Chapter 3

Smile for the Camera

Rating-T

Disclaimer- don't own Cirque du Freak, Darren Shan does.

AN-sorry for the wait, but please review. And also the huge grammar mistake I keep making was made on purpose. If you read the books you would understand why I made it.

Coach tells us that the results will be posted on the door tomorrow morning before dismissing us to leave. My friends and me go into the dressing room to change and everyone is still congratulating me.

The locker room is still buzzing with noise, so loud you can barely hear yourself think, when suddenly I hear someone breathing down my neck, I turn around to see Bill standing there.

"Nice match, loser," Dylan yells at Bill. I give him a look and he puts his head down.

Bill growls, "It was a one-time thing, don't get used to it punk."

"You're just pissed because you lost," Dylan continues to taunt him. "And I bet you are too scared to fight Matt again now too."

"Punk. I'll face him again, this time in a real fist to fist fight and I will win. What do you say Matt, you and me tomorrow during lunch?"

"Umm," I stutter. Everyone starts whispering words of encouragement and suddenly I get dizzy and see a purple haze surrounding Bill. "Deal, but be prepared to lose."

"Wanna bet? When I win you have to carry my books around for a week and rub my feet and bring me snacks!"

"Fine but when I win you have to quit wrestling and join the cheer squad." Bill glares at me and nods before walking away.

He leaves and Dylan, Sam, and me start to walk home. Dylan pats me on the back and Sam shakes his head at me.

"Dude are you insane?"

"Sam why would I be insane?"

"You won once, okay whatever. But can you really beat him again?"

"I don't know," I sigh. "But I can't not try and lose my dignity man. I'd rather lose with honor." Where did that thought come from? If I fight I may die! Screw honor and what not my life is way more important than that!

I say goodbye to my friends when we reach my house and walk inside to see my family dressed in matching clothing and smiling at me.

"How were tryouts Matt?" Dad asks me.

"Good, "I say before being cut off by Mom.

"Not now! Matt get dressed we have to get to the photographers in a half an hour!"

"Okay Mom, sheesh." Sarah laughs at me as I run up the stairs and get dressed quickly. I can't believe I forgot about family pictures today. Thankfully I managed to make it home when I did. If I had decided to grab a bite to eat after tryouts like Dylan wanted to, I would have been grounded for months.

I run down the stairs and catch up with the rest of my family in the car. Before I can even shut the door my Dad pulls away and speeds down the road mumbling nonsense about how I better not of just made them late.

The thing about my Dad is that everything always has to be perfect and nothing can ever go wrong. He likes to imagine that things follow his little fancy dreams. Not that my family isn't pretty great, we are, but there is no such thing as a perfect family. Dad also expects excellence out of me. I barely get B's and have the best GPA out of my close friends, but since it is not perfect Dad gets mad. He's proud of me, but still wishes I did better. Oh and I get grounded for anything below an 85%. But luckily when I get anything above a 95% I get paid. And since I usually get around a 92% I'm still good.

In my Mom's eyes I am the perfect little son who can do no wrong. I am truly the apple of her eye. I play that to my advantage too by asking her for stuff and not my Dad. The thing about my Mom though is that she needs to be early to everything. If we are on time, we are late. It annoys the hell out of me because she drilled her anxiety into me since I was little so now I freak about being late.

A few minutes later, as Sarah is finishing telling us how she taught her friend how to braid hair during recess, we pull up to the photographers and thankfully walk into the place 3 minutes early so Mom doesn't blow a gasket.

Mom and Dad go and check us in and Sarah pulls my jacket so I look at her, "Do you think we're going to do a lame family portrait again?"

I ruffle her hair making her glare at me, "Of course when do we not get one. You've never complained before?"

She takes a brush out of her little pink purse and brushes her hair, "Well there's this boy who saw a picture of all of us on my collage and I don't want to be teased."

"Sarah he just likes you," I chuckle.

"Nuh uh! He pushes me down whenever we play tag."

"See he does like you! When you're 9 that's how guys show that."

"Well I would much prefer to get lots of carrots! Next time you like a girl pick out the biggest most orange carrot and don't push her. Daddy said that's why Mommy likes him."

"You mean karats."

"Matttttt, that's what I said!"

"No you didn't. You said carrot as in the vegetable. I said karat as in the size of gems. When Dad said he bought Mom karats he meant big diamonds."

"Oh," she says and smiles. "So does that mean that Blaine is going to buy me diamonds?"

"Sorry Sarah I don't think most kids your age have the money for that." She frowns and I laugh at her. She steps on my foot and starts to laugh before turning to the mirror next to us and fixes her lipstick.

She always helps me feel better when I'm upset due to dicks like Bill. Something about her innocence calms me down. I remember being 9 and having the same talk with Dad about buying jewelry to make girls like you. He told me that a girl's best friend is a diamond. At the time I told him it was dumb because Madison Smith's best friend was a girl named Lily not a girl named Diamond.

Being young was so easy.

My thoughts are interrupted as Dad walks over and pulls us into the back where a photographer has us follow her into a studio. She tells us how cute we all look in our matching gray and blue plaid. The girl, who said her name, was Amy, winks at me and I smile back.

First Mom and Dad get a picture together with Sarah then after a few takes of that Sarah gets one by herself. This time the photographer takes about two hundred. Some with props, some without, some I one pose, some in another pose.

Amy calls me forward and gets me to pull Sarah onto my shoulders. I do and she takes a few shots of that before getting us to switch poses. In one she is on my back and we are lying down. In another we're hugging. My favorite was when she had my sister on a tall stool looking down at me.

Mom and Dad join us for a family portrait and once that was done she goes to grab another camera and the rest of my family go to the bathroom while I finish getting my picture taken.

Amy comes back and smiles at me, "Okay Matt was it?" I nod. "Okay you seem photogenic so do whatever feels right," she giggles.

Smiling at her flirtatious nature I cross my arms and smirk at the camera with my signature half smile that Lindsay and Anna say knock all the girls out.

It seems to have the same effect on Amy as she giggles more as she takes more shots. This is ridiculous, she's cute and all but her laughter is frickin annoying! She looks at her camera, "Can you take one without your contact?"

"Why," I ask awkwardly not wanting to tell her that I don't have contacts on.

She glances through the camera again, "Never mind my camera had a smudge. I have some great pictures," she says smiling.

"Thanks."

"No seriously you sure you aren't a model?"

"Damn it you caught me! I have a secret double life as an underwear model!"

She giggles again and I try my best not to cover my ears in pain. "I'm not kidding, you should be. These pictures make you look nummy."

"Um thanks I guess."

"Tell you what I get off early on Friday we can go to the movies."

I take a step back, "Sorry I would but um, I don't know you and I'm pretty sure I'm a lot younger than you."

"It's okay we can get to know each other and I'm only two years older than you. I see you around school all the time."

Before I can answer her my parents and Sarah walk back into the room, thus saving me from the rest of this awkward conversation. I hate going out anywhere anymore since the upperclassmen made a bet to see who could ask me out first. At first it was really cool, but now it's just annoying. They all think I'm so great since I'm the only freshman ever from our school to be the starting quarterback and the captain. If you like me that's fine, but there's no way I'm going to be part of some bet.

We go out into the lobby to look at our pictures and to pick the ones we want. Of course all of the ones of Sarah are adorable and Mom and Dad can't pick just one. I tune them out since I don't really care which ones of me get picked and go wait outside.

Ten minutes later everyone joins me and we walk into the restaurant next door to eat while our pictures are being developed. So we sit down at a table and I smile when the waiter comes and hands me my Diet coke; diet because we were told we have to stay in our weight class so I can't gain weight.

"So Matt tell us more about tryouts?" Mom asks me as we wait for our food.

"They were okay," I tell them.

"So did you make it?" Dad says. "If not you can still join track."

"Cuts are tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure I made it," I say.

"How can you be sure?"

"Well I kind of won the little match today."

"Don't sound so sullen," Mom says smiling at me. "That's great, what's wrong with that?"

Damn her for knowing me so well, "Nothing. I just didn't expect to be any good at it."

Dad laughs, "Hey son, you're an athlete; no a great athlete with natural talent don't let that stop you from being proud."

"I guess, but Dylan's going to be pissed that I'll beat him in something else."

"Well screw him," he scoffs. "Don't let him get in your way of making it to the top. Dylan's a nice boy and a great friend of yours but he shouldn't be jealous."

"I guess," I say not sure. He seemed fine today about it but that was because he was caught up in the Bill fiasco. I decide to get the attention off of me and turn to my sister, "So did you get the part of Ms. Hannigan in your school play like you wanted?"

"No," she pouts. "But it's okay because I got Annie!"

"That's great," Mom says. "You're the star of the show."

"Yep, guess they wanted to pick the only red head," Dad teases her.

"Dad," she whines. "I'm talented too. Plus even if I had brown hair like Matt they could have given me a wig!"

"Hey I'm not the only brunette! Dad's hair was brown before it turned grey!"

"Funny, but I'm not completely grey."

"Keep thinking that Dad," I tell him only to receive a glare in response from him and laughs from Mom and Sarah.'

After a few more minutes of small talk our food comes and my mouth waters when I see my burger. I didn't realize I was so hungry. Taking a bite, I grimace; my burger doesn't taste right. Actually it tastes really burnt

Sarah sees my face and leers at me, "What's wrong with your burger? Last time I checked it was your favorite burger in the world."

"It is. They just overcooked it."

Dad reaches over and takes a bite, "Um, Matt this is medium like always."

I frown and shrug it off as if it was nothing. "Guess the diet coke is messing with my taste buds."

Dinner ends a little while later after Sarah and me split a sundae and a piece of cake. Once the check is paid Mom goes to grab the pictures and dad takes Sarah and me to the car where we wait for her.

Mom gets into the car and hands Sarah and me the pictures. "They turned out wonderful," she gushes. "I even got frames to hang them up in!"

I look at the pictures and frown at the one of me; it did look as if I had contacts in. Mom must have seen my face in the mirror because she turns back.

"I hope the picture of you was the best one Matt. Most of yours were a little blurry and they couldn't edit them to fix it.

I glance at the pictures again. Maybe the second camera didn't have a smudge on it and was broken. Or the smudge wasn't cleaned properly.

"Weird," I whisper as we pull into the driveway.