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I groan. “So not helping.”
“Have you tried taking a look at the rent agreement?” Asks Charlie.
I open my bag, digging through my folders until I finally find the yellow one with dachshunds all over it. I take out the rent agreement Seth sent me a few weeks ago, quickly looking through it. I sigh when I finally find what it says. “Just like I thought.” I run a hand through my hair, still a mess from having thrown it up into a lopsided bun. “I need to give a two month notice and find someone to take my room.”
“So you can leave around Christmas,” says Lauren, sounding hopeful.
“I don’t know if I can last until Christmas. The boys have me acting like their slave. And besides,” I slump, “I don’t even know if I can find a replacement. Who would want to live with three loud, messy, horny pigs?”
Silence surrounds me and I whimper. I know I’m being pathetic. I know I should be strong and stand up for myself. Or look at this whole thing with the glass half full like Momalways suggests, but I’m too tired. I went to sleep last night around midnight and was woken at 4am. With that amount of sleep, there is no way I can think logically, or positively about this situation.
“Well, you can always sleep on my couch,” says Josh, his hand slipping away from mine. I miss the warmth, but I’m too shy to grab his hand, especially in front of Charlie and Lauren. “And I may have a room for you since my roommate is usually over at his girlfriend’s place anyway.”
I smile. “Thanks Josh. I may take you up on that.”
“Alright class,” says a young brunette with short cropped hair and sparkly makeup. I can only assume this is the great Professor Priestly. She kicks the door closed and slams the stack of papers she’s carrying down on her desk. She rolls her shoulders back and I grimace when her neck cracks. “Now, shut your mouths, I have a project for you.” She turns on the smart board behind her and while it hums on she flips open the laptop on the desk, quickly typing in what I can only assume is her login information.
“Oh man,” Charlie leans over and whispers in my ear. “Professor Priestly has the best projects. This is going to be fun.”
“Why do we photograph?” Professor Priestly looks around the room. “Is there anyone brave enough to answer my question?”
Josh raises his hand. “We photograph to remember.”
The professor smiles. “True. But if that’s the case, then I can just whip out my iPhone and go to town.” She looks around the room. “If remembrance is the answer, why do we still have cameras? Why do we still have a dark room? Why are they important?”
I slowly raise my hand and she nods at me. “For the purpose of art.”
I cringe when she scoffs. “Art. I guess that’s why we are in the art department.” Students glance at me while they chuckle and I immediately wish I could just snap my fingers and disappear.Stupid. Stupid answer.
“So remembrance and art.” The professor continues to pace. Pictures appear behind her, showcasing the campus and various students. One throwing a football with his friends, another displaying girls studying under a tree. All taken with different photography skills and themes. “I guess these two topics blur into one another, however, the answer to my question is a tricky one.” She smiles thinly and touches the smart board, changing the picture to historical ones taken of the campus in the early 1900s. “The reason we photograph differs based on the person.” She gestures to someone in the front row. “One could take pictures for marketing, but why is it that you market? What is important behind the picture? Others find creating a story through photographs is their reasoning behind the art form. And some,” she paces back and forth behind her desk, “like me, want to document history.” She taps the smart board, showing several different pictures of people from around the world. “For this next term I want you to choose a topic, whether that be campus life, or lack thereof,” her gaze meets the eye of another student, who’s ears go pink. “Choose something, and using different photographical themes, I want you to display at the end of this year, why you chose photography. Why this field? Why is it so important?” The pictures continue to change behind her. “You will be graded on your different photographical techniques. Please use ten. I don’t want five black and whites and five with selective colors. I want ten different themes. My office is of course open, if you have any questions.”
I already feel my hand about to raise. Looking around, hands are rising. Even Charlie’s. “But not now,” says the professor, turning her back to us and to the pictures onthe smart board. “And don’t freak out,” she chuckles. “We will be learning several different techniques you may use for your project.” Professor Priestly claps her hands together. “Now! Today we are going to discuss lighting. It’s both our friend, and our foe.” She turns around and catches my eye.
I quickly look away and frown.How the hell am I going to do this project?
After class ends, I grab my bag and follow Lauren, Charlie, and Josh outside, thinking about what themes I already know and what exactly I can showcase at a campus full of athletes. As we exit the building, my gaze is captured by the peaks in the distance and I wonder if I can try photographing the scenery of Aurora. But it’s not the reason why I photograph.Really, I don’t even know why I chose this field.I just want to make art. Does there have to be a reason behind it?
“You okay there, Rachel?” Asks Charlie, throwing her arm over my shoulder. “You’re not thinking about your scumbag roommates, are you?
I groan. “No, but I am now.” I sigh. “How exactly am I going to do this project?”
“Easy.” Josh pulls out an apple from his bag and takes a bite. “Just take it one week at a time,” he says between amouthfulof apple. “Start thinking about your topic tonight. That’s the hard part.”
I sigh and look up at the sky. “I’m going to fail.”
Lauren laughs. “You are not going to fail.”
“You know what.” Charlie steers me into the quad. “You are in desperate need of a girl’s night. Why don’t we meet tonight at The Cup and we can help you figure out your topic for the project.”
“Oooh.” Lauren claps her hands together while jumping up and down. “Girls night!” She glances over her shoulder at Josh. “No boys.”
Josh raises his hands. “I would never impose on girl’s night.”
“Sounds good to me,” I say, pushing back a stray strand on my face.It will also give me a great opportunity to keep away from my asshole roommates, I think, but don’t say. It definitely puts an extra pep in my step.
8
LUCAS
