Pinhole
Copyright© 2022 by Fanlon
Chapter 30
Christmas break was pretty boring. Unfortunately, no one from either side of my family could make it to Lincoln so it was just the three of us. Christmas day, I was up bright and early, around 5:00 in the morning. Dad woke up next and chuckled when he saw that I was already awake.
“You should have gone back to sleep,” Dad said when he passed me on the way to the kitchen and his morning coffee.
“It’s Christmas morning, how was I supposed to go back to sleep?” I asked sarcastically.
“Did you get some breakfast?” Dad asked from the kitchen.
“No, not yet,” I replied, getting up off the couch, walking around the corner into the kitchen and seeing Dad getting the coffee maker going.
“Cereal or something else?”
“Are you going to eat something?”
I was hungry, but not starving yet. I was waiting for Mom to get up because she would offer to make me and Dad something to eat. If Dad wanted something, then I would eat, if not, I could wait a bit longer.
“Maybe,” Dad replied.
He was smirking at me, and I had a good feeling he was thinking along the exact same lines as I was.
“Could we do some eggs and bacon?” I asked, a grin spread across Dad’s face, and he nodded.
“Sure, get the eggs, butter, and bacon out of the fridge.”
It wasn’t long before the smell and sounds of bacon sizzling in a pan permeated the room. Dad cracked one and then two eggs, dropping them into another hot pan.
“What do you think of some toast?” Dad asked as he stood over the eggs as they cooked, spatula in hand. I smiled and nodded emphatically. “Get out the bread and put two slices in the toaster.”
“Do we have any of Mom’s English muffins left?” I asked.
“Careful, Josh,” Dad chuckled. “You know your mom doesn’t share those.”
“But we could make bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches!” I protested and Dad just laughed.
“In the cupboard by the fridge, top shelf.” I hurried over to where he indicated and hopped up on the counter to grab Mom’s muffins. I opened the bag, grabbed two muffins, split them open and pushed the first one into the toaster before I slammed the lever down. “Brave, very, very brave.” I just grinned at his words.
It wasn’t until 7:00 when Mom finally came out of her room, rubbing sleep from her eyes and wearing her heavy robe.
“I see you two are up early,” Mom deadpanned, not at all impressed. Thankfully, both of our breakfast sandwiches were gone. She opened her arms, offering me a hug which I gladly took. “Merry Christmas, Josh. Are you ready to open your presents?”
My eyes lit up and Mom started giggling. She even pushed me gently towards the Christmas tree surrounded by presents in the living room. It didn’t take long for me to open up my presents. To my surprise, I got a brand-new camera. Not some cheap one from the grocery store but a full-fledged Canon in a large padded case. Not only that, but I also got a second lens, a handful of colored filters, two packs of photopaper, and even a tripod. All in all, it was a great Christmas for me. I had everything I needed for Mr. Watts’ photography class next semester.
That night, Laura and I talked for almost three hours before Mom finally said she needed to use the phone. With a lot of reluctance, I said goodbye to Laura and we both said we couldn’t wait for New Year’s Eve—Laura and her mom were coming!
I was pacing back and forth in the living room waiting for Laura and her mom to show up. They were supposed to get here between 7:00 and 8:00, it was now 9:17. I didn’t know why they were late. Their flight had landed earlier this morning, I know, I checked. I hadn’t heard from Laura either and she had sworn she was going to call me the second she got home.
“Quit pacing across the living room,” Mom groaned. “You’re going to wear a path in my carpets. Come sit down, she’ll get here when she gets here.”
I flopped down on the coach across from Mom and Dad.
“Don’t worry Josh, I’m sure they are on their way,” Dad said, his tone warm and comforting.
When Laura finally showed up, it was almost 11:00. I raced to the door when I heard someone knocking and thew it open to see Laura standing there smiling and her mother looked surprised.
“Laura!” I exclaimed. “You made it.”
She jumped into my arms and held me close while giving me a kiss at the same time.
“Josh, is that Laura?” Mom called from her place on the loveseat.
I pulled back from Laura for long enough to answer Mom, “Yeah.”
“Well, let them in for God’s sake, it’s cold out there!” Mom yelled and started laughing.
Laura released me and we were both grinning ear to ear while Laura’s mom was just shaking her head and slipped past us to join my parents in the living room.
“Come on, let’s go to my room so I can show you what I got,” I said, excited to show Laura my new camera and gear.
I didn’t even think to tell my parents what we were doing. Instead, we just ran up the stairs, down the hall and into my room. Right there on my ruffled bed was the pile of camera stuff I had opened on Christmas that I had been fiddling with in anticipation of showing Laura.
Laura gasped when she saw the camera sitting on my comforter and immediately scooped it up in her hands.
“You got a camera?” Her eyes were wide as she held the camera in her hands as if it were a priceless painting. “This is ... I mean, wow.”
“I know, it’s awesome right?”
“Yeah, super cool.” Laura looked the camera over, checking out all the buttons and even held it up to her eye as if she were taking my picture. “Do you know how to use it?”
“Not yet.” I blushed for some reason. “Look at what else I got with it.”
I pulled the case over and pulled out the second lens, it was bigger, longer and I just assumed it was a zoom lens. Then I showed her the colored filters and packs of photopaper.
“That’s enough paper for a lot of pictures.” The color in Laura’s cheeks deepened when she mentioned more pictures. I felt my heart beating in my chest at the thought of taking more pictures of Laura. “Do you have some film?”
“I think so.” I started digging around in the bag and through my pile of stuff and came to the realization that no, I didn’t have any film. Not one roll. “They umm, didn’t give me any film...”
“Seriously?” Laura asked, from the look on her face I didn’t think she believed me. I shrugged and gave her a pained look. “They really didn’t give you any film?”
“I guess not...” I was crestfallen. “One second, wait right here.”
I jumped up and ran out of my room and straight into the living room where my parents and Laura’s mom were in the middle of some conversation.
“Dad!” I said louder than I intended. His head turned to me, and a look of surprise was pasted across his face. My mom and Laura’s both turned as well to see what was wrong. I suddenly felt weird and unsure of myself. “Did you umm, get me any film? For the new camera?”
From the look on Mom’s face, I knew the answer before they said anything.
“We’re sorry, Josh. We forgot all about getting you some film,” Mom told me, giving me a regretful look.
“Can we get some?” I asked without thinking.
“It’s New Year’s Eve, and way too late to get you some tonight. Sorry kiddo,” Dad answered.
“I guess ... tomorrow?” I was bummed, but tomorrow was better than never.
“Sure, tomorrow we can go.” Dad smiled.
“Great, thanks!” I smiled brightly, happily, and ran back to my room where Laura was waiting.
Laura and I talked about the gallery and what it was going to be like to see my pictures framed, and hanging for everyone to see. I was nervously excited. I felt good about it, but I was scared shitless at the same time.
“Are you going to bring your mom?” I asked, grimacing at the idea of her mom being there. It was bad enough my own parents were going to see not only Laura, but Jo and Katie as well.
“No way, I can’t even imagine what would happen if she saw the picture of me. I would be mortified.” The look on her face spoke volumes and I couldn’t help but start laughing.
It felt like I had just gotten back to my room with Laura when Mom called out that it was time for the countdown. Laura’s eyes brightened, know what was coming. She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the living room where my parents and her mom were all standing and holding a champagne flute.
“Hurry up and grab a glass, you two,” Mom said and pointed towards the kitchen where there were two glasses waiting for us.
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