Photo Story

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: This is based on a true story. All the characters and settings are real, but the names have been changed. "Photo 5" is from an old journal entry of mine. I would add more to the story, but I'm still in the process of living it all.

Photo 1: Becca nervously stood in front of Damien, her arms lifted at her sides like angel wings.

Becca had seen it on TV and movies, when everything ended perfectly. Beautiful fairy tales where nobody ever got hurt. This was the real life though, and not one of us was immortal. We could all be broken. A simple trust exercise. Person 1 falls back into person 2’s arms. Person 1 had to be able to trust person 2 enough to know that they won’t be dropped. Becca glanced down at the hard concrete floor of Damien’s garage and then turned her head to take one last look into his deep blue eyes. “Don’t worry,” Damien whispered, “I’ve got you.” Becca nodded and turned back around to the front. And then, she froze in fear, unsure about what the outcome was going to be. She had been dropped before. “Trust me,” she heard him whisper. His words came like a warm summer’s breeze, wrapping her in an invisible blanket of safety. She took a deep breath and tilted her body backwards. She was falling, falling, falling…and then the impact came. She heard his heart beat. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her even tighter. “I told you I’d catch you.”


Photo 2: Becca sat up against the front wall of the school watching the cars pass her by and memorizing their colors. This was where Jay had broken up with her.

The sound of the end echoed in her ears. It always did whenever she sat at that wall.

“We’re just going to take a break, okay?”
Just like that! Like she was some game that he’d finish playing later!
“I still like you, but I just have so much on my plate right now with school, karate, the band and…”
…you’re marijuana addiction you don’t think I know about?

“I want to start this up again, maybe at the beginning of summer.”
And what am I supposed to do then? Just pretend like nothing ever happened?

“Don’t cry, okay?”
I’ve just had my heart broken for the first time and you expect me not to cry?

She didn’t listen. She cried, she bled, she hurt.
She felt like she’d never love anyone again.
But then, Damien entered the picture.


Photo 3: Becca watches Jay lean up against the locker, deep in conversation with a pretty blonde girl named Karen.

She recognized his stance and his body language. She felt her stomach drop and her heart skip a beat as she watched him lure in his next victim. Whatever happened to starting it up again? She was supposed to be Jay’s, not Karen! She was supposed to be the one he fawned over —the one he kissed, hugged, talked to. A lump formed in her throat as she saw the two saunter towards the parking lot. Not wanting to watch anymore, Becca turned her head and continued walking down the hallway, sensing that the break was going to be more permanent then she had thought.


Photo 4: Becca is sitting in an empty classroom, fingers running along the smooth wooden surface of the desk.

The soft, golden light of the early afternoon sun shone through the dusty windows. Her tears had run out and her rosy cheeks were beginning to dry. Her throat was sore from the heavy sobbing and her heart ached, having just been broken. Becca felt weak, numb. She craved the feeling of being the young girl she once was. Everything was so simple. The world didn’t seem like hell. She wasn’t exposed to the horrors that everyone experienced in their lives. Her life was filled with innocent fun. Becca sniffled and thought about how nice it would be to be a tiny child again. To be small enough to be held in somebody’s warm arms and know that you’re completely safe. She wanted to feel that way again, but she had nobody.
Damien.
Just a friend. A crazy, insane, friend. She had known him for 3 years and had never had feelings for him before. She didn’t have feelings for him now, but for some strange reason, he popped up in her head. He was on vacation with his dad in California for a few days to watch a college basketball tournament.
Why do I want him here? He won’t care about you hurting, he’ll just laugh at the fact that you couldn’t hold a boyfriend for more than several weeks.
Becca shook her head, trying to release the thought of Damien from her mind. But his face stayed in her head, like it knew that it was supposed to be there.
He’ll laugh and joke about it, like he does with everybody else! Why do you think it’ll be any different with you?
She didn’t know, but something inside her told her that she was going to find out. That things were going to be different with her.


Photo 5: Becca is sitting in her bedroom, absorbed in the depression that came with the memories of her past.

Her reflection stared back at her as she sat cross-legged on the floor. It was dark in there, the only light coming from the orange paper lantern in the corner. Music filled the room. An enchanting song that brought back too many thoughts of the past. More than she could handle. The sadness from those memories lingered as she tore her eyes away from her reflection and peered down at the objects in front of her. Becca reached for one of the objects —a lighter —and lit the small candle lying next to it. The flame was small, but bright. Strong. She held her hands over it and felt the heat. The heat was welcoming but she could sense the danger within it. She picked up a safety pin and held it in her hand, turning it over, debating. One more glance at herself in the mirror, into those dark brown eyes. Confirmation. Her heart beat fast as she ran the pin through the flame. Then, as quick as her happiness had vanished the past year, she pulled the pin out from the fire and pressed it against her wrist. Becca jumped as the heat kissed her skin and the pain seared throughout her body. An adrenaline rush, a shaky breath, and then it was over. She dropped the pin on the ground and gave her arm a look of astonishment. A small scar decorated the pale surface of her arm now. She ran the sharp end of the safety pin across her wrist and watched as the skin broke and a small drop of blood appeared. She continued, digging deeper until the drop of blood grew and began to trickle down her arm. Satisfaction. She blew out the candle just as the song ended.


Photo 6: Becca and Damien sat on the green plastic bench, his arm around her waist and her head on his shoulder.

His eyes watched as she pulled up her sleeve. Scars snaked across her skin like lines on a map. It looked like a toddler had taken a red crayon and scribbled random lines and designs all along her wrist. Damien peered up at her and saw that Becca’s head was turned away, her eyes avoiding his, embarrassed, ashamed. He looked back down at the scarlet ribbons of memories on her arm and slowly placed his hand over them, shielding them from everyone else. His fingers traced each scar and he felt everything she had felt. With one final glance, he took the edge of her sleeve and pulled it back down, covering her skin, hiding her past, silently promising her a new beginning.


Photo 7: Becca and Damien sat up against the beige lockers in the school hallway, lost in their own thoughts as the rest of the world went on without them.

His arms were tightly wrapped around her like a strait jacket. He held her against his body in a strong embrace, trying to drown her uncontrollable sobs in his warmth. He could feel her body weakening from the exhaustion of fighting with the temptation. The temptation of wanting to cut herself again. Soft, soothing whispers began to escape from his lips. She pressed up against his body and he brought a steady hand up to push strands of her messy brown hair away. She glanced at the sleeve of his hoodie and noticed the edges were drenched in a mixture of her snot and tears. A bell rang in the distance signaling the start of a new period, but their worries of lateness didn’t surface. The only feeling that hovered between them was calmness —as he felt her shaky breaths slowly steady themselves and she felt a sense of realization that this was where she should’ve been all along.


Photo 8: Damien hugging Becca in front of the school, hiding a bright red rose behind his back.

They were becoming closer, more and more than friends. Just as she had thought, there was something different about the way that he looked at her and the way he treated her. Her mom’s white van pulled into the front of the school and came to a stop. Becca raised her eyebrow at the sight of Damien, standing there, waiting, with a mischievous smile on his face. Slowly she got out of the vehicle and walked towards him. They greeted each other and reached out his arm to pull her in for a hug. When he released her, her vision was filled with the color of red. Becca gasped as she pulled the ruby colored rose towards her and inhaled its wonderful scent. A smile as big as Damien’s broke across her face and her eyes questioned why he had presented her with such a gift. He studied her deep brown eyes and whispered, “I wanted to see you smile again.”


Photo 9: Becca and Damien stood in the far corner of the room, his hands placed around her tiny waist and her arms linked behind his neck, kissing.

Becca’s dark brown hair grazed the tops of her bare shoulders. She wore a long black strapless dress that showed off her slender figure. There were little flecks of white lint sprinkled across her dress because her mom —who obviously wasn’t thinking at the time —had thrown it into the dryer with their load of towels. Luckily people were too much in awe of the beautiful prom setting that to them, it just blended in, like glitter. The dance was nearing its end and they stood in the far corner of the room. The music was still pounding and people were still dancing, but things were quieting down between them. There was a sense of longing between them, like they couldn’t bear to leave each other. Damien’s deep blue eyes quickly flickered down to her lips and then he re-caught her gaze. Leaning in slowly, their lips met and it was as if it was only them. They forgot where they were and what was gong on. It was just them. His lips parted slightly and she felt his tongue brushed up against her bottom lip. She pulled him closer. Breathing in unison, their hearts pounding together, wishing that the kiss could continue for an eternity.


Photo 10: Becca and Damien lay, half dressed, on the queen-sized bed that was in his grandparent’s guest house. Nobody knew they were in there.

Her sixteenth birthday. A whole new year of firsts. They lay on the bed, kissing. The blanket was messy and wrinkled, like a silky scarlet ocean. Their innocence was scattered throughout the room along with their clothes and their kissing became more and more intense with every passing minute. She was drunk off of the feeling of his warm skin against hers. He pulled away, but only for a second, as they both already sensed what the answer to the question in his eyes was going to be.
“Yes,” she said quietly.
And then they took each other, finally knowing what it was like to truly be in love.

Author's Note

I wrote this almost 2 years ago, in my senior year creative writing class. We were given the assignment to write a "photo story" (basically make it seem like you're looking through a pile of mixed up photos). I figured I'd post this up here, just for the hell of it. Check it out, lemme know what you think!