Treadmill

VIII.I

Rebecca paused in her picture-taking.

"Do you think we have enough?"

Kennedy thought for a moment.

"Almost."

She lifted off her shirt and threw it out of the camera shot, standing in just her boots, jeans and a sparkly red-and-pink striped bralette.

"Alright, get a few like this."

Rebecca swallowed nervously and looked around them almost instinctively, trying not to think about the fact that she was standing with her half-naked friend taking pictures for a fake Instagram account.

"Alright."

She took some more pictures, capturing different angles while trying to stay tasteful. She went to take some from the right side and cocked her head to the side slightly.

"What's that from?" She asked curiously, pointing to a long scar that ran down the length of Kennedy's ribcage.

Kennedy looked down slightly and her expression became stony.

"Oh, just an accident from a while ago." She replied quickly, "We'll have to edit it out in these pictures. Drew can look like me but she can't have a scar in the exact same place as me."

Rebecca nodded, feeling the same air from her friend that she had felt when she inquired about her family a few days earlier. Kennedy wasn't one to share. Rebecca could get over that.

"Yeah that makes sense." She nodded, taking a few more pictures before standing up straight and extending the phone back towards Kennedy, "Here, I think we have enough for the time being."

Kennedy took her phone back and quickly scrolled through the hundreds of new pictures before turning her phone off and pulling her shirt back on.

"You did great, Rebecca. I think we could really use these!"

Rebecca stopped herself from blushing and nodded her thanks as the two headed back towards the car, Kennedy continuing to talk logistics of the account and of the pictures they should start off with.

The two climbed into Kennedy's car and rolled out of the park's parking lot, driving past a few recognizable buildings on their way out before passing by the grocery store. As they waited at a red light outside the grocery store, Rebecca made the mistake of looking over at her workplace. Janie was walking out to her car, her face long and her feet dragging behind her. Rebecca felt guilt prick her chest for leaving the woman one cashier short. She knew that it was difficult for the store to function when short-staffed. And she had lied to go and take pictures for a fake Instagram account that she was sure wouldn't even end up mattering.

But then the light turned green, Kennedy started driving, and Rebecca's guilt was left at the intersection.

Once back in Kennedy's apartment, Rebecca crashed onto the couch as Kennedy hooked her phone to her computer to download the images. Rebecca took the computer from her after they were all downloaded and opened up a photo editing app to start on the pictures, thanking the heavens for her Graphic Design minor...for the first time. She had never thought she would be thankful for it, but instead found it was something she could be grateful for while also thoroughly enjoying.

"That one." Kennedy leaned over to point at a picture of her—fully-clothed—in one of the poses sitting on the rock. "We should start with that one."