Candid (True Images Series) Read online

  “You know,” Lee murmured close to my ear, “I’m beginning to see some merit to your little experiment. How can anybody stand those two?”

  “There are a lot of people who can’t, and as for the rest, I think most people are brainwashed to consider them perfect. Especially Jordan. It would take a lot to convince them otherwise, but I have a plan. Want to help?”

  “I wouldn’t mind bringing them down a notch or two. What are you going to do?”

  “Jordan has planned to be Football Homecoming Queen since we were freshman. I mean, she seriously thinks all she has to do is say she wants it, and it will be handed to her. So, what if Katie Edwards was picked instead?”

  “Why Katie?”

  “Two reasons. One: she’s never been in homecoming and I think she deserves a moment in the spotlight. Two: more than likely Tyson would be one of her escorts, and he would have to give her the traditional kiss on the cheek in front of Jordan.”

  “Oh, you’re mean.”

  I shrugged and smiled. “I figured out this week that Katie isn’t so much upset because the cheerleaders are being catty to her, but because she’s crushing on Tyson. And I’ve always thought Tyson was interested in Katie all along and that’s why he didn’t want anything to do with his new fan club.”

  “You’re pretty observant aren’t you?”

  I glanced at my camera and answered, “I’ve learned to see things that other people miss. We have three weeks to swing it though. That means I’ll have to really spice things up on my blog.”

  “Ok, but be careful. Jordan will want to murder you for this.”

  I knew he was right, but my determination to knock them a few rungs down the social ladder grew every day, with every taunt and malicious smile they threw my way.

  Later, when we had moved to the other end of the field, Lee asked, “Hey, how about if we skip out on the last few minutes of the second quarter and get something to eat? Then we can go get your sweatshirt and be back before half-time is over.

  “You had me at the word eat. It would be nice to have my own sweatshirt anyway. The sleeves on Will’s are way too long and they’re making it hard to work.”

  “Plus it makes you smell like another guy. It’s annoying the heck out of me. Does he use the whole bottle of cologne, or what?”

  “You’re cute when you’re jealous,” I teased him.

  “Be quiet and take pictures,” he grumbled, making me laugh. For the moment, Jordan and Brittany were forgotten.

  *****

  I have to admit, I wasn’t thrilled when my alarm clock went off at 5:30. I was too deep in pleasant dreams to want to wake up. Last night after the game, Lee had walked me to my car. He’d slipped an arm briefly around my waist to turn me towards him and then looked down into my eyes with a tenderness that made me feel like I was being kissed.

  Apparently, he was still keeping to his promise to “be good”, because he’d brushed the tip of my nose with a gentle finger and said goodnight, but in my dreams, it had ended differently.

  Only my determination to look good when I saw him this morning gave me the strength to throw off my warm comforter and face the cold to get up. Before I took a shower though, I took a minute to text Marisol and make sure she was awake. It took her longer to get ready than it would ever take me.

  My mom and I shared the only bathroom in the house, and for once, I was glad for it. She had way more makeup and hairstyling tools than I did. She always said I could help myself to them whenever I wanted, and today I was taking her up on it.

  Part of me secretly enjoyed primping in front of the mirror, but it took too much time for me to mess with it often. Besides, I had to admit that it was easier to not be considered beautiful if you didn’t try to be. Maybe Lee was right and my refusal to care too much about my looks was a pride thing.

  My feelings for him were stripping away some of that pride however, and when I got out of the shower, I smiled at the curling irons, hairspray, and makeup that I’d laid out on the counter. What was wrong with me, anyway? I’d always considered a curling iron to be more an instrument of torture than something to smile about.

  Later, at about 6:30, I was pretty impressed with myself. Actually, I looked kind of hot. My jeans looked great on me too. Of course, I was only wearing a bra and cami at the moment because I still needed to pick out a shirt to wear, but surely I’d find something that would work. Then again, it was pretty unlikely that my closet would produce something that wasn’t there. Why hadn’t I gone shopping?

  Because you’re saving for that new lens, remember?

  After staring into my closet for a minute, I knew my chances of finding something pretty enough for today was hopeless. There was only one thing to do. I had to raid my mom’s closet.

  We were almost the same size and she was still young enough to be more in style than other mothers I knew. In fact, she was way more trendy than I was. How weird was that?

  For the first time, I was starting to realize that there was something wrong with me. How could I be seventeen with a mom that dressed better than I did? Maybe I didn’t need that lens as bad as I thought.

  I was still trying to decide between two tops when there was a knock on the door. I’d texted Marisol a few minutes ago, telling her not to ring the doorbell when she got here so we wouldn’t bother my mom. I was surprised and impressed that Marisol had gotten there so early though.

  I laid the two shirts down on the back of the couch and opened the door, but it wasn’t Marisol.

  It was Lee.

  And he was looking at me like he wasn’t quite sure what he was looking at. We stood there a moment, the first rays of morning sun streaming in around us. Finally Lee said, “Well, I’m awake now. Holy cow, Sienna! You look incredible.”

  I laughed nervously. “I haven’t even decided what to wear yet. I thought it was Marisol knocking.” I moved and let him step inside. As he did, I saw Olivia had also arrived and was walking up the driveway.

  “Sorry I’m early,” she said as she walked up the front steps. “I was afraid I would have trouble finding your house so I gave myself plenty of time. It was easy though.”

  “Great. I’m glad you made it.” I ran my eyes over her, assessing her for our photo shoot. She was wearing a short, flouncy white skirt, a pretty turquois sweater, and knee high boots. Her light brown hair was styled in loose curls and she wore only a few bangle bracelets on her wrists. I wanted her to appear natural, but for the photos she would need some darker makeup. Marisol would help with that though.

  As I shut the door behind her, I saw that Lee was looking confused but interested at the addition to our photo shoot. “Oh, hey I forgot to tell you last night. Do you know Olivia?”

  “No, I’m sorry. Should I?”

  “Well, she goes to school with us, but you probably haven’t run into her much. She’s a junior and hangs out with the choir crowd. Lee, this is Olivia Nunes. Remember that name. She’s going to be a famous singer someday soon.”

  “Really? That’s awesome. Are you going to sing for us later?”

  “Sure, that would be fun,” she replied in her quiet but musical voice.

  “Olivia, this is Lee Franklin. I hope you don’t mind, but he and a couple other guys are coming along with us.”

  “Being dragged along, you mean,” Lee said, shaking his head.

  I made a face at him and went to get the two shirts I was trying to choose from. “What do you think, Olivia? Which one should I wear?”

  “I like the blue one,” she said.

  I looked at it, uncertain about her choice. It was a light, woven cardigan with an open front that fell in loose cascades on each side. I wasn’t used to so much flutter and movement, but being more girly was exactly what I wanted to accomplish. I agreed, with just a little reluctance, as I said, “I’ll be back in a sec,” and went to put it on.

  I stood in front of my mirror, yanking and pulling at the top trying to feel right in it. I just wasn’t used to seeing myself l
ike this. Then there was a knock on the bathroom door and I opened it to find Marisol there. “Oh, hey. You made it on time, “ I said.

  “Of course. You doubted me? Que linda! Girl, you look beautiful.”

  “Thanks,” I said, doubtfully. I gave the cardigan another tug.

  “Leave it alone. Wear it like you own it. Right now you look like someone’s wrapped you up in barbed wire.”

  “It just feels weird.”

  “You’ll get used to it. It looks way better than the t-shirts you always wear.” Her eyes met my doubtful ones in the mirror and she added, “Lee’s going to love it.”

  “Maybe.”

  “He will. When did you buy this, anyway?”

  “I didn’t. It’s my mom’s.”

  She stared at me blankly for a moment, then said. “That’s it. If you’re wearing your mom’s clothes to look better, things have gotten desperate. We’re going shopping. Soon.”

  I sighed. “Fine.”

  Marisol looked stunned at her easy victory. “Really? Wow. That’s awesome. I bet I can guess why you suddenly care what you look like. Most girls do it the other way around though, you know? They try to look good to get the guy. You got the guy and then decided to look good.”

  “I don’t really have the guy – not till I can call him my boyfriend.” I told her quietly as I opened the bathroom door and left. Sometimes walking away was the only way to get out of an embarrassing conversation with Marisol. She followed me into the living room and I prayed she wouldn’t say anything to embarrass me.

  Lee stood up from the couch as I came in and there was a gleam in his eyes as they swept over me that was easy to interpret. I was feeling pretty good until Marisol came up and whispered in my ear, “Oh, you’ve got him, chica. Now, what are you going to do with him?”

  “Secrets?” Lee asked.

  “No,” Marisol said. “She can tell you if she likes.” She laughed, knowing I would never tell Lee what we were talking about.

  I pretended they hadn’t been talking at all and asked, “Where are the others?”

  “Outside,” Marisol said.

  “Well let’s go then,” I said, grabbing my camera. Lee helped me carry the rest of my equipment out to his truck, and I watched anxiously to make sure he put it in the bed of his truck carefully. When I was sure it would travel safely, I climbed into Lee’s truck and made room for Olivia to ride with us. Luckily, the others were all able to ride in Parker’s car.

  I hadn’t ever been in Lee’s truck before so I hadn’t realized how nice it was- even if it was an older model. But the leather seats were in great shape and it smelled like him. It had probably been expensive when it was new. Of course, just about anything was a luxury model compared to my car.

  “So, where am I going?” Lee asked as he reached the intersection out of my neighborhood.”

  “Turn left, then turn right on Main. Follow that until we get out of town. I’ll tell you when to turn again when we get closer. I don’t know exactly how far it is – five miles or so.”

  “We’re going out in the country?” Olivia asked.

  “Yeah. My mom has a friend with a great piece of property. She goes there to paint a lot. I called and asked if we could come take pictures there. We have full run of the place.”

  “Awesome,” Olivia said.

  “Just wait till you see it,” I told her. “You’re going to love it.”

  Chapter 10

  “Wow, you weren’t kidding,” Olivia said. “I do love it.”

  After walking about for about a quarter mile through a stand of trees behind Mrs. Wilson’s house, we came out on a field. To our right, the land rose up into a small, tree topped bluff. Boulders littered the base of the bluff and a creek wound through them.

  In front of us, the morning sun lit the tall grass of the field with a golden haze and brightened the changing leaves on the trees. There was just enough of a breeze to stir our hair and bend the blades of grass. It was a little chilly in the shade, but in the sun it was warm enough to take our jackets off. Everything was perfect, but this just gave me a sense of urgency. Perfect conditions like this rarely lasted for long.

  Will and Parker started climbing around on the rocks, but I was all business. The other girls were anxious to get going too.

  Since this was Marisol and Alyssa’s idea, I took some shots of them first. I posed them to take the best advantage of the light. Luckily I had a soft box that I’d made out of PVC pipe and a white sheet. I’d brought it with me to help soften the strong morning sun, and occasionally, I would ask Lee to hold it up between the sun and my subject.

  In my concentration, I didn’t really pay too much attention to Lee except to ask for his help, which showed how focused I was because he looked amazing in the golden light.

  After getting dozens of shots of Marisol and Alyssa, both together and separate, I began to work on Olivia’s pictures. Marisol had worked her magic with makeup, and Olivia’s natural beauty was enhanced for the critical eye of my camera lens. I worked on finding a good pose for her, but after viewing them back, I wasn’t happy with what I was getting. They looked great, but they didn’t say anything.

  “Maybe it would help if I knew what your songs were about,” I told her.

  She tipped her head to the side for a moment, like she was considering what I’d said. Then she took her guitar in hand and began to play a few chords. Then she began to sing and all of us stopped, mesmerized, to listen.

  She had an amazing voice, with a sweet, haunting quality to it. After I got over my amazement however, I began to catch the words of the song.

  It was clearly a love song, but it had been put to a strong, relentless rhythm that echoed the words of the chorus.

  “Oh, baby, the storms of life are so rough

  They pull at us, rage at us,

  make it hard to hold on

  But no storm compares to you,

  Nothing pulls at me, masters me,

  makes my soul fly

  The way that you do

  And baby, that’s why

  I’m blown away by the strength of your love

  Hold me tight or I’ll get carried away.”

  When her song died away, we all stood silent. No applause or words would have done justice to the way we felt. Nervously awaiting our reaction, Olivia said, “I call that one Blown Away. It’s also going to be the title of my album.”

  “Well, then I know the picture we need to take. That is, if you’ll trust me.”

  “Completely,” she said simply.

  I turned to Lee. “Would you mind helping?”

  “Sure,” he said. “Do you need to me to hold that soft box thing again?”

  “No, I need you to go put your arms around Olivia.”

  His mouth fell open. “What? Why?”

  “Because, this is a love song and that’s what’s missing in these pictures – love. Olivia, are you dating anybody? I wouldn’t want some jealous boyfriend coming after me or anything.”

  She said she wasn’t and glanced up at Lee’s dumbfounded face through her long eyelashes. “If Lee doesn’t mind, that would be pretty awesome for the cover.”

  “Of course it would,” I said, taking Lee’s hand and pulling him over to her.

  “Why me?” he asked in desperate whisper.

  I whispered back, “Because you’re the hottest guy here and that’s what she needs for this picture.”

  “You’re going to owe me,” he warned in my ear as I began to pose them.

  I turned them so that the breeze pulled at Olivia’s soft curls and sculpted Lee’s t-shirt to his chest. I had them put their arms around each other, and I tweaked their positions slightly.

  Stepping back to look at them, I said, “Olivia, put your cheek against his chest. Yes, just like that. Now Lee, turn your head down and rest your chin on top of her head. Olivia, you’ll need to stand on your tip-toes to make this work right. You’re too short for him to reach you. No, it’s not working…hold on.
”

  I thought for a minute and then called to Parker and Will. “Hey, can you guys bring one of those rocks over here for Olivia to stand on? I need one that’s about six inches high.”

  After a minute, they found one and carried it over for me. I had Olivia step up on it and put them back in their pose. This time, Olivia fit into his embrace exactly the way I wanted her to. I took a few shots to check my settings. I wanted the exposure to be perfect.

  “Now, Olivia, I need you to just barely smile and look over my left shoulder – not at the camera. Get comfortable and don’t move. I’m going to wait for the wind to be just right. Hold it… there. Got it.” I looked at the picture on my viewfinder. Excitement bubbled through me. “Oh, my gosh, you guys! It’s so beautiful.”

  “I’m glad you get such a kick out of seeing me hold another girl,” Lee said. His sarcasm made me laugh.

  “Ok, you were a good sport. Now we can have a little fun. Hey everybody, we’re going to take some shots of you as couples. If you don’t mind posing for me, I can sell these through online stock photo companies. Couple pictures are great sellers because people use them for romance covers and picture frames and stuff.”

  “Uh, why would I want to be on the cover of a romance novel?” Parker asked.

  “Oh, come on. I’ll make sure your face doesn’t show, if that’s what you want.”

  “Whatever,” Parker said, giving in.

  “I thought you said we were going to have fun now?” Lee asked.

  I walked over to him, wrapped my arms around his waist, and said, “You mean you wouldn’t enjoy posing with me like this?”

  A smile spread slowly across his face. “You mean, you’ll be in the pictures, and not just taking them?”

  “Exactly. I’ll set up the shot and put the timer on. We might have to hold our poses for a long time.”

  He chuckled. “I’m in.”