Photography Club

Immediately after school Ricardo Quilge, the student secretary charged in our classroom shouting. "Victor! Let's go! Let's go!". His screaming got the whole class worried and for good reason. His eagle tattoo along with the ear rings, his piercing eyes and strong presence all speaks that of a delinquent. For someone like him to be shouting my name, some might assume that he's about to bully me. Many are still unaware that he's apart of the student council because he refuses to wear the armband.

"Please enter without shouting next time"

"Come on, you don't want to be late on your first day!"

"First day? What are you talking about?"

Ricardo held my hand and dragged me along with him. His timing could not have been worse, I had plans for Aoi, Xavier and Takeshi that needs to be implemented today. I need these three to interact if I want Takeshi as my puppet in the near future. Ricardo and I stopped outside behind the main building. Under the biggest tree in school, a small group of students were standing there. "Why did you bring me here?" I asked as Ricardo brought me closer to the group.

"Ricardo! Good job, you brought our newbie"

Like an angel, her voice singled her out in the crowd of students. Alice was under the tree waiting for us. "Welcome Victor, this is where we meet up on a Friday. We are the Photography Club". With excitement in her tone, she introduced me to all the club members.

"This guy here is an interesting first year. I bet you'll like him soon enough. His name is Victor Cruz. Isn't his name funny" Alice said as a tease.

In total, there were 22 students under the tree so it is safe to say that this club is relatively small compared to the other clubs I've seen. Music Club has over 50 members while Archeology Club has 72, a group of 22 is the smallest to be seen so far. At first glance, this club looks like a fun one to be in. Alice who is always cheerful and optimistic seems to be the leader carrying this club, Ricardo being a close second. After introductions were out of the way. Alice and Ricardo stood before everyone grinning.

A blonde haired guy in reading glasses asked annoyed "I don't like this. Whenever you two laugh, we always get some unfair work to do". His complaint could be felt by everyone since they all nodded in agreement.

"Hehehe, what's unfair about a little hunt Chiba?"

"Upupupuh, a hunt sounds excellent. Exactly what our club needs for today"

Alice and Ricardo sounded like they have a fun activity in mind. Wonder what it is? Chiba sighed looking exhausted before any activities took place then looked at me. "Sorry dude, you don't deserve this on your first day in our club". With an apology like that, who wouldn't start to worry.

"Guys Leo has escaped!"

"Did you two leave his cage open again? Like every other Friday?"

"Silence fiend! We have a rabbit to capture. The person with the best photo of him by time the sun sets gets four lunch tickets for free". Alice ignited the passion in her club members with just the phrase lunch tickets. Leo, that name gives me the chills. Someone dear to me has that exact name. He'll cross my mind whenever I hear the name Leo for sure. The club members scattered all over the school in search of a white rabbit.

Alice alone remained under the tree. Standing beside her, I asked if she wanted to pair up in search for the rabbit. "Ok, that sounds lovely. I'll get to tell you all the wonderful things this club has to offer while we search".

First place we thought to look was in the garden. It is a common place to find a rabbit for sure. After taking a close inspection, we determined that the rabbit was here minutes ago. His snow white furr could be seen under some of the flowers. "Victor, how's school treating you? Make any friends?" she suddenly brought up.

"Well, Fugo stop antagonizing me for starters. Aoi and I quickly became good friends. Same goes for you, Stephano and Ricardo" I told her.

"I see, so you barely made any progress. That's fine, I'm sure you'll be okay soon enough. Be sure to befriend the members of our club ok. They are all good people".

"You have asked me this before. Why are you so worried about how many friends I make?"

"Hmm, that's how I measure a person's school life. The more friends you have, the more you enjoy school am I wrong"

I suddenly stopped walking and looked up at her surprised. I knew she valued friendship over most things but I never knew it was at this scale. To judge someone's experience in school based off of how many friends he or she has. There's no way that's a good thing. "People like me prefer to have little friends you know. I don't like surrounding myself around too many people. It will be hard for me to distinguish the fakes from real friends before too long".

Alice also stopped after hearing my thoughts. "You're not saying that because you're scared are you? You're saying this because it's what you truly feel right? There have been students who say they don't want many friends simply because the reason you just spoke. However the truth is that they are afraid to interact. They hold other's opinions too highly which causes them to subconsciously see themselves as someone weak, a person too afraid to bond. Too scared to hear anything remotely bad about themselves from others, scared to have their feelings hurt. The less people they talk to, the less interactions they make. They'll feel protected because the chances of getting hurt decreases. Victor, your only friend in class is a girl who refuses to talk to you"

....

"You should see why I'm saying this. It's natural for me to think that you're afraid when you haven't made any interactions at all. We are social beings that need each other in order to survive. Stop holding other people's opinion on higher value than your own. That could be the reason for your bullying although it has stopped now. Live life how it's suppose to be live. Talking about fake friends and real friends is pointless since we all wear a mask around each other anyways". Alice walked up to me with a slight grin. As if she was happy with what she said, she hopped away.

I slowly lagged behind. Am I afraid to interact with others? I am, I don't want my feelings to get hurt. Whenever someone throws an insult at me, it will be on my mind for weeks. Guess I was not the only person observing students. Alice must have been watching me daily to know my biggest flaw. Afraid of getting hurt, that's why I'm like this.

.....

"There!"

Alice pointed at the soccer field where a white rabbit was hopping around. I was about to pursue it but Alice stopped me. "What's wrong? Aren't we supposed to capture it?"

"Yeah with this. We failed many times before but maybe this time can be different". While she said that, she pulled out a small camera that was tied to a string around her neck. She briefly considered taking the picture herself. "Hahahaha, it will be more fun if you take the picture Victor" she said handing me the camera.

"Uhh, ok"

Right now, the rabbit was hopping around the goal post having the time of its life. A very energetic bunny to say the least. If the shot is taken now, it won't be pretty. The photo would be bland and boring. "Before I take the photo. Can I lure him somewhere first?"

"Do what you want, as long as you get a photo of Leo before the sun sets" Alice said pointing at the sky. A rabbit's sense of smell is at least 10x better than a human's. Their inherit trait to quickly identify scents in the air makes them always alert of predators nearby. Rabbits are naturally good at smelling the food they like as well. There is a pond near the entrance gate, I would love for Leo to be there instead of on the soccer field. "If I'm gonna do this the Imma do it right"

Alice did me a favour and asked for dozens of small carrots in the cafeteria. I kept my eyes on the rabbit while she placed the carrots near the pond. After hopping continuously without taking a break, the rabbit stopped to sniff it's surroundings. Like I hoped, it hopped towards the direction of the pond. In our school's pond there is actually a duck called Luna there. The duck was a rare sight, it had crescent moon patterns all over it's body. The duck might just be a tourist attraction all on it's own. Luna swam in the pond like usual but this time, carrots were in the water. Luna did not seem to like this since she took the liberty of removing the carrots out of the water. "Stingy"

When Leo arrived, it saw the carrots next to the pond. With just a few more hops, it began eating all the carrots at astonishing speed. I watched as Leo ate them all, briefly considering if I should take the photo now. The grip on Alice's camera tightens as I watched Leo devouring the carrots in record time. Alice walked up to me and asked "What are you waiting for?"

"Hmm, I have a feeling that I must wait" I told her.

"Hahahahaha, you're the first. I'm glad you joined this club" Alice said unable to hold her laughter. I failed to understand what she meant but now was not the time to focus on my beloved. Leo finished the carrots then stared at the duck in the pond Luna. The two creatures moved closer to each for brief conversation. "They might know each other"

SNAP! SNAP!

At long last, I took two photos of Leo the Rabbit. Alice and I quickly looked at the photos taken and they were great. "Magnifique" I patted myself on the head. Alice was impressed by the photo I took. Leo and Luna were facing each other in the photo so it looked like they were conversing. The sunlight glistening the pond and the small grass in the background. A good picture for my first try.

"Good job Victor. You're good at this. Wait until the others find out about your accomplishment"

"Accomplishment? All I did was capture a rabbit and a duck"

Alice laughed at my words. She pointed at one of the other club members nearby. A girl in the same class as me. Purple braided hair, sky blue eyes and shorter than the average girl. Took me by surprise when I saw a camera in her hand.

"Sayaka"

Leo turned his attention to the girl with the camera. The rabbit simultaneously charged at the poor girl with no remorse as she tried to take a photo. Leo straight up assaulted the poor girl, scratching her face over and over again.

"This is why we do things on a Friday" Alice jokes. She and I ran to Sayaka's aid while she screams for help. Leo did not even think of attacking me when I had a camera in hand so why is he behaving like this to Sayaka? It's also astonishing how he knows she was about to take a picture from so far away. Does he have a detector for this kind of thing? Alice saw my confused look and decided to clear the air.

"There is a fun fact you should know newbie. Leo hates cameras, anyone who he spots with a camera he will assault and trust me. He always know who and where exactly the cameras are. You are the first person ever to not get assaulted by Leo. That's why I'm so glad you joined our club" Alice told me. From the sound of it, she did not know Leo would leave me alone. Yet she still handed me the camera with a smile on her face. She wanted to see me get attacked by the rabbit.

"You're surprisingly cruel".

"Upupupuh, don't say that. It's all fun and games".

This club has shown me a new side to Alice I wasn't aware of. She was obviously the outgoing type of girl but I did not expect her to be into these kind of things. Currently, everyone who has been sent to capture the rabbit are having their faces scratched up. Just for giggles. "Gosh I love her" I thought loudly in my head. Sayaka stood up, tears formed in her eyes and her breathing became unstable. "Damn rabbit" she cried.

Sayaka is one of Xavier's many fangirls. She never struck me as the type to join a club. After cheering her up, Alice asked Sayaka a question. "What do you think about Victor?". To put me and her on the spot like that. I doubt Sayaka has ever thought of me before so I shouldn't expect much of a reply. As long as she isn't mean with what she says I'm fine. Sayaka took a good look at me first before answering the question. The seconds of waiting was slowly killing me on the inside.

"Hurry up and speak before my imagination runs wild". That was my thought process.

"Well, he's super boring. He rarely speaks or even make himself get heard. He let Fugo bully him for a while so I'd say he's weak on top of being boring ya know. There is not much to go off of in terms of personality. He always keep on a straight face. His character is a mystery to say the least. Most times in class he's just staring at everyone. He's either a very observant fellow or a weirdo".

"Aaaah!". Holding my chest was all I could have done to heal the wounds dealt by Sayaka. To hear a girl say that about me hurts, this would hurt most people. This is the reason why I never spoke to people like Sayaka before. Too afraid to hear their honest opinion about me. First step towards changing is accepting the person I am now. I must accept that I am a boring individual if I want to change in the near future. She was not wrong, I am boring compared to my other classmates, Xavier a prime example. I should use what she says to improve myself. Bet that's what Alice is expecting me to do as well.

All the club members gathered under the big tree when the sun sets. It was hard to believe but everyone including Ricardo had scratch marks on their faces. Leo attacked everyone who attempted to take a photo of him. "Victor managed to take a photo!" Alice celebrated.

"As if"

"No way"

"Cant be possible"

Sayaka confirmed Alice's statement to be true. I ended the series of disbelief by showing everyone the two photos I took of Leo and Luna. Ricardo rubbed my head hard enough I thought he was trying to tear my skin.

"Excellent work. You must be gifted to not get attacked by the white rabbit" he praised me. One after the other, I received praises from my new club members. Soon to be friends.