Golden boy, Sean Sun thought he had it all, but during his Sophomore year, one of the most important people in his life turns her back on him and rubs his willingness to do anything for her in his face. Add that to the loss of his dad and the financ...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Bobbing to the music softly playing from my portable speaker, I shuffle around the school's tiny dark room. Last period was my study hall time and I spent every last second of it printing some of the photos I took last night. Even when the bell for lunch rings, I can't seem to pull myself away from my work.
I'm in my own personal safe space and I'm not ready to give it up yet. This is where I go when I need to clear my mind and I haven't reached that goal yet. Not that I think I will any time soon. My head is too cluttered with images of Jackson and Andrea, those comments online, Sean stealing a car, and the look on his face this morning while I was talking to Jackson.
I could tell he wanted to talk. It was in his eyes. But I don't even know where to start with that subject. Do I get mad at him for doing something so stupid? Do I even have the right to be mad? I don't really know the answers to those questions but I can't seem to condemn him for his actions. I'm not sure why but I just can't.
Carefully hanging up each photo to dry, I make sure to look closely at the images. I know I took that picture of Sean and the guys with my digital camera but I want to make sure there's no glimpse of them in any of these shots. This might be my safe space but technically it's open to anyone. I'm just usually the only one who likes to still work with film from time to time.
As I pull out the last photo from its water bucket, my phone buzzes on the nearby counter. I clip the image with a close pin and wipe my wet hands on a towel before checking the text, almost positive it's either Tally or Elsie wondering where I'm at.
Sure enough, both their names appear in our group chat, bringing a smile to my face.
Tally: Mill, where are you?
Elsie: You better not be skipping lunch in the dark room.
Millie: Not skipping, just running late.
Tally: Well you might wanna hurry up. Someone's looking for you.
Millie: Please tell Jackson to fuck off. I don't wanna talk to him.
Elsie: Already did that but someone else is waiting. He won't leave until he talks to you.
Millie: Who?
Tally: ...Sean.
Shit.
Fast as lightning, I grab my messenger bag hanging on the back of the door and throw my stuff inside it. I give the room one last look, double-checking that all my prints are hung up and not just laying around before I rush out of the room.
I'm not sure why I'm so nervous or in a hurry. If I had to guess, I'd say Sean isn't waiting any longer to talk about what happened last night. But that should make him more anxious than me. I'm not the one who did anything wrong. Well...besides maybe lying to that guy in the park about what I saw.
