Life Through a Lense

Chapter Twenty Four

I rubbed my hands back and forth on my jeans, they were practically raw by now. Also, I was pretty sure that I was going to grind my teeth down into nubs by the time I finally went into her office. 

How was I supposed to quit the job that Redman had fought so hard to get me? I felt like it was a betrayal, but at the same time, I absolutely hated the job so far. I had no creative freedom which sucked the energy out of my system. It was probably stupid to quit, but I didn't want to be five, ten, fifteen years down the road and be taking pictures of classrooms and stiff school portraits for their yearbook. 

Redman's face lit up as soon as she ushered a student out of her office whose clothes were all goth but face and hair were all prep. I went through a goth phase in early high school but I found the makeup way too time-consuming. As for Ivy, I had no idea what phase she was in right now (but her name was a perfect goth name).

"To what do I owe the surprise?" She asked, giving me a quick hug and gesturing me toward her office.

I shut the door behind me to make sure the rest of the people in the office were unable to hear me. "Actually I wanted to talk to you about something," I told her nervously, sitting down in her chair and feeling like a student that got called to the principal's office again. I winced, my ribs still sore from getting hit by a car. 

"Are you okay?" Redman asked. 

I recomposed myself, embarrassed that she'd seen me wince. "I'm fine, I just have to tell you something.

"Let me guess, you got another job?" she asked. 

I grimaced. "How'd you guess?" 

"Well I saw your pictures that went viral," she said. "I figured that you might be in-demand."

My muscles were still tense. "I'm really sorry-

"Honey, what kind of person would I be to keep you from pursuing opportunities like these?" she pointed out. "The only reason I helped you get this job in the first place is that I wanted to help you get back into photography. Besides-

She cut herself off abruptly. 

A huge wave of relief rippled through my body, but curiosity replaced. "Wait-besides what?" 

Now was her turn to act all nervous and skittish. "Nothing," she said, a little too quickly. 

I crossed my arms, feeling like the principal now. "What?" I pressed.

She grimaced. "I think your photography is absolutely great." 

I narrowed my eyes and leaned forward. "But...?"

"Some of the school board thinks your photography is...unconventional, unorthodox," she explained. "They want boring, straight-forward stuff and they think that your stuff is a little too...fancy." 

I raised my eyebrows in amusement. What a coincidence. "That's...pretty funny. What did they say?" 

"That your pictures would be great if you were working for National Geographic, but that this is a school district. They want to go back to the guy obsessed with trees," she explained. 

Huh, sometimes things in life actually work out perfectly.

***

"I can't find it," I told Ivy over the phone. "Are you sure this place even exists?" 

"Yes, I'm sure it exists," she said. 

"I looked it up on google maps and it doesn't exist," I told her. 

I was attempting to find this coffee shop that Ivy told me to meet her at after school. but I had driven up and down this street at least five times and there was no Cup o' Joe anywhere to be found.