The Mask

17

Jahseh's pov

   I walked through the hallways but I was a little more aware today because of what Stokeley did yesterday. I'm not saying he would harm me, but I like being cautious. I found it interesting how Stokeley reacted yesterday, all I did was take pictures of his team and he was barking up my ass. He's paranoid and it's showing, I don't know if I should use that to my advantage or if I should leave it alone. Revenge would be nice but I wasn't sure how I would go about it.

   I was walking to the photography room because that's where I go when I have study hall. I usually just clean the cameras or look over the pictures I took. I pushed open the door to see Mrs Kent, she turned and gave me a smile. "Good morning, Jahseh" she spoke before turning back and fixing a broken camera, "Good morning" I responded before dropping my bag on to a chair.

   "Is there anything you need me to do?" she nodded her head. "We're lacking on pictures." she spoke resting her hand on her head, "I need you to start going to school events, like the foot ball games and getting pictures" I just nodded. "Yeah, that's no problem."

   "Good, there's a game tonight if you wanted to get started" I glanced down at my watch, it was 11:07. If there's a game tonight they're probably outside practicing and they'll be here after school. "Also, Michelle can't be the school interviewer anymore so I was wondering if you wanted that position. You're always reliable" she spoke.

   I glanced up at her and shrugged. I could do that, I don't do much anyway so it's fine. "Yeah" I agreed, "Lovely. So that means you have to stay after school and for the football game". Goddamn, where are the other members of this club? It's like the universe wants me to see Stokeley's bitchass.

   "That sounds cool, are there any cameras that need cleaning or fixing?" I tilted my head she shook hers, "No, everyone else is either doing the art department or the stem department" she shrugged. I just nodded. I grabbed my bag off of the chair and headed out, "Bye Mrs Kent" I waved. "Bye sweetie" she responded and I closed the door.

   Okay, now what? My camera rested over my shoulder. I slightly sighed before deciding to head outside. My school is so...careless. Why can I just walk outside with no one stopping me? These niggas are gonna get a lawsuit one day. I pushed open the door and saw the football team on the  field. I needed a picture of the coach anyway, I'm not sure where the cheerleading coach was I need a picture of her too.

   I headed down to the track and I could hear the door open behind me, I slightly tensed up and looked over my shoulder. It was just a foot ball player, I rolled my eyes and continued to walk down to the track. I pushed open the gate and the coach was standing there with his hands on his hips.

   "KEEP RUNNING. IF YOU STOP, YOU'RE NOT PLAYING" he shouted. Yikes, glad I'm not on the team. I glanced over and some of the boys looked sick, some of them were sweating so much they looked like glass, some of them were perfectly fine. The coach glanced over at me and gave me a weird look. 

   "What are you doing here?" he raised an eyebrow, "Don't you have class or something?" He added in. "No, sir. I'm apart of the photography club and I have study hall right now" I was a little nervous and he just looked at me for a minute. "hm" he rested all his weight on one leg, he looked me up and down "You play a sport?" he questioned.

   "No, sir" I responded holding my question. "You ever think about football? You look built for it" He slightly slapped my arm feeling the firm muscle. "No, sir. I'm not really into getting concussions" I joked and he laughed, "Yeah, its not for everybody" he agreed.

   It was silent for a moment before I decided to speak again. "I just came out here because I need a picture of you for yearbook and an Interview with you...and the captain" I slightly sighed at the end. "Oh okay. Let me just get these boys together first and then I'm all yours" he spoke before resting his clip board on the bench.

   "Alright, get your water take a break" he instructed and half the team collapsed on the ground. Stokeley rolled his eyes before walking over to grab his bottle of water, we made eye contact and it felt like he could see right through me. "I'm ready" he spoke dusting off his shirt.

   I lifted my camera and pointed at him. I adjusted the settings to the lighting and snapped his picture. He walked over and glanced at the camera, "you managed to hide my double chin. Good job" he laughed which caused me to laugh too. "Thank you".

   "You taking pictures for the game tonight?" He questioned. I nodded my head, "yeah". he nodded as I pulled my other camera out, I switched it to video mode "I'm just gonna ask you a few questions and then I'll be out of your hair" I spoke lifting the camera. "Take your time. It's better than yelling at them all day. he spoke and I just nodded before hitting record.

  "Good morning, I'm here with the football coach" I made sure he was in the frame. "Hello" he waved with a smile, "How do you feel about the football season so far?". He fixed his hat before answering, "Well, we lost our last game but I'm sure the rest of the season will go smoothly".

   "I hope so, how are you preparing your team as a coach for the upcoming game?" I tilted my head. "We're doing some drills and we're going to be doing some team building" I just nodded. "Care to elaborate" and he shook his head "That's on the captain".

   "Okay, thank you for your time" he smiled and I stopped recording. "Thank you" I put down my camera, "No problem", "and I'll see you at the game?" he spoke. "Yeah", I glanced around already dreading what I had to do next. "Can I speak to the captain?" The coach glanced around the field with his eyes squinted.

   "Uhh" he spoke still looking around. "GOULBOURNE" he shouted resting his hand above his eyes, blocking the sun from his face. Stokeley looked over from the group he was talking to and started walking over, he looked irritated and he kept looking at me. "What's up, coach?" he rested his hand on his shoulder.

   "This is uh.." the coach glanced over at me, "Jahseh" I spoke. Stokeley knew damn well who I was, he knew me very well. "Yeah, I've met him before" he spoke with a cold tone, "That's good. Well he's just here for some stuff for photography" Stokeley nodded, "I'll lead practice, join when you're finished" the coach said before walking off.

   I waited a little bit before saying something. "So-" but then Stokeley cut me off, "The fuck is your problem?" he got closer to me. "I'm just doing what I told" I looked up at him, "What the fuck are you on about? All of a sudden you're showing up around my team and around me? Don't do something dumb" he spoke.

   "Are you threatening me?" I furrowed my eyebrows. "I'm not, I just want you to act smart" he looked down at me. "Whatever" I mumbled.

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