Pictures on the Wall

Sitting in the emergency room at the local hospital is not the way Cristi wanted to spend her night, it wasn’t the way Caroline had wanted her to spend her night either. It was bad enough that Caroline had been the reason Cristi was even there, now she could be seriously hurt. It was probably no use for Caroline to continue worrying when she had the cutest guy ever, Mason, driving her back to Cristi’s house.

Mason and Caroline would hang around the house white Chris and Cristi were in the emergency room. Once Chris got her back home, he and Mason would be leaving. Caroline might as well enjoy it while she had the time, right?

“So, are you and Cristi fans of the band, or was this your first show?” Mason’s voice was smooth as he looked over at Caroline, who was fidgeting with her split ends.

She smiled at his question though, and wondered what exactly to tell him. She didn’t want to scare him away by saying something weird about how she had been going to every show, buying any merchandise, and listening to their songs 27/7 since they had first started playing. “Well, I’ve been to quite a few shows. I really enjoy the music so…” She trailed off, distracted by his wide grin.

“It’s good to know we have fans that enjoy the music,” he slowly replied, moving his eyes back to the road.

“Yeah, it really makes me think about things.”

“Well that’s good to know. We try to make lyrics that everyone can relate to.”

“You’re doing a good job,” She decided to stop talking when she noticed the light blush across his cheeks.

Back at the hospital, Chris and Cristi were fighting over her drinking water. A few of the nurses had mistaken them for a couple, but Cristi just didn’t want some random guy to take care of her. She thought it made her look weak. “I drank enough water, Chris! Why don’t you drink some water?” Her voice was anything but playful.

He sighed before taking a drink of water, “See? I drank some. Now it’s your turn.” She shook her head and looked the other way, still not taking the water. “Please? I’m going to feel really bad if you get dehydrated.”

Poking his cheek, Cristi drank a bit of water before using three chairs for a bed. Hours went by before a doctor would actually see to her. When she was finally taken care of, she was given some antibiotics for her head and sent home to rest. “She’ll be fine,” Doctor Holt assured Chris before sending them off.

“I really am sorry you got hurt tonight…” Chris’ voice was low and quiet, his eyes not looking off the road. Taking a glance at his hands, one could see how they were clenched around the steering wheel, “But I would love it if you would attend more of our shows. It’s always nice to have fans taking pictures.”

Cristi laughed a little, she didn’t know what to say and didn’t want to seem rude, “Well, my pictures aren’t very good anyways, but I guess I could come to a few.” She thought back to that day’s conversation with Caroline. Maybe she could show Caroline how to take the photos, that way she could have some attention too. She looked back out the passenger window, taking in all the pretty surroundings. The moon was beautiful, high in the sky and almost full. Different things blurred together as the car raced past them.

“So what got you into singing?” Cristi decided to ask, the silence finally getting to her.

“Well, when I was little my parents owned a bar. There was always karaoke nights, and they had this bad-ass karaoke set up. When no one was around I would go in and sing, and when I had the chance to take chorus in school, I did,” His smile was really big and Cristi couldn’t help but notice that he was even cuter than she had seen through the facebook page. He continued, sounding more interested in his memories, “In my junior and senior years of high school I played the lead in the school musicals. A lot of people think I did it to be popular, but I really did enjoy singing. What made you so into photography?”

Cristi looked a bit uncomfortable, because she never really talked about it. There was a time for everything though, right? “Well, mostly it was because of how I was treated in elementary school. I was an outcast I guess, I’m not sure what you would call it; all the kids made fun of me. One year my teacher decided to make a class yearbook, and needed to have a student photographer, so she picked me. I guess she knew that in class activities, no one would want me on their team. By giving me the camera she gave me a way to feel like I fit in, but she also gave me away to hide,” pausing for a moment, she looked at Chris who seemed to have relaxed some, “I guess that ever since then I’ve just been doing something that I like to do, even if it does make me seem like I’m still hiding.”

Chris’ car had pulled up in front of Cristi’s house. Like a gentleman, he got out of the car and walked over to open her door and help her out. Caroline and Mason came outside as well, all trying to help Cristi into the house. “I’ve got it!” She snapped, causing everyone to back up. As she continued her way into the house, the other three stood outside.

“So, I was thinking maybe we should ask Cristi if she would want to be our photographer,” Chris said to Mason, who nodded his head.

“I think that would be a really good idea. We could talk to her about possible pay, or letting her into shows for free. Maybe this will help the band,” Mason replied, heading back towards the house, “Let’s go tell her.”