Page 49 of Lost in the Current of You

He smiled as he pulled back, swiping a thumb along my chin before handing me the screen. “I’ll text you.”

Then he climbed out the window and landed with a soft thud just as Nate knocked on my door.

“It’s like midday. Why are you only getting dressed now?” he murmured from the other side of the door, making my heart leap into my throat at how close he was.

I opened my door, hoping I masked the panic I felt in my bones enough, as Nate leaned against the door frame with damp hair and a sunburn tinging his nose and cheeks red. My eyes caught sight of the bandage on his right forearm with a small patch of blood seeping through it.

“What the hell have you been doing?” I queried, frowning when I peered back up at him.

He waved a hand through the air. “Nothing serious, just rock jumping. Come on, I brought something home for you.”

I followed him down the stairs. “It better not be like your last surprise because I will fight you.”

Nate chuckled. “Oh, come on, Dakota. It was a hot day. We did you a favour hosing you down.”

I scoffed. “But did I ask? I was perfectly content laying in my air-conditioned room, thank you.”

He tutted, grabbing a bag from the kitchen island and holding it out for me. “Yeah, but that’s not fun.”

I grabbed the bag from him, lips pressed in a thin line as I watched him for a moment before pulling out a box. I frowned at the contents printed on it.

It was a brand new camera, a pretty expensive one too. One with different settings and lenses.

I looked up at him, swallowing the lump growing in my throat. “Nate, what is… why did you get me this?”

He shrugged and looked away. “We went to the shops after the beach, and I saw this and thought of you. You mentioned how you enjoyed taking photos on your week in Airlie Beach and it just looked like you found something that sparked something in you. You told me you didn’t want to go to university and well, I don’t think you need to go to Uni for photography. So I thought this might help with that.”

He said it so nonchalantly, but with every word, tears formed in my eyes and I threw my arms around him. He tentatively wrapped his arms around my shoulders and patted my back awkwardly.

“It’s nothing, Dakota.”

I pulled away from him and nudged his arm. “It’s not nothing, Nate, it’s everything. Thank you.”

He shrugged. “Well, don’t say I don’t do anything for you.”

Then, he turned and trudged back upstairs.

I smoothed a hand over the box as I took in all the details of what was included.

And I thought I didn’t deserve the family I had.

Not when I lied and hid things right in front of their faces while they came back with presents like this to make me happy.

19

I’d thought a lot about how I saw my future the past week, more than I ever had since going through the photos and the present from Nate.

All the times I held the camera up to my eye, there was an ever-present smile on my face. I loved looking through the lens and focusing on what I was capturing. Whether it was the landscape, wildlife, or people, I loved seeing the beauty and trying to unravel the emotions and thoughts of the people I snapped photos of. It felt like something I could delve into, to tell stories through a single snapshot.

It kick-started an excitement that I had been longing for.

I searched all different avenues of photography, interviews with photographers, and searching their portfolios. Then I went on to see the academic avenues, the study programs for photography, what it involves, and if it was necessary.

Dinner the next night, I brought it up with Dad very vaguely. Just a thought thrown in the air.

“What do you think about photography as a career?”

Dad chewed on the bite he had just taken of the honey soy chicken he made, giving him time to mull over the question. “I’ve never really thought about it. But I guess if you’re passionate about it and it makes you happy,” he shrugged. “Why not? There’s a lot of famous photographers and I’m sure there’s a lot of different paths you can take with it.”

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