Chapter 16

Winter Break was over and it was back to the grind. Monday morning I walked into Advanced Composition II and saw Ms. Jones wearing a nasty smile waiting for us. After everyone was seated, she looked at us.

"Well, I hope everyone had a nice vacation ... because it's over now."

Ulp. Did we have another Grossfeldt on our hands?

"Mr. Randahl, can two people look at a portrait and see the same thing?"

"Umm ... well ... As far as the image goes, sure, but what they'll think they see, probably not."

"Why?" Was Ms. Jones really Grossfeldt in drag? It almost sounded like it, and I shuddered at the idea.

"Well ... I'd think the relation you have with the subject would color what you think you see in the photo. Wouldn't it?"

"Would it? What do the rest of you think?" The ensuing discussion took care of the rest of the hour. Until...

"For your first assignment, I want you to do a portrait of someone you know."

Well, that didn't sound too difficult.

"Actually, I want two portraits. One that shows the person as you see them, and another as they see themselves. Oh, and I don't want to see two copies of the same shot. I think we've pretty much agreed there're no two people who see the same thing in an image.

"You've got two weeks and I want you to be ready to discuss your images."

Hmm. I wondered if I dared to ask Beth to pose for me?

I had an hour before my next class and thought I'd just kill some time in the school's coffee shop. I walked in and saw several of the other kids from AdComp sitting at a table. I grabbed a cup of coffee and a muffin and joined them. A discussion over our latest assignment was already underway.

"So how are we supposed to do this?" Jim Samuels asked.

"You've got me," Anse David said, shaking his head. "I mean, first we each have to find someone who's going to be willing to pose. And how do you explain what you're trying to do?"

We spent most of the hour trying to figure out how to attack our latest assignment.

That evening I was sitting at the drafting table, shuffling through some pictures, while trying to figure out a way to get Beth to pose for me.

"Tommy, let's go out for dinner."

"Um, okay. Where do you want to go?"

"We haven't been out for pizza for a while. Oh, and it's my treat," she said as she tossed me my coat.

She drove us to the Palace where Janine greeted us like long-lost family and took us back to the snuggle booth.

"Okay, Tommy, what's going on? You've been acting like you're trying to figure out how to ask me something," Beth said after Janine brought our Cokes and took our order. I knew she was serious—the pizza would be onion-free.

How does she do that?

"Um ... well, you see, I've got an assignment and ... Well, I need someone to pose for me."

"And you've spent the whole afternoon trying to figure out how to ask me, right?"

I just nodded.

"And you thought I'd get mad, right?"

Another nod.

"Because of the picture in the Institute's magazine, right?"

"Beth, I'm sorry. I just don't know who else to ask."

That's when I realized she was wearing an ear-to-ear grin. "Tommy, I'm not mad about that. It was just such a shock when I first saw it.

"So what's so special about this assignment?"

Janine came around the corner about then and the Palace pizza took precedence over anything else.

Between bites I explained what I needed.

"So you need two pictures, one as you see me and the other how I see myself? That shouldn't be too hard."

Breathing is easy! Once you remember how...

Thursday I was back in my self defense class and the first thing I noticed was Amanda talking to Andy. It was obvious that both her words and body language had the young teen ready to promise her anything.

When Kurt got us in line for warm-ups she kept glancing back at Andy with a come hither look that seemed obvious to me, but had Andy dreaming of the possibilities. She shot me an occasional quick look to see how I was reacting to her antics.

"Tommy, I think Amanda wants me to ask her out!" Andy said as we changed back into street clothes. He was almost dancing around he was so excited.

Oh, shit. It was pretty obvious that she was trying to make me jealous by pretending to be interested in Andy. Now, how to convince him of that? He wasn't my responsibility, but I'd hate to see Amanda kill his spirits by brushing him off, and Iwas sure if I showed even the slightest interest, or even a hint of jealousy, that's exactly what would happen.

It was two o'clock Sunday night—or I guess it was really Monday morning?—and I was still sitting in front of my computer trying to finish my assignment for AdComp. I had talked Beth into sitting for a portrait and had almost fifty pictures from serious to funny. Along with those, I'd followed her around snapping candid shots of everyday things—cleaning, studying, cooking. I even got one of her in the shower—although I'd promised not to use that one!

Beth had made her choice with disgusting ease; one run through the multitude of choices and she knew which one she wanted. Now I had to decide which of all the pictures was the image that was HER to me.

"Tommy, are you going to work all night?" Beth asked sleepily. I'd been concentrating so much I hadn't even heard her pad up behind me. She wrapped her arms around me from behind, cradling my head between her breasts ... her bare breasts.

"If I have to," I replied. The picture I wanted to use—the one image that WAS Beth to me—I couldn't. It was the first picture of her I ever took—that first photograph of her in that black bikini that helped convince her of her true beauty. That was the perfect example of what I saw when I looked at her—the shy, quiet mouse who'd magically turned into Beauty. As proud as I was of what that picture represented, I knew my lady would never agree. So, despite what Ms. Jones had decreed, I was faced with making a lesser choice.

I turned back to my monitor with a sigh as Beth made her way back to bed. That nice, warm refuge that was denied me as I went back to trying to pick the one shot I wanted.

Some time later Ghost came to see what was going on. He jumped up, tromped across the keyboard, and settled down to watch me. Having an audience didn't make the process any easier, although I do remember asking him which picture he thought I should use. Not that I got an answer. Stubborn animal!

Before I left for class Monday morning I finally had something. It wasn't exactly what she had asked for, but it was all I could come up with. I emailed the two images to Ms. Jones, as she had requested. Considering how sharp her tongue could be I wondered if I'd be alive by the end of the session. Although the way I felt after a night with no sleep, did it really matter?

Ms. Jones came in and immediately zeroed in on me. "Mr. Randahl, could you explain the pictures you sent me for this assignment?"

"Um, yes." She displayed the picture Beth had chosen. It showed her sitting at her desk, surrounded by books and heaps of paper. It was the last shot I'd taken before she kicked me out of the room.

"Well, this is the picture my girlfriend chose as how she sees herself. I should explain that when she's concentrating on something, that IS her life.

"She's studying mechanical engineering at the "U" and one of her courses is giving her fits. Fluidgoddammics, as she calls it, is pretty much her whole life right now."

"Interesting," Ms. Jones said, as she changed to the collage I'd finished no more than an hour before I left for class. "Now can you explain this one? Remember I asked for a single image, not a collage."

"Yes, ma'am, but I just couldn't come up with only one picture that represented how I see her. Beth has so many different facets that I couldn't come up with only one image that was her. I'm sorry, but that collage was as close as I could get."

"Hmm ... interesting," was her only response to my explanation. I wondered what that meant.

"Now, Mr. David, let's look at yours," she said as she brought up the first of Anse's pictures.

When the hour was up all I wanted to do was crash until my next class. I had an hour to kill and had every intention of spending it in dreamland. As I stumbled toward the door, Ms. Jones stopped me.

"Thomas, that was an interesting solution for this assignment. And not at all what I expected."

"I'm sorry if you can't accept it, but like I said, I couldn't find one image that would represent her."

"Oh, I didn't say I wouldn't accept it, even though it didn't technically meet the parameters I set.

"I've talked to some of the other staff members who have had you in their classes, and apparently you don't have a problem stretching the rules. Do you?"

"Um, no, ma'am, I guess I don't."

"Good. Stretching boundaries is what makes a good artist. I'll bet in grade school you liked to color outside the lines, didn't you?"

All I could do was give her a sheepish grin.

I did manage to find a quiet corner, set my phone to wake me in enough time to make it to my next class, and crashed. I made it through the rest of the day, just don't ask me how.

A couple of days later Kev called. That didn't happen often and I wondered what was up. It didn't take long to find out.

"Tommy, did you know our Spring Break is at the same time as yours?"

"Oh? I guess I hadn't known that." I suddenly knew where this conversation was headed.

"Are you going down to the island?"

"Yeah, we are," I replied, not adding that Gail had already asked Beth a week ago about accompanying us. I know I'm a nasty person and will no doubt come to a bad end, but it says in The Older Brother Handbook, Chapter Two, Paragraph Three—or was it Four?—that it's required to give younger siblings a ration whenever possible.

"Well, I was wondering if maybe ... well, could we come too?"

"Welll ... I don't know. You'll have to talk to Beth about that. I mean, the house down there does belong to Beth's folks, not ours."

"Yeahbut ... can't you ask her?"

"Kev, if you and Gail really want to go with us, you're going to have to ask her yourself."

"Damn, I was afraid you were going to say that," he mumbled. I got the idea he felt a bit daunted by my lady. Something I'd felt myself on more than one occasion.

Thursday I walked into my self defense class trying to figure out what to do if Amanda acted the same way as last week. When she saw me come through the door she walked over to Andy and start flirting—a sure indication of what she was trying to do.

"Hi, Andy. Amanda."

She immediately turned away from Andy, slid her arm into mine and pushed her boobs into my side. "Tommy! You're looking pretty good. So what are you doing after class?"

"Oh, I don't know. I haven't really thought about it."

"Mmm ... Would you like to grab something to eat?" she said, giving me an extra little rub in case I missed the innuendo. I glanced at Andy and had a hard time not cringing at the expressions I saw flashing across his face. Confusion, jealousy, disappointment, anger, and hurt all vied for dominance. Suddenly I felt bad for what he was going through, having been there myself when I was his age.

"I don't think I can do that, Amanda. I've got a couple of stops to make and I'm meeting Beth after she gets out of class. Maybe Andy would like to go with you?"

I knew I was being a little obvious, but I'd had enough of her trying to get to me.

"Oh, I don't think so," she said with a sneer as she turned and trounced off.

"Andy, I'm sorry about that," I told the younger boy.

"Oh, sure! Now you're going to tell me you did it for my own good?"

"Andy, remember our conversation last week?"

"Yeah, so?"

"I didn't come on to Amanda today. All I did was say hello to both of you. Did you notice that she only started talking to you when I walked in? What does that tell you?"