Candid (True Images Series)

by Michelle Pennington

  “Sure, but photography is fun for me.”

  “I get that. Really, I do. It’s the same way for me with basketball. I’ve always wanted to play in college and maybe even try for the pros. For years, I worked myself hard, pushing my body to its limits and never letting anything distract me. Then, I woke up and realized that I had missed out on years of being a kid that I would never get back. That was a couple of years ago, and ever since then, I’ve tried to balance things better. I think you’re doing the same thing I did.”

  “Maybe. “

  “Well, think about it for a while, and I bet you’ll see I’m right.”

  “Are you always this honest?”

  “Always. My mom used make me do chores if she caught me lying. If anything will cure a kid of doing something wrong, it’s folding his parents’ underwear.”

  And just like that, he had me laughing again.

  “Does that mean you aren’t mad at me anymore?” he asked.

  “I wasn’t mad.”

  “Really? Because you sure glared at me a few times. I told myself that the one benefit of not dating is that you can’t break up with me when I tick you off. In fact, it’s probably the only benefit.”

  “I wouldn’t have broken up with you anyway. I might have jabbed you in the ribs or something though.”

  “Yeah, because that worked out well for you last time.”

  Remembering the day we took the dance team photos, I smiled and flirted with my lashes. “It did actually. It was kind of fun when you grabbed me like that.”

  “Well, one thing’s for sure… I’m going to make sure you have a lot more fun from now on. I’d be more successful if you’d stop getting in the middle of so much drama though.”

  “Sorry, but I don’t think that’s going to happen any time soon.”

  “I had a feeling.”

  Chapter 8

  Did I really think that the worst the Jordan and her friends could do was beat me up or ruin my social life? I should have known better. They knew to hit me where it would hurt the most.

  “Sienna, I’m sorry, but that’s my final decision.”

  I looked up from my clenched hands and saw that Principal Duncan was looking grave but not unkind. “But, I was using my own camera. Those pictures are my property.”

  “I understand that. You were on official school business when you took that picture however.”

  “I guess I don’t understand why everyone else in this school can take pictures with their phones and post them where ever they want, but I can’t use my DSLR.”

  Mr. Greeley stirred beside me. He had been silent throughout this meeting, but I could sense his disapproval. “Mr. Duncan, to make things clear, Sienna can still use her camera for journalism and yearbook, but any pictures taken on campus during school hours will be considered school property or she will no longer be allowed to take pictures here. Correct?”

  Mr. Duncan nodded. “Anything taken after school hours, even on campus at school functions belong to her because the students will be there voluntarily as they would at any other public event. I understand that this issue is not directly addressed in school policy, but when students enroll, their parents have to sign a permission sheet allowing the school to print their photo in school publications. It’s possible that the school could suffer legally over the photos being put up on private blogs without their knowledge or permission.”

  “And you’ve had complaints, haven’t you?” I asked.

  “From several of the cheerleaders and their parents,” he replied, confirming my suspicions.

  “I can’t believe they’re making such a big deal out of this,” I said.

  Mr. Duncan hesitated a moment over his words and finally said, “I know there was nothing inherently harmful or inappropriate about your photo. The problem is really with the comments, which you’ve assured me you didn’t participate in. I think that if you will remove the negative and hurtful comments, it would go a ways towards pacifying some of the concerned parents. You can do that, correct?”

  “Yes, I can. I should have thought to do that before now. I’m sorry.”

  “Well, that’s that then. I hope that you will continue to find opportunities to grow your skills here at school. That is, after all, what we hope to achieve for every student. I would appreciate your cooperation in this.”

  I nodded my head, knowing that he was trying to be fair even as he tried to protect the school. If teenage girls were cruel and vindictive, their mothers often proved to be worse when protecting their darlings.

  “Well, if that’s all,” Mr. Greeley said, “Sienna and I should get back to class. We have a deadline tomorrow.”

  A few minutes later, Mr. Greeley and I walked silently back to class. It might have seemed weird walking so casually around school with a teacher, but my thoughts were far away and I barely noticed he was there except for the click clack of his crutches.

  My experiment was over.

  “You know, Sienna, school isn’t the only place teenagers hang out.”

  I stopped and tried to figure out what he was talking about.

  Mr. Greeley swung around to face me and said, “If you want to capture who these kids really are, you need to catch them in a different background anyway – one that will show who they really are. No one is truly themselves at school.”

  Wow. Where did this wise, compassionate version of Mr. Greeley come from? Had it been hiding under his shaggy beard all these years?

  “I see what you mean. Thanks.”

  “No problem. It’s time you had a little fun anyway.”

  We started walking again, but I couldn’t help arguing. “Photography is fun.”

  “No, Sienna. For you it is a passion – an all-consuming dream. Fun is something else entirely.”

  We walked into the yearbook room then. Lee and Walter Burns, our student editor, were having a contest to see who could toss the most paper clips in a plastic cup. The rest of the staff was watching and cheering each successful toss. Hearing the door open, Lee looked over and smiled. That’s when I knew what Mr. Greeley meant.

  “What was that all about?” Lee asked.

  “I’ll tell you about it later,” I answered. “Hey, would you be up for a little party tonight?”

  I loved the way his eyebrows went up when he was surprised or intrigued. I think he was both right then. “On a Tuesday night?”

  “Sure, I want to celebrate surviving the week so far.”

  “Dare I hope I’m the only one you’re inviting?”

  I laughed but shook my head. “Sorry, but my mom would never go for that. She won’t mind if I have several friends over though. It’ll give her a chance to get to know you.”

  “She’ll be there huh?” Even his grimaces were cute.

  “Yeah, but she’ll probably stay in her studio most of the time. I’ll invite Marisol over. Why don’t you bring a friend?”

  “Ok, sure. What time?”

  “How about seven?”

  “Sounds good. Now watch this. I’ve made 8 out of 12 so far,” he said, picking up another paperclip.

  *****

  Every day after school, from 4:00 to 6:30, you could find me behind the counter at Foster’s Photos. Foster’s was the only independently owned photography business in Haskins. We sold cameras and photography equipment, printed photos, and taught workshops. I’d been working here since the summer after my sophomore year, and I’d learned a lot about photography along the way. It was the best job in the world.

  But today, I couldn’t wait for the clock to tick around to 6:30 so I could leave.

  We got a sudden rush of customers at 5:45 and by the time they’d all been taken care of, I saw that if I was going to order pizza in time for me to pick it up on the way home, I needed to do it now. I got my phone and began to look up the number when I got a text from Parker. He wanted to know what I was doing tonight.

  I groaned, but I knew he’d be hurt if he found out I’d had friends over and didn’
t invite him. I hesitated a moment, then texted him back.

  Having some friends over. Wanna come?

  I’ll be there. Who’s coming?

  Marisol, Lee, and maybe others. Not sure.

  Fun times. Still coming.

  I laughed when I saw his response. He wasn’t a big fan of Marisol, but he especially seemed to have a problem with Lee.

  I called and ordered the pizza, hoping I got something everyone would like. Then I called Marisol and asked if she could round up one of her friends to come over so we would have even numbers. My mom had agreed to let me have some friends over, but luckily I hadn’t said how many.

  We had a small house, but I didn’t think we’d be too crowded with six people. Then, thinking of our living room, I had a sickening thought. The chances of our living room being clean enough for company were practically non-existent. I hoped I’d have time to clean it up before anybody got there.

  Thirty minutes later, at 6:45, I turned onto our street with three pizza boxes heating up the threadbare seats of my rustmobile. The first thing I saw as I got to our house was Lee’s truck pulled up to the curb. Great, the one person I would have liked to be late was 15 minutes early.

  I pulled into the driveway next to my mom’s car and went around to get the pizza. As I lifted them off the seat, Lee was already beside me, ready to take them. I handed them over and said, “Hey there.”

  “Hey. I hope you don’t mind that I’m early. I wanted to get some time alone with you.” Then, glancing at my mom’s car, he said, “Well, sort of alone.”

  I was extremely frustrated at what his first impression of my house would be, but I couldn’t help the flutter in heart. I had to admit, being alone with him sounded good.

  Since he seemed to have the pizza ok, I grabbed my backpack and led the way. He followed me up the steps to the porch and waited as I opened the door.

  “Well, come on in, but don’t mind the mess. Give me a minute to pick up the…” The words died on my lips. Coming through the front door, I was amazed at what I didn’t see.

  I didn’t see laundry piled on the couch, shoes scattered around the door, half-finished canvases leaning against every wall, or paint clouded mason jars holding brushes in the window sills. What I did see was my mom winding up the cord of the vacuum cleaner in an immaculate living room. It actually looked really awesome and right then I loved her terribly.

  “Oh, you brought pizza home, huh? I was going to make spaghetti, but I guess you’ve got it covered. If you want, I’ll go ahead and make some cookies though.”

  I was still so overwhelmed right then that I couldn’t process her question until Lee spoke up behind me.

  “Well, I would love some, Ms. Whitfield.”

  “I’ll get to it then. Sienna, why don’t you let Lee come inside? You’ve got him trapped in the doorway.”

  Realizing she was right, I hurried to move out of the way. While I went to go put my backpack in my room, my mom directed Lee to put the pizzas down on the kitchen counter. When I came back into the living room, Lee was studying a painting my mom had done of me a few years ago.

  Our house had an open floor plan, so I could see my mom gathering ingredients for her cookies only a few feet away. She would be listening to every word we said, and it made me feel kind of awkward.

  “So, who did you invite over?” I asked Lee, trying to sound casual.

  “Will is coming later. He gets off work at 7:00 so he’ll be a little late.”

  I pretended to be disappointed “Oh. Not Michael Fine?”

  Lee’s smile was lopsided as he shook his head. He glanced over at my mom like he was also trying to judge what he could say in front of her. “He’s the last person I’d bring over here.”

  “Too bad,” I teased. Turning towards the kitchen I asked, “Hey, Mom, would you mind if we went out on the porch to wait for the others to get here? They should be here anytime.”

  She hesitated, clearly trying to determine the dangers posed by her daughter sitting on the porch alone with a boy. A little to my surprise, she nodded her head a fraction, just enough for me to see. I didn’t wait for her to change her mind, but motioned for Lee to follow me.

  As the screen door slammed behind us, I led the way to the porch swing. We sat in silence for a while as the swing slowly drifted back to stillness and twilight fell. The street lights had come on around my neighborhood, but we sat in shadows. The air was humid and sweet around us. I took deep breaths of it as I tried to relax- a pointless attempt considering that I was alone with Lee in near darkness.

  “So, have you ever talked to your mom about whether she’s dating Mr. Greeley?”

  “No. I keep hoping she’ll tell me on her own, but she hasn’t yet. ”

  “Was she in there when you got called into the office today?”

  “No, but the principal had already talked to her about it. I think Mr. Greeley was in there as both my teacher and my moral support.”

  “That would have been interesting to see how they acted around each other. What happened in there today anyway?”

  “Basically, the school’s not going to let me put any photos that I take during school hours on my blog anymore. Brittany and Jordan have been complaining and they got their parents involved.”

  “But how can they stop you?”

  “Well, for one thing, they can take away my photography privileges at school if I don’t cooperate. I don’t want that, and neither does Mr. Greeley. Plus, since my mom’s a teacher, they can put some pressure on her to put her foot down. I thought I’d save her the embarrassment and just agree.”

  “You don’t seem too upset about it.”

  “I was at first, but I’m okay with it now. As Mr. Greeley said, there are plenty of other places to get my pictures. I’ll just have to be a little more social from now on.”

  “That explains what we’re doing tonight.”

  “Not really. I’m being social, but not for my photography. Tonight is just for fun.”

  Lee put his arm up around the back of the swing as he turned to face me, which made the swing sway softly back and forth again. He leaned closer and said, “That’s good to know. So what do two friends do to have fun when they’re alone in the shadows?”

  “Nothing, if they’re smart.”

  “I don’t feel like being smart. I feel like seeing what it would be like to kiss you.”

  It was hard to talk when you couldn’t breathe, but somehow I managed. “Probably not much different than any other girl.”

  “I doubt that, but why don’t we find out? You seem to like experiments.”

  Strangely, my first thought was to wish I had my camera. He looked so heartbreakingly perfect right then. The shadows emphasized the depth of his dark eyes and the masculine lines of his faces. But no camera could have caught the way he seemed to consume the night with his presence. He was so tall and so close that he seemed to surround me as he leaned closer.

  Time paused in expectation as his lips hovered so sweetly close to mine. I had a second to decide that I couldn’t let him kiss me, but it wasn’t long enough for me to pull away. His kiss barely brushed my mouth, though, before he drew back quickly. Caught somewhere between delight, guilt, and confusion, I looked around to see why Lee had sat up so quickly. That’s when I head a car door slam and saw Parker striding across the lawn towards us.

  Oh shoot.

  Parker stood silhouetted against the streetlight on the curb in the growing darkness. Every line of his body spoke anger, but he said nothing. He just stood on the steps like a threatening storm. I finally realized that his feelings for me were stronger than I’d ever guessed.

  “Hey there, Parker.” Why in the world did I sound guilty? I didn’t have to answer to him for anything.

  My greeting seemed to untie the final knot in Parker’s restraint. “So let me get this straight. You can’t go to a movie with me, but it’s totally cool to sit out on your porch and make out with him.”

  “Be quiet!
What are you trying to do, bring my mom out here?”

  “Oh, so she doesn’t know, huh? All this junk about you guys just being friends is only a cover, isn’t it? You’re such a freakin’ liar.”

  Lee was on his feet then. His voice was quiet but angry. “Look man, I don’t know who the heck you are, but don’t talk to her like that.”

  “You don’t know who I am? I’ve been friends with Sienna since the third grade. She’s known you for, what, a couple weeks? And suddenly she’s ready to change who she is and sneak around behind her mom’s back to be with you? Who the heck do you think you are?”

  “Parker, don’t freak out,” I pleaded. “It was one little kiss. It’s not like we’ve been dating or anything.” I said in a desperate voice barely louder than a whisper.

  The snorting sound Parker made was descriptive if not very attractive. “Like you would have only kissed once if I hadn’t gotten here when I did.”

  Troubled, I answered, “I don’t know what would have happened. But Parker, I swear I’m trying not to break my mom’s rules. I can’t help how I feel.”

  “I don’t think he cares so much about whether you’re breaking your mom’s rules as that you aren’t breaking them with him,” Lee said. His words were brutally accurate and I flinched.

  Parker didn’t hesitate to respond, “As you said, pretty boy, you don’t know me. Maybe I do have feelings for Sienna, but I would never do anything to hurt her. Messing up her relationship with her mom would kill her. Maybe you ought to consider that before you take this any further. You can have any girl in school. Why don’t you leave Sienna alone?”

  I didn’t know Lee well enough to understand his temper, so I was relieved when Lee replied carefully, “Look, Sienna is the only girl I’m interested in, so you can forget that. I get that you guys are friends, though, and that you have a history with her that I don’t. But I respect her and I would never do anything to hurt her. You can trust me on that.”

  Sincerity rang true in his voice, but all Parker said was, “I hope so, man.”

  “All right. Well, I’m going to go inside and let you apologize to Sienna for calling her a liar.”