Pinhole
Copyright© 2022 by Fanlon
Chapter 12
During the lunch period, Dana and I sat in Mr. Watts’ classroom. Mr. Watts had questioned how I was going to take multiple pictures, all on Fridays. Dana had answered that for the both of us with the most obvious answer there was.
“You could make another pinhole camera, right?”
“I could, sure but—”
“That’s an awfully good idea, Dana,” Mr. Watts smiled from his side of the desk. “We will move on to other types of cameras later in the year, but for the first semester, we will only be using the pinhole cameras everyone made.”
After the three of us finished off our slices of pizza, Dana and I started working on a second camera for us to use on Friday, our first day of taking clients’ pictures together as a team. There was one thing Mr. Watts had been firm on about this whole thing: if I was going to take people’s pictures, I had to get one that was suitable for my portfolio for my class project. I readily agreed and Dana seemed sure that wouldn’t be a problem at all.
On Thursday, Dana and I were joined for lunch at Burger King by Jo. To my utter shock, Dana had actually cleaned out her car. There wasn’t a piece of trash or dirt anywhere on the inside of the car. My eyes were wide as I looked around and Dana just laughed saying, “I told you I would clean it. Well, I didn’t clean it, but the detail shop did a really good job didn’t they?”
I just shook my head and laughed. I should have known she wouldn’t actually clean it. If she had, she never would have let it get that dirty in the first place. Jo was waiting next to her dark blue Volkswagen Jetta when we jumped the curb into the parking lot and squealed to a stop next to her. The three of us headed inside, ordered our food, and then sat down at one of the booths together.
“Are we still okay for tomorrow?” Jo asked, her eyes twinkling and the color in her cheeks flushing a shade deeper.
“Yup, but one thing has changed,” Dana told her and the smile on Jo’s face faltered slightly.
“What do you mean?” Jo asked, not sounding nearly as sure about herself as she usually was.
“Josh needs to take a picture of you that he can use for his class project. Then he can take the one or two, possibly, that you want him to take.”
“Oh, sure!” Jo’s smile returned as bright and beautiful as ever. “That’s not a problem at all.”
“Great, thank you!” I jumped in before Dana could say something. “Tomorrow at lunch, can you meet us in front of Mr. Watts’ classroom?”
“Sure, sounds great. See you then!” She giggled and then bounced up from the booth and sauntered out of the restaurant, leaving Dana and me watching as she went.
“This is going to be fun,” Dana said softly, and there was a sly grin on her face that made my breath catch in my throat.
I had an idea for the picture I wanted for my portfolio. I wasn’t sure Jo, or Dana for that matter would like it, but it sounded good to me. This time I didn’t want to take a picture of Jo outside. I have done that three times now with three other girls. With Jo, I wanted to show something different. Something people wouldn’t expect when they looked at her. I know I wouldn’t have expected it the first time I saw her. I know a little better now, not that I actually knew Jo, but I knew most people’s initial judgment would be the opposite of what I wanted to portray.
When the bell rang for lunch, I hurried into the hall and made my way towards the photography classroom. Dana met me along the way, a pep in her step and her chin propped up high. She’s feeling awfully proud or confident today. Jo was already standing in front of the bulletin board in front of Mr. Watts’ classroom. Behind her, were the three pictures I had taken already. All three pictures depicted a girl outside the school: one on top of a hill, the other two with girls sitting under the huge oak outside.
“Hey you two, ready?” Jo asked as Dana and I walked up to her.
“Almost. I just need to get my camera and then I will be ready. I have an idea I hope you’ll like,” I replied quickly.
Dana looked at me with a look of surprise. I think she assumed she was going to be able to pick out the poses and locations, but she didn’t say anything.
“What did you have in mind?” Jo asked curiously.
When I finished explaining what I had envisioned, Jo launched herself at me and wrapped me in her arms. Pulling me tightly against her extremely ample, but shockingly firm chest.
“I love it, thank you!” Jo barely managed to say as she was overwhelmed by her emotions. When she released me and stepped back, her eyes were red rimmed, and she even wiped away a tear that was forming before it had a chance to ruin her mascara.
We headed into Mr. Watts’ classroom, and I told the girls, “I’ll be right back.”
I strolled into the darkroom to get my original pinhole camera. It was already loaded with photopaper and ready to use. I didn’t need to hurry so I took my time, loading my new camera on the off chance I needed to take two pictures over lunch. I also needed the halls to clear of students, and before long, the halls would be like a wild west ghost town with everyone either eating in the gym or at one of the fast-food restaurants within driving distance. That’s when I would get the scene I needed.
When I was finally really and truly ready, I took a deep breath and released it, nodded to myself, and left the darkroom.
“We should be good to go now, come on,” I said, and waved to the girls to follow me.
I walked towards my destination with Dana and Jo following right on my heels. No one said a word and an anticipation started to bloom in the air around us. I was starting to sweat as we got closer and closer. I wished those two would have started gossiping or something, to help me take my mind off what I was doing. Not that I wasn’t listening to what they were saying, but I could feel both of their attentions in the back of my head.
“Okay. Go ahead and get into a comfortable position,” I turned and said to Jo, who smiled and walked over to the gleaming chrome life-sized statue of a knight on a horse.
The statue was sitting on a one-foot-tall square pedestal. Next to the knight, was the figure of a young boy. In stark contrast, the boy was in bronze, looking disheveled, his clothes tattered. He was hefting a lance up for the shining knight on the horse. It was an incredible work or art and Jo sat down and leaned her back against the legs of the ratty squire.
Jo surprised me when she pulled out a pair of glasses and slipped them over her eyes, resting them on the bridge of her nose. She pulled out a textbook, Trigonometry and opened it in her lap to make it look like she was reading it. I knew she was smart, but not that smart!
I backed up until I got the framing of the picture how I wanted it. I stood off to the side, getting more of the profile of Jo than head on. I could clearly see her glasses and the book in her lap. Her hands were holding each side of the book and her legs were pulled up slightly so as to tilt the pages so she could comfortably read them.
“She looks...” I heard Dana whisper just behind me.
“I know,” I replied and smiled to myself.
“Beautiful, how did you know?” I just shrugged in answer.
I opened the camera and counted as I took the picture. I prayed no one would happen to stumble across us, and they didn’t, thankfully. When I thought I had it, I closed the camera back up and let out a sigh of relief.
“I got it,” I said in a tone that was unmistakably happy and proud all at the same time.
“Can I move then?” Jo asked, still holding her pose.
“Yeah, thank you,” I replied, and Jo put her glasses away, stuffed her book back in her bag and got to her feet.
“When do I get to see it?” Jo asked as she walked up to me and Dana.
“As soon as I get it developed, I promise.”
“Cool.” Jo’s smile was radiant. “That means I will see you tonight for the ... other ones?”
“Yup, I will bring Josh over a little after 8:00 tonight.”
“Perfect, see you then!” Jo waved and walked away, a happy sway in her step was hard from me to take my eyes off.
“Quit drooling, she likes you so don’t ruin it by slobbering all over yourself.” Dana smacked me and I instantly flinched as if I had been punched.
“What the?” I sputtered as my brain tried to catch up to what was going on.
“Oh, quit it. Come on. If we hurry, we can get that picture developed before your photography class starts.” Dana’s voice was annoyed, but the smirk on her face said something else that I didn’t truly understand.
When Dana and I got back to the classroom, Mr. Watts quickly got to his feet and followed us into the darkroom. Adam wasn’t there today, which was curious. He had been eating lunch with Mr. Watts, and Laura had somehow turned into a fixture at that time as well. I put Adam and Laura out of my mind; I had more important things to think about right now. I knew I had gotten the picture I wanted, but I still had to develop it and that meant nothing was certain yet.
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