Now that Cyrus was officially on the team, I was constantly staying after school for practice. I thought maybe I should start driving myself to school, but I used the free time to get my homework done instead.
Because I didn't have a big workload today, I finished quicker than I expected. I still had about twenty minutes to kill before he was let out.
I would have gone to the field to watch Cyrus practice, but I was hesitant to see Declan again.
The plan was still to stay out of trouble, and Declan seemed like the epitome of just that. Something about his energy told me that if I had the urge to burn the school down, he would bring the matches.
That's why I needed my boy Cyrus to stay close to me. He usually kept me out of any real trouble. I'm not saying I would ever burn down a school, that was just an example, but hypothetically speaking he would be there to prevent that from ever happening.
Instead of going to the field, I took out my phone camera and starting shooting things with the lens. It was just random things I thought would make a good picture with decent lighting and a good angle.
I had my sound on high to hear the shutter it made when I took a picture. It made me feel like a professional with an actual camera and nobody could tell me shit.
I heard a gasp, "You take pictures?"
Ah yes, a fan already.
I turned around to see Natalie standing there with a stack of papers in her arms. "I've been looking for a photographer for the school paper. Jasmine does it now but she's moving soon. Are you any good?"
"I'd like to think so," I said with a little shrug. I scrolled to my camera roll and opened my file labeled side hustle shit.
I passed my phone over and Natalie took a minute to observe the album. I felt awkward just standing there and waiting for her. She was too quiet for a while there.
"We meet after school every Wednesday. Do you want to follow me now? You can check it out and see what you think. We could really use this."
My smile came naturally as she led the way down the hall. It was one thing to pretend I was good at photography and a whole other thing to hear it from someone else.
"So how have you been settling?" She asked me from over her shoulder.
"It's been better than I expected," minus the Declan run-ins, it was a truthful answer. Not that it was all bad, but that was kind of my point. I shouldn't be so accepting of someone who was clear trouble.
"That's good. At least everything else is still the same, right? You still have the same friends and the same home?"
"Yeah, you're right. I actually like this school a whole better than where I came from. You've heard of Wilkinson, haven't you?"
"I've heard of you and Cyrus mainly."
I frown at her as she passes me a look from over her shoulder. "I heard he was a good player on a tragic team, and I heard you like to punch people for fun. I wasn't at that soccer game when these rumors started but the guy you jumped was named Adam."
"Adam? Adam... Where have I heard that name before?" Oh shit, now I remember. I guess he wasn't asking Cyrus about me because he thought I was cute. How disappointing.
"Anyway, I don't judge you for having anger issues-"
"I don't have anger issues." I defended, "I just don't take other people's bullshit."
"No, you're right, that's what I mean. I admire you for that."
The tone of her voice made me a little sad for her. I thought Natalie was nice. She was the first person to come up to me and introduce herself while I sat by myself on those bleachers. The thought of people stepping all over her didn't rub me the right way.
"This is it," she announced as we stepped into the threshold of a computer lab. There were five students in here already, all crowded around one screen that looked like the makings of next week's paper.
"Guys, this is Rowena. I want to show her around and convince her to become our new photographer."
"Oh hey I know you," said one of the girls around the computer.
"Yeah hey, you're Lillian right?" My tone is absolutely fake as shit right now. I knew her very well. She was from Wilkinson High and was one of the categorized fake bitches.
"How's Cyrus doing? I heard he made the soccer team."
HoWs CYruS dOinG I hEaRd hE MaDE tHe sOcCEr tEaM. Yeah and I'm doing just fine myself you squeaky-voiced ass kisser, thanks for asking.
"Fine. Just fine." I hope my smile didn't look too sarcastic.
Someone cleared their throat, a boy amongst the group. "Hi Rowena, I'm Tucker."
Tucker. Hah, Tucker the Fucker.
Row, literally shut up he barely said five words to you, don't you dare make fun of him.
"Nice to meet you, Tucker."
"and that's Michelle, and then that's Jasmine I was telling you about."
Michelle smiled and Jasmine got up from her chair to talk to me.
"So you're going to be the new me. Do you have your own camera?"
"Nothing outside of my phone."
She just shook her head, as if she was telling me nevermind. "Come here let me show you something."
We walked to the back of the room and she picked a camera off a desk. "This is the school's camera, we can use it anytime for any school-related pictures. They even restock the memory cards for us."
I took it from her hands as she offered it to me, and I was absolutely speechless. I had been begging my dad for a camera of my own, but I hadn't exactly done my best to earn one.
It was the closest thing I had to a legit camera, and it was perfect.
"Can I try it?" I asked hesitantly.
"Go for it."
"Okay," I realized everyone was watching us then, all four of them from the other side of the room. I looked to Jasmine and an idea popped in my head.
"How about I get one from all of you guys? We can make it a little going away thing for Jasmine. We can stick it on a cake or something if it comes out decent."
"I love that idea!" Lillian said a little too sweetly for me, "That's so genius of you Rowena."
You see that's how I just know she's fake as fuck, considering my idea was basic as balls. But I just put on my best smile and waited for them to arrange themselves in a ready pose.
And yes, the picture sure as hell did come out worthy enough to print on a cake.
A/N: THANK YOU FOR 1K!!
Sorry if this chapter was a little boring, but I promise it's relevant to the plot.
This next one is another favorite though, so if you haven't already, I hope you add this story to your library so you can keep up with updates!! I will also be posting update announcements on my profile!
Reminder: I post a new chapter every Friday :)
❤️Hope to see you next week❤️