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 Posted: Sat May 14, 2016 6:59 pm
mockingbird
"You do that," he said without turning around, disappearing into his room. Presumably to angst or something.
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Posted: Sat May 14, 2016 10:26 pm
the gallery
In some ways, Jack would have preferred a written final. But after all the rigorous testing, quizzing, and presentations, his teacher had decided that instead of a blue book essay, the class would instead host a small photo gallery on campus. They were a relatively small number this year, which made it even more feasible to pass by the director of the department.
And now he stood stiffly in the white building, dressed well and with a stoic look that did not belie the nervousness he kept trying to ignore. The point, of course, was to test both their knowledge as well as be able to back up their own additions to the gallery to both the teacher as well as those who came to visit. At any minute now, his parents (or at the very least one of them) would be arriving, and with them the cloud of silent judgement. On top of having to socialize with people. ********>
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 9:43 am
the gallery
Chel came late, much later than most people. She'd had prior engagements (read: needed to sneak out of a one night stand without alerting the person) and then she'd gotten lost on campus a few times despite asking people where to go.
But she did show up and that seemed important. Not in the same dress as everyone else (though thankfully it looked like most college students were just in their everyday wear so she didn't stand out too much) but at least she was there. The only way she'd remembered was one time Jack kicked her out while mentioning he had a gallery piece he had to work on. It hadn't taken much digging to find out when the gallery was at.
It took a few seconds to find him admist the various students and community members but he was tall and easy to pinpoint. She came at him with a hug to his side and said, "Ayyy my man my man." After detaching she looked around a bit, genuinely curious. "Which ones are yers? Or is it the whole thing?"
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 10:34 pm
the gallery
The hug surprised him in the middle of discussing something with a woman whose face was vaguely familiar in the way spending too much time on campus was. Perhaps it was best; her interest either had waned, or she had found out too late that he was more than ready to discuss his photos to a detail that the casual laymen didn't care for or didn't understand.
"The hell--Chel?" To Jack, she looked out of place--not by dress, but by manner of who she was. "No, not all mine," he said as he peeled her arm off. "Just this section. What are you doing here?"
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Posted: Sun May 15, 2016 10:38 pm
the gallery
Chel spent only a few seconds more acknowledging his presence before pushing him sideways a bit to examine the wall he'd identified as "his." Odd little photos, mostly people but the occasional errant subject.
"Wow," Chel commented, genuine awe in her voice, "You took these? All of them?" She pointed at one, a collection of books reflected in an old store's window. "Hey that's the place down the street from yer apartment ain't it?"
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:17 am
the gallery
"Y...eah. The books've been there for ages." He was surprised she recognized it. Or maybe it shouldn't have been surprising; Chel seemed to always be roving around. Jack remained on the defense nonetheless, assuming there'd be a snide comment somewhere in that seeming awe at some point. "In hindsight, they're not particularly poignant for a photo."
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 9:42 am
the gallery
"What? Naw," she said, pointing at one of the blue books, "They look great dude. I like how you can see all the letters. I mean ******** f'I know what they say 'cause my brain's s**t at that but s'cool." She leaned closer as though that would fix the problem.
She was very entranced even by this one photo and had yet to move on from it.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 10:59 am
the gallery
"They're just some classics you have to read in school. Herman Melville and s**t." Jack just sort of stared at her for a moment but let it go. Already someone else was coming to inspect a different photo, and he had to appear busy for the sake of his grade.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 11:02 am
the gallery
Chel stayed at that photo for a minute or two more before moving on to the next one. Each one she let out a tiny "Oh wow." She hadn't been exposed to many cultural activities (opera, theatre, dance, photography) as a child, so she wasn't sure how she was supposed to handle herself at these kind of events. So instead she held herself the way she always did, reacted as herself.
"Jack," she asked once the lady had waned in interest. "What's this one?" She pointed to a photo of a person in the center of the display.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 11:11 am
the gallery
It wasn't so much a person as it was a closeup of a pair of feminine-looking legs, midstride and in glittering pumps; despite the motion, they were sharpened and clearly the focus. The picture was stripped of color beyond the footwear's bright red sheen and its dim footsteps behind on a vague cement landscape, other people blurred in the distance. In and of itself it wasn't a large statement (not one that people could really delve into at a simple look anyway), but Jack still felt increasingly self-conscious the longer she looked at it.
"Shoes, obviously," he hedged. "I liked them."
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 1:04 pm
the gallery
"Mmm," Chel responded, leaning back over towards the picture with that being the only explanation needed.
"I still can't believe you took these," she said quietly, looking over at the next photo on the wall. It was very unlike the normally boisterous person she was. Now she was quiet, genuine. A person.
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 5:03 pm
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 5:08 pm
the gallery
"They're so cool ..." she trailed off, not explaining her thought. "Yer probably sellin' them for a lot of money yeah?"
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 5:19 pm
the gallery
Jack scoffed. "Money. Right. This is just a showcasing. Free public event."
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Posted: Mon May 16, 2016 5:21 pm
the gallery
"Why you laughin'?" She punched him in the arm lightly, but enough to bruise. "This s**t's good s**t." Eloquently said.
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