“You’re shitting me.”
He snorted. “Oh, it gets better. Marissa’s friend ran to her room to let her know her boyfriend was there. Preston only had time to pull on his boxers before climbing out the window. Dumbass had to walk home practically naked in the freezing cold.”
I barked out a laugh. “Damn, I wish I’d been there to see that.”
“Mr. Statler and Mr. Donnelley, if you’re done chatting, can you take your seats so we can get started?”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
Fallon and I sat down, and I pulled out my laptop, ready to take notes as Professor Foster spoke.
“Today, we’re taking class outside. I want you to find something to photograph that depicts the rich history of Hawkins University and work on aesthetic effects of manipulating the elements of exposure. Take the exact same picture at least five times with the same overall exposure but use different combinations of the settings on your camera. Keep the ISO the same each time. You’ll want to start with the lowest aperture. For each image, write down the exposure settings; F-stop, shutter speed and ISO. Pay attention to motion blur and depth of field. If the images vary in brightness, you’re doing something wrong. I’ll be walking around to review your pictures and offer suggestions. Any questions?”
When no one said anything, we grabbed our cameras and headed outside. As the class dispersed, I knew exactly where I wanted to go. An old stone pavilion stood not far from Miller Hall. It was surrounded by sugar maple trees and had been one of the first structures built on campus in the early 1700s.
Since it was off the beaten path, no one was there when I arrived. I walked around and noticed a red-winged blackbird perched on a bare tree branch. I set the ISO settings on my camera and began snapping several photos, changing the aperture speed each time.
While reviewing the pictures on the tiny screen, I heard footsteps approaching from behind me.
“This is one of my favorite spots on campus.” Professor Foster’s deep voice washed over me.
“Mine too. We don’t have many buildings this old in California.”
“Is that where you’re from?”
I turned to face him. “Yeah. I was born and raised in San Diego. How about you?” I wasn’t sure if he would answer me because it felt as though we were entering dangerous territory by sharing personal information with one another.
“I’m from here. Grew up just outside of Boston.”
We stared at each other for a few seconds. It seemed neither of us knew what else to say, and I could feel the tension growing between us.
Finally, he broke the silence. “Mind if I take a look?” He gestured at my camera.
I nodded and handed it over. Our fingers brushed against each other, and it felt as though he maintained the touch for longer than necessary, which made my skin tingle. I looked up at my professor to see if he’d felt it too, but his face gave nothing away.
“These are really good. See how the trees in the background blur depending on the aperture setting?” He took a step to stand next to me and angled the camera around so he could show me what he was talking about. We were so close; I could feel his body heat through the layers of our clothing.
“I do.”
“Widening the aperture reduces the depth of field. Less of the image is in focus and the bird stands out from the background and foreground.”
“Yeah.”
“You definitely have an eye for photography.” His warm breath floated across my cheek.
“Thank you,” I rasped.
We turned toward each other, only a couple of inches between us, and I couldn’t help but think about us standing on the street outside of Chrome when he wrapped his arms around me. It made me long for that connection again.
“Tyler,” he breathed, but the moment was broken by the sound of voices nearby.
We quickly moved away from each other just as two guys from class came into view. Professor Foster walked over to them without another word, and I heard him ask to look at the images they’d shot.
Since I was done, I made my way back to our building and found Fallon just outside the entrance.
“Find anything good?” he asked as I approached.
“I think so.”
