A few weeks pass, making the weekend of the competition for our photography project come quicker than we expected. Niall and I both had a few dates since he asked me to be his girlfriend. It's been a few very uneventful weeks, so this trip to New York is probably the best thing to come up. Niall is picking me up in a few minutes. Wesley is for sure not excited that I'm going on this trip with Niall and Mr Melroy but he has to accept the fact that we're together now. Of course, I won't take Niall away from him, I mean... "Bros before hoes" is a thing. It's just like my "chicks before dicks" motto. My girls always go first.
"Hurry up, Violet. We'll miss our flight", Niall warns me, as I finish packing up my small cross-body purse.
"I'm almost done. Calm down. You're worse than my mom", I chuckle, locking the front door before following him to Mr Melroy's car.
Mr Melroy is actually taking us to the airport with him. He's like a good friend to us. We had a few meetings with him to discuss the presentation of our project. We actually have to pull up every single picture on a presentation in front of about 500 people and explain why, when and where we took those pictures and what was going on in that moment. Niall and I decided that we will present our own pictures, so it's a little more authentic and the right story is told. Mr Melroy is only coming with us because it's a "school trip". He will stay in a hotel room down the hallway from our rooms. We actually get to share a two-bedroom hotel room. It's like a little apartment with two bedrooms and a little living room area. We looked up the hotel and the rooms that the competition sent us. Of course, Niall and I will sleep in one bed... or at least I hope so. I mean, Mr Melroy is down the hallway and we're basically there on our own. I still can't believe that my mom would allow this. My dad wouldn't have signed the papers.
"Good morning, Mr Melroy", I speak, as I get in the backseat of his Honda.
"Good morning, Violet. I hope you had a good sleep last night because we won't be coming to bed until 2:00am tonight. Our day is packed with things to do", he explains, starting the car.
Niall sits in the passenger seat, putting the address of the airport in the navigation system. I'm really excited for this trip. Never would I ever have imagined to fly to New York for a school photography contest. This will look really good in my applications and college resume.
"It's a 40 minute drive to the airport", Niall tells us, as Mr Melroy drives off.
I check the time. It's about 5:00am. Our flight leaves at 7:00am. That means, we'll arrive in New York around 9:30am, which is perfect because the competition starts around 1:00pm. There are going to be 50 different competitors and teams. This thing will take really long, especially since everyone has to present all of their pictures. We have been given a maximum length of 10 minutes each but that will still be longer than 8 hours. I think we're pretty much to the end. We might be 45th or 46th to present. If we advance another round to the best 10, we have to present our ideas again tomorrow and show some more of our work. Niall and I already decided on some pictures we might show if we advance to the final round. We're both quite nervous about the competition. It means a lot to us to represent Alabama in a nationwide competition.
"You kids want to listen to some music? I have a awesome Iron Maiden album in here", Mr Melroy suggests, making Niall and I giggle.
He's just the purest human and best teacher I ever met.
*****
"So, you know that the others are good, too. But, you are better. Make our school proud and show the judges what kind of impact your photography might have. You got this", Mr Melroy gives us a little prep-talk before Niall and I go onstage.
I quickly check my hair, outfit and makeup in the mirror besides the stage. I hate talking in front of people. Them being 500 other students and teachers and 6 of them being judges does not make me feel any better. Niall looks down at me, smirking, as I watch Mr Melroy find his seat in the front again.
"Hey, we got this, okay? Just remember to breathe and look at me when you need help", Niall speaks up, bending down and kissing my cheek.
"Yeah", I breathe out nervously.
A woman comes up to us, handing each of us a microphone. She quickly explains how to hold it and how far from our mouths it has to be. Then, she gives Niall a small remote to control our presentation on the huge monitor. I don't understand how calm he can stay in the moment.
"And now, welcome our competitors from Tuscaloosa, Alabama! Violet Tucker and Niall Horan!", the moderator shouts in his microphone.
The lady that handed us the microphones shooes us onto the stage. I walk up to the monitor and stay on the left side of it while Niall goes to stand on the right side. The moderator nods at us, signaling us to start. Niall opens the first slide, being a picture of us two. We decided to introduce ourselves quickly.
"Good evening, I'm Niall and this is my wonderful project partner Violet. We're 18 and 17, from Alabama, even though I probably have an Irish accent and that's confusing you", the crowd laughs a little at that side note.
"We both decided to come here today to represent our school and state in the best way possible... through our friends and family", I continue, making Niall open the first picture, "When I was younger, my mother always told me to work hard and chase my dreams. But, to be honest, without my mom, I couldn't to that. My dad died a few years ago, so my mom has to take care of the family now. Here you see a picture of my mother sleeping on the couch in her full work attire after a 12 hour shift at the hospital. It's the small moments in life that count. It's just the small things that make us realize how much people give for us. Our parents give up so many of their own dreams and wishes to make us children happy."
I continue telling the stories to every picture until Niall takes over his part. He tells the stories about pictures of Welsey, Mia, Luke, himself, his sister and many more, until he opens the last picture. We have about three minutes left. I take a look at the screen, seeing the picture from the night we hung out at "Couples Cove" and watched the sunset.
"This picture is one of my personal favorites. It shows Violet and I at our towns cliffs, right where an advertisement billboard stands, right where all the couples come to watch the sunset. We were just getting started on this project and decided to take a few pictures at the cliff. We were almost complete strangers. We took my motorcycle up the mountains and I took pictures of Violet taking pictures of the sunset. She was off in another world, listening to music and I decided to keep that moment in my memories forever, so I put my camera in self-shot and told Violet to act natural while we stood next to each other and stared into the distance. This picture shows our growing relationship towards each other and should show everyone that there is potential in new opportunities and new challenges", he explains, looking over at me to finish off our presentation.
"As Confucius once said: "To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; to put the family in order; we must first cultivate our personal life; we must first set our hearts right." Thank you for giving us this opportunity and the voices to speak what is in need for this nation", I finish, looking back at Niall, who gives me a smile back.
The crowd cheers and hollers for us, as we quickly leave the stage. We give back the microphones and make our way back to Mr Melroy. On our way there, many students and teachers tell us how great our work is. I feel quite nervous now. Earlier, when I was explaining Mere's picture on the skateboard, I had to studder because I almost told too much about our private life. I hope it doesn't affect our ranking too much. The next group of students is already onstage, as we reach Mr Melroy. He quickly tells us how great it was and explains that some people even cried at some stories. One of the judges even cried. There are only four more groups to present and then the judges have an hour to figure out who advances to the final round. We listen closely to the remaining competitors and try to find any flaws in their presentations or stories. When everyone finishes, the judges move from their places to a room that is much quieter. Everyone around us starts talking in nervous jitters, causing me to get more nervous. Mr Melroy then decides to speak to us.
"I'll be back in a few. I just saw an old colleague of mine and want to catch up with him. Stay here, please", he explains.
He looks even more nervous than us. His forehead carries a slight sweat pool. I watch him walk off to the end of the auditorium.
"Hey, you haven't really spoken to me all day", Niall comments, making my heart ache a little.
I look straight at him.
"I'm just so nervous, I don't know what to say", I explain.
He chuckles slightly, as he gives me a quick peck on the lips.
"Calm down, we did amazing. I don't think we can beat California or Arkansas but we're way in front of Michigan and Pennsylvania", Niall calms me down.
I nod.
"If we don't advance, we have a whole two days in New York to discover without Mr Melroy. He told me earlier that we can walk around freely in New York and do whatever we want to. But, we can't fly back home with another person in our group", he tries to hide the laugh.
"Oh my gosh, that's nasty", I groan, looking quite disgusted.
Niall laughs quite loudly at my reaction but quiets down when I whack his shoulder. He comes close to my ear, making his breath tickle my ear.
"Well, if you don't want to, we don't have to but it's been a while, you know... We could have a little fun", he whispers.
A shiver runs down my spine, making me feel a little knot form in my lower stomach. He's such a tease. His hand lays on my theigh.
"Niall, stop", I hiss through gritted teeth.
He chuckles, retreating to his sitting position. We both just take out our phones and decide to keep our friends updated in the group chat.
Wesley: HOW IS IT GOING? I CALLED LIKE 50 TIMES!
Mere: Wes, chill out. They're probably still presenting!
Wesley: But, I really wanna know now...
Luke: They'll text us when they have time. I'm sure Mr Melroy is nervous enough and they might be calming him down before he gets a heart attack.
Niall: The judges left the room to discuss just now. We did solid, not the best though. Cali was crazy good. They did a project on climate change in the US. It was mad good.
Mia: And??? What were the people's reactions?
Violet: Mr Melroy told us that there were people crying from some of our stories to our pictures. Especially the one of us all at the lake from our birthdays.
Riley: I swear that they have some mental problem if they don't let you advance to the next round.
Connor: I saw your work, it was sick. By the way, there's a live stream on YouTube. I'll send the link.
Connor: https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ
Lillian: Oh my god!!! Thank you so much.
Niall and I both put our phones back down due to the lights in the room being dimmed again. Soon enough, Mr Melroy is back next to us. He looks so nervous. The judges walk onstage this time, one judge holding a microphone.
"Ladies and gentlemen, students, teachers, we've come to a top 10 ranking quite quickly due to a very high quality presentation of these schools. We will read out the states and if you have been called up, we request you to come back onstage to receive your passes for entering the auditorium tomorrow. We ask you to stay as silent as possible while the other states are being called out. Keep in mind that the order says nothing about your current ranking", the man speaks, looking down at his clipboard.
The whole auditorium goes silent, making my anxiety well up even more than it already is. Niall's hand reaches for my shaking one. I close my eyes, lowering my head. The judge starts speaking.
"California."
We hear a happy scream from the back of the rooom, so we clap for them.
"Arkansas."
Again we clap for them.
"Hawaii."
Between each state being called out, we clap and hear screams of joy.
"Ohio."
"Massachusetts."
"Washington."
"Texas."
My heart starts racing. It's only three more states. What if we don't make it? What if our trip here was for nothing?
"Utah."
"Alabama."
My heart stops. I open my eyes, looking over at Niall. A sob leaves my lips. Niall's eyes are wide, as we try to process what just happened. Mr Melroy shouts out from happiness. I feel tears run down my cheek. We actually got into national finals.
"And finally, Vermont."
My hand slips from Niall's, as Mr Melroy pulls me into a hug. It's incredible. He lets me go to take Niall in a hug. What just happened? Mr Melroy quickly shooes us onstage to get our passes for tomorrow. I can't believe it. We actually made it to national finals.