Before You

Chapter 25

I walk around to the back of the car and wait for Jett. It takes a few minutes, but he finally emerges. I glance around from building to building trying to find the one that we're supposed to photograph. Jett walks up beside me and points his finger in the direction over my shoulder.

I turn to see what he's pointing at. I see a very tall abandoned building. It's made mostly of concrete and stone. Pieces of concrete are missing around the corners and it's covered in graffiti. There are holes in the doors and parts of the roof are completely gone. I guess I understand why it's being torn down. It definitely looks like it's a safety hazard. With one strong wind it could all come tumbling down, at least that's how it appears. Jett and I start walking towards the building.

"Oh, wow" I say.

"I bet you're thinking that even though it's abandoned and most people think it's ugly and a waste of space, you think it's beautiful," Jett says with a smile.

I arch my eyebrow and look in his direction. "You're starting to understand me," I say with a smile. "I love all of the graffiti! I could spend an entire day going around Atlanta photographing nothing but graffiti".

Jett laughs. "You should do that one day then".

"I will" I reply as we reach the building.

Jett and I take out our cameras and start photographing. We walk around the building numerous times, photographing from every angle possible. The streets of Atlanta are full and traffic is busy as ever. I've become pretty good at blocking out the noise. I step back and point my camera into the air getting a photo of the building as it stretches into the sky. Out of the corner of my eye I see someone approach Jett. I look over and see a young brunette girl talking to him. She looks familiar. I know I've seen her from somewhere before. I look back up at the building as they both start walking in my direction.

"Evie, this is Lydia. She's in Mr. Harrison's class with us. She's here to photograph the building too" Jett says signaling to the girl.

"Hey Lydia. Nice to meet you" I say.

Lydia has shiny brown hair that hangs just past her shoulders. She has bright green eyes and is very slender. Her fingernails are painted a pretty pink and her lips closely match. She's wearing khaki Capri pants, a white blouse top, and brown leather wedges. I can't help but notice how high pitch her voice is every time she speaks to Jett.

"I didn't know you two were a couple!" Lydia says looking at me and back to Jett.

"We're not a couple. We're just friends" I reply.

"Oh, that's interesting" Lydia says and quickly scans Jett from head to toe.

Jett immediately notices and seems a little uncomfortable. He runs his hand through his messy hair and looks over at another nearby building. This girl is so obvious. She stands next to Jett, holding one of her fingers between her teeth and watching him closely. I feel myself getting more aggravated by the minute.

I take a few steps towards Jett hooking my arm in his and face Lydia. "Well, we have to go. We have lunch plans. See you in class!" I say with a smile.

When we're about ten feet away I let go of Jett's arm and start laughing. The look on Lydia's face as we walked away was priceless.

"What was that about?" Jett asks

"Oh come on. That girl was so obvious. She was ready to scoop you up and take you home with her" I say.

"Lydia? No way. She was just being nice" he replies as we get into the car.

I look at Jett with wide eyes. "Are you kidding me? She's so into you! Once she found out that we aren't together, she couldn't stop staring at you!" I respond.