String of Fate

Chapter Sixty Five

I hit the button on the camera as Richard dunked the ball in the net. It was just a training session but he always gave his best effort. That was a good thing about the school's basketball star. It was what made everyone in the school sing his praises whenever they got the chance. Personally, I couldn't see anything wrong with him, either. He was a lot of girls dream man, and a lot of them hoped that he was going to be at the end of their string.

I heard the girls surrounding me complaining because they had only managed to get blurry pictures of the basketball ace and student council president. Since he was taking a quick break while others shot, I checked the photo that I had managed to get. Sure enough – it was a clear shot that would print well. The girls would be begging the photography club for this picture – even if they weren't at the end of his string.

The president of the photography club, Sophie, turned to me and I showed her the photo. I sometimes thought that she was Richard's biggest fan because of how much she talked about him but then I heard the girls in the gym during practice. It was crazy. "Great shot! I always knew that you were a natural at taking photos. All the best shots this year have been from your camera."

"Thanks, Soph. I think we've got enough photos so let's head back." I suggested, switching off my camera and starting to tuck it back into the bag.

"Oh, can we just wait a couple more minutes so I can get my fill of Richard? He's so dreamy." She told me. I couldn't really argue with her. Still, I put my camera away and settled down to watch the practice. She waited a few more minutes before turning back to me. "Right, I've had my fill, so, let's go.

"Okay." I replied, getting up and following her out of the gym through the crowd that had gathered in there to watch the basketball training session. It took us a little longer than I would have liked to exit the gym since I hated crowds, but my hobby of photography meant that I needed to deal with crowds for the sake of taking photos. It would be something that I would just have to live with.

We headed to the art classroom where we held our club meetings and logged onto the two computers there to go through the images that we had taken. There were fifteen good images in total that we could use for school magazines and the website if needed. Not bad for half an hour. I turned to Sophie as she saved the good images in their own folder. "Are you going to ask the girls in your class if they want any copies?"

"Of course. The girl who had the biggest crush on him just got her string so the other girls are getting hopeful." She answered, sending a few copies of each to the photo printer but I noticed that she printing off twenty copies of the photo that I had gotten. "Speaking of strings, Kenny, is there any sign of your string?"

"Nope. No sign just yet but it's not like I'm not worried, though. It can be years until it appears. When the right person comes along, my string will follow." I told her, logging off the computer now that I was done with it and leaning back in my seat. "Well, I'm off. I've got to work my last shift in the store now. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you! Have fun!" She called after me as I headed out of the room.

I left the building and walked in the direction of the supermarket. I'd been working there since I turned sixteen, just over a couple of months ago. My parents had agreed simply because I'd really wanted to get a job. My mother couldn't object because my dad worked there, too. It had meant that I could earn my own money and start to save. I had decided that I would learn to drive as soon as I turned seventeen. Now, I was working my last shift since they had needed to let people go. I had thought it stupid to have my last shift on a Monday, but that was the way that it had worked out.

It was an hour after I had started working that I noticed Richard in the store. I saw the girls looking at him, too. It kind of bugged me that he was so popular. I did notice that he was in his uniform. Why had he bothered to change back into that after practice? Wearing his uniform just seemed like a waste of time.