“It’ll be fine babes. Now wipe that frown off, you only have eyes for Andy.” I said happily as I rubbed her shoulder.
“He is cute…” Claire said again pondering.
We heard footsteps as Andy made his way towards us.
I turned around. “About time diva.” I joked as I took in his blue skinnies and a plain black shirt. He was wearing black and white checkered vans, that looked like they’d seen better days, but for some reason it worked for him. I smiled appreciatively. He looked good. His black hair seemed shinier. He still had his silver lip ring and his black gauges. Good.
Andy came up to me, “What do I do?” He asked in a low voice.
“Hey Andy!” Claire said happily peeking from behind my legs.
Andy nodded and gave a small smile. “Hey Claire.”
I raised my eyebrow. Was that a smile…Love is in the air. “Okay love birds.” I said. “For this scene, I guess I want you guys to like pass each other in front of the fountain but as soon as you cross, like look back. Claire you’ll look back like who is that…you know what that sexy smile.” Claire nodded. I turned to Andy. “And Andy you’ll look back like daayyuummm she’s fine.” I said.
Andy looked confused.
I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Like oh my gosh, she’s a very pretty girl.” I said in a snotty voice. “Okay?” I asked my two models.
Claire nodded and Andy shrugged. I don’t think he knew how to do anything else.
“Okay Claire you come from this way.” I said…shooing her away to the far left.
“And Andy…” I said taking his hand. “You’ll come from----what is that?” I asked looking down at his wrists. It was the hideous big bulky bracelet that I hated. “That has to go.” I said pointedly.
Andy looked down at his wrists. “I never take it off.” He said.
“Weeeelllll you’re going to take it off today.” I said waiting for him take it off.
Andy looked around and put his hands in his pockets. “I don’t want to.” He said seriously.
“Andy this will totally clash the picture.” I objected.
“You won’t even see it.”
“Yes I will.” I said loudly. I put my hand up. “Can you please just take it off?” I said annoyed. “If you love it so much, you can put it right back on after the shoot.” I said.
I saw in his posture that he was getting ready to walk away. If I argued with anybody else, they would listen to me, but it didn’t seem as if it worked with him. “Please.” I asked softly when I saw him take a step back. “Look, I’m just trying to get a good grade on this project…20 minutes you can put it back on…it’s no big deal.”
Andy looked up to the sky, his head tilted back. I could see in his stance that he wanted to protest. I put my hands together as though in a prayer and stared up at him with big puppy eyes.
“Please, please, please.” I whispered.
His sigh gave me joy as he looked away from me. “Whatever.” He said annoyed. He unbuckled his bracelet and chucked it at me. Yes, Andy threw his bracelet at me in such a way that I had to step back and catch it quickly so it wouldn’t hit me in the face. Without another word he walked away to his spot.
“Thank you!” I yelled to his back. I didn’t want him to feel as though I didn’t appreciate what he just did. I held up the bracelet away from me and scrunched up my face. This thing was hideous. I dropped it on the floor. I’ll pick it up later, when we’re done.
***********
“You guys are absolutely gorgeous.” I said sitting on the grass as I looked back at the pictures.
Claire giggled and clapped her hands. She pulled Andy to her and gave him a big hug. She leaned down to look at the pictures. “Oh my gosh Andy, you’re so gorgeous.” She said happily.
“Isn’t he?” I said agreeing as I stopped at the picture. It was the one were Claire was sitting on top of the jungle gym looking down wistfully, and Andy was looking up…longingly. I zoomed into the picture. Wow this was it. He was staring straight up, hands in his pocket. The sun was at the perfect angle as it reflected on his face. I had both of my lovey dovey shots. The meeting- which was at the fountain. The romance- which was at the jungle gym. And now all that was left was the tragedy.
I looked up at Andy, unaware that he’d been staring at me. “These are really good, you’re really good.” I said happily. He looked down and away.
“Okay, now to the tragic part.” I said happily. I turned to Claire. “We’re still going to your house?” I asked.
She nodded eagerly. “And my roommates won’t be there, so we can take as much time as we want.”
I nodded. I had chosen her room because it was really girly and flimsy, it would give the whole ethereal look we were going for. “A little help.” I said reaching both my hands up to Andy. He stared at me for a minute and then reached down to grab my hands. That’s when I saw them. He’d grabbed my hands with his palms facing upwards. As he pulled me up. I saw several tiny scar lines on his right wrist where his bracelet used to be. I quickly looked away, not sure if he would have wanted me to see them. He pulled me to my feet and I gave him an awkward smile. What happened to him? Those looked exactly like scars of people that cut themselves. I mean, I could be wrong, but I was pretty sure I wasn’t. I’d only seen it in movies never in real life.
“So.” I said. “We all follow Claire to her house.” I brushed the dirt off my overalls. Andy nodded and went to his pickup truck. I watched him walk away. My curiosity peaked. What was I getting myself into?
*********
I fixed the pillows some more. “Okay good.” I said getting off the bed. “Claire go lay over there.” I instructed.
“Here?” She asked. I nodded. She laid down and I got back on the bed. I twisted her body to make it look like she’d passed out. To make the picture prettier, I sprawled her hair nicely on the pillow. I carefully got off the bed and moved back and bumped into Andy. Why didn’t he move when he saw me walking backwards? “That’s good.” I said smiling. I reached behind me and grabbed Andy’s arm. I made sure not to touch his wrist. “Okay and you on this side.” I said pointing to the other side of the bed. Andy got on the bed awkwardly.
“I don’t know what to do?” He said.
“Neither do I.” Claire whispered,
“Actually.” I said not liking the position he was in. It seemed so far apart, it wasn’t intimate. It didn’t look like he was madly in love with her. “Why don’t we---“I started. I got on the bed. I tugged Andy’s arm. “Over here.” I said pulling him closer to Claire. I chewed the inside of my cheek as I thought of what to do next.
“Okay I got it.” I said happily. “Lay your head like right below her breasts.” I instructed.
Andy hesitated a bit.
“Oh come on she doesn’t mind…do you mind Claire?” I asked.
“Nope, not at all.” She confirmed happily.
Andy laid on his back and placed the back of his head on her lower chest.
Claire stroked his face. “You know how many guys would die to be in your position?” she asked semi-jokingly.
“A lot?” He answered. Claire giggled and ran her nails through his hair.
My eyes got big at the flirtation. I grinned. “Okay love birds.” This was going better than I’d thought. I fixed Andy’s head. I tipped it another way. Still not satisfied, I put one leg over and straddled his hips. I leaned forward. I supported myself on my left arm. With my right hand I moved his head to the perfect angle and fixed his hair. I brushed his bangs to the side His hair was so soft and silky.
“Isn’t his hair soft?” Claire asked.
I nodded as I ran my hands through his bangs again. I didn’t realize that I was no longer supporting myself but had decided to sit on him, my legs still straddling him.
“What kind of shampoo do you use?” Claire asked as she touched the back of his hair.
“Whichever one, my sister gets me.” Andy said in a low voice.
Claire starte
d talking about the shampoo and conditioner she used when I felt Andy shift his hips slightly. I moved my hips so he could adjust. That didn’t turn out so well; as I felt something press against my inner thigh. Maybe that’s his cellphone, it has to be his cellphone. I looked down and then up to see Andy’s blue eyes piercing mine with the most uncomfortable look on his face.
Oh shit, I hadn’t meant---I lifted my hips and threw my leg back over as I scrambled off of him. No that wasn’t awkward at all….nope not awkward in the least. Andy sat up abruptly as his left hand moved restlessly on his belt. He tried to adjust his pants discreetly and it would have been had I not been staring at him the whole time.
Claire stopped talking in confusion at our abrupt movements. “What’s wrong?” She asked sitting up.
I smiled and looked at her. “How about a 5 minute break.” I suggested loudly. “I’m so thirsty.”
“Sure.” Claire said.
Andy got off the bed. He turned his back to the girls and put his hands in his pockets. “Hey can I use your bathroom?” He asked.
“Sure, down the hall to your left.” She said pointing out her bedroom.
Andy nodded and left the room.
“Okay.” Claire said turning back to me. “What do you want to drink?” she asked hopping off her bed.
“Water’s fine.” I said smiling, to hide the awkwardness I was still feeling. I don’t know why it was such a shock to me that Andy would have a reaction to having a girl straddling him. I guess even if I wanted to hook him up, in the back of my mind I assumed he was asexual. That he didn’t have any sexual feelings for anybody.
“Do you think Andy would want water?” Claire asked sweetly as she stopped by the door.
I nodded. “Yeah probably.”
She nodded and left the room.
I looked around and let out a deep breath. Accidently giving a guy an erection? Great job O.J.…you really nailed it this time. Well at least now I had confirmation that he was a guy. Not that I ever assumed he wasn’t.
The rest of the photo shoot went perfectly without any glitches or without me losing my mind and grinding up on him. We didn’t bring it back up, but when he came back into the room I gave him an apologetic smile which he choose to ignore by the way. I didn’t miss the awkward glances he threw my way a couple times. I wanted to roll my eyes and say move on. Yeah you got turned on, so what? Happens all the time, it’s in the past. But I managed to hold my tongue and by the end of the shoot. I think it would be safe to say that we let bygones be bygones. Oh yeah, and Andy could thank me later because the way Claire kissed him good bye was definitely an invitation for something more. Who cares if it was on the cheek, she lingered. And when girls linger, that means they want. I concluded that Claire was attracted to Andy’s dark image since it was the exact opposite of Brent’s golden boy image.
I was putting my camera back in my trunk when Andy jogged up to me.
“Hey do you have my bracelet?” He asked.
I closed the trunk. “Umm…the ugly one that you chucked at me?” I asked. Fuck…I’d forgotten.
“Yeah.” He said.
I looked down and noticed he was rubbing his right wrist. He noticed me looking and stuffed his hands in his back pockets.
“Oh…um….I kind of forgot it at the park.” I said making my way to the driver’s side of my car.
Andy’s face paled.
I shrugged. “It was ugly anyways….besides if you want to cover up your cuts, I’m sure they have better looking ones.” I honestly did not mean to say that. It was in my head. Remember the fucking popcorn machine? Yeah, things just come out, but there was no way I could take it back. I really put my foot in it this time. I bit my bottom lip nervously as I leaned against the driver’s door and stared at him. What do I say now? Sorry for being nosey? That was so rude of me, so uncalled for….what the hell is my problem?
Andy blinked several times as if what I said needed time to register. His icy blue eyes met mine briefly. But in that brief moment, I knew exactly what his eyes said. Fuck off. He turned around.
“Andy.” I said going to his truck. I tried to think quickly of how to apologize.
Andy got in his truck and slammed the door.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean that.” I said standing on my tippy toes to be able to reach the window.
He started the engine, his hand on the steering wheel. Involuntarily my eyes went back to see the cuts on his wrists. They didn’t look fresh. But what if I made him so mad that he went home and made fresh ones? Was that even how it worked? I looked up guiltily to see him looking at me. It sunk in that he’d watched me gawk at his wrist. To be fair, I don’t think I was gawking, maybe staring politely.
“Whatever.” He said nonchalantly as he looked away from me. Without warning he reversed his truck and I had to step back so as not to get my foot run over.
My heart twisted as it dawned once more, how much of an evil person I was. “Sorry.” I pleaded softly as I watched his truck disappear.
Chapter seven
I wasn’t a complete bitch. I knew when I’d completely crossed the line somewhere. So I resorted to going to hot topic to try to find him another band. The workers there had a field day with me that was for sure when I tried to explain what I was looking for. But I contemplated telling Andy to work there because it looked right up his alley. Finally I found a simple black one without all the terrorist spikes coming out of it.
This time I was actually early for English class. Andy was putting down his book bag. He slowly sat down while I slid into the empty seat next to him. It wasn’t as if I was taking somebody else’s seat, nobody ever sat next to him. I smiled at him, but as usual he ignored me and didn’t even look in my direction. I leaned on the table and crossed my hands. Andy rubbed his tattooed right arm and put it under the table.
I took a deep breath. “I think we did an amazing job yesterday.” I said cheerily.
Andy didn’t answer as he twirled his pen in his left hand. I watched his hand. I guess it made sense for cuts to be on his right hand since he was left handed.
“Well if you want we can do the next shoot today or tomorrow, preferably today after school, I’m not that busy.” I said
Andy still didn’t answer.
I leaned into him. “Why are you ignoring me?” I whispered innocently.
He gave me a quick, ‘are you fucking serious look’ before turning back around.
I smiled as bent down and reached into my purse. I took out the black bracelet. I seriously contemplated on giving it to him or not. If I didn’t give it to him, I’ll be a rude bitchy person. But if I did give it to him then it’ll be an excuse for him to cover his scars. You see my dilemma? My mind goes into a mode where it thinks it can solve other people’s issues. This is the part where I say, it’s not my business and hand the poor boy back his bracelet. The only problem now is that it is my business…yes I’m nosey and no I can’t let it go. Ornelia just give the boy back his bracelet. I scrunched up the bracelet and turned to Andy.
I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for losing your precious bracelet.” I whispered. “So I got you a better one.” I said smiling as I dropped the bracelet in front of him.
Andy barely acknowledged the bracelet. He stared at it for the longest time. What the hell? I started panicking for no reason.
“You don’t like it?” I asked in confusion. “It’s the same thing, just minus the unnecessary spikes coming out of it like---“
Andy snatched the bracelet off the table startling me. He shoved it in his pocket. “Can you just leave me alone?” He asked annoyed. I could hear the irritation in his voice.
“Hey.” I said softly in a hurt voice. “That’s not nice.” I felt offended that he didn’t even appreciate or seem to accept my apology. Yes, I went out of my way to get him something that I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing and he repays me like that. How about a little more gratefulness Mr. Perth?
The more I looked at Andy the more he seemed to
me like he was angry. Very angry.
I fucking said I was sorry what more could he possibly want geez!
Andy turned to face me for the first time. His expression was blank, his blue eyes cold. “Look, I don’t know what game you’re playing, but I don’t want to be a part of it.”
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