• "Stop it!" Niki screamed as she dodged paper wads being thrown at her.

    Niki is seven and just moved to California with her dad after her parents divorced and her mother being put into rehab for drug addiction. Her dad was granted full custody of her and his work as an engineer brought them to Albany, California.

    "Hey, stop it!" Mrs. Lansing shouted as she slapped her yard stick on the marker board in front of her.

    "Every one of you will sit at recess and write a letter to your parents as to why you were sitting out at recess!"

    The entire class groaned and protested causing her to slam her stick against the board again.

    "Quiet!" she demanded.

    Niki sat huddled in the corner weeping. Mrs. Lansing walked over to her and placed her hand on her back. She jumped.

    "I'm sorry I startled you, honey. Are you alright?"

    She shook her head.

    "I'll call your father to come pick you up."

    "He can't come because he's working."

    "Is there anyone else that can pick you up?"

    She shook her head.

    Mrs. Lansing crossed her arms and said, "Well, go down to the office and I'll call them to inform them you're coming. Okay?"

    Niki stood up and nodded with her head hanging. She quickly ran out the door and made sure to not make any eye contact with any of the children as she ran to the door.


    Niki stared at the ceiling in her bedroom as she laid on her bed and listened to her CD player. Nothing had hardly changed since that day except for the fact that she had gotten older. She will be graduating high school in three days and will finally be free of the ridicule she had gotten the past twelve years of her life. She has never fit in at any school she had gone to, of the three, and hasn't had but one friend that moved in third grade. She hadn't seen him since and can't quite recall his name. They weren't best friends, but he actually talked to her so she considered him one.

    "Niki, I'm going to work. I'll see you when I get back."

    Her dad, Randall Jarvis, works as a Biomedical Engineer working to develop new artificial organs while Niki worked all her life in a trial-and-error to fit in.

    Niki got off her bed and grabbed her bag and keys to walk to school. Albany High School was less than a mile away from her house so she didn't bother her dad to take her.

    She arrived to school and, as usual, immediately went to class before anyone else had.

    After five class periods and lunch, another agonizing day had ended. She didn't see why these last three days were necessary because they weren't doing anything at all except sitting there talking or watching movies. Tomorrow they'll be rehearsing walking the line, but that is the only important thing this week.

    She finally made it home and threw her bag on the floor next to the sofa and saw a pale yellow post-it note stuck to the TV. She pulled it off and read it.

    Out of milk. Please get some if you have time.

    She tossed the note and grabbed some money off the fridge, crammed it in her pocket, and headed out the door making sure to lock it behind her. She made her way around the house to her bike and hopped on.

    She had her license but preferred to ride her bike unless there was bad weather. She enjoyed the breeze, especially during spring and summer.

    She hopped on her bike and rode to the store getting one gallon of milk. By the time she returned her dad was back. She parked her bike and took the milk inside, putting it in the fridge. She then went upstairs, with no conversation as usual, and popped a CD in her CD player.

    Her CD player was a big black stereo from the 90s that had speakers wired to it so they could be separated or hung up somewhere. It also had a three CD disk changer, tape player, and radio. The volume was loud, just how she liked it. It tortured her dad most of the time so she couldn't turn it up too loud when he was home. The last thing she wants is him on her a** about the music.

    She presses play and lays down on the bed grabbing her sketch pad and pencil off her dresser on the way. She's always enjoyed drawing and almost always has her nose in her sketch pad whenever she can. Even during school. She wants to be a fashion designer and make-up artist when she goes to college.

    She flips the book open and finds a blank page near the back and bites the end of her pencil thinking of a new design to draw. The book is filled with fur vests and jackets, prom dresses, and designer-type jeans. Many pages of only shirts, jackets, dresses, pants, boots, and even lingerie putting them all together on a drawn mannequin to test outfits. She finally decides on a black tube top and bra straps showing with Capri jeans that come just below the knee.

    Suddenly a fist started banging at the door. She quickly turned around and her pencil streaked across the page drawing a line through her mannequin. The door burst open and her dad came in with a belt. Her eyes widened as he folded it up in preparation to hit her. He walked to the side of the bed and she jumped and bolted for the door. She ran outside to her bike but he was too fast. He grabbed her wrist as her arm pushed back and jerked her back. She fell on her butt and was staring up at the belt pending inches above her head. He pulled back and slapped her across the chest. She screamed and he slapped her again hitting her rib cage.

    "Stop!" she screamed. "What did I do this time?!"

    "Your teacher called today and said you skipped class the past two days."

    She ducked down and covered her head with her arm and he slapped her across the arm.

    "You're lucky today. If you do it again I'd wear you out."

    He threw her arm down and left her on the lawn bruised and beaten up. She'll be graduating in two days and will be gone the next. She's already decided on going to California College of the Arts for her BFA in Fashion Design. She's going to minor in photography and filming in case she couldn't get anything for fashion designing. She figures it would be easier getting a job in that field anyway living in California.

    Niki turned over on the lawn and stared at the clouds daydreaming and thinking how much better off she'll be once she graduates high school and makes it out of college.


    *5 years later*

    "Okay guys, just a little more to the right and tilt your head this way," Niki motioned with her hands as she stood behind the camera. "Perfect! Right there, don't move."

    She snapped three pictures and placed her hands on her hips.

    "Alright, we're all done here."

    "Thank God. I'm Way overdue for a cappuccino. Do you want some, deary?" the man asked.

    "No, Blake. Thank you, though," the other man replied.

    Gays always went to Niki's studio because they knew they wouldn't be ridiculed like the other portrait studios. She never was prejudice against anyone, but the one thing she absolutely could not stand was people being uptight bitches to her. She usually tried to be nice to people, but she refused service for them because she was tired of it.

    "Okay, that will be forty-two dollars and fifty cents," she said as she rang up the portrait package at the register.

    The man handed her the money and she placed it in the register.

    "Come back in half an hour and I'll have them printed and ready for you."

    "Thank you so much, Niki. We'll be back later," he said as he walked out the door.

    Niki walked over to the window and leaned up against the wall, arms linked across her chest, as she watched the pedestrians walking by. She turned around and printed off the pictures before straightening up the studio.

    The door opened and she heard Blake's voice say, "We're back!"

    "Just in time," she replied. "They're over there on the counter."

    The couple walked over to the white envelope and removed the pictures.

    "Oh my, they're beautiful! Don, look at this one," Blake said as he flipped through the photos.

    "Oh, that one is definitely going on the wall in the Master Bedroom." Blake nodded in agreement.

    "Thank you, Niki. We'll be back again some time," Don said as he and Blake left the studio.

    "Alright," she waved, "see you then."

    Niki leaned up against an empty table then decided she wanted a smoke break. She walked outside and leaned up against the wall, pulling out her cigarette packet. Pulling one out and putting it in her mouth, it suddenly was snatched out from between her lips by a teenager running down the sidewalk.

    "If he needed a cigarette that bad just let him have it. I didn't need it anyway," she thought.

    She took a deep sigh and walked back in the studio and sat around waiting for another customer to come in, or for the next appointment, which ever one came first. Moments later the door opened yet again. She looked up and saw a woman with long blond hair, a red t-shirt, and denim shorts walk in. Following her was none other than Mike Dirnt. Niki's eyes widened at the sight of the famous musician in her studio. She had once gotten a struggling singer with her boyfriend, though she couldn't remember her name.

    "Hello, we would like to have some pictures taken," the blond said hanging onto Mike's arm and holding him close. He rolled his eyes and looked over at the wall.

    "Um, sure," she said reaching for the catalog of photo packages. "Just choose your preferred package here and we'll set up your backdrops."

    The woman flipped through the pages and chose 8 poses with her preferred photo sizes package. After all was said and done, Niki pulled out the backdrops one by one for them to choose, eying him as slyly as possible. Finally, all the backdrops were chosen and arranged for each pose and then she pulled out the chairs and props.

    "Sit here please," Niki said to Mike pointing to the armchair she had just pulled over to the set.

    He sat and then said to the blond, "Okay, now you sit on his lap." She did so. "Now, place your arm on his thigh here and lean your head over just a bit." Niki placed her hand just above my knee to show her where to place her hand. "Perfect."

    She took her spot behind the camera and snapped three quick shots and then pulled the next backdrop down.

    "Okay, let me move this and pull these over."

    They stood and stepped out of the way so she could pull in the next props in and one by one we took the next 7 poses.

    "Thank you for your service," she said. "Just wait here and I'll have your pictures printed off shortly or you can come back in 20 minutes."

    "Well, I need to drop off that envelope," the woman said.

    Mike shrugged. "I'll just wait for them and meet you down there when they're done. Sound okay to you?"

    "Yeah," she kissed his cheek, "see you shortly," then left.

    "There is a seat over there if you want to sit," she said, pointing at the small row of chairs lining the window.

    "That's okay, I'll just stand. It shouldn't take too long, right?"

    She shook her head. "No, not really. It would if she ordered more poses."

    "Dear God. I would've protested if there were more. She doesn't realize how much I have to pose for pictures. It honestly gets annoying after a while."

    "I'd say. Luckily I do it for a living instead of chasing you guys around and getting what I can without being convicted of stalking."

    He chuckled. "Yeah."

    "So, when is your next local concert?"

    "We start back touring in about two months."

    "Cool."

    She continued templating and printing photos in silence with her heart trying to spring out of her chest. Being around celebrities always made her nervous, especially if it was a band she really liked.

    "So, what's your girlfriend's name?" she asked breaking the silence.

    "Jennifer."

    "Cute."

    Cute...really Niki? She was mentally kicking herself for that one.

    He gave a small laugh that sent chills down her spine. He had a deep, warm laugh that nearly made her melt to her chair.

    "Good thing I didn't say anything really funny, otherwise I probably would've gone limp, " she thought.

    The pictures were finally printed off and she quickly put them in the white envelope and gave them to Mike.

    "Here are your pictures. Thank you for being dragged in here."

    He chuckled. "Yeah, really. It was nice talking to you," he said just before he walked out the door. "I guess I'll see you around, then."

    "Sure."

    With that he left.

    Niki took in a deep sigh and immediately went outside to take a long needed smoke. She never expected Mike to come into the studio. She always had a small thing for Tre, but meeting Mike was different. She knew she couldn't have him for multiple reasons, but she also hoped she never faced that again because she didn't think she could handle one of her heroes face-to-face again.