"He definitely has some instinctive talent, I'll give him that."
Numerous pictures were scattered across the table as the examiners concentrated on specific ones that caught their interest. The table itself was one of plain wood; the room itself was brightly lit. It was evaluation time; they focused on latent talents of potential future photographers.
"See, Mark, I don't understand that. To me, they're just generic photographs. What do you even see within them?"
"This type of photography can only come from an unlearned amateur." Mark Jefferson picked up one of the photographs lying on the table. The subject of the photo was on the right-hand side instead of being on the middle. The left-hand side of the photograph was covered by a large house. The road in front of the house had cars few and far between. Lampposts littered here and there across the far distant background. Dirt, gravel, asphalt and concrete were shown in detail.
"He has an eye for the rule of thirds and use of negative space; but he is not a refined professional which counter-intuitively gives him a sort of advantage in this case. He frames the photos in such a way that the settings within the shot are revealed, and that in turn gives the impression of the subjects interacting with their environment."
"I just can't see the specialty within the photos this guy took. Simply moving the subject of the shot away from the center does not give it any specialty. It just becomes off centered snapshots."
"He seems to lack practical skills needed for artistic shots, but if you will notice, all his photos contain generic scenes from everyday life; it's almost as if he is trying to make common scenes appear unique through the use of perspective. I feel that he has untapped talent in him. His application also shows him taking a major in computer graphical arts, so we could place him into photography course as a minor."
"Mm, well, let's place him in consideration for now, and move on to next applicant... We still have many other applicants to see."
"Aw, come on!" Exarchos groaned as he began to sort through the submitted photos. "You have got to be kidding me... Hey, Warren, got a minute?"
"What's up?" Taking off his headphones, he turned to face Exarchos. "Anything wrong?"
"See these pictures?" He turned the monitor to Warren's direction.
"Oh yeah! These were the ones you asked me to submit for you, since you were in a hurry doing something else, and all."
"Do you see anything wrong with them?" Exarchos raised his eyebrows.
"Nah, they look pretty cool."
"They are off center. They are all off center. How the heck did you not notice this?"
"I thought it was some sort of photographic strategy." Warren replied. "I mean, it still looks okay..."
"I forgot about the defect my camera had, now that I think about it. These pictures are the ones I took in a hurry as I unfortunately forgot about their requirements for my application entry. I literally had to dig out an old camera from my home and develop generic pictures I took. The subject in these photos were on center when I took the picture, but now they are off center; my camera has a separate viewfinder for framing, which was different from what I saw through the lens."
"Max thought they were pretty cool. Max is also a photography major, by the way."
"I don't care what he thinks-"
"She." He interrupted.
"I don't care what she thinks; the applicant examiners will probably ridicule my entry for this."
"Well, gee, sorry man. I thought it wouldn't be so bad..."
"-Eh, it's no big deal." Exarchos deflated. "It's not even my major, at any rate. It's just my side hustle."
"So what now? Hope for the best?"
"Pretty much. They're probably looking into it right now; nothing much I could do about it." Exarchos shrugged.
That was three weeks ago; as it turned out they had accepted my application into Blackwell. Here I was, sitting down within the photography class, taking notes like a good student.
Or was I? What if I told you that I was taking notes through a concealed technology equipped with voice-recognition software? Granted, 50% of the results were pure gibberish, but from there I was able to map out the missing pieces through memory. My days of rigorous learning of Palmer Method did not come to fruition, but in exchange I was able to relax and listen freely within class.
Out of nine people within the classroom, three of us were men; the rest were ladies. Sounds stereotypical, but that's how it was. And boy, could you feel the tension; a blondie even threw a crumpled up paper ball toward Kate.
"There you go, Victoria! Why Arbus?"
Ah, Mr. Jefferson was calling on people to ask questions... might as well listen.
"Because of her images of hopeless faces. You feel like, totally haunted by the eyes of those sad mothers and children."
"I disagree." I abruptly spoke out, gaining the attention of the entire class. This was of no surprise; I had reputation of being quite outspoken whether it be a joke or objection. "Arbus and the subjects of her photographs had completely different intention in mind; yes, you see them as who they are, and how unfitting they are in society. Yet, if you observe closely, they make absolutely no attempts to hide who they truly are. She did not take photos of them to show the hopelessness of human beings... she took them in order to capture them at their moment of triumph, where they have already overcome the prejudice within the society after they were born."
"That's an interesting and refreshing take in her photography, Exar. The general consensus is that she saw humanity as tortured... and frankly, that's bullshit."
My moment in limelight enjoyed to its fullest, I leaned back, languidly ignoring the glare Victoria sent toward my direction; she seemed infuriated at the fact that I stole the thunder.
interrupting another student, while considered a bit rude, was not as dangerous as interrupting a teacher. If you wished to interrupt a teacher with a remark, you'd best make sure that particular remark was as witty as possible.
"Me too, Victoria. He captured the essence of post-war, beat America. And there was honesty about the economic conditions of the era, but a beauty in the-"
A bright flash of light bathed the classroom.
Click.
"I believe Max has taken what you kids call a 'selfie'..."
Maxi! I didn't know you had it in ya! I grinned inwardly as I watched her blink like a deer in headlights toward the disapproving Mr. Jefferson. Finally, she was showing her moxie... heh, Maxi, moxie...
I shan't detail her being singled out from the classroom for her sake. Besides, the period ended a minute later; as I walked out the door, I turned around to seek the attention of my classmate.
"Kate." I called out, gaining the attention of the girl who tied up her hair in a fancy bun. "Don't pay attention to haters. They hate us because they ain't us." At this point her eyes were wide, her features frozen in sudden surprise. I pointed at her with my hands forming the spiderman up-side down. "Rock on."
The guy behind me lost his shit.
Ah, there was nothing like a refreshing break at the bathroom after a long day. I had yet to consume my lunchables, but I had adequate amount of time to enjoy the free period.
Having another radical brainwave, I quickly pulled out my cellphone, tapping rapidly into the hi-tech touchscreen.
To: Warren
A man spends the majority of his life attempting to gain access into the same place which he came into the world from.
How about them apples. Food for thought. I try to send informative/interesting or deep facts and thoughts to him every day. He seems to appreciate them.
"Get that gun away from me, psycho!"
...
I wasn't even sure if I heard that right. I stood still, attempting to discern faint voices from rooms across.
And then-
BANG.
"What?" Turning the faucet off during the middle of the wash I dashed out from the room, not even bothering to dry my hands with paper towels. Turning around the corner I ran to the door of the female bathroom... where I stopped and hesitated.
I mean, come on, it was only three weeks into the school and I was about to be labeled the pervert of Blackwell Academy.
And then everything turned into white.
That was three weeks ago; as it turned out they had accepted my application into Blackwell. Here I was, sitting down within the photography class, taking notes like a good student.
Or was I? What if I told you that I was taking notes through a concealed technology equipped with voice-recognition software? Granted, 50% of the results were pure gibberish, but from there I was able to map out the missing pieces through memory. My days of rigorous learning of Palmer Method did not come to fruition, but in exchange I was able to relax and listen freely within class.
Out of nine people within the classroom, three of us were men; the rest were ladies. Sounds stereotypical, but that's how it was. And boy, could you feel the tension; a blondie even threw a crumpled up paper ball toward Kate.
Crunch.
Poor Max. Not even a month into the school and her Polaroid camera falls to the floor. As I send an inquisitive look toward her direction, a powerful sensation of familiarity washed over my head.
"Déjà vu..." I whispered under my breath. I have experienced that before, but this was to the point where my mind threatened to blank out. Narrowing my eyes, I intensely began to concentrate, trying to think of a logical reason to have this sensation in the first place.
And then everything turned into white.
A bright flash of light bathed the classroom.
Click.
"I believe Max has taken what you kids call a 'selfie'..."
Maxi! I didn't know you had it in ya! I grinned inwardly as I watched her blink like a deer in headlights toward the disapproving Mr. Jefferson. Finally, she was showing her moxie... heh, Maxi, moxie...
Ah, crud. The sudden sensation of intense familiarity began to pulsate more powerfully... Why? Why won't it stop? What does Max's camera crashing to the ground have to do with.. this... eh?
Her camera was inexplicably fine; not a single scratch was on its surface.
Oh come on! Not even a month into the school and I was already going insane. Logically, none of the things happened in past dozen minutes made no sense at all. Perhaps I was more fatigued than usual?
In the midst of my quiet respite at the urinal I came to a sudden realization, one that caught my entire attention. It was clear that I had forgotten to do something extremely important.
...
But then what? What did I forget to do? I already sent that text to Warren. Here, I was at a loss...
Man, I'm in pieces today! Forgetting things, becoming suddenly confused during the middle of the class. I didn't skip breakfast, and I wasn't taking any medication.
"Get that gun away from me, psycho!"
And then, everything became very clear within my mind, like turning on a lamp; I remembered everything, except for the fact that I had nothing to remember, because they never happened.
Perhaps I had eaten an edible without realizing it? That would mean an extra prayer of repentance afterward.
But I had no time to stand there and contemplate. Within seconds I was out from the bathroom and dashing toward the women's room.
RRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG...
That's not what happened. That's not how any of this happens! Furious bouts of protest exploded within me as I stilled in shock. Movements of students around me blurred, as I stood there, knowing that I was too far away from the door to precisely know who exactly came out from the bathroom, and now the crowd of students blocked my vision.
"Hey you!" The infamous security guard of the school yelled, pointing toward me. "Stop idling! You're blocking the way!"
What could I do? Only to follow the crowd outside in order to prevent suspicion against myself.
Exarchos Apostolos... how to describe him? When Warren first introduced him to me on the first day at Blackwell, he seemed like a pretty normal guy, but then he completely went against people's expectations.
He is this some sort of weird mixture of class clown and goody two shoes. A weird mixture of benevolence and arrogance. A weird mixture of Sir Geeks-A-Lot and Mr. Popular. Every action he makes seems to go into capturing attention; rather than be the one taking the photo he seems to want to be the photo. He always knows how to defuse the situation and turn things around with some well-placed words. To be honest, he is a little insane, not like other psychos here at campus, but like a good way, if that sounds even right. He shows off, yet he does not involve himself in any clubs or cliques. Warren tells me that he plays games all day within his dorm room except when doing his schoolwork. I guess he is a nerd on the inside like me if you think about it.
Figures. I draw Energy-Absorbing Monolith right after I take huge damage from his Grenosaurus. Talk about overpowered AIs.
"Hey, Exar."
I look up to see Max, clad with gray hoodie and jeans. "Maxi, what a pleasant surprise." I smile, pausing my game. "I see my friendly welcome being received well judging by your face. I guess students around the school were mean to you?"
She chuckled in response. "Keen as ever. I guess they could be condescending..."
"Many people you will meet will be idiots, and there will be many of them; you'll feel like an odd man out. Don't be discouraged." I shrugged. "Oh, and Warren seems to be in a hurry to see you."
"I'm going to my dorm to get his flash-drive. He won't wait long."
"I wouldn't approach the front steps, if I were you. Victoria and her friends are loitering around-"
Splash.
I stood up with sharp intake of the breath as I felt the ice cold water touch my flesh. My phone clattered from my fingertips onto the hard floor, doused by water; and the screen cracked with a snap.
"...Great," I mumbled, as I examined the phone after picking it up. "I guess this is what I get for sitting near the fountain..."
And then everything turned into white.
"I'm going to my dorm to get his flash-drive- Exar, can you come over here for a moment?"
"Sure?" Surprised, I stood up and stood next to Max. It was an unexpected request, but I saw no harm in complying.
Splash.
A wave of water rose up due to a ball being thrown into the fountain; it came very close to nipping our shoes.
"Well, some spidey sense you got there, Maxi." I grinned as I saw her smile in response. "Thanks. I owe you one."
"No problem."
"You know, I wouldn't have been surprised had I been actually doused in that water. It's been heck of a day; all day long I've been getting these weird sensations. Not enough sleep, I am guessing."
"I know exactly what you mean... well, I'd better get to my dorm to get Warren's flash-drive."
"Speaking of your dorm, Victoria and her friends are loitering around the front steps. I wouldn't try to enter through that entrance if I were you. If they give you any trouble, you can just give me a call. Peace out." Striking a pose to her direction, we parted ways as I sat near a nearby tree. Homework could wait.