Focused, page 14
part #2 of True Images Series
“Well, if you girls are done being emotional,” Lee said, “What should we do until I need to drop Sienna off?”
My response was slightly muffled by his shirt. “I like this fine.” I looked up to smile at him. “Especially now that you smell good again.”
He rolled his eyes, but before he could say anything, his mom said, “There’s nothing as stinky as a teenage boy.” She got up and continued, oblivious to the look on Lee’s face, “I’ll get you two a snack. How do chocolate chip shortbread cookies sound?”
I couldn’t answer because I was laughing too hard.
***
I thought about the conversation with Lee’s mom later as I sat across from my dad. Maybe I was being too hard on him—and too hard on myself. So when he started asking about how my week had gone, I was a little more open than I usually was. It must have surprised him.
He pushed his empty plate away from him and said, “Well, this has been fun, Sienna. I feel like I’m finally starting to get to know you.”
Another time, I might have retorted that it was his fault it had taken so long, but tonight I just said, “Me too.” Then I went a step further and asked, “So, what have you been up to?”
He looked at me for a second, unprepared, I’m sure, for such a friendly question. “Well, uh, I got a job.”
“Really? I thought you had plenty to live on until you went back east.”
He looked uncomfortable for a second, but quickly hid it. “I do, but the truth is, I get a little bored during the days. After all, I don’t get to spend much time with you since you’re so busy.”
Was that an accusation? It might have been, but it was said with so much cheerful teasing that I couldn’t be sure. I moved on. “Where are you working?”
“At Sooner Antiques and Pawn.” When I raised my eyebrows in surprise, he hurried to explain. “I collect antiques—little odds and ends that are hard to find. I figured if I worked there, I’d be more likely to catch any that come through.”
“Well that sounds fun. Have you found anything yet?”
“Not for me. I found something for you though, if you want it.”
“Really. What is it?”
“Nothing much. Just a couple of tintype photographs.”
“Just a couple of…. Are you serious? That’s awesome.”
“I think you’ll like them. We had a lot of old photos come in with about a dozen tintypes.”
When he pulled out his wallet and started digging through it, I thought he was getting ready to pay our bill, but then he pulled out two little, black rectangles and handed them across the table to me. The tiny metal photos clanged softly against the lacquered table top as I set them down in front of me.
One was of two children, probably a brother and sister, staring out at the camera with big eyes and solemn faces. Their chubby cheeks and period clothing were adorable. The other was of a young woman in a beautiful lace wedding gown.
Fern leaves and roses were tucked into the sash of her dress, and the lace train spilled across the floor in front of her. She was standing with her back mostly towards the camera, but she peeked around her veil and over her shoulder, showing a pretty face – one that was amazingly young for a wedding photo. She looked to be about my age.
“They’re incredible. I can’t believe you’re giving these to me. I hope they weren’t terribly expensive.”
He looked uncomfortable, and I realized I shouldn’t have questioned their price. I was about to apologize when he said, with a hint of strain in his voice, “No, they weren’t actually. They aren’t worth top dollar since they aren’t in their original matting. They’re still nice collector pieces though. Mostly, I thought you’d like them because, well, you’re a photographer. I thought this might be something you’d like.”
This was actually thoughtful and showed that he was beginning to know me as a person. I couldn’t meet his eyes to say what I needed to tell him so I looked down at the tintypes. “I’m sorry if I’ve been… ungracious. I’ll do better.” Then looking up at him, once again realizing how much I looked like him, I continued, “And thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
We sat staring at each other for a second. It felt like something was happening. Like a connection. I wondered if he knew I wasn’t just saying thanks for the tintypes.
“Do you need a ride to the school? There’s a game tonight, right?”
“Yeah, there is, but I actually need to go home first. I need to get my camera and everything.”
“Sure thing. I can wait and drive you to the school when you’ve got it.”
“That would be great. I won’t have to get mom to take me. She’s probably busy with Alex.”
As we went out to his car a minute later he asked, “So your mom seems pretty serious about this guy, huh?”
“I don’t know how serious they are, but they’ve been dating for a while.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t get married a long time ago.”
I sighed. And just like that, resentment rose up inside me again. “Yeah, well, you kinda turned her off men. You know?”
“No. I didn’t.” He sounded pensive, and regretful.
Wondering if we’d come far enough to talk about the past, I asked, “So why’d you do it, anyway?”
He was pulling into my driveway, and he didn’t answer until he’d put the car in park. “I was only good at one thing in high school. Running. I guess when things got hard, that was all I knew how to do. I’ve done it my whole life.”
At least he admitted to it. Too bad he couldn’t have been a better person.
I reached for the door handle and started to get out, but his hand caught my arm. “I’m done running now though, Sienna. I mean it. No more. You can count on that.”
I looked at him, searching his eyes for the sincerity I hoped was there. I think I found it.
“I’ll be here waiting to take you to the game.”
I nodded and said, “Thanks. Be right back.”
I ran inside, calling a quick hello to my mom and Alex as I passed them on my way to my bedroom. I dropped my backpack on the floor by my bed, made sure my cell was in my pocket, and grabbed my camera case. After a quick check to make sure both my batteries were charged and that I had two SD cards ready to go, I hurried out again. The girls’ game had already started by now and I didn’t want to miss too much of it.
“Bye, Mom. Bye, Alex. Sorry to run out of here, but I’ve got to get to the game. Dad’s giving me a ride.” My mom jumped up from the couch and came towards me, so I stopped and waited for her. Why did she look so nervous? Dread slid down my spine. “Mom? What’s wrong?”
She smiled, but it was shaky. “Nothing’s wrong. I – we- just have something to tell you.”
“Oh, good. You had me scared for a second there. What’s up?”
“Well, Sienna, Alex asked me to marry him.”
My eyebrows nearly climbed into my hairline. It took a minute to process, I won’t lie. But then, a warm, happy feeling flooded me. I grabbed her into a big hug and said, “That’s awesome, Mom. You said yes, didn’t you?”
I looked down into my shorty mom’s eyes and saw tears gathering there. She nodded and choked on a hiccupy laugh. “Yes. But there’s more. We’ve talked about it, and we know it’s going to be hard for you, but we want to use Spring Break to go on our honeymoon. That means we’ll be getting married next month.”
Okay. Now I was going to pass out.
Chapter 13
Lee
After dropping Sienna off at the diner, I drove to the address I’d found on my phone. Surely there weren’t two electronics rental stores in Haskins. When I got there, the building looked like one of those metal storage buildings except for two large windows on either side of the door. The windows glowed with neon light logos and posters for products. There were a couple of cars in the parking lot. It surprised me they had so much business.
I checked my watch and saw that I only had about twenty minutes before I had to be at the gym. I needed to make this fast. Then, I realized I didn’t even know if Parker was working tonight.
As I went inside, I was disappointed not to see Parker anywhere—just one short guy that was built like a bull dog. I waited for him to finish with the customer he was helping, but it was taking forever. There were apparently a lot of instructions and papers to sign when you were renting an underwater camera.
I checked my watch and was about to give up, when Parker came in from somewhere in the back. He was checking the label on the box he was carrying and didn’t see me. I went over to the counter and said, “Hey, man.”
He looked startled when he heard me, but smiled and jerked his head up to acknowledge me. He held up a finger to tell me to wait a sec, but I hoped it wouldn’t be too long. Coach Webb would go ballistic if I was late. We were supposed to be dressed out by half-time of the girls’ game.
Parker only needed to hand the box to the bulldog guy though. “What’s up, Lee?” he asked coming over to me.
I wondered how he would take this. There was a time, back when he had a thing for Sienna, that we didn’t exactly get along. Only one way to find out. “Well, I had a favor to ask you.”
His eyebrows met over his nose. He was curious. “All right. Shoot.”
“Well, see… it’s a big favor. Or, I guess, not really a favor since I’m going to pay you. I want you to make a highlight video for me.”
“But you already have several of those. I’ve seen them online.”
“Yeah, but I need a new one – a special one. I’m trying to get on at Arkansas, for Sienna. I’ve left it kind of late though and there’s a lot of competition for the two spots they have.”
“Really? I thought you were good enough to get on almost anywhere you want.”
“Yeah, almost. But see, they don’t need my position. I need something to convince them that they need me anyway—enough to free up one of their scholarships for me.”
“Can’t you walk on? Your parents should be able to afford to pay your tuition anywhere you want.”
“But how do I justify that when I can get a free ride somewhere else? No, I need to get a scholarship. I’ve been working my whole life for that. Now, I just need to work a little harder to get one at Arkansas. I’ve seen some of your videos. I think your filming and editing skills could make all the difference.”
“How’s that going to work though? I work every Friday night.”
“Maybe you could catch some Tuesday games, and we’ve got some tournaments coming up that would give you lots of chances to come to a game. Plus, I’m sure Coach will let you use our game videos too.”
I saw the interest in his eyes. “When would you need it by?”
“Soon. Maybe a couple of weeks. I want to go for a campus visit and I’d want it by then. Look, I know that’s not much time, but I can pay you whatever you think is fair. Name your price.” When he seemed to be hesitating, I said, “It’ll mean a lot to Sienna.”
He grinned. “I’m just messing with you – though it might be nauseating to watch so much video of you. You might have to pay extra for that.”
“How about bonus pay—say in homemade baked goods.”
“Dude. If your mom is going to feed me, I’m definitely in. Consider it done.”
Chapter 14
Sienna
I’d never really cared for Valentine’s Day. Of course, that could have been because I’d never had a boyfriend before. But now that I had one, I’d thought I would finally understand what the fuss was all about. Apparently not.
Lee and I were sitting in his truck before school on Monday morning, February 11th when he broke the news to me that he was going to be out of town that day. His eyes were pools of remorse, but something in me wasn’t buying his excuses. So, asked him, “You mean there’s absolutely no other time you can go to the U of A for a campus visit?”
“Look. It’s not that simple. The coach sent me tickets for the Razorbacks’ game Wednesday night and he wants to give me a tour and let me practice with the team on Thursday, late afternoon—which will put me back too late to do anything. We scheduled it for this week because District Tournament starts next week with Regionals and State right after that. It won’t be long before they’re in the middle of March Madness. I’m doing everything I can to get on this team – so we can be together. Turning this down would severely hurt my chances.”
“The timing really sucks though.”
“I know, and I hate that too. But I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
There was still a heavy weight in my chest. I was surprised at the depth of my disappointment since I hadn’t realized how much I’d looked forward to it until it wasn’t going to happen. Looks like Valentine’s Day was going to mock me again. “Sure. I guess.”
Lee’s shoulders slumped and he dropped his head back against his headrest. I guess I should have sounded a little more enthusiastic. He reached over and took my hand. He pulled it onto his knee and gently played with my fingers as he thought. “I want to fix this, but I don’t know how.”
Okay, now I was starting to feel guilty for giving him a hard time. “I’ll be okay. I was just really looking forward to it. I don’t even know why except that we’ve barely gotten to see each other lately. We’ve both been so busy that I feel like … I don’t know… like we’re drifting away from each other.”
Lee grabbed my hand with crushing pressure. “No we’re not. This is a crazy time for both of us right now. Between your work schedule and the time you’re putting in on your art portfolio and scholarship contests, and my basketball schedule, there isn’t much time left over for us.”
I nodded in agreement as I stared down at our hands. I noticed that the tips of my fingers were turning white from his grip, but I didn’t care. “I wish we could forget about everything for a little while.”
“Me too. But listen, Sienna. Even though we don’t have much time together, I look forward to every minute I can be with you. As long as it’s the same for you, we’ll make it through this.”
“My feelings for you haven’t changed. I just feel like we’re disconnected right now.”
“Well, I think I know one way to fix that,” he said, smiling teasingly at me. Once again, his sense of humor lightened to mood around us, and I pretended to try to avoid the kiss he was threatening me with. He cornered me against the window and was about to plant one on me when someone knocked on the window behind me.
Lee sat back with a sigh that matched my own. I looked out the window to see who was bothering us and saw Parker and Olivia laughing at us. Parker tapped on his watch and I remembered we were at school for a reason.
“Rain check?” Lee asked.
“Definitely.”
We got out of the car and Olivia grabbed my arm and pulled me ahead of the guys. This was unusual, but I figured she had a reason for it. I didn’t have to wonder about it for long.
Olivia glanced behind us like she was afraid of being overheard and said quietly, “Sienna, I want you to meet my best friend, Rylie Butcher. Can I bring her over at lunch today?”
“Uh, sure.”
Meeting her friend didn’t seem like that big of a deal, but Olivia was almost bubbling over with excitement. I saw her a lot now that she was dating Parker. Not to mention, I saw her almost every week when I met my dad for dinner. We rarely ate anywhere but the diner where she worked. So we were getting to be good friends, and I didn’t need her grip on my arm to clue me in that something was up. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on, or am I going to have to be curious all day long?
“Well, I guess I can tell you. I mean, I know you won’t tell anyone else if I ask you not to.”
“Of course not.”
“Okay. So here it is – Rylie has a crush on this guy, Brian Gibbons, but she can’t seem to get his attention. She’s a big fan of your blog, especially since you featured my picture on there and helped me get my album launched.”
Things were becoming clear now. “Let me guess. She wants me to photograph her and put her on my blog to get his attention?”
Olivia squealed, “Yes! Will you? I mean, do you have time for that? I know you’re busy.”
I glanced back over my shoulder at Parker and Lee, who were actually talking. Huh. Lee felt my eyes on him and looked up in time for me to say, “I just happen to have lots of free time this weekend.”
Lee’s mouth turned down briefly in an expression that was both sardonic and regretful before he turned back to hear what Parker was telling him.
“Well, actually, don’t you think it would be better to wait until it warms up a little and it gets a little greener?”
“Yeah. That would be a good idea.” Actually, that’s what Mom and I had planned to do for her engagement pictures.
We walked inside, and I welcomed the warm air. The short walk from the parking lot had nearly frozen me stiff. Spring was sounding pretty nice. It was hard to believe it was right around the corner.
Olivia’s voice pulled my mind back from its wanderings. “Rylie isn’t in that big of a hurry or anything. She’s hoping to go to prom with him.”
“Oh my gosh! Prom! I totally forgot that I was going to do some blog posts to help girls find prom dates. How crazy is that?”
“Well, your blog does have a rep for deciding who is cool around here.”
“Really? I mean, that’s what I wanted it to do, sort of. I just didn’t know it still was.”
“Well, if you haven’t noticed, Tyler and Katie are still extremely popular, and, well, pretty much everyone who’s ever been on your blog is.”
“Huh. I guess I could still help a few people out. I just don’t want to cause any unintended problems for people again.”
“Just make Rylie the hot item around school for a week or two and she’ll be happy. She just wants Brian to notice her. That won’t hurt anybody.” The first bell rang almost drowning her out, and Parker pulled her away. She called over her shoulder, “We’ll see you at lunch then.”
All through my morning classes, I thought about who else I could photograph and about possible locations for this Rylie girl’s photo shoot. But that’s where my imagination drew to a halt. I couldn’t plan much until I’d seen her.
