Bail | LRH

Chapter 22: photos & piggyback rides

Luke Hemmings

"So what's the plan for today?" Ashton whispered next to me as we walked side by side down the long hallway that led to one of the meeting rooms in the facility building.

"No plan" I simply stated. Today was supposed to be a promo day and all of us boys and Adrian had that big photoshoot with Red Bull that we had been waiting for since we signed our contracts, and I just wanted to focus on getting through it.

There was something so "special" about how the five of us all grew up together and emerged from the same hometown and were making it somewhat big that some sports magazines took an interest in all of that and decided that we would all be getting interviewed sometime during all of this. I mentally prepared myself to answer the regular questions such as "what got you into snowboarding," "what keeps you motivated" and other questions along those lines.

When the two of us walked in, Adrian and Calum were already seated and dressed in the Red Bull snow jackets, while Michael stood to the side shimmying his own on. The trio turned to look at Ashton and I and Adrian sent us a small smile along with a wave. The room was full of lighting equipment, bags of makeup, black tarps lined the ground, and a table of waters, Gatorades and some snacks.

An older woman dressed in all black was knelt down in front of Adrian applying some sort of makeup to her face, not that she needed it though, the girl was just naturally– what am I doing? It didn't take long for me to realize that I had been staring at her since I walked into the room and hadn't said a single word before she's leaning back in her seat and snapping her fingers in my face.

I cleared my throat and shook my head to brush off whatever thoughts I was having and tried to focus on what we were here to do. I opened my mouth to speak before another woman rushing past Ashton and I shoved the jackets into our hands and told us to sit down in the two empty seats next to Michael who had finally sat down. A man with a large camera appeared from behind the bright green backdrop I didn't notice was there and stood across from the five of us quickly explaining how things were going to go.

"Okay so we're going to have her" the man started as he used his camera to point to Adrian "go first, then the rest of you boys will follow suit. After individual pictures, we'll do duo pictures, and group pictures, then you guys will do your interviews and then we can call it a day. Sounds like a plan?" You could tell this man either took his craft seriously, didn't want to be here, or had something better to do because he was ready to get things moving as soon as possible.

"Nancy, is she ready?" the man asked the woman, Nancy, who was by Adrian's side quickly fixing the loose hairs that Adrian pulled out to frame her face from her signature braids.

"She sure is" Nancy flashed Adrian a quick smile and motioned for her to get up and follow the cameraman to the green backdrop. Adrian got up from her chair, gave the four of us boys a tight smile while raising her eyebrows essentially saying "well here I go" and made her way over to stand on the taped x-mark on the floor.

"Most people like music playing so we're not just standing here in silence, so if you guys want anything specific let me know" the camera man says, looking from Adrian over to the rest of us, holding his phone up.

"Highway to Hell, AC/DC!" I call out putting in a request, while Adrian whips her head around to look at me with a mixed expression.

"That's one of my favorites" she exclaims, sending me a smile.

The music starts playing, and the camera man grabs Adrian's attention now giving her directions. She paid absolutely no attention to us, it was like she was the only person in the room, and she was so natural in front of the camera. From flashing a pearly white smile one second, to plastering on her game face the next, she was completely in the zone. Her brown braided hair falling in front of her shoulders, the loose strands swaying as she changed poses, turning her body to the side, crossing her arms over her chest, holding a snowboard up next to her, she was definitely going to be the easiest one to shoot. I couldn't help but smile as I watched her enjoy herself and soak in the moment.