Behind the Camera Lens [On Hold]

Chapter Four

5:45 P.M. Stage Left (Wes)

            It was her. It was really her. The girl from the airport. I knew her, but she didn’t know it was me. Wow. She wasn’t a basket-case after all. Looking back at my thoughts though, I can see why she got pretty mad at me. I mean, she’s clearly a photographer and who knows; maybe she was just having a bad day. It was understandable. Should I tell her it was me? No, I couldn’t do that. She would think I was crazy and I would lose any chance I had with her.

            “Check one, two. Check.” I tested the microphone to make sure it was working. It was. I jumped off stage and sat down next to Jason, our guitar player and helped him restring the guitars. “Who was that you were talking to?” he asked me as he tightened his E string into place.

            “Just one of the photographers for tonight,” I answered quickly and started to replace one of my strings.

            “She was cute,” he remarked.

            “Yeah,” I breathed, thinking of Dakota. “She’s really cool.”

5:57 P.M. Chipotle 3rd Avenue (Miranda)

            I was an idiot. Falling for this guy’s charm-what the hell had I been thinking? He was probably just messing with me. He didn’t really think much of me, I was the loser. I just-

            “Miranda, what’s going on?” Jaz waved her hand in my face looking concerned.

            “Oh, nothing. I was just trying to remember where I put my camera bag on the stage,” I fibbed and took a bite of my burrito.

            She nodded and I was thankful that she fell for my white lie. It was not the time to be discussing this; I was not prepared. “We should get going,” she declared as she got up to throw her trash away.

            I downed the last of my Izze drink and finished off my burrito. My stomach was doing flip-flops and I felt uneasy. I didn’t think it was because of the food, though.

            “Oh wow!” Jaz exclaimed when we stepped outside. “Look,” she pointed towards the venue which had looked completely deserted about thirty minutes ago and now the line was already wrapping around the building.

            We crossed the street and showed the security guards our press passes. That was one of the perks: getting in right before the huge crowd and sometimes even hanging out with the band. I didn’t know how much we would be hanging out with them this time, though. The show started in thirty minutes.

            “Here it is,” Jaz sang out when we were by the stage.

            “Huh?” I was completely lost.

            “Your camera case?” she said as a matter-of-factly. “Are you okay? You seem so out of it today for some reason. Do you want something to drink?”

            “No, no, I’m alright. Just a little tired,” there goes another lie. I had to stop doing this to my friend.

            “Well, if you need anything, let me know,” she jumped on stage and positioned herself for pictures.

            I sighed and sat on the ledge of the stage, waiting. I was mostly going to get shots from in front of the pit and close-ups of the band members. Jaz was getting crowd shots and pictures from a side-stage view. I sorted through my different lenses and tried to act like I was busy.

            Wes didn’t come out again until the lights dimmed and the show began. The room was packed and the air was hot and heavy inside. Neon signs and glowing screens of phones peeked through the crowd. Everyone started screaming when the first beat of the drum was struck. They went even crazier when the band ran on stage. I was used to the noise because of the dozens of concerts I’d been to and I was almost always in front of the amps and speakers.

            “This first song goes out to all of you for being amazing,” Wes shouted. The crowd screamed even louder. The kick drum started and he screamed, “Everyone put your hands together like this!” he clapped his hands over his head, grinning as he saw everyone in the crowd participated. Click. Click. I moved from band member to band member. I started with Wes, and then went to the bassist, catching all their facial expressions as best as I could.

            Before I knew it, it was the last chorus of the song and he yelled, “READY EVERYONE? 1, 1, 2, 3, 4!” he thrust his microphone towards the crowd and they sung the words back to him.

            This was probably the best moment of concerts. The lead singer smiling as you shouted back the words and you being surrounding by people who shared the same love in music as you. Wes smiled from ear to ear, and I made sure to get a good picture of that. Click. Click.

            He realized I was focusing in on him at the very end and looked back down at me happily. At this point, I was just glad he couldn’t see my facial expressions because the camera covered my face and it was so freaking dark.

            Throughout the entire hour and a half set, Wes kept giving me looks. Okay, maybe they weren’t really geared towards me considering there were about a thousand screaming girls behind me, but you know. It was a possibility. He couldn’t have liked me that much. No way.

            On the last song, me and Jaz got an amazing crowd shot. Everyone held fluorescent glow sticks in both hands. “This looks incredible,” I shouted to Jaz as I reviewed the pictures.

            “I know!” she screamed. “These are going to look phenomenal in our portfolios!”

            “Thank you and good night, Seattle!” Wes yelled and the band exited the stage.

            “Great job, guys!” Jaz high-fived all of them and I just looked through more pictures to distract myself from Wes.

            Don’t worry, I told myself. You probably won’t even see him again after tonight.    

            “I want a picture with them!” Jaz handed her camera to me so quickly that I couldn’t refuse.

            I followed her to the dressing room were the guys were and had them gather up for a group picture. Click.

            “Awesome,” I showed her the picture and she asked if I wanted one. I told her I didn’t, but she made me anyway. “You’ll thank me later,” I remember her whispering in my ear. Okay, then.

            Once we were finished, we headed back to the car and I blasted the air conditioning. It had been so incredibly hot in there.

            “Hey, did you want to talk to that guy?” Jaz finally brought it up.       

            “What guy?” I looked at both my mirrors, waiting for a car to pass.

            “You know, the guy you saw earlier,” she reminded me.

            “I did,” I admitted. “While you were at Chipotle, I mean.”

            “Well…?” she prodded.

            “It was nothing.”

            She got that mischievous expression on her face that I knew far too well.

            “Nothing!” my voice got higher; it tended to do that when I was embarrassed.

            “Mmmmhmmm,” was all she said and then it was quickly forgotten.

            Part of me wanted to forget him but the other part of me was telling me something else. There were way too many feelings boiling up inside of me for one night.