I hadn’t talked to Karly in about half a year. We used to be super close, but that’s what happens when a girl lands in a relationship with one of the most handsome and mysterious seniors in the school; she drifts away from her loser-y friends. Before Travis got a hold on her, Karly was a normal girl, if a bit quiet. Frankly, it was crazy it took her that long to get a steady boyfriend. She wasn’t exactly in the popular circles, but Karly was unquestionably one of the hottest blondes in the school. A lot of boys had a crush on her, even myself.

I wanted to ask out Karly, but I never had the guts. Every time I thought about it, I’d just get tongue-tied the next time we hung out. Karly, none the wiser, would just smile and ask me if I had a rough day or something. That was probably better for our friendship, even though I would definitely spend more than a few nights shamefully thinking about her and scrolling through her latest vacation pics or something.

Around the time Karly first got into her relationship, I got into our school’s AV club. They liked to call themselves the ‘Media Gang’ but it felt too cringy to even say out loud. All people had to know was, if they needed a camera, I was their guy. Sometimes that could land me a sweet gig. A few of the music nerds around school wanted to start rock bands out of their garage, so they’d ask me to come with my camera and record for music video B-roll or for their Instagram or something. Eventually, this turned into any band getting a gig at a local bar or eatery asking me to come along and bring my camera, for a couple of bucks and a free meal or something. And hey, it was a free concert too.

Travis himself was the lead singer of one of these bands, and admittedly, he seemed to actually support the music scene, seeing as he was always at these bars and eateries no matter who was playing. He wasn’t faking it either - you could tell he got really into the music. I wanted to believe he was an asshole or something so I could justify my fantasies about Karly leaving him and us reconnecting again or something, but nope. Two things were abundantly clear from seeing Travis at those events - one, he seemed to be a fine if energized guy, and two, Karly was absolutely smitten with him. I never saw anyone look at their partner like Karly looked at her boyfriend. It was like everything he did was absolutely perfect for her. It was almost a bit obscene, and it frankly made me feel dumb for ever thinking that she’d leave him. If anyone was going to break it off, he was clearly going to be the one to do it, not her.

Still, getting to see Karly was getting to see Karly. I was happy to have her back in my life as a friend, and although it didn’t happen often, whenever Travis needed to go to the bathroom or just was off on his own, I’d summon up the courage to talk to Karly and catch up. She definitely was different - a lot calmer, speaking in shorter simpler sentences - but she was also happier. Plus, she was still Karly. You don’t stop being friends with someone because of a few changes. It was cool getting to talk to her again, even if I had to abandon the small sliver of hope that she and I would be anything more than just friends.

Karly would take any and all opportunity to gush about Travis too. Apparently his band was really good (although she was head over heels for him, so maybe they actually sucked), and Travis put in a lot of effort to make the band work, which was why he was so supportive of the music scene. Even though I got used to seeing them at concerts, it was only at the third or fourth concert that Travis himself met me.

As soon as his eyes landed on me, his smile - already present on his face - grew and his face lit up. He exclaimed, “It’s him! The man with the camera!” and did some kind of fist bump hand gesture I misinterpreted as a handshake. He laughed it off and got to talking to me about his band, about school, and about what an amazing supportive girlfriend Karly was. The entire time, Karly hung on every word he said.

A few gigs later, Travis approached me. It was at some trendy yet old bar in the next town over - sketchy enough that one or two older men would ask me “Are you packin’?” which my friends would later inform me was their way of selling weed discreetly. I was just hanging around the bar area as the band was packing up, when Travis sleekly moved his way to the bar stool next to me. Karly was, as always, by his side, and he had one arm around Karly’s waist.

“Yo,” he announced. “You ever let anyone borrow that?”

He was pointing at my camera. I shook my head. “Nah, it’s kind of delicate. The camera and me are kind of a package deal. It can come to your gigs, but I gotta come with it.”

“I see, I see,” he replied, nodding sagely, then smiled at me. “Well, tell ya what: I’m kind of in the need for a high-end camera like that, and I know my way around a camera. I’ll make it worth your while, I promise.”

I paused, then held out my camera. “You know your way around a camera?”

“Mhm!”

“Where’s the white balance button?” I quizzed him.

He answered flawlessly, then answered the next few questions well. I wasn’t expecting this, but he actually knew his way around a camera. It definitely seemed like he’d be the type to treat it well.

I mulled it over. “So how much are we talking to borrow it?” I asked gingerly.

He playfully grimaced. “Yeah, about that. I don’t have a lot of money right now, per se, but I’ll make you a hell of an offer.”

Bartering? “I’m listening.”

“Bet,” he replied, grinning. “So, you let me borrow that camera for the weekend, and number one, I’ll let you keep a copy of everything we record.”

Huh? Why would that benefit me?

“Number two,” he continued, “I’ll let you have Karly for a day.”

I couldn’t have heard that right. My eyes immediately darted to Karly, who was still smiling, looking at Travis like nothing was wrong. I didn’t know why I only noticed then, but she was wearing a collar. Karly never wore a collar when we were friends. “ ... What does that mean?” I finally managed to ask.

Travis smiled and nodded. “It means what you think,” he replied, cool as a cucumber. Karly looked from him to me, still smiling, like this was the most okay thing in the world. “Offer’s only up for a limited time,” he teased. “Five seconds. Deal or no deal?”

He held up five fingers, and slowly retreated them one by one into his palm, grinning away, Karly smiling as much as ever beside him. I wasn’t even sure what to think, and could barely form the words. I honestly think I only replied “Deal” immediately to call his bluff, but he only raised his eyebrows once then shook my hand.

“You’re in the Media Gang, right?” he asked as he stood up. “If you give it to me now, I’ll bring it to the ComTech room Monday morning. Thanks for this, you’re really helping me out. Karly is gonna be busy this weekend but we’ll figure something out during the week.”

I slung the bag around my shoulder and handed it to him, still practically in a daze. What the hell was going on? “This feels like a joke,” I managed to mumble.

Travis could only laugh in response as he threw the camera bag strap over his shoulder. “Just you wait, man,” he replied, and that’s the last thing he said before walking off, his other hand still around Karly’s waist. As he walked out of my view, that hand descended lower and lower down her back.

My hands were shaking when I retrieved the camera. I had no idea what video was going to be on the SD card for me to see, but at least Travis made good on his promises; the camera was given back without a dent. He even recharged the battery afterwards. Still, that was only one concern out of two, and after what he said about Karly, I was worried what I’d see on there. Was he the type of sicko to hit her and record it or something?

Even though it probably wasn’t the wisest thing to do before classes, I went to the earliest recordings on the card and hit play. Video footage from inside someone’s garage started playing, and Travis and three equally hot yet mysterious-looking skinny boys showed up in front of the camera, talking about a shot they wanted to get.

A music video. They wanted to record a music video. I adjusted my shirt collar, feeling a little stupid. The next little bit was just them setting up shots of them playing in their garage with little setups like a zoom or a dolly shot or something. It wasn’t bad framing, either. Travis or whoever set the shots up would do well in the Media Gang. I huffed to myself and turned the camera off, putting it in my bag and going to class.

Something was bothering me. If this was just footage to be used in a music video and some b-roll, why would letting me keep a copy be offered to sweeten the deal? Was Travis implying I could lie and say I shot the music video to put on a resume or something?

After I got home, I decided to take the camera out and watch more. Something else had to be on that camera. I hooked it up to the monitor in my room and watched as the bandmates walked around, setting up their shot. In the corner of the room, I saw Travis appear on screen, clearly frustrated and busy with everything going on. He snapped his fingers once and Karly came running up to him from off camera, and he quickly wrapped his arm around her.

“This is so fuckin’ stressful,” he breathed as he nuzzled into her neck.

She immediately started sighing in pleasure as she felt him kissing her neck. “I know, baby, I know,” she soothed him, holding his head in place. His arm traveled downwards to her ass, squeezing it. “You’re doing such a good job, baby.”

Wowza. They just kept filming that, huh? What a pervy cameraman. Although it didn’t look like either of the two lovebirds were that uncomfortable with a bit of PDA. Still, I felt awkward for watching, and wasn’t sure whether to turn away. Luckily, the camera turned away before I did, moving to some other guy getting ready for a close-up shot of his bass guitar.

Every time the shot returned to Travis, Karly wasn’t too far away. Sometimes she was telling him something supportive before a shot he was in, sometimes she would hold a glass of water for him and obediently give it to him when he asked, and sometimes she’d rush over and he would immediately begin kissing her or groping her ass or something between takes. The other guys were just setting up band equipment around them like this was completely normal. How often were these two doing this? Talk about weird boundaries.

I hated to admit it, but I felt myself going from being grossed out to being weirdly turned on by watching. I mean, Karly was hot, and yeah, I wanted her and it was kind of weird and frustrating to see Travis getting to play with her and not me ... I flushed.

“I’ll let you have Karly for a day.”