Read Online How I Fall by Anne Eliot - Free Book Online Page A

your back about not having your...screen unlocked?” He shakes his head and I can see his cheeks are firing a bit red. “My parents do, all the time.”
    I manage to revert back to my awkward nod and wonder if I’m going to wake up from this good and also bad dream.
    He raises the phone up in front of all of our faces. “Nice shots, though,” he adds, scrolling through my album, thankfully not bringing up the shot I took of him. “Did you take all of these just this morning? How do you do so many and make them all so very…good?”
    “I don’t. They aren’t all good.”
    “I disagree.” He scrolls up and down, pausing to look at the shot of Jennie, Bella-Jane and Paige. “This one’s sort of riveting. And so…interesting the way the color of their flip-flops bleeds into the snow making it also look neon, huh?”
    Nodding.
    Again.
    Me.
    *Cries: I’ve turned completely stupid. Someone help me.*
    Laura leans over me and glances closer at the photos. “Check my eyes, but these photos are truly amazing and artist-level good. Aren’t you just so creative?”
    He smiles. “These are Ellen’s, and yeah…from what’s here, she seems to be even more of an amazing photographer than I’d already assumed.”
    *Chokes on butterflies. Chokes to death on butterflies. Wonders what that means? Vows to pull her mind out of this stupor.*
    Cam returns to the shot I took of him.
    “Would you look at that model shot of our very own Cam Campbell,” Laura says, grabbing the phone to look closer. “Why do you have a photo of the likes of him?”
    Before Laura can say more, I blurt out, “I love snow. Love it! And…I also love fall colors and coats. Feet in snow and bus stops are also—so very good. That’s how and why. There are lots of shots of people in coats …or…flip-flops. You know…shots of random people leaning and standing around in snow. So…I don’t know. I end up with so many shots of just everyone .” I cringe, knowing that explanation sounded so weak.
    He blinks down at me, cocking his head even farther to the side. I wonder if the look on his face is saying, Whatever. I know you are lying, stalker-girl . But he doesn’t call me out! He only scrolls through more shots, then says, “Snow does make common objects seem interesting.”
    I try to finish with a technical ending. “Yes. It’s mostly a matter of taking a ton of shots with the hope that one or two will come out special, you know?”
    “Yeah. Actually. I do that, too. Take hundreds, hoping to get the one that’s just right. I get sort of obsessive about it.”
    Did he say obsessive on purpose to taunt me?
    He knows…he probably knows .
    His thumb, the one that’s been sliding up and down my photo feed this whole time, is doing really messed up things to my heart.
    My throat.
    *Swallows. So thirsty. So thirsty for a Caramel Macchiato…with extra caramel…*
    He returns to the photo I took of him. Laura double taps the monitor to make it zoom in on his face, then blinks up at Cam as if she’s trying to compare the shot to his face. “I do have to say that our wee-Camden Campbell is rather photogenic and handsome, isn’t he?”
    I nod. It’s something everyone already knows.
    No need to act like that’s any sort of surprise.
    “Ooh, Cam. You’re quite and rather photogenic and a bloody handsome one, aren’t you?” Jennie’s using some sort of crap Harry Potter accent that’s not even close to Irish. “Good luck with that accent, new girl. It’s not going to help you flirt with him or anyone around here,” she adds, making everyone behind us laugh and whisper.
    Laura flushes and lowers her voice, glancing at Cam. “Sorry…I wasn’t being a flirt. Honest. I’m madly in love with a boy back home. If that’s what you think I’m trying to do, then I’m sorry.”
    “No. Of course I don’t think that.” Cam has almost flinched. “Like I said earlier, ignore them. That crew is all bark no bite.”
    I arch my brow extra high