Page 6

Take your time. See you soon :)

Her foot bobbed along excitedly to her music as the train rocked through the tunnels. It wasn’t long before she had transferred to the L and was pulling into the Jefferson Street station in Bushwick.

By the time she was climbing up the steps of the exit, the sun had completely disappeared, and the city was dark. As Rose walked up to her stoop, a smile crept onto her face. A familiar figure leaned against the railing outside of Rose’s building.

“Hey,” Shannon smirked as Rose got closer.

Rose wrapped her arms around Shannon’s neck, avoiding the brim of her backward baseball cap. “Hi!”

She gave Shannon a quick peck before pulling her keys from her bag and fumbling to unlock the front door.

“That’s a lot of gear.” Shannon eyed the bulging camera bag slung around Rose’s shoulder.

Rose nodded. “Yeah, it’s been digging into my shoulder since noon.”

Shannon bit her lip. “I could rub it out for you.”

Rolling her eyes, Rose pushed open the front door. “Very funny.”

They made their way upstairs and into Rose’s yellow apartment.

“So, what do you want to do before we leave?” Shannon asked, toying with a thrifted tea kettle sitting on the stove.

Rose sighed. “I really have to get some of these photos processed, and then I need to shower and do my makeup.”

Shannon pursed her lips as she mosied around the small living space. “Got it. I would’ve come later if you weren’t gonna be able to hang.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I honestly just want to make sure Fin and Ellen can post about the engagement.” Rose shrugged as she set her camera bag down on the couch and opened up her laptop. She wasn’t even sure why she bothered to close Photoshop anymore.

Shannon nodded and plopped down on the couch next to Rose, opening her phone and scrolling Instagram.

Slipping the SD card into her laptop’s card reader, Rose waited for the images to load onto her desktop. She opened them as soon as she could and did a quick scan of the thumbnails for the best shots.

It only took her about an hour to select five front runners and another thirty minutes to implement some minor changes. Rose smiled as she looked at the five shots lined up next to each other in her email.

They were damn good photos. The golden hour light made the rings – and the couple – sparkle. Rose clicked send, a smile teasing the corners of her mouth as she closed her laptop.

“Finally have some time for me?” Shannon joked, chewing her lip.

Rose laughed. “No, only some time for a shower.”

She gave Shannon a kiss on the cheek and turned to head toward her bathroom. Before she had even shut the door, Shannon’s phone was blaring with trending audios. Rose rolled her eyes and gently closed the door, turning on the shower.

Pulling off her sweaty Reneé Rapp tour t-shirt, Rose took a deep breath of humid air. It was probably the last moment of peace she would have before the rest of her night got carried away.

So why was it that Drew’s rudeness was still invading her limited head space? Rose covered her face with her hands. But as her lungs filled with air, her mind filled with images of Drew’s forearms straining to get the perfect shot, the intensity of their gaze.

Rose forced her eyes open. Hopefully, the night ahead would be a good distraction from whateverthiswas.

5

DREW

Grabbingtheir drink off of the small IKEA island at the center of Quinn’s kitchen, Drew laughed along with the crowd of people. Music blared through the tiny apartment, the thin floor trembled to the bass.

“But you were way crazier in college. This is tame.” Drew took a drink from their red, plastic cup as they shook their head. Images of a drunken Quinn stumbling through the dorm hallway flashed in Drew’s mind.

Quinn, a lanky enby with curly, black hair, waved their hand in excitement. “Drew, you have to tell them about the time you found my dildo while the RA’s were doing room checks!”