Candid (True Images Series)

by Michelle Pennington

  But it was Friday again, and tonight’s game was at home. Surely I could get something there, even if the nights were getting dark sooner. It would be best if I could take a picture of Katie in better lighting though. She’d be wearing her uniform at the pep-rally later, but I doubted I’d get the kind of picture I wanted there.

  I was amazed at how quickly the days were passing. Usually the school week was slow torture as I bounced between stressing out and yawning till my jaw cracked, but spending two hours every day around Lee made the time fly.

  I still hadn’t gotten used to how good looking he was, but that wasn’t the only thing that attracted me. An aura of energy surged around him wherever he went, and I’d never known anyone so awake and ready to live life. It wasn’t long before he seemed to be friends with everyone at school – and I mean everyone. Whether you were popular or the butt of jokes didn’t seem to make any difference to him. Yet, with all his friends, he still had a way of looking at me that made me feel I had his undivided attention.

  Finally, I gave up trying not to like him. I’d never stood much chance with that anyway considering how I felt around him – vivid and bright, like someone had finally turned the flash on in my life.

  Having surrendered to the inevitable, I joined the masses of girls crushing on him, and hoped, as they all did, that maybe he felt something special for me.

  I was determined not to hang all over him though, or act pathetic like some girls did. We’d probably never be anything more than friends, so I treated him like one. I teased him about all the girls who liked him, laughed at his mistakes in yearbook, and gave him a hard time over his old fashioned manners. I actually adored the way he held doors for people and spoke to teachers with respectful courtesy, but I decided to torture him over it to hide the fluttery feeling it gave me.

  Yesterday in yearbook, Lee had actually pulled out a chair for me. Pretending to look scared to death, I’d said, “Oh my gosh! I know what you are.”

  “What are you talking about?” He’d looked as confused as I’d meant him to be.

  In a low whisper, I’d told him, “You’re a really old vampire – just like in all those books. There’s no other explanation. Are you going to suck my blood?”

  Lee had looked at me like he didn’t know whether to laugh or be offended. “I hadn’t planned on it. Where did that come from?”

  “Well, you’re, like, a total gentleman. You have to be from some other time or something,” I’d pointed out in dramatic accents.

  “You equate being a gentleman with being a vampire?”

  “Only good vampires of course. What other explanation is there for a guy who has manners now days?”

  He’d shrugged and looked embarrassed. “If you knew my parents, you wouldn’t be surprised.”

  Hoping to fix the sudden awkwardness in what I’d hoped would be a flirtatious conversation, I’d said, “Oh wait, you have a zit. Whew, that’s a relief. I think it’s impossible for a vampire to have a zit.”

  As soon as I said it, I’d wanted to take it back. I mean, why in the world had I pointed out his zit? It was so small I never would have noticed it if I hadn’t been staring at him as we sat close together working on a project in journalism earlier. I’d felt awful as a deeper shade of embarrassment swept over his features and he touched the red bump on the side of his nose.

  “I think this humidity is making me breakout. I’m sweating a lot more than I did Arizona.”

  “It’s probably just that it doesn’t dry off. I’ve had to deal with it my whole life. Look, I doubt anyone’s even noticed it. Stop messing with it.”

  “It feels like it’s the size of mountain now that I know you’re looking at it.”

  “I’m not. I promise. Besides, it’s kind of nice to know you’re human like the rest of us.”

  “Well, at least you won’t accuse me of being a vampire again.”

  “Don’t count on it.”

  We’d been interrupted then, which was probably a good thing. How many girls accused a crush-worthy guy of being a vampire and pointed out that he had a zit in the same conversation?

  Lee had gone to work on his layout for one of the yearbook’s football pages as Mr. Greeley came over to talk to me. He’d asked me if I would mind spending my lunch hour the next day taking some pictures for the student life section of the yearbook.

  So, at least I was official today. Since that first time I’d used my camera to spy on Lee during lunch last Thursday, I’d kept my camera with me every lunch hour. I’d gotten some good photos, but I hadn’t given them to Mr. Greeley yet. An embarrassing number of them were close ups of Lee. Those would stay secret on my external hard drive at home. Today, I needed to concentrate on getting some pictures of other students.

  I was glad I had my own camera to use because I preferred it to any of the school’s cameras. Not only was it a better camera, but I was perfectly familiar with its functions and capabilities. Besides, it gave me access to take pictures of almost anyone I wanted.

  Most kids had cameras on their phones, but when I came around with my big DSLR, they knew the pictures could end up published somewhere. I usually got a lot of people calling to me to take their picture. From some though, I got a completely different reaction.

  Most of the students who didn’t eat in the cafeteria hung out on the lawn in front of it. There were shade trees, benches, and a few picnic tables. Several of the schools cliques had their turf long claimed, but there were a few places where the unassociated could hang out. One of these was the bench under the oak tree where I often ate lunch. Usually, some of the yearbook staff hung out with me, but since I hadn’t claimed it today, the bench had been taken over by a group I tried to avoid.

  I’d had a run in with them once when I’d taken a picture of them. I think they were doing something wrong, and probably illegal, because they’d threatened me with just about every form of violence you could imagine if I didn’t delete the picture. Eager not to get my earrings ripped out, I’d quickly complied.

  So, I skipped them today, as I always did now, and made my way over to where most of the nerds hung out. I have to admit that I liked this group best of all of them. They were the most uncritical of all the cliques at school. Some of them were straight ‘A’ students, some were gamers, some were tech junkies. As I took a few pictures of them, they welcomed me like I was one of them. Maybe I was, and it didn’t bother me.

  My friend Parker Higgins was one of them. He was the unofficial audio-visual guy at school. Whenever the teachers had a problem with their computers or Smart Boards, he was the one they wanted because he could usually fix it. This caused some problems for him with the school’s actual AV guy who thought Parker was trying to show him up, but it wasn’t true. Parker just loved all things electronic or digital, and he was good at it.

  “Hey Sienna,” he said, coming to stand next to me while I took pictures. “Do you want to come eat lunch with me? I’ve got an extra snack cake.”

  I laughed at him. He had a thing for processed junk. “No thanks. I’m supposed to be taking pictures and I haven’t covered everyone yet.”

  He followed the direction of my eyes as I glanced over to where the pretty people were. “Are you really going over there? I mean, don’t they annoy the heck out of you?”

  “Yes, but if I don’t get some photos of them, I’ll hear about it later.”

  Sounding a little awkward, Parker asked, “So, what are you doing tonight? Do you want to come over and help me with my latest video montage? You’ve always got some great ideas.”

  “Sorry, I can’t tonight. I have to take pictures at the game.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Well, I’ll be up late if you want to come over afterward. If you want, we could, um, go to a movie or something.”

  Was he asking me out? “Parker, that would be great, but you know how my mom is.”

  He put his hands up in a defensive gesture. “It wouldn’t be a date or anything. But anyway, wouldn’t y
our mom trust me? I mean, she likes me doesn’t she?”

  “Of course she does. She just doesn’t trust your hormones – or rather, any guy’s hormones. It’s the one rule she has that I absolutely couldn’t get away with breaking – no dates until after graduation.

  “That’s crazy.”

  “Maybe, but I don’t mind so much. I can still hang out. I just can’t date anyone. Anyway, what’s the point? Once we graduate, we’ll all go our separate ways, and I don’t need any relationship drama getting in the way of my future.”

  “Does that count for Lee Franklin too?”

  Whoa! Where did that come from? “What are you talking about?”

  “Nothing,” he mumbled, walking away.

  Was I really that obvious? Then I remembered that Parker had come into the journalism class the other day to help Mr. Greeley with something. What had I been doing? Flirting with Lee? Staring at him like the sun rose and set in his eyes?

  With my thoughts focused on Lee again, I couldn’t help looking for him as I walked towards the popular kids. He wasn’t around though. I would have found him if he was. He sort of stuck out to me. Oh well, it was probably a good thing. I would be able to take pictures without constantly turning my camera his direction.

  The cheerleaders were wearing their uniforms because there was a pep rally scheduled for right after lunch. I was kind of bummed about it because it was going to cut into my time in journalism with Lee, but I would have to get used to it. The same thing would happen every Friday for the rest of Football season.

  On the upside though, the principal shortened all the classes for the rest of the afternoon, so I wouldn’t have to be tortured for so long in my trig. class.

  I snapped a few pictures of some of the football players standing around in a group. They had their jerseys on, and they were laughing at something I didn’t catch. Caleb Murphy stood out in the crowd as always.

  I’d seen Caleb bully people, smart off to teachers, and treat girls like they were created for his personal amusement, but I had to hand it to him - he was undeniably photogenic.

  Marisol’s cousin, Luis, was using his Latin charm and football jersey to impress one of the cheerleaders until she was called over to join her squad mates. An impromptu performance began as they ran through some of their cheers.

  I rolled my eyes, but snapped a few pictures. They had seen me arrive with my camera, I was sure of it. As I watched them through my lens, I noticed that Katie wasn’t with them. It wasn’t an official “practice,” but few cheerleaders passed up the opportunity to show off.

  Looking around, I spotted her sitting on a bench in the shade of a tree with a textbook on her lap. She looked fresh and cool, and her glossy brunette curls framed her face as she bent over her book.

  Quietly, so I wouldn’t distract her, I slipped around to her other side to take her picture. Unlike my casual shooting before, I now switched my camera from automatic to manual. I wanted to get this one right.

  After a few moments of concentration, I knew how I wanted my settings and adjusted them accordingly. The first picture I took was focused close on her face, and though I couldn’t see her eyes, I caught the slight tug between her eyebrows that showed her concentration. In the even light of the shade, her complexion appeared flawless. Her long, dark lashes, delicate features, and natural beauty complemented the sweetness of her expression.

  Zooming out, a flash of burgundy and gold behind her caught my attention. Driven by instinct, I took another picture. Playing it back a moment later, I was thrilled with the ironic contrast of my photo.

  The subject was a naturally beautiful and serious cheerleader, and in the soft focused background the other, more superficial, cheerleaders were caught in exaggerated poses that were way too seductive to be a part of the routine their coach had choreographed.

  It was priceless and I almost laughed out loud. I’d gotten the next picture for my blog.

  “There you are,” someone said behind me.

  It startled me so much that I would have dropped my camera if I hadn’t had the strap around my neck. I didn’t need to look to know it was Lee, but I was surprised. He’d never approached me outside of class before, and definitely not in front of his friends. Reminding myself to play it cool around him, I said, “Yep, here I am. What’s up?”

  “I just wondered how it was going. Did you get any good pictures?”

  I couldn’t fight the smile that pulled at my mouth and finally gave into it. “I sure did.”

  “Cool. Hey, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the pep rally with me.”

  I nodded my head and tried to find something to say besides, “Oh my gosh, yes! That would be the most awesome thing that’s ever happened to me.” It was running through my head, but of course I couldn’t say that. My dilemma was solved when someone else joined us.

  It was Jordan, looking amazing in her short cheer uniform. She was standing right next to me, but I wasn’t under any delusion that I was the one she wanted to talk to. I was right.

  “Hey, Lee. I was waiting for you. Where have you been?”

  One of his eyebrows dipped slightly like he was puzzled. “I was eating lunch in the cafeteria, like I do every day.”

  “Well you took longer than usual. I was afraid that you wouldn’t get here in time to walk me to the gym.”

  From Lee’s expression, I could see that these plans were new to him. As I waited anxiously to hear what his reply would be, I knew that no matter what he said, it would turn out bad for me.

  When he answered, his voice was light but firm, “Sorry Jordan, but I was just asking Sienna to go with me. We can both walk with you if you’d like.”

  Jordan’s eyes sparked with anger as she looked over at me. Her anger was all the more terrifying because of the wide smile she directed at me. “That’s all right. I’ll find my way somehow. So, Sienna, have you told him yet?”

  “Told him what?”

  “You know, that you aren’t allowed to date?” Turning back to Lee she continued, “I thought you should be warned - in case you are actually into the stringy hair and worn out clothes thing Sienna has going on. You see, her mom has this crazy idea that because she got knocked up in high school, Sienna will too. So, she’s not allowed to date until after she graduates. And the funny thing is, Sienna actually goes along with it.”

  I glanced at Lee and saw that his eyebrows were drawn together in a puzzled furrow over the bridge of his nose, but beyond that, I couldn’t tell how he was taking this. Jordan’s expression was easier to read. She was enjoying this immensely.

  “How do you know about that?” I asked, my words coming out clipped and angry. It wasn’t like I told many people.

  Jordan’s voice remained bright, like poisoned sunshine. “Your mom was talking about it at church. Everybody thought she was crazy to be so strict. I mean, most kids would just get rebellious and sneak around anyway. Not perfect little Sienna though.”

  Normally, I didn’t handle conflict well, but if anyone started trashing my mom, I got mad enough to get over it. “She’s not crazy. She knows the consequences and wants to protect me from them. I don’t mind because I’m not taking any chances with my future. It’s my decision too.”

  “Your loss. There are other ways to not get pregnant besides abstinence, you know.”

  My hands were shaking I was so mad. It was humiliating to be having this conversation in front of Lee. I squeezed my hands shut to keep them still, then had to concentrate on not aiming one of them at her sneering mouth. “I’m sure you could tell me all about them,” I replied, my boldness scaring the living daylights out of me.

  “Too bad nobody told your mom,” she returned, not even flinching. She turned to leave, but turned back to add, “By the way, I didn’t see that picture you took of me and Brittany in the school paper. I wonder how that mistake could have been made.”

  “I have nothing to do with what pictures are chosen for the paper. I just take them and turn them over to th
e editors.”

  “Oh, but I’m sure you could talk Mr. Greeley into anything if you really wanted to. I mean, he’s dating your mom so he’d probably do whatever you asked to get on your good side.” Jordan must have seen the confused shock on my face because she continued, “Wait, didn’t you know? That’s pretty funny. I thought everyone knew about your mom and Mr. Greeley. I wonder why she hasn’t told you?”

  Shock spread through me like ice water. My mom was dating Mr. Greeley? “You’re lying,” I accused, desperately hoping it was true.

  “Am I? Why don’t you ask your mom?” Her moment of triumph complete, she turned and walked away, her ponytail swaying in rhythm with her hips. If I had disliked her before, I pretty much hated her now.

  Next to me, Lee let out a long, low whistle. “Wow. I don’t know how you kept from hitting her. Are you ok?”

  Answer him, I told myself. But I had no words right then. The bell rang, and everyone headed to the gym. Automatically, I began walking with them. It didn’t even register that Lee was walking with me until he took my arm and pulled me to a gentle stop. I glanced down at his hand on my arm and was glad he was staying with me, but I was still reeling from what Jordan had said.

  “Hey, why don’t we skip this thing and go talk somewhere? You’re as white as a sheet.”

  We were close to the door now, and the mass of students concentrated and closed in around us. Someone’s backpack, heavy with textbooks, knocked into me and threw me off balance. Lee reached out to steady me and pulled me closer to him, shielding me from being jostled again. I looked up at his face and saw concern in his eyes.

  A distant part of my brain registered that this was an interesting development when combined with the fact that he’d wanted to go to the pep rally with me, but I didn’t have room in my brain for that puzzle right now. I shook my head and managed to say, “We can’t. They monitor the halls pretty heavy during these things.”