Chapter 31
Great. It only took Elliot ten minutes to come up with a new method to torture me. This ought to be good. I plant my hands on my hips.
‘No need to give me that look, princess. It’s not a mean dare.’ His lips twitch, but he takes slow, hesitant steps. ‘If anything, it’s generous.’
‘I’ll believe that when I hear it.’
‘Okay, so hear me out.’ He swallows hard, all humour gone from his expression. ‘I want you to do a photoshoot with Owen.’
‘Right.’ I blink. Blink again. ‘Wait, what?’
‘Let him take your picture,’ he says. ‘He’s amazing at what he does, trust me. So I am daring you to do a quick shoot with him.’
‘When? Now?’
‘Yeah, now.’ He gestures around us. ‘We’re in a nice environment. Why not?’
My brain scrambles to make sense of this strange gesture.
‘Don’t you think you should check with Owen on this? He might not appreciate you signing him up for a shoot when he’s at a music festival.’
‘Oh yeah,’ he shrugs. ‘All good, he loves doing portraits. And I already mentioned it, he’s excited about it.’
I frown at the grass for a moment before stumbling my way around a family of four. The dare is simply… not what I imagined. What he’s suggesting is barely a dare at all?
‘Why?’ I ask, searching his face.
It tells me nothing, his expression perfectly guarded. ‘Because if I didn’t dare you then I don’t think you would agree to it otherwise. And I think you could use it.’
‘Use it?’ I stifle a laugh. ‘For what, exactly? My thriving modelling career?’
Visibly amused, he tilts his head at me. ‘Do you hate the idea so much? Owen will make it quick and painless.’
‘Oh yes, good. Like death.’
‘Hey.’ He draws us to a stop, and his voice is much quieter. ‘You don’t have to if you really don’t want to. But I think it might be good for you to push yourself into that kind of discomfort.’
My frown softens and the nervous pool in my belly begins to ebb. Oh God. The part of me that hates him for doing this weaves around the other part that understands exactly what it is he’s doing. And why.
‘Trust me on this.’ He speaks so tenderly that I think my breathing hitches. ‘Take ten minutes with him.’
I don’t know why, but my resolve crumbles and I find myself nodding. ‘Alright. Dare… accepted.’
His face lights up, and it’s already worth saying yes for. ‘Owen! Can we borrow you?’ he shouts ahead of us.
‘No one else is allowed to be present,’ I add, pointing at him sternly. ‘And no one else sees the photos. And it’s only ten minutes.’
‘Perfect,’ he says, grinning. And then Owen is at my side, rubbing his hands together like he’s just lucked out at a casino.
‘I’m looking forward to this,’ he says with a nudge. ‘The weather’s perfect, clouds are great for portraits. Wanna go now? Are you ready?’
Even the word portrait has made me queasy. I look down at myself, unsure of what I’m looking for. ‘Sure?’
Hennie rushes back to us with a question mark on her face. ‘What’s up, dawdlers? What are you doing?’
I nod at Owen. ‘Photoshoot.’ Then I nod at Elliot. ‘Dare.’
‘Oh?’ For a second she actually looks impressed, before turning to Elliot with a mocking grin. ‘If you want to hang a photo of Nora on your wall, Walker, I’m sure you could just ask her.’
‘Oh, lovely. I’ll take one too, please,’ Josh says through a mouthful of apple crumble which I didn’t even notice him buying.
‘That’s very touching,’ I say with a glare in Hennie’s direction. ‘But sadly any photos taken will not be shared.’
‘What?’ she huffs. ‘They’re going to be the highest form of art. Owen is so good! Why do you deprive me so?’
I laugh her off before giving Owen a polite nod.
He grins from ear to ear. ‘Alright, let’s go find a spot.’
While the others decide to investigate a bar in Route 16 called Lenny’s Tavern, Owen and I wander towards the back of the site, where Pitstop 8 meets the enormous fence that encircles the festival.
We chat easily as we walk around it, until we finally come to a patch of grass that backs onto some fenced off woods, and it fits my needs perfectly.
Because there’s nobody here.
I give Owen a questioning look and he surveys the space quickly.
‘This is great,’ he agrees. ‘So, before we start…’
I feel myself shrink, wondering if he’s going to ask about fixing my hair or make-up before we start.
‘Are you feeling okay? Elliot mentioned this would be a good idea but that you might not be into it. You nervous?’
‘Um…’ I bite my lip, toying with the idea of reassuring him that I’m absolutely fine and terribly excited to do this, but why would I mislead him? He can probably tell these things anyway. ‘Yeah, I don’t really do stuff like this.’
‘Be on camera, you mean?’
‘Yeah.’ I swallow. ‘I mean, ever.’
‘That’s alright.’ His voice is low and warm, there’s something about it that is extremely calming. ‘We can take it easy. Maybe we just take one picture, you know? Who cares? The most important thing is that you’re comfortable.’
‘Thanks.’ My voice is a little breathless.
‘Why don’t you sit down? Or stand up? Literally whatever you’re most comfortable doing.’
‘The fetal position okay?’
Owen wheezes out a laugh and steps around me as I lower myself onto the grass. ‘It’s a little artsy but sure, we can do whatever you want.’
I sit on the grass with my legs crossed instead and Owen follows suit a few metres away. My backpack is placed carefully by my feet with the drumstick safely stored inside, as was agreed with Elliot on departure.
‘How long have you been doing this?’ I ask him, fiddling with the blades of grass in front me.
‘A few years now. I mean, I’ve been taking pictures forever but I’ve been making money from it for like… yeah, two years.’
‘Doing portraits?’
‘Oh, not really. I’d love to do more but it’s kind of hard to get portrait work.
I do stills for film, mostly. It’s interesting work.
Kind of chaotic. But I love what I do, I get to be on film sets and learn about how making a movie works, so I count myself lucky.
’ He’s holding his camera but doesn’t remove the lens cap just yet.
‘You always wanted to work in film?’ I ask.
‘Yeah, I think so. Anything to do with cameras has always been my thing. Since I got a crappy little Kodak when I was nine anyway. I just always wanted to capture that moment. Those little moments you would never see, but a camera does. It’s crazy how much you miss when you’re not looking.’
His passion for his craft practically shines from the inside out, and the sight makes me grin.
He turns a little more serious. ‘Are you feeling alright? Since you mentioned that you struggle with anxiety in crowds and stuff.’
‘Oh, it’s okay. It’s probably pretty obvious to everybody within a five mile radius–’
‘No, no, it’s not at all. I never would’ve known if you hadn’t mentioned it. You’re good at hiding it,’ he notes.
‘Well… it’s good to know that my years of trying to cover it up have been fruitful.’
‘You don’t have to hide anything,’ he says gently, imploring me to meet his eyes. ‘We’re all on the same team. If one of us isn’t having a good time, what’s the point, you know?’
I can’t help but feel stupefied by his unfailing kindness. It’s at this moment that it really strikes me how much it makes sense that Owen and Elliot are close.
‘Thank you,’ I mumble, sheepish. ‘Elliot’s been great too. I didn’t think I’d say that when we first met but… having him around has made this weekend much more do-able.’ I resist the urge to cover my face, wondering if my newfound crush is written all over it, clear for his best friend to see.
‘Oh, he’s happy to do it.’ Owen looks distracted, fiddling with his camera strap. ‘It’s in his nature to help out.’
I nod, knowing all too well now that this is true.
‘He’s the best guy I know,’ he says, his voice firm. ‘There’s no one who cares more about his friends than he does.’
Friends. That word again.
‘You must feel lucky to have him.’
‘I do,’ he murmurs. ‘Last year was a bit rough for both of us. I don’t know if he’s mentioned it to you?’
‘Yeah, he did.’
‘Oh.’ He looks surprised. ‘That’s good. It took him a little while to recover from it all. Honestly, he still doesn’t really talk about it much.’ His eyes search my face. Hesitant, knowing. ‘Did he tell you? About his ex?’
‘Yeah.’ I wince. ‘I don’t mean to be so blunt, but I think I hate her.’
‘As he’s not here…’ He glances around us. ‘I can agree with you. I have to say, it sounds like meeting you has done him a world of good too. I don’t think it’s easy for him to be vulnerable about that kind of stuff.’
‘I’m glad.’ I look down at my muddied shoes with a tiny smile. ‘How are you doing now? After your rough year, I mean?’
‘Ah, you know.’ He shrugs. ‘I’ve been worse.
There was a bit of an… ordeal with a girl.
She’s a model, I met her through work – taking her portrait, actually.
Long story short, I had to end things with her because it was just so up and down, off and on, y’know?
It was pretty shit. But Elliot helped me through all the stages of it.
Not sure how I would have got through it without him. ’
‘I’m sure he feels the same way you do. It’s a special thing to find your people.’
He grins, shaking his head with happy disbelief.
‘Oh yeah, the most special. Elliot’s so solid and like…
immovable. He’s got this fierce protectiveness and fight in him.
And Josh’s never-ending joy and Joshness fills in all of the gaps and keeps the group intact.
Josh helps Elliot lighten up and Elliot kind of grounds Josh.
And I’m just so alike both of them in different ways.
I don’t really know why, but it just… it works. The way you and Hennie probably do.’
I nod. ‘Yeah, I don’t even know what my life would look like without her. Sometimes it feels like we’ve merged and become one person and share a brain. It sounds weird, but… she’s just my favourite person.’
‘She’s great.’ He grins. ‘I’m really glad we all met this weekend, you know.’