Holiday Lanes

Ten

Sam opened the car door for me and I grabbed my camera bag before getting out of the car. We walked along the sidewalk to find the office we were looking for.

I was nervous to say the least. I started to play with the ring on my finger that I wore every day. I was spinning it around my finger and I bit my lower lip. This was a nervous tick of mine.

"You're doing it again," Sam said from next to me as he pointed to my hands, "you were doing that before we left Utah the other day. Are you nervous?"

I looked at Sam surprised. He remembered that?

"Yeah, I'm a little nervous," I admitted.

"Why?" He asked as we walked, "you're incredibly talented, and the school will be lucky to have you. Just like anyone would be."

"Like anyone would be?" I asked.

"Well yeah, you're more than something special Vee." Sam said as he walked up to the admissions building.

I stopped, not approaching the building like Sam had. Sam looked back at me. I took a few quick steps so I was right in front of Sam, leaned up on my toes, and put my lips on his. As the kiss continued, sparks rang through my nerves. After a few more seconds I pulled away and blushed a deep shade of pink.

Sam didn't say anything. He just stood there in a slight state of shock for a moment, then he placed his hands on my cheeks and kissed me. After he pulled away slightly, Sam rested his forehead against mine and just smiled. His thumb rubbing against my cheek affectionately.

I blushed even deeper than I already was as my heart began to race. We broke apart and Sam grabbed my hand in his. He opened the door to the admissions building, letting me walk in before him. We found the office of the woman Sam had talked to this morning and knocked on the door.

"Come in," we heard from the other side of the door.

Sam walked in first and went to shake her hand.

"Hello Mrs. Williams, I'm Sam," he said as I walked in after him.

"Nice to meet you Sam," she answered.

"Hello," I said as I reached my hand out to shake hers, "I'm Venus."

"It's nice to meet you Venus, I'm glad you decided to visit the campus today. I'm Mrs. Williams, the head of admissions," she said me as she shook my hand, "please, take a seat."

Sam and I both sat down in a chair in front of her desk. I was twisting my ring around my finger again as I sat down.

"Venus, why don't you tell me a little bit about you and your art," Mrs. Williams said as she folded her hands together and placed them on the desk.

"For as long as I can remember, I have been a big lover of the arts. Music, photography, dance. It has always played a big role in my life, just in a different way it does now," I started to explain, "but I see my world through a predictive lens. I love photography because it says more than words ever could. There's that expression that a picture is worth 1,000 words. A photograph captures the emotion and the power behind the scenario with a single frame in a way that I don't think a novel could. I believe that a photo can convey more than anything else. I am not the best with words, but I find a way to show what I want to say with my camera."

Mrs. Williams just smiled at me. She didn't say anything for what seemed like an hour, but was maybe only about two minutes.

"You don't need to convince me that you have the heart and the talent to be one of the greatest photographers of the decade. I have here the portfolio you sent in with your application, and it is a beautiful collection, but there aren't any photographs of people in it," Mrs. Williams told me as she put my portfolio on the desk, "do you have any photos with you that are profiles or face forward shots?"