“Fuck that. That asshole won’t do shit.”
“Come on, Bain, let’s trust the man to do his job.”
“If he was any good at it, then yes, yes, I would.”
“Just give it to him. It’s not going to hurt anything, am I right?”
I nod my head, not wanting to listen to my dad, but deep down I know he’s right. All we have is Detective Eldridge, so I have to tell him.
“Hey, while I have you here, I wanted to talk to you about your mom.”
“What now?” I grumble.
“I think we should try and do some sort of an intervention.”
“Dad, she’s not going to go for that. You should just forget about rehab and accept this is how she is.”
“Bain, listen to yourself. This is your mom we are talking about. I can’t sit back and watch her do this anymore. She’s slowly killing herself. Don’t you remember how she was before all of this? I know that woman is still inside of her, we just need to help her find her way out.”
“Dad, I love you both and I’m sorry to say this, but I think she might be a lost cause right now.”
“Fine, I’ll do it without you, Bain,” he says firmly. I can tell by the look in his eyes he’s mad at me.
“Okay, I’m sorry. Just look into Betty Ford or a place like that and let me know what you find out. I won’t let you do it alone.” A small smile comes across his face; my answer has satisfied him. Walking away, I head back to my room to call that asshole detective.
Walking into school, I’m nervous as can be and questioning my clothing already. Glancing down at my black skinny jeans and leather boots, I feel like a biker chick. What in God’s name was I thinking? I mean, for real!
Before entering Photography, I stop in the restroom to calm my nerves before I face him. But truly, I don’t know why I even care what Anthony thinks of me; he’s my teacher and that’s always a number one rule to them – never get involved with students.
Whatever, I can still look good, so I put on some powder and wash my hands. That’ll do. I leave the restroom and just as I exit, fate hits me smack in the face. Staring down at me, causing me to get instantly lost in his eyes, is Anthony. I don’t move or say a word. Christ, he’s gorgeous.
“Hey, I was hoping I would get to see you today.” I look up at him and blink a few times trying to process his words. That’s all I can muster. Then the bell rings and he says, “Stay after class,” before turning and walking off, not waiting for my response.
After standing there stunned, and realizing how dumb I must look, I somehow manage to walk in behind him and take my seat, getting lost in his voice. It’s like silk, absolutely beautiful like he is. Watching the way he presents himself to the class is nothing I’ve ever seen a teacher do.
“Kinsey, would you mind coming up here?” he asks, pulling me off of the cloud I’m lounging on. I’m shocked that he knows my name, and once I yank myself out my daze, I make it to the front of the classroom.
“So, let’s take Kinsey for example. When you look at her, what do you all see that you could photograph to make a unique picture?”
“Her eyes,” someone from the back shouts.
Being this close to Anthony makes me nervous. He smells delicious; his voice is so strong and echoing as he commands attention from the class.
“Lips.”
“Skin.”
“Those are all great examples, but I want you to dig deeper. What about her hair?” He runs his fingers down the ends of it and I try to contain a shiver. “Could you zoom in as far as possible and capture what her strands really look like?”
The students nod their heads in agreement. “Will someone flip the lights off? How about now? What do you see?” The class stares at me, and the whole time I have my eyes locked on Anthony. “Or now,” he says, taking a high-powered flashlight, holding my hand up and shining the light through it.
“You can photograph any human, besides yourselves. The picture needs to be no larger than a 5x7, so that’s not a lot to work with, and remember, with photography, there are absolutely NO limits. Try anything that you think will give you the perfect picture. I want something with as much detail as possible.”
“Does the picture have to be recognizable as to what it is?” Sean, one of the guys in class, asks.
“I don’t know, Sean, does it?”
The two men smile at each other and then Anthony directs me to take my seat. “Any other questions?” Everyone is silent. “Then class is dismissed. Go get started on your projects.”
The students all look around at each other, like this guy is crazy or something. Snell would never let us out of class early. As the class filters out, I just try to keep my eyes off of him.
“Well, you shouldn’t have given him your number if it’s gonna make you act like such a cunt,” Aubrey teases me.
“I’m not being a cunt. I just thought he would have called by now.”
“You could always call Brady,” she offers.