Bella in the Deep End

Chapter 4

The door to the printing room, which had been almost shut but not completely, swung open softly to reveal a guy wearing a dark coloured outfit, looking onto a camera he held in his hands. We turned to stare, and he continued to ignore us. Strange because no one in school really came in this room, and no one in the world really walked to the door of an occupied room and just... stood there. He reached up with his right hand to knock twice on the door, but remained staring at his camera.

"Hello?" Cara shouted, of the three of us, she was the most impatient.

He continued to look down at his camera, and we all used the opportunity to look him over. He had dark brown floppy hair and was tall, only a few inches from the top of the door frame. His posture suggested he looked down a lot, my uncle is 6'6" and has the same issue, often complaining of pain in the nape of his neck.

Suddenly, I pictured myself standing next to this strange boy compared to standing next to Carlos. It was a strange thought for me, I usually thought about my height only in comparison to Carlos because I preferred guys who were only an inch above or below my height, so Carlos, who was half an inch taller than me, was perfect.

But all of the sudden I was hit with the thought that it was kinda hot to be with a guy that was so... giant. Not in a weird way, he was awkwardly tall, only slightly, like every moment of his life was an apology for forcing people to look up at him.

Now I'm making him seem huge, but he was most likely 6'4" which I guess isn't insanely tall. I'm 5'6" so he's almost a foot taller than me. He also had a very attractive figure, strong shoulders and not big (but certainly not small) biceps that his dark grey shirt clung to. But none of that really mattered because he's a weirdo who just walked into our room.

"Is this Yearbook Club?" He asked.

"Yes." We all replied, sliding off of the desk to appear more professional. I caught Cara sneakily pull her v neck shirt down to reveal some cleavage.

He took the strap connected to the camera off from around his neck before he added: "I want to join." He enunciated each word perfectly, speaking like a robot - clear and to the point, refusing to waste time with niceties. I did notice his eyes didn't linger on Cara's chest.

Addison grabbed a clipboard that had the different roles people could take. "Well, we're a pretty small group so theres definitely room for you. What's your name?"

"Gabriel Baker. Most people call me Gabe, though." He had really, really pretty eyes. A strange hazel colour, I'd seen hazel eyes but these seemed not hazel but rather brown and green and yellow and blue. Like all the components that make up hazel but right before they've been completely mixed together.

"Okay, Gabe." Cara snatched the clipboard from Addison and took a step closer to him, he serious face on. This was now a job interview. "We have Addison, here, writing the academics page, dedications to the school and dedication to our teachers, and organising the awards and superlatives voting. I will be writing the gossip, clubs, student life and year in review pages. And Bella writes the athletics pages, and is in charge of interviews, photography, a-"

"Thats what I want to do." He interrupted. "I'm a photographer."

"Well, can we see some of your photos, just to check that you're actually decent?" Cara asked.

Gabe handed off his camera to Cara and she and Addison skipped through a few on the display screen. I could only see half of the screen, and it was facing away from me so the photos were slightly distorted.

"You're definitely good at photography." It was strange to hear Cara give such a matter-of-factual compliment. "Bella, do you mind giving up the photographer role?"

This was one of those moments I mentioned before. What I would like to say is "No, get out." but what I need to say was "Sure, sounds good to me." I felt my eyes roll a little, and felt instantly rude.

"Oh, yeah. He can be photographer, but last year when I was photographer and interviewer and it saved so much time being able to take photos and interview at the same time. Do you want to be interviewer too, and do the same thing?" I didn't want to give up photography or interviews. They were both infinitely more entertaining than writing.

"No," He took back his camera and put the strap over his neck again. "Photography I'm good at but talking to people, not so much. You can tag along and do interviews but I'll just take photos."

"Well, everyone on the club has to help edit the book and put everything together. You cant be photographer without pitching in on other things." Cara demanded.

He looked up, his eyes flicking between the three of us, as if deciding whether or not he wanted to spend his time with us while editing, weighing up the pros and the cons.

"Sure, I'll help edit." With that, he held up his camera, flashed a picture of the three of us, then left the room, quite possibly the strangest interaction with another person that I've ever had.

"Did either of you catch his last name?" Cara asked, as she wrote down Gabe next to the box that said photographer on the job assignment sheet.

"Baker, wasn't it?" Addison replied.

"Gabe Baker? He does not go to our school, we don't have a Gabe Baker."

"Actually," Addison started. "He moved to Springfield last week. One of the office ladies was telling me about it. He was living part-time in Canada, then part-time in LA. I didn't even know you could do that, I mean, his schooling would have been messed up because America and Canada have completely different curriculums."

"Who cares?" I muttered. "He just stole my photography job and now I have to hang around him almost everyday for interviews."

"You said yes!" Cara reminded me.

I sighed. "Because its whats best for the Yearbook, but you both should know I'm not happy about it."