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forty-seven

A few weeks pass, making the weekend of the competition for our photography project come quicker than we expected. Niall and I both had a few dates since he asked me to be his girlfriend. It's been a few very uneventful weeks, so this trip to New York is probably the best thing to come up. Niall is picking me up in a few minutes. Wesley is for sure not excited that I'm going on this trip with Niall and Mr Melroy but he has to accept the fact that we're together now. Of course, I won't take Niall away from him, I mean... "Bros before hoes" is a thing. It's just like my "chicks before dicks" motto. My girls always go first.

"Hurry up, Violet. We'll miss our flight", Niall warns me, as I finish packing up my small cross-body purse.

"I'm almost done. Calm down. You're worse than my mom", I chuckle, locking the front door before following him to Mr Melroy's car.

Mr Melroy is actually taking us to the airport with him. He's like a good friend to us. We had a few meetings with him to discuss the presentation of our project. We actually have to pull up every single picture on a presentation in front of about 500 people and explain why, when and where we took those pictures and what was going on in that moment. Niall and I decided that we will present our own pictures, so it's a little more authentic and the right story is told. Mr Melroy is only coming with us because it's a "school trip". He will stay in a hotel room down the hallway from our rooms. We actually get to share a two-bedroom hotel room. It's like a little apartment with two bedrooms and a little living room area. We looked up the hotel and the rooms that the competition sent us. Of course, Niall and I will sleep in one bed... or at least I hope so. I mean, Mr Melroy is down the hallway and we're basically there on our own. I still can't believe that my mom would allow this. My dad wouldn't have signed the papers.

"Good morning, Mr Melroy", I speak, as I get in the backseat of his Honda.

"Good morning, Violet. I hope you had a good sleep last night because we won't be coming to bed until 2:00am tonight. Our day is packed with things to do", he explains, starting the car.

Niall sits in the passenger seat, putting the address of the airport in the navigation system. I'm really excited for this trip. Never would I ever have imagined to fly to New York for a school photography contest. This will look really good in my applications and college resume.

"It's a 40 minute drive to the airport", Niall tells us, as Mr Melroy drives off.

I check the time. It's about 5:00am. Our flight leaves at 7:00am. That means, we'll arrive in New York around 9:30am, which is perfect because the competition starts around 1:00pm. There are going to be 50 different competitors and teams. This thing will take really long, especially since everyone has to present all of their pictures. We have been given a maximum length of 10 minutes each but that will still be longer than 8 hours. I think we're pretty much to the end. We might be 45th or 46th to present. If we advance another round to the best 10, we have to present our ideas again tomorrow and show some more of our work. Niall and I already decided on some pictures we might show if we advance to the final round. We're both quite nervous about the competition. It means a lot to us to represent Alabama in a nationwide competition.

"You kids want to listen to some music? I have a awesome Iron Maiden album in here", Mr Melroy suggests, making Niall and I giggle.

He's just the purest human and best teacher I ever met.

*****

"So, you know that the others are good, too. But, you are better. Make our school proud and show the judges what kind of impact your photography might have. You got this", Mr Melroy gives us a little prep-talk before Niall and I go onstage.

I quickly check my hair, outfit and makeup in the mirror besides the stage. I hate talking in front of people. Them being 500 other students and teachers and 6 of them being judges does not make me feel any better. Niall looks down at me, smirking, as I watch Mr Melroy find his seat in the front again.