Candid (True Images Series)

by Michelle Pennington

  Then I realized something else that actually hurt my feelings. Maybe Mr. Greeley had only asked me to do the football photography to get me out of their way.

  *****

  Despite some of the crazy stuff that had happened earlier, life seemed pretty good as I stood watching the game that night. I had my camera in hand and a gorgeous guy standing guard over me. The sweetness of the night air was intoxicating as it caressed my skin and tossed strands of my hair around my face.

  But then I remembered that I couldn’t date the gorgeous guy, that a psycho cheerleader was glaring at us every chance she got, and that it was hard to take pictures with hair in my face. Unfortunately, I could only fix one of those problems.

  I dug a rubber band out of my pocket and began trying to gather my hair into a pony tail. It was unfair of Jordan to call it stringy. At least I thought so. It was naturally wavy and because I didn’t have the money to go to a salon, I usually just let it grow long and do its thing. I loved that the strawberry tints in it made it stick out from all the bleach blonds at school. My hair was one of the few things I liked about myself, but I refused to let my vanity get in the way of my photography, so into a pony tail it went.

  “I wondered how you’d be able to see with the wind picking up,” Lee commented, watching my struggle. The wind was not cooperating. He grabbed a strand of hair that I was having trouble catching and pulled it back for me. As he did so, his thumb brushed my cheek, feather light against my skin.

  I smiled at the sweet gesture and said, “Yeah, it’s a good thing we almost have this game wrapped up. It could seriously throw off our passing game. On the bright side, it’s cooler than it was last week.”

  He agreed and said, “I have a better view this week too.”

  “Really? Some people prefer to sit at the top of the bleachers so they can watch the play develop.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s easier to see what I was watching last week from here.”

  There was no need to ask what he meant when I saw the way he was smiling at me. If he wanted to flirt, I was willing. “So you were watching me, huh? Was that before or after I threw my hotdog at you?”

  “After. I couldn’t take my eyes off you. You were so cute and unafraid down here.”

  “I was kind of afraid at first, but I got focused on what I was doing and forgot about it.”

  “I was surprised when someone told me you didn’t have a boyfriend. I mean, what were the chances that such a hot girl wasn’t dating someone? I guess I know why now that I know about your mom’s rule.”

  “Well, yeah, but it’s not like I ever get asked out anyway. So… you were asking about me?”

  “Yeah I was. Do you know Marcus Browning? He’s on my team.”

  “Sure. I’ve known him since elementary..”

  “Well, I was asking him about you and he didn’t say anything about your mom’s rule. He probably doesn’t know. He did say that you didn’t give most guys the time of day and that you were only interested in photography. I’m not saying I want you to or anything, but I bet if you showed any interest, about half the guys in this school would be falling over themselves to ask you out.”

  “Hmmph!” Like I was going to believe that. I didn’t mind that he was so delusional though. “Even if they did, Marcus is right. I would never date most of the guys at this school even if I could. Maybe I know them too well.”

  “Maybe. So, do you think it’s only a matter of time before you know me too well and don’t want anything to do with me?”

  “I seriously doubt that’s going to happen. You’re too real.”

  “Real? Just yesterday you accused me of being a freaking vampire.”

  This surprised a laugh out of me as I remembered. “Yeah, and I still have some concerns there.” Lee’s nose wrinkled and his eyebrows drew together as if I’d caused him pain, making me chuckle again, but then I said, “What I mean is, you don’t pretend to be something you aren’t. You’re…genuine. I like that because I can trust you.”

  “I’m glad you know that,” he said, his voice a little deeper.

  Only a few feet away, a referee blew his whistle and scared me to death. I rolled my eyes at myself and said lightly, “Oh yeah, I’m supposed to be doing a job here.”

  “Me too. I guess we both got distracted.”

  I was looking through my lens as I said, “I have a feeling that’s going to be a problem from now on with you around. I’ll be as airheaded as Marisol before long.”

  “Who’s Marisol?”

  “My best friend. She was the reason I was at the concession stand during that first game when we met. She dragged me over to check you out.”

  “Oh, I know who you mean - the little Hispanic girl who hangs out with you at lunch sometimes. So she wanted you to check me out, but you opted for a hot dog instead? Great.”

  I concentrated on the play on the field and took a few pictures before I answered, “I was starving, and it wasn’t like you even noticed me.”

  “Well, you’re wrong there. I’m not blind. Besides, it was pretty funny watching your friend talk your ear off while you pretended to be interested. You don’t hang out that much for being best friends.”

  I shrugged. “She’s in to different things than I am, but we’ve been close since elementary. We get together on the weekends a lot.”

  “I think I need to meet this girl. What’s her last name?”

  “It’s Ramos. She’s Luis’ cousin,” I said, pointing to where Luis stood nearby. “Why?” I asked suspiciously.

  “Well, if you can hang out with her on the weekends, I think I’d like to hang out with her too.”

  “Watch out. She has plans for you for herself.”

  “Really? Thanks for the warning.”

  “You’re good for now. She’s waiting till the other girls start to lose interest in you – you know, when you aren’t new anymore.”

  “As long as you don’t lose interest, it can’t happen too soon. I wish they would all get the message that I’m not interested.”

  He sounded so definite about it, that my heart fluttered pleasantly. I smiled and said, “Hey, we need to move downfield.”

  Lee walked beside me, insisting on carrying my camera bag as he had all night. I felt like we were completely conspicuous when we walked past the cheerleaders. I could feel more than just Jordan’s eyes digging into my back as we walked by and I got a sinking feeling in my stomach. I forgot that if you make Jordan mad, all her friends will be too.

  Trying to distract myself, I focused on taking pictures. I had the camera up to my face when Tyson handed off the ball to Brian Lockwood, the running back. Brian broke free down the field and began to pick up speed as the field opened up. I hurried to position myself for a shot, trying to time when I could get the best angle. Focusing on that, I completely missed the danger I was in until it was too late.

  Caleb Murphy was one of the best tight ends our school had ever seen and he was about to nail one of the defenders pursuing Brian. Unfortunately, they were going to collide right where I was standing, and there was no way I was going to get out of the way in time.

  Chapter 6

  “Sienna!”

  Everything happened too fast for me to process. There was an awful sound of crashing pads and a thud. Time settled down again and I realized that I was staring at a mound of uniforms and limbs right in front of me rather than being crushed beneath them. I did feel some pain around my ribs and one of my ankles, but I wasn’t complaining.

  Then other realizations began to flood in. The first was that I was sitting on one of Lee’s legs with my back again his chest. One of his arms was tight around me so I realized he must have pulled me out of the way. That explained the pain in my ribs. Then I understood why my ankle hurt. It was the only part of me stuck under Caleb and it was twisted sideways the wrong direction. He wasn’t exactly a lightweight so I desperately wanted him to get up.

  When he tried to get up though, my shoe string had somehow gotte
n jammed in his pads and he jerked my foot up with him. It was painful for me and annoying for him. After Caleb fumbled around with it for a few seconds, Lee took over and freed my shoe. Caleb jumped to his feet and shouted down at me, “Hey dumb butt, stay out of the way.” He ran back out on the field without a backward look or concern that I might be hurt.

  Stunned, I stared after him, not speaking. There was cheering, shouting, and commotion all around me, but all I could focus on was remembering the angry curl of Caleb’s mouth behind his face mask before he ran off. Next to me, the defensive player from the other team was being helped up by one of his teammates. He was moving slow. If he’d felt it so much in full pads, what would I have felt like if I’d been beneath them?

  “Are you ok?” Lee asked as he stood up. “Think we can move you?”

  When I nodded, he put his hands under my arms and pulled me up. He kept an arm around me and led me over to one of the players’ benches. I only had to go a few steps, but they were miserable – even with Lee taking most of my weight.

  That’s when I realized that the team's trainer was hovering around us. When I sat down, he asked, “Are you hurt anywhere?”

  I pointed to my ankle and he immediately pulled off my tennis shoe and sock to examine it. His experienced hands tested my ankle, feeling around it and asking me to rotate my foot. He grunted slightly, sounding relieved and said, “It’s only a sprain. You need to rest it for a couple of days and you should be fine. I’ll give you an ice pack.” He then proceeded to give me instructions for icing it, wrapping it and keeping it elevated.

  In the middle of his instructions, I remembered my camera and became frantic. I interrupted him to ask desperately, “Lee, where’s my camera?”

  “I handed it to the water girl a minute ago so I could get you up,” he replied, his expression grave. “You had an iron grip on it and you were holding it as far out of the way as you could. It’s just like you to think of protecting your camera before yourself.”

  “Think? I didn’t have time to think! Thank goodness you got me out of the way in time. Oooh, that’s cold,” I said as the trainer put the ice pack on my bare ankle.

  “Don’t complain,” Lee said a little sternly. “It could have been worse. If I hadn’t grabbed you in time, you would have been crushed.”

  “Not to mention what could have happened to my camera.”

  Lee shook his head at me like I was crazy and went to get it for me. I watched like an anxious mother as he carefully took it off the monopod, and handed it to me.

  “But the game’s not over yet,” I protested.

  Lee glanced at the scoreboard, which now showed a score of 28 to 6. “Yes it is. Besides, you aren’t in any shape to be on your feet anymore.”

  “The trainer said it was just a little sprain, and this would be a good chance to get some pictures of the second stringers.”

  “Don’t worry, if Haskins keep playing like this, you’ll have plenty of chances to get pictures of them. Besides, that scared the crap out of me and I’m not ready to face it again so soon.”

  Remembering Caleb’s anger, I felt depressed. “Maybe they won’t let me down here anymore after this. Caleb sure thought I was an idiot.”

  Lee looked fierce. “First of all, Caleb’s a moron. Second of all, he doesn’t have anything to say in the matter. And third, what’s the problem? My job was to get you out of the way in time and I did.” Then glancing down at my ankle, he added, “Mostly. We’ll be more careful in the future.”

  “So you’re going to keep helping me?”

  “After what happened tonight, if you’re out here, I’m out here.”

  Then I heard my name being called and I looked up to see my mom on the other side of the fence, an anxious expression on her face.

  “Hey, mom. Don’t worry. I’m ok.”

  “What’s wrong with your ankle?” she asked, looking down at the ice pack I was holding to it.

  “It’s a sprain – no big deal.”

  “I heard you were almost run over, but someone saved you.” She was looking curiously at Lee, and I remembered that they didn’t know each other.

  “Mom, this is Lee Franklin. He’s a friend of mine from the yearbook staff. Mr. Greeley asked him to keep an eye on me tonight.”

  My mom nodded. “Alex said he’d gotten someone to come with you. Thanks for taking care of her,” she said, looking at Lee.

  Had she always called Mr. Greeley by his first name? I was trying to remember when I heard Lee tell my mom, “No problem. Are you able to take her home, Ms. Whitfield, or do you still have gate duty? I could take her home for you, if you need me too.”

  “No, the game is almost over so I can leave it with Mr. Johnson. Can you help me get her to my car though?”

  “Of course.”

  I reluctantly put away my camera, knowing that neither of them would let me shoot again tonight. After a moment of trying to decide whether or not to put my shoe back on and how Lee could best help me walk, he finally got frustrated and said, “Here, let’s give your stuff to your mom and I’ll carry you.”

  “No, you don’t have to do that - it’s too far.”

  He ignored me and handed my camera bag, sock and shoe, and my ice pack to my mom over the fence. “Put your arms around my neck,” was all he said before swinging me up into his arms and walking down to the gate.

  There were some giggles and glares as we passed the cheerleaders and wolf whistles from some of Lee’s basketball friends who were hanging out near the fence. Lee grinned, and I blushed. My mom was waiting for us, and with all the authority of someone who’d been teaching for 15 years, told them to cut it out.

  I have to admit that while I enjoyed being in Lee’s arms, it wasn’t exactly comfortable. His left hand was pressing into one of my bruised ribs and my ankle throbbed with every step he took. I didn’t complain, but it must have showed on my face.

  “Are you doing all right?” Lee asked.

  My voice was tight with discomfort, but I managed to say, “I’ll make it, but next time, be a little gentler when you’re saving my life.”

  “Sorry. I grabbed you pretty hard, but I was more worried about moving fast than being gentle.”

  “I was kidding. I’m grateful, really. Anyway, I probably deserve a few bruises for not paying better attention.”

  “What were you doing anyway? It took me a second to realize that you didn’t see what was coming your way.”

  “I was getting some great shots of Brian,” I said, feeling more cheerful. “I can’t wait to get home and upload my pictures.”

  Hearing me, my mom said, “You are going straight to bed, young lady.”

  Feeling my various aches and pains, I realized that it was a pretty good idea. A hot bath didn’t sound bad either. “Fine,” I agreed. Under my breath, though, I murmured “Then I’ll work on them in my bed.” Lee chuckled and I gave him a mini-glare.

  Luckily, my mom had hurried ahead to unlock her car and didn’t hear. I took the opportunity of her not looking to lean in close to Lee’s ear and whisper, “Thanks, Lee.”

  I turned back to look at him again and my heart rate went crazy. His expression had softened and a smiled pulled gently at the corners of his mouth, but only for a moment. It was in his eyes that I saw how intensely my whispered thanks had affected him. They said what he couldn’t. His arms pulled me tighter against his chest and I pressed my face into his neck. He smelled incredible.

  A moment later, Lee put me down and I got into passenger seat of my mom’s car. She handed me the ice pack and put the rest of my stuff in the backseat. As she went around to get in, I looked up at Lee, who had moved around to the front of the car and was watching me through the windshield.

  He held up a hand in a gesture of goodbye as my mom backed out of the parking spot and pulled away. So much of this day had not been fun, but everything had been worth it just to find out that Lee liked me.

  I glanced at my mom’s profile as she drove, her face illumin
ated by the lights in the dashboard. “Thanks for not freaking out about this, Mom.”

  “I’m not thrilled about it, but I’m glad you’re all right. Maybe this will help you remember to be more careful in the future.”

  “Definitely.”

  “Lee Franklin seems to be a nice guy. Good looking too.”

  “Yes, he is,” I agreed, feeling wary of this topic.

  “He’s the new basketball star, isn’t he?”

  “I guess so. I’ve never seen him play or anything.”

  “Well, that’s what Coach Webb was saying in the teacher’s lounge. I think he’s tired of the way football always overshadows basketball at this school, and he’s thrilled with the season’s prospects now that Lee is on the team.”

  “Huh. It’ll be fun to see how good he is.”

  Apparently that was the opening she was looking for. “You two are just friends, right?”

  “Of course. What else?”

  “What are you going to say when he asks you out? Because he’s going to. It was written all over his face tonight.”

  “Don’t worry. He knows about your rule. Jordan Rubio made it her job to tell him.”

  “Well that’s good. Now you guys can relax and be friends.”

  “Can we, Mom?” I asked, annoyed by her relief. “How can you just be friends with someone you have feelings for?”

  Mom looked sharply over at me and said, “You can’t possibly have feelings for him yet. He’s only been here a couple weeks.”

  “I don’t know what I have for him. I do know that he’s the coolest, nicest guy I’ve ever known, and you saw how cute he is. How do you stop yourself from getting feelings for someone like that?”

  “You’d better figure it out, because if I find out you two are getting any more involved than just being friends, there will be major consequences. And just so I’m clear, that means, no kissing, no cuddling, no holding hands… nothing like that.”

  “This is so not fair. Why am I being punished for your mistakes?”

  She flinched a little, as if at an unexpected blow, and said, “I’m not punishing you, Sienna. I’m trying to protect you.”