As I stood in front of Bette, her beaming smile piercing my soul, I quickly studied her. Even though Carmen had said all those things, the vibe I was getting from Bette was different. Maybe  Carmen was just trying to protect me, or maybe she was just telling me the gossip she’s heard. Whatever the case is, I’d like to get to know her more.

"I was watching you for a while, eyeing this photograph," she said and stared at the photograph with me, "It’s a Catherine Opie, she takes breathtakingly amazing photos."

"Yes, if I had to guess, it’s a British country side."

"You’re quite the guesser."

"It looks to me that she used a Nikon, D eight hundred, maybe D three S."

"You really know your stuff," she said and looked to me, her face showing her amusement, "I know she uses a Nikon, as to which one specific, I have no clue. How do you know so much about photography and cameras?"

"Well, I am a bit of a photographer myself," I said, I could feel my face flushing. She moved closer to me, her body inching closer to mine. Her scent was intoxicating. She placed her hand on my back and guided me a few feet to another photo of a woman sitting at a table in front of a french coffee house. It was a nice black and white with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

"As am I Miss. Kennard, I like portraits," she said, and my face was starting to get hot as I still felt her hand on me, "I would like to shoot you one day," she whispered in my ear.

"Really," I whispered and her hand moved to my waist and I shuddered.

"TK! Where did you go," I heard Alice calling and Bette disappeared down the hall as Alice rounded the corner.

"Sorry, I was admiring Bette’s artwork," I said, and I looked behind me as I walked towards Alice and rejoined the girls in the pool.

After an hour or so, I thought it was time to go home, I needed to be home before it was too late. Shane offered to drive me home once we got back to her place. As we left the house, I felt eyes on me and looked back to see Bette staring with an amused look on her face. I felt my face flush and we walked on. Shane and Carmen were walking ahead of us, holding hands and talking while Alice and I were straggling behind. We had made light conversation about school, and what we wanted to do after high school.