Awks. ✓

Chapter 33: I FELT YOUR THING!

"Don't think. Just act."

Those were the four words Marcus kept repeating to me as I stood in front of him, clutching onto the bright pink jacket wrapped around me.

"When you're ready." He took his seat behind the camera, after taking a short break post Angela's very successful shoot.

No pressure.

At first, I didn't move a muscle. I just stood in the exact same spot for what like a statue. Frozen with fear, I could literally feel the goosebumps beginning to appear all over my arms.

My gaze that had been stuck on the big, fat camera lens in front of me shifted from the contraption to the tall boy standing next to the seated photographer. His eyes were focused on me, a small smile appearing on his face once we made eye contact.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, moving his hands upwards as he inhaled, then downwards as he exhaled. He opened his eyes again and motioned for me to copy his actions, mouthing 'relax' to me and giving me a thumbs up.

I closed my eyes.

You don't really have that many options here. You can either chicken out of this or grab the bull by the horns. Animal metaphors, wow, way to encourage yourself Marianne.

I inhaled, vacuuming a large amount of air through my nostrils.

You wanted to 'step' out of your comfort zone, well this is fucking long jumping out of it.

I exhaled, releasing the warm carbon dioxide out of my mouth to mingle with the atoms of the atmosphere.

Calm down.
Relax.
Don't think.
Just act.

And I opened my eyes.

***

I stared at the screen in front of me in pure shock, as per usual. I didn't know what to think of the result of my shoot. I mean, in my opinion I thought I did surprisingly well but I'm no pro at these things, that's for sure.

"Is it okay?" I asked curiously as we looked through the footage together, tired of the suspense.

Marcus' head shot up from the camera screen and he looked at me, his eyebrows highly arched and his eyes wide. "Is it okay?" He repeated. "This is more than okay! This is... It's..." He suddenly stood up and grasped me by the shoulders. "You're a genius."

"Thanks?" I mumbled.

This is so awkward.

He stood with his hands on my shoulders for quite a while before snapping out of whatever trance he was in.

Hey. Hello. I'm the one that's supposed to be daydreaming here? If you do it too then I won't have a signature move.

Marcus began to tap his chin with his finger, mumbling things under his breath before grabbing his camera and dashing out of the room. I didn't even have time to think about his sudden departure.

Why you may ask? Here's a clue. The reason starts with an E and ends with a Lliott. He suddenly latched onto me like a baby monkey, bringing me to the ground with his body weight.

"YOU'RE SO HOT, I CAN'T BELIEVE WE'RE FRIENDS!" He exclaimed, as we came crashing down.

"And you're so heavy." I groaned from underneath him. "What the fuck do you eat?"