Being Shot

P h o t o #39 - Hand In Hand

P h o t o #39 - Hand In Hand

~Emma's POV~

Tapping my fingers on my desk, I absentmindedly stared out the window as the snow storm that's been hitting my larger than normal town for the past two weeks straight still trudged on.

I sighed under my breath, still mulling over the fact that I had no camera to capture anything I saw that was in the least bit picture worthy, which were a lot of things lately.

Ms. Whitestock droned on, which was a first, about how necessary it was to never cross contaminate foods with unsanitary kitchen utensils. Knowing all of the rules she spoke of like the back of my hand due to years of helping my grandmother in the kitchen, I felt I could spare a few moments of class as I observed the snow brewing outside the window my stool sat next to.

'I miss my camera...' I thought once again for the fifteenth time that day. Lately I had found myself wishing I could feel the smooth sides of my old camera and the clicking noises it made as I shifted its lenses, even the irritating itching sensation the old strap - a gift from my father, who was never that great with gift giving - gave me behind my neck was something I found myself reminiscing about.

I pouted to myself, shifting my head's weight from my left hand to my right, ignoring how the awful insulation the school had easily let the cold air outside passage within the classroom. I shivered, adjusting my gray cardigan over my shoulders.

Suddenly, as I finished my slight motions, I felt a quick jab to the ribs at my right side. If I hadn't known any better, I would've yelped out at the immediate touch, but I had accustomed myself to being fully silent within the classroom unless addressed.

I turned, surprised that the one owning up to those actions was Elliot, who had been sitting next to me in my Home Ec class since the day we were allowed to choose our cooking partners. He nodded towards the front of the room where our teacher stood waiting, and I quickly got the memo.

I leaned a bit to my left and straightened my posture, looking around Cooper, who sat in front of me at our designated table, and at the board. Though I had been listening to our teacher's voice, it took me a second or two longer to finally form my answer.

Something in my head clicked, "Salmonella is a bacterium that occurs within the intestine causing gastrointestinal distress as well as inflammation and is most commonly caused by mass produced, contaminated poultry." I spoke clearly.

Ms. Whitestock, obviously hoping to catch yet another student without interest in her lesson red handed, was baffled by my quick response, "Yes...that's exactly correct, and I hadn't even mentioned it's effects on the body yet."

I held back a victorious smile, returning to my comfortable sitting position as Ms. Whitestock continued teaching.

"What are you," Cooper spoke across the table in a hushed voice, obviously covering a grin, "Queen of the Food Poisoning?"

I smiled back at him, "But of course." I retorted.

Out of the corner of my eye, I quickly took notice of the unsatisfied look on Elliot's face and realized my mistake. I lightly bumped the side of his left arm, which sat stiffly on top of our table.

My grinning still evident, I leaned a bit closer and whispered, "Thanks!"

Elliot pulled back, brushing it off as if it was nothing. If I hadn't known him better, I wouldn't have been able to detect that this action of his was meant as an abashed way of accepting my gratitude. This only made me happier.

Just as Ms. Whitestock got into a tangent about the ways she found best to avoid these "dire cooking situations", her stubby nose practically elongating with arrogance, the final bell of the day finally rang.