Chapter 3: The Photographer

Lina came out of the changing rooms, glaring harshly at Brad, who was talking candidly with Miss Rosie. She didn't bother to let him know she was headed out the door. She was beyond annoyed with him, and almost thought of calling a taxi service to take her home, so she didn't have to go with Brad to his stupid photo shoot. Lina heard him coming down the stairs behind her, and catch the front door of the building; she huffed loudly, adjusting her duffel bag and whirled around to face Brad.

"Did you get the damn pictures you wanted?" Lina demanded, her brows furrowed fiercely as she put her hands on her hips, "Why?" Lina scathed, "Why did you do that?"

Brad put his hands up in front of him defensively, "Chill the fuck out, Lina." He responded, his brow creasing in annoyance. "Not that I have to explain myself to you, but I'm a photographer. It's what I do!" by now, he was making his way towards his car.

Lina kept up with him, "No, you're a guy in high school with a fancy camera. Let's not get this twisted." She spat, "Seriously Foster, any bad ones of me are trash."

Brad stopped in his tracks and turned around to face Lina, his face as still and as cold as stone. "First of all, I don't throw away any pictures I take. Secondly, I make money taking pictures, so remove the rich girl stick out from up your ass." Brad's voice was low and biting, "And what makes you think I'd ever take any pictures of you?" he drag out that last part like it was covered in mud and disease ridden.

He immediately regretted it as it came out of his mouth, seeing her face fall with insecurity and hurt, but he couldn't take it back now that it was already said. "Let's just go." Lina gritted through her teeth and fumed past Brad.

Lina climbed into Brad's car as soon as he unlocked it, throwing her duffle bag in the backseat. She clenched her jaw and glared out the front windshield, ignoring Brad as he got into the car. She was having a hard time accepting that Brad had actually said something to hurt her feelings that personally. So Lina stayed quiet as he pulled out of the parking lot, and buckled her seatbelt. She appreciated that he didn't say anything either, until she couldn't take the silence anymore.

"You're a dick." Lina decided was best.

Brad didn't say anything back at first, just kept driving and messing with the radio. But finally he gave up, turned the radio off and pushed his hair out of his face, "Yeah, I know."

Lina looked over to Brad, who genuinely looked bothered. She frowned at him and turned his radio on to a station she liked, "You owe me one, so don't change it." Lina stated, pointing to the radio.

Brad chuckled lightly and nodded, "Alright."

They rode the rest of the way in relative silence, as Lina hummed along with the radio, watching the trees pass, out the window on her side of the car. After what seemed like an hour, they finally came to a fork in the road, one way was paved while the other way was dirt. Lina did not like the odds here.

Brad pulled to the side of the road and took out his cell phone, dialing a number quickly. Lina took in her surroundings carefully and tried the push down the twinge of anxiety that lingered in her chest.

"Hey, are you there yet?" Brad questioned into the phone. "Okay well, I'm at the fork now. I'll just go ahead and wait for you." He finished up his conversation and hung up, and then drove exactly where Lina did not want to go: down the dirt road.

"So ... what kind of photo shoot is this?" Lina asked after a few minutes of driving down the road. She tried to sound casual, and hated feeling like a total paranoid freak, but the truth was, this was the first time she was hanging out with Brad outside of school, and she really didn't know him, outside of school.

"Just an update for my friends' portfolio." Brad answered looking towards Lina, he arched a brow. "But then again, I could be taking you out here, where no one will hear your screams." He then threw her a backpack, telling her to hold onto it.

"You're not funny." Lina rolled her eyes, but couldn't control the small quirk of the corners of her lips.

Brad grinned and headed into the woods behind him, calling for Lina to follow, which she did. The only hesitation was that she wasn't too big on the whole 'let us frolic in the woods' idea, especially since she decided to wear shorts –thank god she had listened to Brad about the sneakers though.

Keeping up with brad wasn't too hard, since he made a habit of looking back and stopping to wait up for her. He seemed to glide through the branches, stickers and thorns like it were nothing, while Lina almost fell about five or six times, cursing loudly. Thankfully they didn't walk very far into the woods, just far enough where the road wasn't too visible. Finally, Lina looked around her, and really appreciated where she was. It was like she stepped into a fairy tale.

Brad smirked at Lina, whose jaw went slack with astonishment. "Gorgeous, huh?" he asked, taking a seat on a log. "I come here a lot for my nature shots."

Lina took in her surroundings, pushing her hair back out of her face, "I can see why." She breathed.

All she could see was green. Trees covered in thick vines and mosses, illuminated in patches by golden sunlight that trickled through the tallest leaves and branches of the trees. The air was crisp and clean, only dotted here and there with bits of pollen that reflected the sunlight like itty bitty glowing orbs. An overwhelming sense of calm came over Lina, as she decided that this would probably be her new favorite place in the world.

"So do you mainly work with models?" Lina asked, taking a seat next to Brad on the log.

He continued to fiddle with his camera, but answered nonetheless, "I mainly focus on photographing people, yes." Brad explained, "But I like to photograph everything. I just get paid easier for taking pictures of people."

"Bradley?" a voice called from behind them, followed by the sound of twigs breaking and a startled gasp, "Brad?"

Lina turned her head towards where the voice was coming and her stomach dropped a little. She was probably one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. The woman was getting through much like Lina had –with difficulty and annoyance. Brad chuckled at the woman and set his camera down to go help her.

Lina crossed her arms across herself in slight insecurity. Normally, Lina had a sort-of positive outlook on her appearance but this woman was like a fucking goddess. She had obviously already done her hair and makeup before she came –her honey blond hair fell in soft, romantic curls down to her waist. The woman was almost as tall as Brad, and when she smiled, Lina saw that her teeth were –of course- perfectly aligned and white as paper. Her angular face was exotic, and was dusted with freckles, making Lina crave for freckles. Her name was Misty Sanderson.

"It's so nice to meet you!" Misty's strong southern accent made Lina grin as she shook her hand, "Are you modeling too?"

Lina's eyes went wide with shock at her question, "Oh ... no." She chuckled, "I'm not –I'm just here to help Brad."

Misty looked a bit shocked and confused as well, placing her hands on her hips, quite adorably. "Well, I think you are just gorgeous! You should model!" she gushed, making Lina actually blush a little. "Don't you think so, Bradley?" Misty turned towards Brad, who was now setting up his camera, in a zombie-like state.

Lina felt heat flood her face as she shoved her hands into her jean short pockets, knowing the answer that Brad was probably thinking. No, he didn't think she was pretty. Lina hated that it bothered her, but honestly who wanted to be thought of as unattractive to someone?

"Lina, since you're here helping out Bradley, would you mind helping me get into this dress?" Misty asked, sweetly. Lina hated that this girl was a total genuine sweetheart.

"Of course!" Lina grinned.

After they got Misty ready and waited for Brad to finish up setting up and getting into his photographer-zone, Misty showed Lina her portfolio. Quite a few were shot by Brad, and Lina had to admit, they were her favorites. Evidently, Misty's goal was to get into high fashion, and it surprised Lina both how well Misty modeled, and how wonderful Brad's work was –he was able to capture angles and light in perfect time, creating spectacular work.

Over the next two hours Lina helped Brad with taking pictures of Misty, whether it was fixing her hair when it fell into her face, or holding a light reflector (for twenty straight damn minutes –her arms were killing her). She had to admit that she was having fun, and even helped Misty climb up into a tree, with Brad's instruction and constant worry.