Flicker by Melanie Hooyenga Page B

he pulls my hands to his mouth. A gentle kiss on each knuckle makes me flush.
    "I wish there was a way I could take
pictures with you doing that."
    He laughs softly, and his breath sends
ripples of excitement through me. He turns his head so my fingers
brush his cheek. His eyes drift closed.
    Have I mentioned he's beautiful?
    I lean forward, but we're interrupted by a
shout from midway down the field. "Hey you two! Get a room!"
    Amelia bounds towards us and I flinch, ready
for the tackle that's coming. For as long as I've known her, she's
never passed up the opportunity to—
    "Oof!"
    Her giggle pierces the relative quiet.
    Cameron dodged the brunt of it and lies on
his side, laughing. "All these years, you think you'd learn."
    I sit up and push Amelia off me. "I guess I
keep thinking that maybe this once she won't do it."
    Amelia grabs my camera. "So what do you got
so far?" She flicks through the display. "Ooh, that girl totally
just threw up."
    Cameron lifts an eyebrow at me. I shrug.
    "Man it's freezing out here. Biz, can I
borrow your gloves? You can't use them while you're taking pictures
anyway."
    I reluctantly hand them over and the chill
settles into my skin.
    "Thanks." She leans back on her hands. "I
can't stay long. My parents weren't too happy with my last trig
grade and decided I need some quality time listening to music—I
mean, studying—after school. Although they probably have a point.
Unless I want to spend my post-high school days at community
college, I need to get my grades up."
    Again, I feel guilty that I couldn't help
her on the last test. I silently promise to flicker for the next
one.
    As if I summoned it, my fingers start to
tingle. I press the tips together.
    Cameron looks over his shoulder at the
setting sun. "What time exactly does ‘after school' start?"
    "Eh, in a little while."
    The sun is barely peeking through the
clouds. And I'm sitting still. There's no way I'm flickering. But
the tingling grows stronger. I brace myself for the weight when
Cameron rubs his hands together.
    "Biz, do you want to use my gloves? It's
getting really cold."
    Color rushes to my cheeks and I slap my
hands over them to hide it. Duh, I'm cold. Not flickering. I'd
forgotten that's a normal sensation. "Sure, thanks." I shove my
fingers inside the unraveling yarn.
    Amelia juts her chin down the field. "Hey,
isn't that them?"
    Cameron and I scramble to our feet,
cameras ready. His breathing slows as his shutter click-click-clicks , and I catch
myself watching his hands. He and I are drawn to photography for
different reasons: for me it's about capturing the light and its
effects on the world around me, but for him it's about preserving a
moment in time so he can relive it whenever he wants.
    I focus on the runners and I'm moving
towards them. Zooming. Squatting low so the angles are sharper,
more defined.
    "Good call." Cameron's a few feet away.
Close enough so he's with me, but respecting my space.
    Runners streak by, fists in the air as they
cross the finish line. A guy whose locker is near mine falls in a
heap next to his coach. Two girls from opposing teams high-five
each other.
    Click-click-click .
    I turn my attention to the spectators. The
majority of the people in the first couple rows have cameras glued
to their faces. A couple have gloves like Cameron's. I'm definitely
gonna have to do that. I zoom in on the front row, ready to
document my class documenting the race, when I freeze for real this
time.
    That man is here again. And he's staring at
me.
    I take a step back, knocking into
Cameron.
    "Hey!"
    "Sorry."
    He lowers his camera. Concern darkens his
features. "You're really pale. What happened?"
    "Nothing. That man is here again and he just
freaked me out."
    His head whips towards the bleachers. "What
man?"
    I tug his arm to make him turn away. "Don't
stare. It's just some guy we saw the other night at the soccer
game. I'm sure he's someone's dad. I mean, why else would he be
coming to high school sporting