Picture Perfect

Hi! My name is Emma. I’m a 16 year old girl who lives in the town of Redwood Falls, MN. I have a sister named Sara who is 13, and a brother, James, who is 18. My parents are Peter and Chelsey. My best friend is Jack. He’s been my neighbor since we moved here 3 years ago.

Rrrring!

“Okay, class! Remember the history project is due Friday. Make .sure you meet up with your partners for the project,” the history teacher said.

“Jack, I can’t believe we get to be partners!” I said.

“I know! So what day should we meet up?”

“Well, I can’t do it on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.”

“Okay. Could we meet at your house Thursday after school?” asked Jack. “I’ll just have to check with my parents if I can go when I get home,” Jack said.

Rrring! “See you after school on Thursday, Jack.”

“Bye, Emma.”

After School On Thursday …

“Come on, call your parents already, ok?

“Ok I’m calling,” said Jack. Ring ring. “Hello. Hi, Mom. I was wondering if I could go to Emma’s house for a class project. Her parents said I could”…..

“I guess if you’re home by six, but no later.”

“Ok, Mom. Thank you.”

“What did she say?”

“She said I can come.” YES!!

“I also wanted to show you the pictures I took on vacation last week. I hung them up this weekend,” said Jack.

“I’m so excited to see the pictures you took. They always turn out so good.”

“Ok, so, what should be the theme of our history project?” asked Jack.

“What do you mean, the theme of the project?” I asked. “Were you listening in class? Mr. Williams said that we have to theme the project on something we already learned this year.”

“Sorry. I dont listen that well in class. So what should we theme it on then?”

“Maybe WWII”.

“Sure.”

Emma’s House

“Mom, I’m home,” I said.

“How was school, Honey?”

“Good. Jack and I will be in my room, working, if you need me, ok?”

“Okay.” We head to my room.

“So I’ll look up the facts and you start drawing the pictures, ok?” said Jack.

“Wait, can I look at the photos you took on vacation?” I asked.

“Sure. They’re right here.”

“Wow! These photos are so good. How do you do it? They look so cool!”

“Thanks. My dad teaches this class on photography. I bet he could fit you in for a class.”

“I don’t know… Don’t they go to competitions every weekend and there are famous photographers that come and watch them compete??? It sounds fun but isn’t it for people who are GOOD at photography?

“Yes, but everyone has to start somewhere.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Ok, tell me tomorrow. I gotta go,” Jack said”.

“See you to tomorrow. Bye”

Later that night …

“Mom, we’re done working.”

“Hi honey.”

“What’s dad doing at home?”

“He had some issues at work, but everything is fine.” “What happened?” I asked.

“We can talk about it later. Dinner will be done in five minutes.”

“Ok.”

Five Minutes later …

“Honey, dinner is ready.”

“What are we eating?”

“Spaghetti and meatballs.”

“Ok. So what’s the issue at work, Dad?” I asked?

“Well, they gave me a job offer in New York.”

“That’s great, dad, so what’s the problem?”

“Well, it’s not just like I’m going there for a few weeks and coming home.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“They want it to be a full time, permanent job.”

“So are you saying… that you have to move there?!”

“I’m saying that WE are going to move there together.”

“We’re moving!?!? When???”

“We were planning to go by the end of the month. So in two weeks.”

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“We found out for ourselves, Sweetie. I’m sorry we couldn’t tell you sooner.”

“Whatever, how am I supposed to tell my frienas!?” ” I’m sorry honey.”

“Sorry doesn’t cut it!”

Two weeks later …

“Bye, Jack.”

“Bye, Emma. I can’t believe you’re actually moving.”

“Ya but we can still call and text each other. Don’t worry, I’m coming for Christmas to visit you, too. And you can still come to New York every other weekend, right?” I asked.

“Well actually I signed up for an engineering class on the weekends and can’t go every other weekend like I said before. I’m sorry Emma. My parents agreed I can visit every so often…”

Well this just got a lot worse. “Ok …. Bye Jack.”

“Bye.”

One month later…

“Honey, wake up, the bus is going to be here soon. You wouldn’t want to be late for your first day at Grover High School.

“Ok, be down in a minute, Mom. So Mom, are you picking me up after school or should I ride the bus?”

“I have to drive your sister to gymnastics practice.” ” Ok.”

“Sweetie, the bus is here. Have a good day, love you.”

At Grover High School

Rrrring.

“Class, have a seat please. So as you all know, we have a new student, Emma. Will you stand up and tell the class your favorite subject?”

“Hi, I’m Emma, and my favorite subject is history.”

“Thank you, Emma, you can have a seat. Can I have a volunteer to show Emma around for the rest of the day? Faith, thank you for volunteering. Emma, this is Faith. Faith, this is Emma.”

RING.

“Goodbye class, have a good-day!”

“Hi Emma.”

“Hi Faith.”

“So Emma, did you sign up for any sports or stuff like that?”

“No, I don’t eally do sports.”

“Well hey, there’s stuff like theater and the daily news articles.”

“Daily news articles?”

“Yeah. You just take pictures of the big events. You can really stay up to speed on things around here!”

“It sounds kind of fun.”

“Well, you should sign up, then!”

“Ok.”

A few weeks later …

“Honey there’s a letter in the mail for you.”

“Ok. Be down in a minute.”

“Honey… it’s from Haverford Photography School! Can you read it out loud for me, sweetie?”

“Sure… Dear Emma, I have seen the beautiful photos that you take for your school and I was hoping you could join our company. If you accept this invitation, meet with me at the City Hall on Monday at 4:30.”

EEEEEEK!!!

“Wow, Honey, that’s great! You’ve been talking about going there for the last month!”

“I know!”

“So are you going to go?”

“Is that even a question? Of course I’m going.”

First day at Haverford

“Hello class, I’d like to introduce our new student, Emma.”

“Hi.”

“Okay. So today in photography we are going to learn…”

And that’s when I realized that this was the school for me. Photography is a special art that I can be successful in. Moving was not fun… but when life gives you lemons, make lemonade!