The e-mail addresses of the entire student body fill the screen.
"Oh, fuck," says Darcy, the color draining from her face. She looks behind her, blocking the screen with her arms.
"Stop that! " Levee hisses. "Everybody got the e-mail!"
"Why would someone do that? What's wrong with people?"
"They made it look like they clicked 'reply all' by mistake," Levee says, tapping the screen. "Yeah, right. Some asshole in the Shout office thought they'd expand their circulation pool, no doubt." She looked around the room. "It's only a matter of time before everyone in here sees it."
"So what can we do?"
There's only one thing to do! We'll have to find a way to shut down power to the whole school. Quick, Darcy, to the fuse boxes, before it's too late!
See, this story could have taken a very different turn. Instead, Levee pulls a "I told you so."
"Nothing," Levee said. "Which is what you wanted to do anyway, right?"
Darcy bites her lip. "Maybe Rayn's right and no one will care?"
"Or maybe Rayn's living in la-la-land."
He's a frequent visitor, to be fair.
"Wait, what?"
Levee looks up to find Mike standing behind her. He crosses his arms. "What's going on?"
"Nothing!" Darcy says quickly, going back to blocking the screen.
"He's going to see it anyway!" Levee snaps. She pulls Darcy's arms away from the computer and points. "It's The Photo. Some Shout asshole e-mailed a copy to everyone in the school."
"You're kidding," Mike says, leaning over for a better look at the screen. "Re: Page 3 photo," he reads, "Wait..."
"Don't worry," Levee says, "the question's not about you."
"Oh yeah," Darcy pipes, "Rayn's name is the one in the caption."
Turning to her, Levee adds, "Plus, everyone who cares about Mike already knows he's gay."
And no one else knows who Mike is! He really does have a knack for rendering himself basically invisible. And hey, it does come in handy sometimes. Lonnie (who people do sometimes recognize, just because of who his parents are) appreciates this ability once he figures it out since it means basically never getting stared at.
"Right, he's not popular enough for it to matter."
"Exactly, he's already kind of loser so..." Levee glances up just in time to see Mike walking away.
"Wait, come back!" Darcy calls. She leaps to her feet to follow him. "We're just kidding! We love you!"
"We just saw the joke and we had to take it!" What are friends for?
Leaning back in her chair, Levee frowns hard at the e-mail. Whoever sent it chose to hide behind that damn Shout submissions address, which everyone on staff has access to. Cara Brewer-it was her photograph after all-is on the top of Levee's suspect list, though the lack of capitalization and question-mark abuse from the e-mail might point to someone who's less of a perfectionist. Unless Cara was being sneaky...
See, I wasn't exaggerating-a lot of work went into that sentence!
A conversation in the next row up pulls her attention away from the screen.
"Is he gay?" a girl is asking her friend. "I don't think I get it."
Levee rolls her eyes and switches the screen back to her story.
* * *
When Rayn walks into second period, already flagging from the previous hour of calculus, he's met with wolf whistles and a smattering of clapping. He freezes in the doorway; his first thought, to scan the room for anyone holding a copy of the Viewpoint Shout.
No one seems to have one.
Confused, he edges along the wall to his seat, noting that a couple of his classmates are now staring. He looks over to Jack to ask what's up, but Jack's suddenly engrossed in his notes. Before Rayn can reach out to tap him, Darren, who sits in front of him whips around and flashes a huge grin.
"Hey, when's the wedding?" Darren asks.
"What?"
Darren keeps grinning. "I mean, I hear Amsterdam is nice this time of year."
So I think we can all agree: this is very, very, very, very, VERY mild ribbing (and also involves some level of global awareness)! So, maybe people at this high school are unusually nice (and aware)? On the other hand, I'm not sure anyone believes the photo is more than a fluke.
Rayn's about to say What? again when Darren and the whole row in front of him bursts out laughing. Caught off guard, he turns back to Jack. The page Jack's looking at so intently is blank.
"What the hell is going on?" Rayn asks him, under his breath. "Is this about the photo in the paper?"
Jack sighs to himself for a second, before reaching into his backpack to pull out his camera phone. He holds it out for Rayn to see.
Rayn squints at the familiar image. "How in the..."
Jack grimaces, looking apologetic "It's gone viral, dude."
Tech notes: Although I swear I researched this at the time, there may be some suspension of disbelief necessary here. It's supposed to be the early 2000s and it seems unlikely that a photo sent by e-mail could wind up on your phone. I know MMS has been around for a while, but we're talking about the first year where camera phones are widespread in the US so I'm not sure how available it would be. But assuming MMS is around, you could snap a picture of the actual paper (or computer screen) and send it around. It just wouldn't happen in the same way it would now, with smart phones and everything. THE MORE YOU KNOW~
That said, Jack having a camera phone is pretty odd since they were kind of a novelty at the time (I KNOW RIGHT) and it's not like he comes from a well-to-do family. If I were to rewrite this, I might change that detail. Alternatively, I can come up with a way to justify it…
Rayn opens his mouth. Then closes it again. He needs a second to absorb that one.
"So um," Jack says, "why were you guys holding hands again?"
Jack is actually pretty uncomfortable with this whole thing…I'm not sure how obvious that was since he was trying not to act like that. There's a whole 'nother story there I haven't got to yet, with Jack.
Before Rayn can answer, the teacher's clearing his throat and calling to class to order. "All right people," Mr. Allen says over the din, "Get in your seats, get your books out. We've got a lot to cover today so let's jump right in. Who wants to tell me about the theme of isolation in Ethan Frome? Anyone?"
Rayn sits very still, an attempt to attract as little attention as possible. But it's no good; Mr. Allen is looking straight at him.
"Mr. Silino," the English teacher booms, "Does this morning's celebrity want to give it a shot?"
Ohhh, you edgy teacher, you.
This is actually happening.
"Um..." Rayn swallows. "Actually, I was more interested in the theme of"-he glances around the room-"perception. And illusion. Throughout the book, Ethan and Mattie are so set in their thinking, they don't consider that there could be another side to things, because they've both built these illusions that align with the status quo but are...still illusions. They...can see only what they want to see."
The fuck are you on about?? Okay, I read this book a lonnng time ago and then I wrote this piece two years ago, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that I can't remember what the hell Rayn is referencing. This is a reach, but maybe it has something to do with the fact that Ethan feels that society is restricting him from having the relationship he wants with Mattie (his mistress) so [spoilers, lol] the only solution they can come up with is…double suicide.
*I'm not going to make a tasteless joke about applying that philosophy to this story. I'M NOT.
Mr. Allen's silent for a second. Then he chuckles. "Very clever, Mr. Silino."
The most surprising part is that the teacher got something out of that. Rayn, you are blessed with the ability to BS which will serve you well in your college conference classes.
Rayn stops holding his breath and leans back in his chair, relieved.
Then Jack's nudging him with the corner of his notebook.
"Why did he laugh?" Jack whispers. "I don't get it."
As it turns out, no one did.
And really, who could blame them?
* * *
"See, I dropped his hand," Darcy is saying. "I let go of his hand."
The senior girls she's talking to are unimpressed.
"But they were holding hands in the first place, right?" one asks. "So why does it matter?"
For the second time that morning, Mike has to walk away from it. Darcy's attempt to explain this to everyone who so much as looks at them is starting to rub him the wrong way. If he has to spend all of lunch listening to this, he might actually go insane.
Darcy, bless her heart, just feels the need to tell everyone exactly how it happened. I don't think she's aware at all that stressing "IT'S NOT A GAY THING, REALLY" is actually kind of offensive.
And of course, Rayn is nowhere to be found. Not that it isn't smart for him to stay away, but Mike thinks he could tolerate double the wolf-whistling (and why the world were they wolf-whisling??) for a couple of minutes if it meant he could talk to another sane person.
He'd even settle for Levee at this point. But of course, she's missing too.
Mike tosses his uneaten sandwich into the nearest trash can and slips out the cafeteria doors. The hallway is mercifully empty, the quiet so silent and welcome that he's reminded of the library. Yeah, that's it-that's where he'll go. Relieved by the new plan, Mike makes his way to his locker for his bookbag.
While he's crouched down, looking through his bag for his copy of Into Thin Air, the bathroom door beside the locker bank slams closed.
"There you are!" An exasperated voice says.
Mike stands up so fast he hits his head on his still-open locker door. Behind the stars swimming in front of his vision he sees Lonnie standing, hands on hips, in front of the locker bank.
"Hi," Mike mutters, rubbing the sore spot on his head.
"What do you mean Hi? Did you think I wouldn't find out about this?"
Then Lonnie's sticking a cell phone in his face. Mike doesn't even have to look at it.
Now, Lonnie having a camera phone actually makes sense!
"This is the real reason you broke up with me, right?" Lonnie demands. "After convincing me that you were 'just friends'?"
"Wait, I thought that break-up was mutual-"
"So, what, the whole time you were just lying to me about that? And I believed you? I thought he had a thing for you but-"
"Look," Mike says sharply. "Even if this were a thing-which it isn't-I don't have to explain it."
Lonnie blinks at him.
"Because we're not together anymore?" Mike adds. "Remember?"
"So you do have something going on with him?" Lonnie asks. Suddenly he looks like he might start hyper-ventilating. "That was like two weeks after we broke up! Two week! And you're holding hands with that guy who is supposed to just a friend-oh, don't worry about it, you said, you're being paranoid, you said-"
Mike's not really withholding much in this scene, but I've started thinking about Lonnie's consistent "There's something going on between Mike and Rayn!" as being sort of the Cassandra Truth of these stories. But instead of no one believing him it's more like…no one cares? Because it's really only a big deal to Lonnie. I remember talking to Shayna about it and her saying something like "I'm not surprised Lonnie keeps mentioning it…I'm just surprised that HE'S THE ONLY ONE." A fair observation!
Since then though, other characters have brought it up, including Darcy and (despite never having met Rayn) Susie. Come to think of it, Mike is much better at shooting Lonnie down on this front than he is with the girls. Hm…
"Lonnie, get a grip!"
Without thinking, Mike seizes the front of Lonnie's t-shirt and shoves him against the locker bank. Lonnie's hands fly up in open-palmed surrender and for a moment his mouth is frozen in a perfect 'o'. Mike looks down at his own hands, equally surprised, and releases Lonnie's shirt.
"That's not why I broke up with you," he says quietly.
Lonnie slowly lowers his eyebrows, closes his mouth, and swallows. "That was kind of hot," he says.
Ahahha, I still like this part.
Mike laughs despite himself and turns away. His book is peeking out of his bag now, and he picks it up before slinging the bag over his shoulder. "Later," he says.
"Wait a sec." Lonnie points to his book. "That wasn't assigned reading, right? You're just, like...reading it for fun or something?"
Mike doesn't dignify that with a response.
OH COME ON, MIKE. No need to be judgmental. Darcy would rather read magazines and you like her.
On the other hand, it's kind of silly that Lonnie's worried that he's forgotten what book they're reading in class, so maybe that's why Mike is being like that. But I think he's just being a snob.
* * *
Continue to Part Two