Senior Year Box Set

Bandit had Precious by the back of the neck and was … uh … getting busy. There was no way in hell I was going to get in the middle of that. Duke seemed to be of the same opinion: the hair on his back went up, and he made a big circle around the two cats. I had a feeling Brit wasn’t going to be happy.

It was quickly over, and Bandit darted behind me for protection. Precious had that look that said someone would die soon, so I scooped up Casanova and put him in the back door. Precious decided she’d had enough and darted through the gate to go home.

◊◊◊

I’d shown Ms. Saunders the pictures I’d taken of my mom’s listing. She taught me how to use Photoshop again. It helped clean up the glare issues that came with shooting a room with sunlight coming in. We then worked on the early evening pictures that showed the home with the lights on. With a few tweaks, they really popped. I sent the finished results to my mom so she could use them in her marketing materials.

I showed Ms. Saunders my mom’s website, and she found the video I’d done of my mom and the virtual tour.

“You took this with your phone?” she asked.

“Actually, my mom’s, but yeah, I’m the one who shot it.”

“With some editing, this could be quite good. I like how it feels amateurish in some ways, but there are things you could do to raise it up a level or two.”

“What do you mean?”

“Think about your movies. Do they normally do one long scene where they follow you around, or do they break it down and show shots from different angles?” she asked.

“But that would mess up the flow as she’s talking.”

“Add her voice after the video is shot,” she offered.

I felt my face get hot as I realized how stupid I’d just been. My mind began to race with thoughts about what could have been done differently to make it better.

My mom had told me that real estate was changing. It used to be that prospective buyers would come to your office, and you would take them around to show them homes. There were some days she’d come home exhausted after she’d carted them from house to house.

With the Internet, people had access to a lot more information. Mom had tried to make her website a one-stop place for home buying. When a customer brought up a home on her site, it had a lot of pictures. But it also gave them information about the neighborhood, crime rates, school ratings, nearby shopping and eateries, and much more.

She said that she rarely had a customer in the car anymore; they did their research first and then called her to meet them at the house to see it. That was why the photos and video were so important.

Ms. Saunders helped me with some video-editing software to make some minor changes. We added some soft background music and a picture of the home’s exterior with a header that showed the address.

“With your movie background, we should take some time and have you shoot some videos.”

“What should I film?”

“I don’t know. What do you like to do?” she asked.

I got a big smile.

“Not that,” she teased. “It has to be something that won’t get me fired.”

I was shocked that Ms. Saunders would assume that was what I had in mind. Then I remembered that she was around teenagers for most of the day.

I was surprised that I liked this class so much. If I’d thought about it, I probably wouldn’t have been surprised at all. I looked forward to creating a video.

◊◊◊

Football practice went well today. Some days, everything seems to go right. I finally felt like I was ready for the season. After practice, Coach Mason wanted to talk to me.

“I want you to be prepared for not starting on Saturday.”

“What did I do wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing. Coach Hope plans to reward Trent for summer workouts and two-a-days.”

“What about the other guys who traveled to Mexico with me?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“Seriously? Coach Hope and I discussed this before we left. Now he’s going back on his word,” I said, getting mad.

“I didn’t say they wouldn’t play. They just aren’t starting.”

“How long is this little punishment supposed to last?” I asked.

Coach Mason chuckled.

“It’s not a punishment. It’s a reward for the effort they put in,” he explained.

“I call bullshit, but what do I know? If he had told me he planned to do this, I would never have let them come with me.”

Coach Mason looked serious.

“I agree it’s bullshit. I need you to be above it all. The team looks to you to set the tone. If you complain, then the boys who took your places will be put in an awkward position. Trent knows full well that we have a much better chance of winning with you playing. If you make a fuss over this, you could tear the team apart.

“You also need to remember that Coach Hope is in charge. I’ve seen a number of times where players forget who’s leading, and the team suffers for it. I want you to step back and look at the big picture,” Coach Mason said.

“That him playing ‘leader’ is going to hurt me in my recruiting and my family’s future?” I asked.