Photo By Grace

Chapter 1

My name is Grace Zhang. Not Grace Zang or Grace Jang. And no I'm not related to anyone famous with a last name Zhang. I'm just an ordinary school girl with a passion for cameras and capturing the moment. But it's my senior year. There's no more time to "play around" or so my parents say. No more picture taking until college apps are done, no more editing shots for the yearbook until I pull up my math grade, but worst of all no more hanging out with my best friend, my boyfriend, the only one who truly understands me, until he comes back home on breaks from college.
My mom always told my siblings and I that there are 2 important goals in life. Number one being to get into a good college and number two being to get married before you cannot produce children anymore. I believe them both, but what she didn't include was to follow your dreams. Then again I've no clue what my dream is. All I know is that I love taking pictures; candid pictures, homecoming pictures, prom pictures, and pictures that make a sad person feel happy even if it's for a split second only. Now that my boyfriend is away I only have one true thing by my side. My trusty old camera he gave to me for my 16th birthday. It has all my favorite moments stored inside the little chip. You might be thinking, how does a little chip have so much storage? It doesn't. I saved 5, each of them being a moment I never want to forget with him. Everything else? It's on my laptop saved into the iCloud.
Soon, my alarm clock is going to ring. It's going to be 6:30 and I'm going to have to get up to finish writing my personal essay for college. It's a bit of a struggle- I have realised I haven't done too much out of my life. For the past three years of high school I've followed a similar routine: wake up, brush teeth, change into school clothes, eat breakfast, school. Then, when the school day is over I either go on dates or go to work. To be honest, I'm just your average 17-year-old. My excitements are the surprise dates Mason plans. Let me tell you, they're amazing! Ok so I'm not your complete average teenager. I like the pickup lines, I like the thrill of being young and alive, chilvary is not dead, and yes I can pay for my own meal once in awhile- I can also pay for his and be fine.
But besides the dates and nightly phone calls, the rest my day is same old. Same excitement at work dealing with little kids who won't cooperate and parents fussing at their children for messing up their perfect look. My favorite shots are the natural ones. Who said you have to smile when you're not happy? I think homecoming and prom pictures are the best. Everyone's happy. There's no fake smiles, whining after each pose, nor bribes to the toy shop if a perfect picture is taken. There's just laughter; an hour filled of friends or dates joking around taking silly shots, serious shots, and shots where everyone wants deleted. 40 dollars per hour of photo shoot wherever the customer wants is my best sales time of the year. Some might say an hour is way too long, but you should see the high schoolers these days! They are looking for perfection. They want the aesthetics, the perfect smile, the original poses and locations. Never had anyone complained about the price- except for my boyfriend but he gets free pictures anyways.
In a minute my alarm will go off, not just any alarm song but Our Song. It's the song Mason and I first danced to. I know the song isn't super popular and that out of my whole 2,000-student school only 5 people might know it, but it's the first song for us that I remember. I'm not popular, remember that, because many might say I am. But I don't even go to school with my best friend, I go to school with strangers I acquainted with in my freshman year. When my mom lost her job I was in 8th grade. Coincidentally, my dad got a job promotion in Georgia so we all decided to pack our things and move from one end of the United States to the other end. I don't mind the move though because here is where I met my boyfriend. The guy I knew since second grade. You see, the summer before my second grade my parents decided it would be a good idea to enroll me into a Chinese summer camp. Regardless of background, every parents wants their children to learn their language and culture. If American, the kid better know English, if Hispanic, the kid better know Spanish, if Muslim, the kid better learn the Quran. Those are not my words, I swear to you I'm not racist, that's just what I hear when I talk to parents at work. "Sorry, we can't do a photo shoot on Saturday morning because Elizabeth has Chinese school in the morning, will 3:00pm on Saturday work instead?" The funniest part of it all is the looks on the children's faces. It's so easy to tell they rather be here than school. I've been there, done that, and let me tell you kids; you'll never regret going and learning the history your parents want to ingrain in you. You'll fall in love with the cultures your parents were brought up by. And maybe, if you're as lucky as me, you'll fall in love with the quiet boy in the corner.
But that was only 1 summer. I met him, we took classes where he was dead silent, and we played activities where he was so talkative it was endearing. That summer, he was my best friend. Unfortunately for him, he had to fly miles away to participate in the summer camp. He mainly came to this one so he could spend time with his grandparents (they ran the camp). He always got to do the fun activities and no one dared to mess with him because believe it or not, old people are very scary. I was so surprised when we gave me a cupcake on the third week of summer camp. It was like our secret pact, our friendship pact. That same day he introduced me to a camera. Not a camera on the phone, nor the throw away cameras where you take a bunch, the film comes out and you can toss the camera. It was a real camera, the ones adults carry around their necks at family vacations. The ones that if you change the iso the picture can sharpen or blur. It was a Canon EOS Rebel SL3. How do I remember that? Well, besides taking my very first picture using that camera, it's laying on my desk right now charging. The first picture I ever took is one of the 5. It's not the best picture, nor the worst. Is just a picture of dried flowers in bathroom at the Chinese Camp.
There's 2 versions of the picture. The one in my camera and the one in Mason's wallet. His wallet has the cute one he designed after finding the image a few years ago. It's the same picture, but with a blueish background and even more flowers hanging around it. He made it for me when I opened my own picture business. It's the card I hand out to those who want me to take professional shots for them. "Photos By Grace" not the most original name, but at least no one has never asked me for my name not forgotten it. It's a side weekend job. One that I haven't been doing much of because of my mom. In a week it'll be homecoming season and I'm going to have a lot of requests by the student body. That's why I have to finish my college apps today. I'm only sending in 3 for early action. The rest I'll slowly work on and worry about.
In a minute I'm going to have to physically get up. It's going to be hard, it's going to be a struggle, but I know I can do it. Soon, Sorry For Writing All The Songs About You will play. Soon, I'm going to finish my last paragraph and turn in my submissions. Soon, I'm going to face my mom's yells and the school day. But after this week is over, I'm going to see Mason again in person and I cannot wait.