Chapter 9

Yes, I was still getting used to my new life in my new room, but this house did give it one advantage. More precisely, two. First, my bedroom door locked with a key, and second, no one challenged my right to personal territory, not even Kate. I could always come here to be alone. And thanks to my passion for photography, I could always escape even farther—not only from my stepsister and her new boyfriend, but from my own thoughts too.

On my desk are two monitors: one connected to a powerful computer, and the other the screen of my open laptop. The program has already processed all the photos I shot at school today and loaded into it, and I sit down at the desk to evaluate the result.

Unfortunately, I don’t like everything. In most cases, the digital image converter did a great job, but with event photography, lighting conditions change constantly, guessing the right settings can be difficult, and I spend almost two hours manually correcting the photos I need. I set the lighting type and adjust the white balance, watching the color temperature. I work until I get true colors and a satisfactory result.

When I get to the Red Foxes, the pictures make me smile on impulse and laugh under my breath. Amber really is a master at manipulating other people’s moods, and she got what she wanted. In all the cheerleaders’ photos, only the central trio of girls—Kate, Tamara, and Cynthia—look unhappy. The rest of the Foxes are having plenty of fun. Look at those huge smiles on their faces. And as far as I’m concerned, this is much better than the opposite.

I sort the shots, choose the best ones, caption them, and email them to Zachary.

I get a reply from him: “Good work, Ash. Ha-ha, I knew Amber would make her mark. What happened with Coach Hurley and the Foxes? Waiting for Couch’s interview text. I’m interested to know exactly what sore spots you hit!”

Baker sends a thumbs-up emoji, and I sign off.

Now I can finally deal with my own personal business.

I close the big folder titled “Ellison News” and open another one titled “Nature Photography Contest.” Two weeks ago, I read about it in a well-known photography magazine, found the website, and submitted an application. I made myself do it in the first two minutes, before I could change my mind. Based on the information I provided about myself, the system registered me in the Beginner Photographer category, and a week ago I easily passed the first round, making it into the contest.

For the first round, I had to submit a macro photograph of anything from the natural world, and I photographed a bee on a long blade of grass reflected in a large drop of dew. The condition for the second round was to capture a wildlife subject in motion—not an easy assignment, especially considering the fact that I couldn’t boast any experience with that kind of photography. But I had shot the Golden Eagles’ games in motion, packed bleachers, and runners during cross-country meets—weren’t those living subjects?—so I wasn’t going to back down from difficulty.

What I needed now was to think everything through carefully and make a plan of action. So I started with the plan, setting a notebook and pen in front of me…