“I would advise that you never touch Mr. Dawson again in anger,” Ruth said just loud enough that only the four of them could hear.
She then released Oliver. David reached down and helped him stand.
“How about we start over before this becomes a thing?” David suggested.
Oliver ignored him and smiled at Ruth.
“Where did you come from? You’ve got some spunk.”
It took a moment for David to realize that the guy was hitting on his security. If he’d just had his ass handed to him by a girl, that was probably the last on the list of things David would have done.
“Why don’t we talk later? I have to take a shower and get to class. Could we meet for a late lunch?” David asked Oliver.
“This little sheila is a firecracker, mate. Is she going to be with you?”
“She goes where I go,” David answered.
“Then I’ll be there. Text me the details,” Oliver said.
Once he left, Cassidy leaned in close to Ruth.
“David has a rule about only hurting one boy per week. For that one, you can do it as many times as you think necessary.”
David shook his head as he began to walk away.
“David?”
He turned back to Cassidy.
“Text me the details, too. I want to be there the next time they meet.”
Oliver might have just stepped in it.
◊◊◊
The USC School of Cinematic Arts was the oldest and best film school in the country. David had decided that he should take advantage of the opportunity and make film his minor. He wanted to learn not only how to act but also how to make movies.
It was one of the most challenging schools at USC to get into since it was taught by industry professionals. It was considered a feeder school for Hollywood. USC bragged that if all their alumni decided to take the day off, it would shut down the television and film industries. Their alumni list was impressive and ranged from directors and producers to technical fields and even to agents and studio executives.
When David told Dr. Carter what he wanted to do, she’d gone to bat for him to secure a spot without having to go through the rigorous admission process. That included writing and media (video) samples and three letters of recommendation. This was one time when being an Academy Award-winning actor had opened doors that mattered to him.
When David arrived at his first class, he found the room packed and had to hunt for a seat. By now, he was used to half-empty classrooms in the business department. David hoped that meant students were excited about this course. When he did find a seat, it was front row, center. He made a mental note to arrive earlier for the next class.
David looked around the room and spotted a man leaning nonchalantly against the wall, watching him. The man continued to stare unapologetically, not appearing at all fazed by the fact he’d been caught intently watching David.
The man’s clothes were dark and nondescript, allowing him to almost blend in with the shadows. But it was his hair and eyes which really caught David’s attention. He was smoothly shaved, with the face of a man perhaps in his early thirties, and yet his hair appeared to be pure white, like that of an old man. His pale gray eyes looked unnatural. David wondered if they were contacts.
At the top of the hour, David’s stalker pushed off the wall and walked to the front of the class. He stood still until he had everyone’s attention.
“Welcome. I am Professor Norman Blum, and I’ll be teaching this class. Unfortunately, my TA was otherwise engaged. I will introduce her when we meet on Wednesday.
“For this class, you will be graded solely on a media project. It can be anything from big screen to television to something for the Internet. For example, you can make a short film. Or you could do one of those special-interest pieces you see on the local news. You could produce a web video or an episode for a vodcast. A webinar of some sort would also be acceptable, or even an educational video, called an Instructable.
“I’m sure at least one of you will come up with some other option that I haven’t mentioned. In any case, I want your project ideas ready for approval by our next class. If I find that several of you have similar ideas, I may ask you to team up.
“Based on what your projects are, we will have guest lecturers who are currently working in the industry. They will give a brief talk, and then we’ll open it up to questions or discussions to help you improve your projects.
“Are there any questions?”
He pointed at someone in the back of the room.
“I know what the other things are, but what’s a vodcast?”
“VOD is an acronym for video on demand. Combine that with broadcast, and you get vodcast. It’s just a video podcast,” Professor Blum explained.
He pointed to someone behind David.
“If we have an idea of who we want to work with, can we suggest teammates?”
“As long as I approve.”
“Can we get outside help in creating our project, and do we get a budget?”
“If you come to me with a reasonable request that can’t be fulfilled within the department, then you can seek outside help. As far as budgets go, you can use the university’s equipment, which is state-of-the-art. Anything beyond that will have to be out-of-pocket,” Professor Blum said.
The questions continued in the same vein over the next half hour until they finally petered out.
“If that’s all, we’ll let out early today. But before you go, I want to point someone out. David, would you please stand up for a moment?”
David did as he was asked and turned to the class before sitting down.
“As you know, David A. Dawson is a student at USC and has been involved in several highly successful movies. I just read that he is the most successful actor under twenty, based on ticket sales.
“Since having David on a team would be an unfair advantage, he will be doing his project on his own.”
There was an audible groan from the class. David had no doubt that some of them had already thought of him as a potential ATM for their project. With that parting groan, the class was let out.
Professor Blum asked David to follow him to his office so they could talk. When David took a seat, his teacher explained himself.
“You were the topic of conversation at last week’s kickoff meeting for the department. Having been on so many movie sets would give you an unfair real-world advantage, so I want to make you a deal. If you give me a list of technical help you might need, we’ll assign teaching assistants, professors, or alumni to assist you. Their job won’t necessarily be to do the work but teach you how,” Professor Blum explained.
“That limits what I can do.”
“How so?”
“An easy example is that if I want to have multiple camera angles, it won’t be possible if I have to run the cameras myself.”
“Fair enough. Why don’t you think about what you want to do and we’ll talk about it on Wednesday? My goal is not to hamstring you but to level the playing field. So when your needs are legitimate, we’ll make it happen.
“Does that work?” Professor Blum asked.
David nodded his agreement and left.
◊◊◊
David picked Verde in the Ronald Tutor Campus Center for lunch because he was hungry for Mexican. While it wasn’t the best place to eat, it was convenient. He smiled when he saw someone he knew coming out of the restaurant. It was Taylor, Milena’s sorority sister in Alpha Mu. David had always found the cute redhead amusing.
She was intently texting on her phone, so she didn’t see him.
“Hey, baby, how much for a quickie?” David asked in a deep voice.
“Keep walking. You can’t afford me,” Taylor said and then looked up. “David!”