Through the Lens

It was 7 in the morning in San Diego on a Friday. People are already awake as soon as the sun comes up. How the hell do they do it? I honestly don't know, but I'm not one of those people. I cherish my sleep almost as much as I cherish the Hot Pockets in my freezer. There are some things that people shouldn't fuck with in my life: Food and sleep are the two big ones.

I found myself rolling over in my bed, my long brown hair covering my eyes. It was a natural sleeping mask. I moved around a bit and try to get in a slightly more comfortable position, hiding my face from the direct sunlight coming through the window. As soon as I finally got comfortable, still barely being conscious, my phone rings, blaring loud. Not even a cute ringtone or anything. Just one of those super obnoxious fake sounding phone rings.

My eyes snapped open and I sat up automatically, looking left and right for my phone. I dug my hands under my purple blanket, following the noise. I finally grasped it, not even bothering to check who it was and just answered. "H-hello?"

"Hey Rax? It's John. Your boss from work." The voice on the other side of the phone said. He sounded as if he needed to explain who he was, probably knowing he woke me up and I was half asleep. Great guess on his part - I was still half asleep.

"O-oh hey. Uh, it's Friday morning. What's up?" I grumbled, rubbing my eye with my free hand, blinking as I finally opened my eyes to see the sunlight pouring into my room. It was weird to get a call from John, ever & especially on a random Friday morning when I don't have to come in for work.

"Well, I have a small little favor to ask of you and I'd like you to come down to the office to discuss said favor." He explained. I could almost hear a smile in his voice.

I shook my head to myself. "I swear, if you want me to come all the way down there to bring you coffee again, I'll report you to corporate for being a douche."

"I think that in itself is illegal." I could hear him chuckle. "Just get down here when you can and I'll fill you in on the situation."

"Alright, alright... I'll be down there soon. See ya." I said as I clicked out of the call. I took in a deep breath and then exhaled loudly. And I was hoping I could finally catch up on sleep.

I flopped back to laying on my bed, my eyes staring at the ceiling to a few moments.

My name is Raxella Hudson. I'm a 25 year old photographer. I make $14.50 an hour where I work. Pretty good pay for doing what I love. I shoot for famous skaters, bands, models and sometimes award shows. I've been living in San Diego for the past 3 years after moving out of my mom's place in Los Angeles.

Because of my job, it's sort of a requirement to meet and hang out with famous people. I consider myself a fairly composed person and don't really get star struck. It only happened once when I met Kellin Quinn. Something about that man always made me weak at the knees. Hearing his voice in person and seeing him in front of me was the last straw. I actually asked him for an autograph on a Sleeping With Sirens album, which now sat on my dresser with a few other signed things from my favorite bands.

My one goal was Pierce the Veil. Other than the fact that Tony Perry was a sex god to me, I've loved their music for years and I'd give anything to hang out with them just for a day and actually getting to know them and see what the cameras don't.

I opened my eyes, looking at the ceiling once again. Might as well finally get up and go to the office... ON A FRIDAY MORNING. I am seriously going to strangle that man for all these "favors". I sat up and swung my legs over the side of my bed. I messed with my hair a little bit so it wasn't all over and in my face. Getting out of bed was a chore for me, that's why I usually stay in bed all the time.

I slowly walked over to my bathroom on the other side of the small hallway. I dragged my feet the entire way. The floors were cold. Fuck this. Fuck you John.

I looked into the mirror and sighed. I turned on the warm water in the sink, washed my face and began to apply only a little bit of make up. Ain't no way I was trying to look pretty for anyone at 7am!

I ran back to my room. The only reason I ran was because I wanted to keep my feet off the cold floor. I began to get dressed, putting on socks first, jeans and a Pierce the Veil fitted tee that was conveniently at the end of my bed. I grabbed my large bag and my camera as well. I brought my camera everywhere with me no matter where I was going. I never wanted to miss an opportunity to shoot. I grabbed my phone from my bed and put it in my bag as I walked out of my room. I opened my front door and walked out, locking it behind myself and throwing my keys back into my bag.

My eyes looked to my driveway with my car sitting there. I sighed. To drive, or not to drive? It was only a few blocks away, but I didn't feel like walking so much so early in the morning. I shrugged and walked over to my car, getting in, starting it and driving off towards the office.

As I arrived to the office, there were a few more extra cars out front as usual. I wonder what was going on? I drove to the back parking lot to my designated spot. I parked my car and shut it off. I made sure to grab my camera bag which was in the passenger seat. I got out of my car and closed the door behind myself, clicking the lock button on my key twice.

I walked up the small set of stairs that led to the door into the office. I walked in, the security guard Adam greeted me.

“Heya lady! What are you doing here this early on a Friday morning? John order coffee?” He said with a slight giggle.

“Har har..” I rolled my eyes. “I’m actually not sure what he wants. He just said he’d explain it all to me when I got here. Must be some 'situation' if he couldn’t explain it to me on the phone.”
“Well, you know he is. All secretive and everything.” Adam said.

“I might as well head in before he chews me out for being 2 minutes late. See ya later, Adam.” I said as I walked on in through the secondary door.

Adam waved a bit as I walked off. “See ya, Rax.”

I walked into the office to right away see something going on. There was a crowd of people near the center of the room with all the desks around. I saw tattoos I normally didn’t see. I walked up to the small crowd and I saw John’s head move around the crowd to see me. “Rax! Rax! Come here!” He waved me over. “There’s no way you can be mad at me now for waking you up this early in the morning.”

The group of guys now turned around one by one to see me. This can’t be happening. Is this a dream? I metaphorically pinched myself and blinked.

“Didn’t you mention a few times how much you loved Pierce the Veil?” John said, motioning towards them.

Vic, Tony, Mike and Jaime were all standing there about 4 feet away from me. I was starstruck. Today went from being a fantasy to real life. I really wish that happened more often.

“Y-yeah. I did.” I stuttered a little bit, probably sounding like a complete idiot to them. What a way to make a first impression.

“Heya, nice to meet you… Raxella, right?” Vic said, extending his hand to me.

I nodded. “Yes, nice to meet you too, Vic.” I shook his hand.

“So, you’re the awesome photographer that John can’t stop talking about?” Tony said, crossing his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow.

I blushed. Oh god. Tony talked to me. TO ME! “Well, I uh… I don’t know about “awesome” photographer. I’m average, I guess.”

John laughed “Hah! Don’t be silly! You’ve had so many photos published. Even Kellin Quinn speaks highly of you. Now that’s something to brag about.”

“Yeah, the whole reason why we’re here is because Kellin recommended you because of the photos you took from his tour.” Mike said. In his hands he had one of my favorite photos I took of Kellin during one of his shows, screaming to the audience with the mic in his hand.

“Okay, yeah, I guess that’s something to brag about.” I blushed even more, messing with the ends of my hair. If I had known I’d be meeting Pierce the Veil so early in the morning, I might have tried to make myself look a little more presentable.

“So, what do ya say, Rax?” Vic said. “We’d really like to have you as our photographer on tour.”

Vic, Tony, Jaime and Mike were now all looking at me like they were expecting a presidential speech.

I smiled and slowly nodded my head. “You’ve got yourself a photographer.”

Notes

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