AllFreeNovel
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I stare in awe at the action shots of myself, along with some of my teammates, from the game she came and watched. The one that I had given her my jersey to wear to.
I knew she was there and had her camera out, taking pictures. But the thing is…these aren’t just pictures. As I look at each of them, I swear I’m back on the ice. I can hear the crowd cheering and the teams yelling.
I glance back at her, knowing that she’s embarrassed. She shouldn’t be. She should be proud.Reallyfucking proud.
“Bria,” I mutter, my fingertip touching a photo of me and Cam. He’s gripping my face mask after we won. “These are incredible.” I point to one of me checking a big dude on the other team. “Look at you, making my madness look like dang art.”
“It sort of is an art, Brody.” She nudges me. “Sorry I didn’t tell you I took these. I just wanted to get some good ones of the team.” She blushes, and it’s adorable. “I guess you were the main inspiration.”
“These are fucking amazing,” I tell her, looking at the other ones. “You should be behind the camera lens. Not in front of it.” Looking behind us, I make sure her mom’s not looking. “Besides, that hot body and beautiful face almost melted the camera the last time we were at a shoot.”
I watch goose bumps erupt on her arms and neck, and somehow, that makes me want to tell her something else. Something to get an even better reaction. Still, I fight the urge. Because we are friends. And friends aren’t supposed to be thinking about each other naked.
Not like that’s stopping me from still doing it.
Besides, her mom is nearby, and I don’t think she’d appreciate overhearing me be a perv to her daughter.
I gaze around at her other work—pictures of buildings, a lake, streets, sunrises, among other things—and they are all equally as awesome. But her sports pictures? They are out of this world. And I know right then that I need to talk to Coach about having her take more.
Suddenly, I spot one hanging from clothespins. But it’s not one she took. It’s one someone took of her.
Carefully, I take it down from the clips. “Who took this?” I look down at it, unable to look away.
“A friend in the class with me, Annie. It was our first assignment we had here, just to get our cameras warmed up. We had to take a picture of our assigned person, but we had to do it without them knowing.” She shrugs. “Probably going to throw it in the trash. Why do I need a photo of myself?”
The girl in the picture isn’t the one who floats through the campus, pretending she’s fine. Instead, she looks sad and empty. Letting every feeling rise to the surface of her face because she didn’t realize anyone was watching.
She’s broken. But I don’t want to fix her. Because then she wouldn’t be like me anymore.
As she finishes showing her mom all of her work, I know I need this picture to keep—forever. Because one day, when she gets tired of being my friend, I’m going to lose her. And if I at least have a photo of when her eyes are filled with the same nothingness as mine…maybe that’ll make it hurt less.
I glance down at it one last time. Every single inch of her face is flawed with sadness.
And I think it’s my favorite picture I’ve ever seen.
Bria
How Brody fit seamlessly into my day with my mother scares me. A lot. I know it shouldn’t because that’s how friends are supposed to be, but I can’t help but wonder if my perfect match is right under my nose and we’re both too stubborn to admit it.
The trouble is, he’s more against relationships than I ever will be.
Today was so much fun. Having my mom here and then Brody showing up to apologize. Though I saw another side of him. The panic in his eyes and the fear in his voice when he first arrived were unmistakable. Like he truly thought he had ruined things beyond repair and he was scared to lose me. He’s so used to people giving up on him that he assumed I was going to do the same. I wasn’t—at all. I just needed time to cool off.
After I showed them a bit of my world and we went to lunch, Brody dipped out. He said it was because he needed to go watch game tape, and maybe he did. But part of me thinks he felt like he was intruding and he wanted to give me and my mom time alone. Knowing he never has anyone who comes to visit him or anyone there to watch his games is heartbreaking. And I know that from now on, if I can help it, I’m not missing any games that are at Brooks or close by.
Everyone deserves someone to show up for them. Even if it’s just one person. And I want to be that person for Brody. Even if he’ll never love me as more than just a friend.
My mom finishes packing her bag and walks toward me. “It went by too fast, sweetie.”
Pulling her against me, I nod. “It did. I’ll come visit soon, I promise. I need to come to one of Kye’s games anyway.”
“Bring Brody,” she chimes. “Kye would love him.”
“Mom, we aren’t…you know, dating. We’re just friends.”
“Okay,” she says, completely unconvinced. “Well, then Kye would love your newfriend.”
When she releases me, I shift uncomfortably on my feet. “I wouldn’t be so sure he’d love him. You know Bama is best friends with Brody’s teammate, Cam. Brody doesn’t exactly have the best reputation.” I sigh. “And if Kye’s heard anything bad about Brody from Bama, he’s probably not going to love seeing us hanging out.”
