I spotted the one-story brick building up ahead. All the newer buildings on campus were constructed with red and white brick, while the original buildings were large white stucco structures. It never made sense to me why they wouldn’t at least attempt to match the newer buildings with the older ones.
I pulled the tinted glass door open and a gush of air conditioning greeted my face. I moved my sunglasses on top of my head, pulling my long hair back with them as I rounded the corner.
“Hey, Dani,” I said as I entered, not wanting to startle Danielle, who squinted at the computer before she looked up.
“Hey, Cassie, come look at this.” She waved me over, her expression still tight. I peered around her puffy brown ponytail and over her shoulder at the photograph on the screen. “I need this picture to have more expression. It’s not giving me what I want. What am I missing?”
I looked at the eight-year-old boy standing in front of spilled water buckets, his expression sorrowful. “First of all, I don’t think it should be in black and white. The details get lost in this photo. May I?” I pointed at the seat she occupied.
“Please.” She jumped up from the seat as we switched positions.
I reopened the original picture in the photo editing software and manipulated the colors before pointing to the screen. “Look at the dirty rug hanging behind him. I barely noticed it in black and white. The cracks in the buckets, and the rubble at his feet,” I paused, “were all lost before. This picture needs to be in color. This picture deserves to be in color.”
Her hands clapped together behind my head before she squeezed my shoulders. “You’re such a fucking genius. I love you.”
I smiled, my eyes glued to the screen. “Thanks.”
“So what’s up?” Dani smiled, the tension creases between her eyes easing up as she relaxed.
“I just stopped by to work on some photos I took of last night’s game. I thought you might want to use them for the feature you’re running on Jack Carter.”
“Tell me you’re not one of…” she hesitated, “them.”
“One of…what?” I asked, my eyebrows furrowing.
“One of the hundreds of girls on campus in love with all things Jack Carter.” She rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.
I guffawed. “Uh, no. I can’t stand the guy.”
“Well that’s a first,” she admitted with a laugh. “We have a million pictures of Jack, but in all honesty, I’d love to see anything you shot.”
“Thanks, Dani.” I sat up a little straighter and smiled, unable to quell the little rise of pride welling up inside me.
“Now that you saved me from killing myself over this photo, I need to eat. See you later and thanks again.” She tossed her purse strap over her shoulder, catching the ends of her ponytail in it before cursing and tugging the strands free.
It took longer than I expected to edit the photos from last night, but I had to admit they were good. They were better than good, actually. My stomach rumbled and I wondered if Melissa was still on campus. I sent her a quick text to which she responded, “Still here. In the SU.”
I wrote back, “I have class in a few, but I’m on my way,” before inserting the memory card into my camera and shoving it into my backpack. I passed some girls and pretended not to notice when they pointed and whispered Jack’s name.
Irritated, I took a detour through campus, pleased when I noticed the pathway was virtually vacant. I shook my head while I walked, annoyed that Jack’s antics had made me the focus of attention I didn’t want.
I threw open the heavy glass door and heard the sound of bowling pins crashing. Craning my neck to see the bowler, I smiled when I recognized the guy from my digital foundations class. Quick bursts of light alerted me that he wasn’t bowling for fun and I watched another kid from class taking pictures of him.
I diverted my attention and looked around the sparse crowd for Melissa’s face. She tilted her head and stuck out her tongue, catching my eye, before I strolled over to where she and Dean were sitting. I flung my pack on the table before plopping down.
“Thought you weren’t coming to my game?” Jack slid his body into the seat next to mine, his tone sounding a bit arrogant.
“My roommate threatened to set me on fire if I didn’t.” I kept my voice cool and avoided his eyes, scooting my body away from his.
“Well, at least now I know how to get you to go out with me.”
“I’m not going out with you,” I said, turning my head away from him.
“At least give me your number then?”
“No thanks.”