Rachel: Chloe, where are you? You're gonna be late for classes.
Chloe: omw
Chloe: 2 mins
Rachel: I'm waiting by the fountain. Hurry up.
Rachel had been waiting for Chloe for 30 minutes by the fountain, which was unusual as Chloe wasn't usually this late. Rachel spotted Chloe hurriedly walking towards her, muttering something under her breath as she checked the contents of her bag to make sure that she didn't forget to bring anything important. "Took you long enough." Rachel crossed her arms with a smirk as she got up from the fountain, looking at the blue-haired punk who was walking over to her from the carpark.
Chloe's brows furrowed as she gave Rachel a glare, "It's not my fault, step douche was being a prick. Dumbass spilled coffee on my shirt, I had to go and clean myself up."
Rachel giggled as they both walked slowly towards the main entrance of Blackwell. "Damn Price, that's hella unlucky. Anyway, we better get to class." She opened the main door and there were people eyeing Rachel and Chloe, a few were gossipping about them. But who wouldn't? After all, it's unusual in modern school culture for a popular person to be hanging out with a delinquent.
"So… I'll be seeing you during break?" Rachel nudged Chloe's shoulder as they're heading down the hallway.
"Yeah, sure." Chloe rolled her eyes, sighing before continuing. "This is gonna be hella boring without you, Rach."
"You'll survive, Chlo. You'll survive." Rachel winked at her as they parted from each other to get to their respective classes.
Entering the Photography Lab, there were already familiar faces at their seats either chattering away or using their phones. Hayden looked as stoned as ever, Daniel was sketching as per usual, Alyssa and Stella were chattering away, Victoria and Taylor were chatting while eyeing Rachel. That can't be good. Why am I not surprised that Vic is in Photography? She rolled her eyes in annoyance. Rachel and Victoria have been the biggest rivals at Blackwell for a long time, often acting polite while they exchanged backhanded compliments. Rachel walked past Victoria and sat at the back of the classroom as most of the seats have been taken.
"I see that the beautiful model has arrived." Victoria said with a notable sarcastic tone. "We've missed you so much, Rachel." Victoria crossed her arms and smiled. "We're glad to see you again after the holidays."
Rachel, as usual, maintained her cheerful demeanor smiling at Victoria. "Hiii Vicky, I'm so glad to see you too!" This will get that pixie Blonde to lose her cool, she hates being called Vicky. Rachel thought to herself.
As expected, Victoria gave Rachel a death glare which Rachel replied with a shrug. Rachel took out her phone to check the time. Only a few minutes left before classes begin. Just then, someone who she doesn't seem to recognize at all entered the classroom. The stranger was dressed very conservatively and she had a blonde hair tied into an adorable cinnamon bun. She seems nice… but she's definitely a bully magnet. The conservative girl looked around the classroom before she sat near the window. She looks nervous for sure, maybe I can help her adjust to the Blackwell life. Rachel stood up and walked over to the conservative girl while giving her best smile, offering a handshake to the shy blonde. "Hey, I'm Rachel. Rachel Amber. What's your name?"
The shy blonde shook Rachel's hand as she started speaking, "Oh, h-hey Rachel. My name is Kate. Kate Marsh. I was born in Arcadia Bay but I moved to San Francisco when I was younger. But I'm back here now." Kate gave her brightest smile.
"I always wanted to leave Arcadia Bay to visit New York, L.A or San Francisco. Especially L.A, I always wanted to be a model and L.A seems like the perfect place to go to for that. Although the two other cities do seem pretty interesting. Honestly though, anywhere other than Arcadia Bay is fine with me. Lucky you, Kate." Rachel crossed her arms while smirking at Kate. "So, did you manage to see her while you were in San Fran?"
Kate offered a confused look at Rachel as she was trying to figure out who Rachel was referring to. It took a few seconds before her eyes went wide with her mouth opened in an 'o' shape. "Yes, I did manage to meet up with her a few times. I was at a large bookstore carrying a few of her books when she came up to me from behind. I was really shocked and honored to meet her. I-I mean, I've never seen her in person before so it took me by surprise that she casually just came up to me like that. We exchanged numbers and we met up a couple of times to teach me about photography. She's my hero."
"That... is hella cool." Rachel's eyes brightened up. "What about Mr Jefferson? Have you seen him in person yet?"
"No I haven't, this will be my first time seeing him. It's such an honor to be taught by two famous photographers. From the rumors that I've heard, it was only just Mr Jefferson but Ms MacFaux wanted to teach at Blackwell too…" Kate gave an expression of her deep in thought before continuing. "What about you? Have you seen Mr Jefferson or Ms MacFaux?"
"Well… yes and no. Principal Wells asked me to go to his office and he introduced Mr Jefferson to me, vise versa. I've never seen Ms MacFaux in person before. Jefferson's hella hot though."
Neither Rachel nor Kate spoke for a brief period of time, the awkward silence was ever so present, before Rachel continued with a smirk visible on her face. "Hey, Kate? I think we're gonna be great friends. Wanna know why?"
"Um, why?"
Rachel leaned close towards Kate as she whispered to Kate's ear. "I love innocent girls."
This caused Kate to blush, which led to Rachel laughing hysterically. Rachel composed herself before she nudged Kate's shoulder. "Relax, Kate. I'm just joking with you, don't take it seriously. Also, you might want to avoid Victoria. She's the pixie blonde there." She subtly pointed at Victoria. "Although she's pretty decent underneath that hideous ugly snobby and pretentious mask of hers, she might pick on you as of today. No offense Kate, you're kind of a bully magnet. Anyway I'm gonna head back to my seat, class is gonna start soon."
Rachel walked back to her desk and sat on her chair. This. Is. Hella. Awesome. I can't wait to meet them. She thought to herself while anticipating the arrival of the two famous photographers.
Rachel was on the edge of her seat as time seemed to slow down, metaphorically. The class went to an absolute silence as the two prestigious teachers entered the classroom, both observing the current occupants of the photography lab. Rachel could've sworn that they both had their gazes on her longer than they had their gazes on others.
Mr Jefferson was a tall man who had his brown hair skillfully styled while sporting a blazer over a white, long-sleeved shirt that was loosely buttoned while wearing blue jeans. Ms MacFaux, on the other hand, was around Rachel's height and she was formally dressed. She had wavy long, blonde hair where its length reached her shoulder blades, while wearing a blazer over her white long-sleeved shirt, with sleek black pants and high heels. Not such a good job with the foundation though. Rachel smirked as she thought about that, subconsciously staring at the female teacher. Unfortunately for her, Ms MacFaux noticed her smirk. Shit, shit, shit! That was a hella bad first impression. Rachel winced, which the blonde teacher also noticed.
Mr Jefferson started to speak. "As all of you should know, I'll be teaching the Photography class along with Ms MacFaux here. There is a standard that the both of us here expect all of you to meet in our class. But I don't think I need to focus too much on that as all of you joined the Photography class for a reason, and that is to succeed as a photographer. Or," Mr Jefferson adjusted his glasses as he was giving a smug smirk, "You just wanted to be taught by the both of us. Perhaps it is both of those reasons why most of you are here." Mr Jefferson let out a humorless chuckle. "Ms MacFaux, would you like to introduce yourself to the class?"
"With pleasure, Mark." She smiled at her colleague before clearing her throat. "My name is Idell MacFaux, I'm from San Francisco as some of you may know. Photography has always been my passion since I was a child. The best advice that I can give is to always take the shot. By doing so, you'll be able to photograph some of your best photos to add to your portfolio which you will have by the end of your stay in Blackwell."
Mr Jefferson chimed in. "Anyway, being in this Photography class will not be a breeze. We expect all of you to perform to the best of your abilities. You might even be competing with your peers and your future peers." Future peers? There are more people joining us? Rachel thought to herself, wondering what that meant.
"I know what some of you are thinking and you probably have the same question in mind, and I'll explain what I meant by that." Mr Jefferson cleared his throat. "There may be an intake of a few more students in August. However, it isn't easy to enroll as we do have a very strict intake policy after all. We received hundreds of applications nationwide, but most of them didn't manage to qualify. You'd be lucky if we get two or more students by then." He sighed. "At the moment there is only one person, who is all the way from Seattle, who has qualified to enroll in August." Seattle? I wonder who this mysterious person is, leaving their big city behind to come to this boring ol' town just to join the photography class. Rachel thought to herself.
The class erupted as they were discussing what they just heard, some of them even giving faces of relief as they felt that they were lucky to be in the Photography class. Ms MacFaux waited for the noise to die down before speaking, "Thank you. So some of you might be wondering why they're being enrolled in August. Well, those are the students who already know their stuff. Until then, we'll be using these few months together to learn the foundation modules that the hopefully, enrollees and not enrollee, have already known in their own Photography classes." Ms MacFaux emphasized on 'foundation' on purpose, which confirmed Rachel's suspicions that the teacher knew exactly what Rachel was smirking about. The class groaned in unison, which prompted a response from the blonde teacher who was grinning. "C'mon, it'll be fun! Mark and I have a lot of things planned for you guys. We're in this together, so let's make it fun!"
"Anyway, since today is our first time together we won't be teaching today. You know, we get to know one another better first. Mr Jefferson, would you like to introduce yourself to the rest of the class?"
"Of course, Ms MacFaux. As all of you know, my name is Mark Jefferson. I was born here in Arcadia Bay, but I left it to pursue photography at a young age. I majored with high honors at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, which led me to many opportunities in the industry. Now my point is that every artist was first an amateur. I didn't develop the skills for photography out of the blue, I built up my portfolio while I learned more about photography. My number one rule, which Ms MacFaux here mentioned earlier, is to always take the shot." There were a few applauds from Victoria, Taylor, and Stella after Mark stopped talking.
"Thank you for that, Mark. Now it's your turn to introduce yourself to us. Let's start with…" Ms MacFaux looked at the students to pick one out. "You." She pointed at Kate. "Tell us your name, where you're from, your hobby, and your aspirations." She spoke in a gentle and calm voice, and she smiled at Kate.
Kate stood up nervously as she looked at her peers before looking at the ground. Rachel noticed Mark's eyes widening for a second. "H-Hi, my name is Kate Marsh and I was born in Arcadia Bay. However, I left Arcadia Bay when I was younger. I-I moved to San Francisco with my parents to study there. I like to draw cartoons and I hope to publish a book for little children one day." This earned a sneer from Victoria as Rachel could see that she disliked Kate.
Ms MacFaux continued, "Thank you Kate, for introducing yourself. Now, would anyone like to volunteer?" A hand was shot up almost immediately after her question was asked. As expected… Rachel rolled her eyes. It was none other than Victoria, who stood up in a poised manner. "Thanks for volunteering, and you are…?"
Victoria then proceeded to clear her throat in an exaggerated fashion as she speaked in a pompous manner, "My name is Victoria Chase and I'm from Seattle. My hobby is in fashion, and I wish to enter the fashion industry in the future." She then proceeded to sit down, earning a few claps from her peers. Ugh, hella lame and pretentious.
"Thanks for introducing yourself. Moving on, what about…" She squinted at Rachel, which Rachel had a huge smile on her face. "You, Rachel? Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?"