Lullaby (The Fable Series, Book 2)

Chapter Twenty Two

We spend almost an hour at the art gallery, milling around the exhibition while Cameron tells me about the photographer who took each picture. They mostly seem to be friends or acquaintances of his, people who he met at art school – like Jade, who majored in painting before dropping out.

Jade and Kitty walk alongside us, lost in their own private conversation. I can't hear what they're talking about, but every now and again I hear Kitty giggle at something Jade's said.

Sometimes the photographer is standing near his or her work, explaining the meaning or the composition to passersby. We have brief conversations with them, before moving on to the next one. Cameron knows everyone, and judging from the way most of the females we encounter flutter their eyelashes at him, or stick out their chests and get all giggly the second we approach, I'm guessing he's hooked up with a fair amount of them too.

Flatteringly, Cameron seems mostly disinterested in all the girls giving him bedroom eyes as we pass though. He seems happy just to talk about the photographs on display, and about himself. I learn that Cameron grew up in Olympia, and he's been living in Portland the last three years to be close to the art school. He has a younger brother, his parents are divorced, and his mom got remarried last year to a "fifty-year-old fuckboy" she met on Tinder.

After he graduates he wants to travel Europe, maybe live in Amsterdam for a year.

He says he's going to be a photojournalist eventually, or an art director.

He doesn't ask me anything about myself, for which I'm grateful – I'm still super nervous, even after he's pretty much told me his whole life story. Even though this isn't really a proper date – Cameron and I are just here to support the real date, Jade and Kitty – it still feels like one.

From time to time Cameron runs a hand through his dark curly hair, or plays with his lip ring. I can certainly see what it is that makes him so popular with girls. Besides being drop dead gorgeous, he's confident and friendly and so easy to talk to. And he's so normal and uncomplicated. Normal life, normal dreams. Just your standard player, predictable and a dime-a-dozen. There are a million guys out there exactly like him, and somehow that's weirdly reassuring.

After making our way around the entire gallery, we finally stop in front of a massive photo in a simple wooden frame. The photograph is of a beach, ripples of sand caught in the moment that a light wind lifts them into the air. There are no people, no signs of civilization, save for one odd detail – a large black tire washed up on the shore, its once silver hubcap crusted over with rust.

Waves crash against a rock far out at sea, sending eddies of white foam into the air.

There's a certain symmetry, or maybe a quality of the light, which makes the photograph more than just a picture of wreckage – it's a work of art. The whole scene is perfectly framed, perfectly timed.

As I stare at the photograph, I realize that the scene is oddly familiar. I've been there before, on that beach, but I don't know when.

I feel a sudden weight around my neck; I look down and see the silver serpent ring glinting on its chain, somehow heavier than before. I instinctually grab it, wrapping my hand around it as if to block it from the image. Thankfully, Cameron doesn't seem to have noticed. He's staring at the photograph with an eyebrow cocked, like he's scrutinizing some tiny detail.

"It's an amazing photograph," I say. "Do you know the photographer? I want to ask where it was taken."

"He's standing right in front of you," he says, his pale blue eyes twinkling as he smirks. "I took that picture at-"

"Saving the best for last, right Cam?" Jade slaps Cameron on the back, interrupting him as he and Kitty join us.

"I guess," Cameron says, looking at the photo thoughtfully. "I dunno about this one. It's not my usual subject."