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Posted: Mon Aug 30, 2010 7:13 pm
Devorah Gellner had had an interesting past few months. Towards the end of her junior year, she met a boy, Damian Cole, her first true crush and relationship. The relationship, however, was cursed with misfortune. On their first date they were attacked by monsters, and on their second date, Devi fell into a coma. She had broken with him since waking up, feeling he was a bad luck charm. She spent the rest of her summer break sulking in depression, but that was all behind her now.
It was her first day of her senior year at Meadowview High, and nothing was going to get her down. She was in great electives this year, taking an advanced drama class that was mostly filled with only seniors. Sadly, because of Devi's shyness, most her classmates knew very little about her. But she was determined to change that this year.
She had even written it in her diary, a top five to do list before graduating. The list was as follows:
#1. Be more social. #2. Marathon horror movies all Halloween day. #3. Drink alcohol for first time. Manischewitz on Yom Kippur does not count. #4. Apply to colleges. #5. Stop making to do lists in my diary.
And, in attempt to perform the first task on her to do list, she turned to the student in the seat next to her and introduced herself with a soft and probably-too-quiet, "Hello."
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 8:31 am
If Akio Yoshida had a diary (he preferred blogs) and if Akio Yoshida made lists (the only lists he made were Hit Recording charts, thank you), his would look something like:
1. Stay amazing. 2. Stay handsome. 3. Stay amazing handsome AND amazing. 4. Refresh blog to read how handsome and amazing people think I am. 5. Pick on Kizzy.
Akio Yoshida did not make plans. He lived for the moment - what was life but a series of moments?
So, as far as series of moments went, the young man found himself in his first class of the first day of school in America.
America.
Drama was his calling. Drama was his passion. At least, when he wasn't singing or focusing on being amazing. So drama class was the very first session he signed up for - not that he actually needed lessons, of course.
It didn't take long for him to grow bored as the teacher began the class by reading the syllabus. Syllabuses were boring. Teachers were boring. Acting - acting wasn't boring, it was...wait. Was someone talking to him?
Never one to miss an opportunity, his pencil tapping (to the tune of Boys, Boys, Boys, naturally) ceased and his attention reverted to the meek sounding girl beside him. Eyes roamed up and down as he examined the teenager (who was clearly adoring him in her silence) and then he smiled.
"Why hello."
A glance from the teacher forced his voice into a hush and once the teacher returned to the syllabus, his hand lifted up for a small wave as he whispered. "Akio Yoshida - and your name, beautiful?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 8:54 am
Devi had wondered if she suddenly turned pretty, because this was the second boy in just a few months - and the second boy ever in her life - to call her 'beautiful' or 'pretty'. She had not become accustomed to this, so naturally her face turned a little red. She was well aware of it, so turned her face for a moment as she let it fade, and then turned back to the boy who called her 'beautiful.'
"I'm Devorah Gellner, but my friends call me Devi," she said. She always wanted to say something like that even though she doesn't really have any friends, just like all the popular girls in the movies. Right before those very same popular girls get drunk, have sex, and end up brutally murdered by a serial killer. She figured that if she acted like a sociable girl, someone might actually believe it! Of course, her plan was to stop before she ended up murdered like the girls in the movies.
"I haven't seen you around here before, are you new to Meadowview?" she asked.
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 9:01 am
"New? Yes - I come here from Japan. You have heard of it, I presume?"
Akio had long since assumed people knew of Japan. Clearly if they had never heard of Banzai! then they were uncultured bohemians, but all was forgiven once he received any semblance of attention. Sort of.
Nevertheless, it amazed him at the lack of knowledge they held for his own culture and art - Japan knew of Lady Gaga, of Hollywood and Beastie Boys... so was America in turn so vain and arrogant with their own music that they ignored the talent of neighboring continents?
It was a shame, really.
"School is different there, from here. I like this school, save for when it is," he paused to glance at the rambling teacher, "boring. Is it always this boring? I am not a fan of boring."
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 9:14 am
"School is always boring," Devi said. She wanted to say that life was always boring, but she had a feeling that this boy would be the type to disagree with her on that. And then he'd probably go into some long over-hyper speech, and she wasn't in the mood to hear that. There was something else she wanted to talk about.
"Your from Japan? That's awesome," she said, with little enthusiasm to show her genuine excitement. "I love Japanese horror movies. Have you ever seen Hausu? I love that movie, its so funny."
She actually knew very little about Japanese culture outside of very rarely seeing one of their horror movies. When she was little she remembered some Japanese cartoon about teenagers with super powers, but she remembered very little details about the plot. It all seemed too ridiculous for her to relate to. Other than that, all she knew about Japanese culture was what she learned through school, or through ever-so-reliable media-endorsed stereotypes.
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 10:26 am
"Horror movies?"
The teacher had long since been forgotten by this point, his nasal voice drowned out by the sound of one of Akio's favorite words - awesome. But that word had lost its impact with her following sentence. No, it was never about j-pop. Never about the music industry. Sigh.
One hand moved up to brush through his hair. At least it wasn't another Godzilla question, right?
"I do not make a habit of watching horror films." Rather, he preferred assisting his terrified girlfriend-of-the-moment from overcoming her fear by making out with her during horror films, "But I may have seen it. It is the one with the... girls? The crazy aunt?"
His head tilted and he stared at her, his expression almost defensive. "The acting - it was poor. I assure you that most Japanese actors are better than that."
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Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 12:03 pm
"That's the one," Devi said. She was so excited by this revelation that she could almost smile! Almost. "How funny was it when the fat girl's severed head was flying around the room with the cat?"
It was a very weird movie.
She trusted Akio that Japanese actors were better than that, but in her belief, you didn't need to be a good actor in order to star in a horror film. You just need to be attractive and capable of screaming. Since this was a drama class, however, and due to her desire to be more social, she continued on with this acting conversation.
"I take it that you are an actor, then?" she asked. Although she had been apart of the drama department for years, and has acted before, it wasn't her passion. She loved filmmaking, and high school theatre seemed like a good gateway a future in film.
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Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 8:30 am
The subject had turned onto one of his favorites topics - himself.
"I do act," came the casual response, as though it was everyday knowledge, "But my calling - my life is music."
Moving his hand, he examined his cuticles in attempts to act nonchalant and allow the other girl room to speak. When no questions came quick enough, he filled in the blanks. "I was a singer in a group - Banzai! was their name. You would sadly not know them as you do not know Japan but all is forgiven for a lovely face."
Eyes glanced up as he grinned, flicking away invisible specs from off of his finger. "Perhaps I will bring you a CD to listen to, then? You do listen to CDs, correct?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 24, 2010 8:27 pm
"CDs?" She knew what CDs were, of course, she just can't remember the last time she listened to music through that medium. MP3 players were the new norm, and Devi's was hardly used. She wasn't a big follower of music, the last time she really paid attention to that industry she was a tween fan of the Jonas Brothers and John Mayer. "Sure, I listen to CDs! I can play them on my computer, I guess!"
Her focus then shifted to what seemed to be the point of what he was saying: he was a singer. "You're a singer from a boy band? That's so cool! I can't sing at all, I always get too nervous in front of other people. But a singer? In a boy band? That's amazing!" Devi nearly swooned. Her mind had been blown. Blown.
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Posted: Mon Dec 06, 2010 10:44 am
He laughed at that, having the decency to feign a sheepish look towards the teacher once he was shushed for being disruptive.
After ensuring the teacher had returned to his lession, he lowered his voice with a smile. "Then that is why you are here, right?"
One hand motioned in a circle, gesturing to their classroom. "Acting can help with nerves - when you sing, you bear your soul to the world. It is only you out there. But if you know how to act, you can learn to be anything. You can be the princess, you can be the star - you can be someone else and your nervousness gets left behind with who you are, not the person you've become!"
His words were quick, the coherency questionable. But at least he thought this was sage advice!
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Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 3:41 pm
"I wish it were that easy," she laughed. She had her fair share of insecurities and her doubts about her identity, and often wished she could just be someone else who didn't have these problems. "I act, a little bit. Its nice to not be me for a bit. But I like the stories more than the acting part of it."
"What I really want to be is a director for movies," she started. Her dream job was a director, but sadly, there wasn't a directing class offered at Meadowview. "I never really made any movies. Although I used to try, I would play with a camcorder and film movies by myself. Except I didn't have any friends to play actors, so I had to use dolls."
She wasn't sure why she admitted to not having many friends. It definitely wasn't something impressive. Perhaps she was just star-struck, or just plain awkward. Both seemed very plausible.
"So in Japan, are you really famous?" she asked. "And rich?"
She asked the best, most appropriate questions.
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 9:19 am
"Every part is important - from the set-up to the clean up. Without every member of the cast and production, the show would never go on."
While he truly did believe this, he conveniently left out the fact that the parts were all relative in size, his being the most important, largest role. Minor detail, really.
He hesitated with her next question, a slight disgruntled expression crossing his face. "Famous....yes, I suppose you could say that. We were popular, we had concerts? But America has never heard of Banzai - it split apart not too long ago."
There was no answer given as to why it split up, just as there was no reason as to why he was in America in the first place. Some things, apparently, were not approachable topics.
Turning the conversation back towards her, he returned to smiling. "So, what stops you from making a movie now? You said you wanted to direct, yes?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 14, 2010 12:15 am
"I want to direct, but I don't even know where to begin," she admitted. She had planned on making a slasher film with her friend Ume, but those plans fell through when Devi fell into a comatose state. "I would need a cast, and a screenwriter, a better camera, lighting equipment, location permits, a crew...I'd want to go all out, not some amateur stuff with my dolls."
She was doing her best to sound interesting and professional. After all, this boy was a pro, she needed to measure up! "If I do ever make a movie, you should audition!" She would have to hold auditions, of course, like a pro.
"Do you have an agent or something? Like a manager? Do you have an entourage? Is it like Entourage? Do you watch Entourage?" She had a lot of questions...and so much time to ask them. After all, he was another student in her class for the rest of the year. "Sorry for all the questions, you're more interesting than other people here, like Becky McSlut over there."
In Becky's defense, McZlutt was her actual last name. Simple pronunciation error, honest.
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Posted: Wed Dec 22, 2010 7:33 am
"I prefer American Idol, myself."
Granted, Akio was still slightly bitter over missing their audition tour, but the show was decent. Most of the time.
Eyes glanced over towards the clock, then back towards his new friend. Time was definitely moving pleasantly faster, thanks to socializing. "My father...he was - is - my agent. But I am trying to...how do you say it... adapt to life of teenagers my age, here in America? There are many many singers in Japan, which makes for many many agents."
Talk of his father brought upon a frown - no, there was no time to mull over the upsetting past. There was only the future, there was only now to think about.
"You may want to check the local agencies? You seem very knowledgeable - I'm sure you can figure out a way, once you put some effort into it."
He flashed her a smile, ignoring her obvious bait towards the loose-looking girl an aisle over from their chairs. True, she was pretty - but it was more than apparent that he wasn't the only boy who thought that. And who liked to play sloppy seconds?
Not Akio.
"Questions are more than fine, Devi - though maybe we could talk more later? At lunch?"
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