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“Rook?” I ask, confused. Who the hell isRook?
“Professor Solomon, sorry. Anyway, I know he’s awful to be around, and a jerk. But he is a good professor, and most of the shit we do in here is independent work. He won’t be breathing down your neck for long. Though, I guess it’s probably too late, if you have decided to opt out, for me to convince you otherwise.”
“I didn’t, actually.” Unsure why I feel almost excited about telling him. “I didn’t quit, I mean. You’re umm, still stuck with me, sorry to say.” I match his voracious smile with a nervous one of my own, watching as he rakes a hand through his soft-looking auburn hair. I realize now that it’s always tousled, as if he’s constantly running his hands through it, and that it’s a stark contrast to his pale skin that’s only a few shades darker than mine.
Which is definitely saying something, since I could use white paint as foundation and get away with it from a distance.
Oliver opens his mouth to say something then stops, suddenly looking almost sheepish. His eyes narrow, fingers tapping on the table again, and the change is so sudden that it takes me a second to realize that he’s no longer thrilled to be here.
“Uh oh,” he mutters, in a much softer, darker voice. “Guess my fun’s over.” He gives me one more quick, effortless smile. “But I’m glad to hear you’re not leaving class—”
“Mr. Greer.” The unhappy, snappish voice behind me can only be one person, and I nearly choke on my quesadilla as I realize it’s Professor Solomon.
Shit.Shit. There should be a rule that he can only terrorize my classroom hours, not my quesadilla eating time.
Not to mention he sounds angry, and I’m scared my name is next and he’s going to call me out for eating cheese and bread or for how much sour cream I’m using. Sure, it sounds stupid when I think about it, but why the hell is my photography professor here to yell at Oliver outside of class?
Even Juniper looks confused, and stares unabashedly over my head where I know Professor Solomon is standing. She looks at me, eyes narrowed, then back up as he starts talking again.
“I need you to come to my office before class.” His voice is tight and irritation bubbles through the words. “Now, Greer. Before class.”
Oliver raises his hands in surrender, eyes widening. “Yessir,” he agrees, getting to his feet. “Sorry. I…” He frowns, looking at me as I bite my lip. “I was just checking to see if Blair was still in your class.”
I close my eyes hard and fight not to let out a sigh. That’s totally what I need my professor to hear. That I was thinking of unenrolling.
But thankfully, Professor Solomon doesn’t seem to care. He hisses out a breath and Oliver stretches lazily, as if to show he doesn’t take orders.
I watch, captivated by his bravery, and see the tiny flash of skin under his t-shirt that feels more like a tease than anything else.
“Yeah, that was weird,” Juniper admits, once the two of them have left the courtyard. She shakes her head and looks down at her syllabus. “Now I’m glad I’m not in your class. That feels like way too much to deal with.”
“I want out. I hate it there,” I inform her.
“So leave. Nothing bad is going to happen if you drop the class, except you’ll have to make it up next semester.”
Instantly, I’m shaking my head. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t want to have to overload my credits next semester, for one thing. And also? I want to learn some about photography so I can maybe incorporate it into my senior project next semester. Besides, nothing bad’s going to happen if I stay. Except that I might die of embarrassment. Or Professor Solomon might scream me to death.”
I’m not expectingOliver’s absence in class.
Our professor, of course, doesn’t mention it. He seems almost distracted in some ways, though still manages to snap at three students and glare at the rest of us. Then at the end, instead of sticking around for the two girls near his desk to flirt with him, he just… leaves. Grabbing his stuff from his desk, Professor Solomon breezes out the door without a look back, like he has somewhere incredibly important to be.
Still bewildered by it, I make my way home, forgetting until I’m there that while this is one of my early days, it’s Juniper’s longest. She planned it like this, I know, but I still don’t see how she does it. I’d much rather get up early and be done with class early, so I have the evening to myself. But not her. Juniper schedules all of her classes for afternoon or night, and Mondays are when she has class until nine.
I mulled over photography all the way back to my apartment, and only part of that was about Solomon’s weird behavior. I also can’t stop thinking about what he’d taught, and I pull my photography textbook out of my backpack before sitting on my bed, legs crossed under me. Admittedly, it isn’t long before I’vetossed my textbook to the side and opened my laptop instead of doing any of the reading I’d said I might.
It’sMondayafter all. While he hadn’t streamed on Saturday, this is the day thatletsplayjaywill be live again, hopefully. And it’s just now five, so I have a few minutes before he starts. Still, I navigate to his page and wait, seeing the THIS STREAM IS OFFLINE text bright and clear on my screen.
If he doesn’t stream, then he doesn’t. It won’t ruin my day at all. Especially now, while I’m thumbing through the book I haven’t bothered to crack open yet. While it focuses on DSLR photography, there are a few references to film and how certain things differ from digital.
Not that I’d trust myself shooting with actual, valuable film any time soon. I’m more than willing to stick with the digital camera I’d bought for class, thank you.
My interest wanes quickly, however, and I move to my laptop, sighing. He’s still not live, and maybe I’m obsessed if I’m going to just sit here and wait. Besides, having this stream up makes my other curiosity itch a bit.
Is camwork hard to do?
It doesn’tseemlike it. Sure, I’m betting there are a ton of nuances and skills that I could never fathom. But I'm not thinking about it in terms of getting famous. I’m just considering that it would be easier than getting another part-time job as a barista, or waitress. Wouldn’t it be better to do something out of the comfort of my room? With Juniper’s long hours and the fact that I have no neighbors above or to the side of my bedroom, I should be safe as long as I’m not screaming.
Plus, I don’t have to show my face.Letsplayjaydoesn’t, and while it leads to thirsty simps in his chat, no one actually complains about it. If anything, his viewers seem toenjoythe mask, and the character he plays.
