Project Equality

Vacation (2 of 7)

Lisa

"Lisa?" my mom called across our apartment. "Your report card came in the mail a few days ago!"

I was sitting in my room, sketching a picture of my sleeping cat, when I heard those words, and my heart stopped dead.

I wasn't a bad student, per say, but that school year had flown past in a blur of my girlfriend's dad being tried for murder and me testifying in a rape case - my own - so my head wasn't totally in it. I took AP classes and loads of science credits, which meant my grades were pretty hit or miss. I was good at what I was taking, but I was also distracted.

I slowly walked out of my room and towards the kitchen where her voice had come from, trying to think of my defense in advance. I sure as hell had to be better at that than Mr. Cane's attorney.

"Mom, before you say anything, I just want to remind you that I was under so much stress this school year, my head wasn't totally in it, but junior year will be so much better," I blurted, standing before her.

"If this was a bad year, I can't wait to see what next year brings, because you got all A's," she laughed, handing me the report card. "Didn't you ever check your grades?"

"No, I was too afraid," I admitted.

"I just want you to know how proud I am, and I got you something that I know you've been wanting. You've earned it," she said.

"What?"

She handed me a gift bag that was oddly heavy for its small size, leaving me extremely curious. I didn't like much as a teenager, outside of dabbling in astrology, trying to write paranormal romance, being vegan and promoting the environment, sketching, and sometimes photography. The thing with  photography was that I never had a nice camera, so I never knew if I was any good. My pictures looked bad regardless.

"Open it," she said.

So I did, to find the most beautiful thing I've ever seen: a Canon EOS Rebel T6i 24.2 Megapixel DSLR Camera, or to someone who doesn't scroll through the Canon website and cry, a really freaking good camera.

"Oh my god," I gasped, tearing up a little.

"You've taken great pictures with worse, so I figured I'd get you the best. I know you were pursuing your art, but I just really feel this one for you. I think you're going to be really good with photography."

"Mom, this is an over seven hundred dollar camera!" I squeaked. "I darn well better be good with photography, holy heck!"

"You will be."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Lisa, how long are you going to take pictures of me?" May asked on our next date.

It was a week after her best friend, Viktor's, graduation party, and before we dove into the events of the summer, I wanted some time of just us. With a friend group as big as ours, I selfishly wanted all of her time, though I got about fifteen percent. It was alright, though. Every moment with her was the best moment of my life.

I remembered our friend Aubrey, who'd gone to Paris for a year, and how her first photography subject was her hot French fling. That made me want May to be my first subject.

"Until I understand how to not only capture your beauty, but to make people see your beauty through my eyes and everything you are to me," I replied. "I think I know what I've been doing wrong."

"And what is that?"

"I need your eyes in them," I explained. I was the only one in our group who'd ever seen May's eyes - beautiful, baby blue eyes - because she always had her bangs covering her face. It wasn't am edgy thing as much as it was a hating-how-much-she-looked-like-her-murdered-mother thing. Regardless, it was a big part of what made me fall in love with her, that level of trust we had. It was the only reasonable way to make it work.

She sighed, sitting on a nearby park bench. "Fine. You may set me up in any way you please for your photographs, and my eyes may be in them."

"Yay!" I squealed. "Thanks!"

"It is only because I love you, and you are just so damn cute when you are excited about something. I have not ever seen you this excited about anything."

I smiled and kissed her, before thinking of how to approach it. "What if you angled yourself slightly away from the sun, so it's not overexposed," I began. "And I'll adjust your hair . . ." I'd chosen the perfect angle, because the light hit her eyes in that way that makes eyes look like crystals. The way she smiled up at me was so beautiful that I had to take it in for myself before raising the camera, adjusting the settings, and taking the pictures.

"How do they look?" she asked when I stopped.

"Perfect," I sighed. "You look perfect."

"You seem to really enjoy photography," she noted. "I know that you have been uncertain as to what you want to do with the rest of your life, but have you considered this?"

"Being a professional photographer, you mean?"

"Yes."

"I haven't, to be honest. I never had the opportunity before," I admitted.

"Lisa, you are talented at it, and you enjoy it."

"You know what? You're right. This might be something I could do for the rest of my life." I had major commitment issues to everything - hobbies, people, dreams and aspirations - but for the first time, I felt certain about a dream.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Rosemary would cut someone if she knew we were holding a one tear later vigil," I sighed, putting on a pair of black flats.

"Well, she is dead," May pointed out. "Her soul will just have to deal with the fact that we will be honoring her and Juliet forever. It is their fault for dying."

"Is this just our subtle revenge?" I laughed. "Our friends died and now we honor their memory in a way that would've annoyed them?"

"Possibly," she admitted. "Come on, we cannot be late. Agent Simon would be pissed."

For May, I knew it was more than just Rosemary and Juliet. Her ex boyfriend was one of the murder victims - killed by her dad - and even though she and I were happy together, she would never forget him. I wouldn't have asked her to. It was understandable, he died in her arms. She made it a point to try to honor his memory as well as the rest of them.

It wasn't like their was any sense in being jealous of a dead guy.