Chapter 21

It would have been shocking if Dana had just dropped me off at home after leaving Laura’s house. I even thought that was going to happen when I got out of the car and didn’t hear the driver’s door open and close right away. That particular and dreaded sound rang out like a cannon the moment my foot hit the steps leading up to my front door.

“Let me guess,” I heard the smile on Dana’s face without even seeing it. “You were hoping I would just drop you off and not keep pestering you about your dinner date with Laura ... and her mom?”

“I was kind of hoping,” I answered quietly, not bothering to turn my head in her direction hoping she wouldn’t hear me.

The issue was simple. I knew she was loving this moment, and I was bound and determined not to play into it.

“Oh, quit stalling already, dork,” Dana groaned, and put a hand on the middle of my back and gave me a small push. “Get your ass inside. You’ve got questions to answer.”

Knowing full well I wasn’t going to be able to wiggle my way out of this situation, I sighed, resigned to my fate, and led the way inside.

The entryway was completely dark. I didn’t think we would be that late. Usually, my mom and dad would be up on the couch watching a movie or something. Tonight, however, that wasn’t the case.

While I was debating where my parents were, Dana was not.

“Dude, what’re you doing?” Dana asked, her voice hushed for only me to hear. “Let’s just go downstairs so you don’t have to whisper when you answer all of my questions.”

I turned my head finally only to see Dana’s stupid smirk and I rolled my eyes in response. She grinned and gave me another push towards the stairs that led into the basement.

Usually, when Dana and I came down here, we spent nearly all of our time in the darkroom. Not that the studio portion of the basement wasn’t good enough, it was, but the darkroom was like our hangout spot. It didn’t hurt that there wasn’t any seating for more than one outside the darkroom. I had a stool and an old wooden chair of my dad’s, but that was it. Truth be told, I much preferred the darkroom.

The moment we stepped through the spinning door into the darkroom, I flipped on the lights and Dana hopped up on the metal countertop, swinging her feet anxiously. I didn’t even get a chance to sit down myself before she proceeded to pepper me with question after question about everything that happened and didn’t happen at Laura’s.

The next morning, I was awoken by a soft knock at my door and then the sound of my doorknob turning.

“Are you awake yet?” I heard my mom ask.

I didn’t respond in real words. I just groaned and moaned like someone who hadn’t gotten enough sleep and was struggling to wake up fully. I turned my head, so I was facing the wall next to my bed instead of the doorway, pulling my covers up as high as I could in an attempt to hide under them.

“Hey sleepyhead, come on and get up.”

I wiped the sleep from my eyes with the back of my hands before blinking rapidly a few times. When I looked up, I saw my mom standing just inside my door. I groaned again in complaint and waved a hand in the air in some kind of a defensive gesture, as if I could make my mom suddenly disappear and I could fall back to sleep.

“Don’t give me that,” Mom said. “Come on, breakfast is ready.”

I grabbed my pillow and debated laying it over my face to block out the morning but decided that wouldn’t be effective in this situation. Besides, I was awake now, as much as I didn’t want to be.

“Alright, I’m up. I’m up!” I complained.

I sat up in bed, my covers falling and pooled on my lap. My mom didn’t move and we just kind of looked at each other for a few seconds. I thought I saw something on her face but before I could say something about it, she smiled and quickly backed out of my room, closing the door behind her as she went.

That was weird. Not my mom waking me up, that was fairly typical. What was strange was the look on her face for that moment before she left. Something was up. What that was, I had no idea. My initial reaction was something to do with my dinner date with Laura. Or it might have been something about Dana and me getting home last night.

I started to get anxious that I was going to be in trouble. Not that I wanted to go run headlong into some kind of scolding, but I didn’t want to put it off any longer either. If I was going to be in trouble, I might as well find out what I did and get whatever punishment I was in for over with as soon as possible.

The smell of fresh, hot pancakes filled my nose well before I ever stepped foot in the kitchen. I grinned to myself, pancakes were my favorite, right behind waffles, but we don’t have a waffle maker. So, pancakes with warmed, real, maple syrup was as good as it was ever going to get.

“How many do you want?” Mom asked the moment I sat down on one of the stools at the counter.

“Four, please!” I answered quickly.

I eyed the fresh stack of four, still steaming pancakes that just came off the griddle mom had on her spatula.

“I know you want these ones, grab a plate,” Mom said. “Get me one too.”

“Sure thing!”

I raced over to the cupboard and grabbed two plates, forks, and a pair of knives and ran back to retake my seat. The second Mom put that stack on my plate, I was slathering each layer with butter that melted almost instantly before soaking into the pancakes. That done, I began pouring the warmed-up maple syrup over the top.

“Save some of that for me,” Mom complained, snatching the container from my hands. “So, I was thinking. Maybe you and I could go to the craft store and see if they have anything you need for your studio downstairs.”

“Mm hm mmm unngh.” I nodded.

I didn’t dare try to speak because I had just shoveled more food into my mouth that was strictly proper.

“Good,” she smiled. “As soon as we’re done with breakfast, we’ll go.”

“Sounds good!” I answered and proceeded to overfill my mouth again.

I ended up eating ten pancakes in total. Mom managed her usual four and when she was done informed me that it was up to me to take care of the dishes while she finished getting ready to go. I was expected to be showered and dressed by the time she was done.

Our first stop for potential supplies was Hobby Lobby. I wasn’t sure what all we were going to find here, but I wasn’t going to say anything just in case there was something here I could use. Mom made a beeline straight towards the fabric department of the store.

“I was thinking you might need a couple of backdrop options,” Mom said, reaching out and feeling a black material on a huge roll.

“Uh, sure. That’s probably a good idea.” I replied, taking a moment to scan the various options on display.

“What colors do you think you’ll need?” Mom turned to look at me and I shrugged. “I think we could probably get a couple, as long as they aren’t too expensive.”

“Cool.”

We ended up finding three options that would work—black, white, and a medium gray color. Mom had tried to get me to look at various colors, but I had to explain that I liked black and white. The color options wouldn’t show up and just look like various shades of gray with a black and white camera.

That didn’t stop her from pointing out royal blue material that would have been amazing for color shots. She also found a deep burgundy that she personally fancied. She even went as far as to remind me that I might not be shooting in black and white forever. Regardless of how much she liked the colorful options, we ended up getting the three I wanted.

“So, Josh, what are your plans with the portraits you have already taken?”

“What do you mean?”

“All those pictures you’ve taken. Like the ones from the show. Are you going to do anything with those? What about any of the pictures you’ve taken at the university?”

“I was talking to Dana about that actually. I think I want to put the good ones up in the downstairs hallway.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Mom groaned. “I’m sure your dad and his buddies will love it.”

The way Mom rolled her eyes as she said that told me it wasn’t because they were artfully done.; more so because it was naked women, beautiful naked women at that.

“Let’s see if we can find some nice frames for them or something.”

When we left the crafts store, we had three rolls of fabric and eight identical black metal frames. They were pretty basic, but they would work and that’s what mattered. I caught Mom looking at me a few times as she drove. It looked like she wanted to say something and every time she was about to, she suddenly changed her mind. It was starting to bug me. If she didn’t just spit it out soon, I was going to lose my mind.

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