“I hear you have some big news,” she said, loud enough for everyone to hear.
I had no idea what all her sources were, but I could never keep a surprise from her. I also knew she was dying to tell everyone.
“You know I always mess this up. You tell them.”
She didn’t even hesitate. She knew I would let her have the limelight.
“David was named the Midwest Freshman of the Year; that’s comprised of the whole Midwest region. It’ll be announced on Thanksgiving Day. He’s also Second Team All-State. That’s quite an accomplishment when he didn’t even make the All-Conference Team. He ends the season as the number three quarterback prospect in the country in the freshman class.”
I was stunned. She grinned because she knew I hadn’t heard about this yet. Less than 24 hours ago, I was the laughingstock of my high school team. I loved seeing Mark’s face go red, so I thought I would add to it.
“I have other news. I might have a scoop on you.”
She wagged her finger at me.
“David thinks he can get things by me, but he can’t. On Friday, he signed a contract with the Ford Models Agency to be the featured model for Range Sports.”
Mark seemed to choke on that and smiled to myself. He stormed off, but Jennie inched closer.
“Do you have any photos?” one of the girls I remembered from ‘naked dance party’ asked.
“Actually, I do. We had a photo shoot on Friday.”
I remembered they had a photographer with a 35-inch monitor taking pictures of couples.
“Let’s see if the photographer will let us put them on his monitor.”
The photographer was a young man and was pretty cool. He let me plug my phone into his PC so I could put it on his monitor. The first shot was of me lying back on the couch with my shirt only having the top button holding the shirt together. My stomach was displayed as the shirt was opened at the waist. I brought it up on the screen.
“There was another model there, and she dared me to open my shirt.”
The next photo was of me in the same pose, but now with Ava in her little black dress as she played with my stomach.
“As you can see, she’s a tease.”
The girls giggled.
The next one was with Ava in just her bra and panties, kissing me.
“She did warm up some. I was a little surprised when she kissed me. I’m usually shy.”
I had to slap Tami’s back because she seemed to choke on something. The last was the one with my butt hanging out.
“This is an artistic shot. That’s what the photographer tried to tell my mom, anyways.”
“‘Stupid boy,’ you’re always getting naked,” Tami said, as she swatted my forehead.
Alan was right, that hurt.
THE GIRLS WERE A LITTLE worked up, and the boys at the mixer were about to find out how much. I grinned as I watched them eyeing the boys and making their moves.
“How do we get copies of these photos?” the girl from before asked. “I’d like the set. You’re going to have a fantastic portfolio.”
She seemed to be knowledgeable.
“Are you in the business?”
She blushed.
“I wish, but I’m too short. You need to be at least five-nine. My dad owns a marketing firm, and my mom owns a graphics design company. I’m Janet, by the way.”
We shook hands.
“I’m just getting started, and any advice would be appreciated.”
She smiled. Apparently, her parents were chaperones at the mixer. When I asked if I could show them my photos, she lit up. She was cute, about five-five and very thin. Until she smiled, I didn’t notice her braces. I reset the pictures so they could be shown in order. When her parents got there, I just went through the shots and let Janet tell the story.
“You’re right, these should be sold as a set,” Mrs. Hill said. “On good quality paper, without frames, you could sell 16-by-20s for around $3,500. I have five customers right now that would spend that. How about we cut a deal? You give me six sets for $12,000 this week.”
“I’ll do that deal if you promise one of them goes to Janet and you frame them for her.”
She could see that Janet was about to jump out of her skin.
“Make it seven sets for $14,000 then.”
“Give me two minutes and I’ll confirm the deal.”
I dialed Kendal and she picked up on the first ring.
“Kendal, I just sold seven sets of four photos from our photo shoot for $14,000. As my agent, I need you to confirm the deal with Mrs. Hill.”
I handed the phone to Mrs. Hill.
“Do you have other photos we can see?” Mr. Hill asked.
“Can we go back to your room and use the TV screen in the lounge?” I asked Tami. “I just don’t want to be doing this with everyone around.”
“Good idea. I’ll go get it set up. Janet’s on my floor and knows where to go,” Tami said.
I looked at Janet and she nodded.
Carol kept tight hold of my arm. Jennie slid onto my other arm, and the two girls glared at each other. I wasn’t in the mood to deal with this right now.
“Carol, I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes. The buffet is calling my name.”
I let them both go. Mrs. Hill was done with the call, and she had a big smile. I grabbed my bag from behind the sign-in desk, and we went to the dorm. When we got there, I pulled out the two CDs and handed them to Tami. She put in the first disc and let the slideshow go through the shots.
Mrs. Hill picked out three more shots from my CD and two more from the combined shots of Ava and me.
“Do you have a copy of the release papers?” Mr. Hill asked.
I’d kept my copy with the CDs. He read them and smiled.
“You have full rights to both CDs. That means you can sell them. I would suggest that when you’re paid, you send a portion to the other model. You don’t have to, but it’s the right thing to do. Please keep in mind that you brokered the deal, and that’s worth at least 25%. The other model is only in a portion of the shots. I’d take your 25% minus expenses, and then offer 50% for the photos she’s in.”
“I want copies of the nine photos. I think I can sell some individual shots and the set to some other people,” Mrs. Hill said.
“Kendal was very specific about not allowing the pictures to be copied.”
She smiled at me.
“Smart girl. What we can do is put a watermark on them.”
I looked confused.
“Tell you what. Do you trust Tami?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll watermark the nine photos with your name and Kendal’s phone number on them. That way, if they get out, people will call Kendal to get prints. You can watch me do it.”
It took her no time to put the watermark on the photos. I let Tami email them to Mrs. Hill.
“Are you exclusive with Range Sports?” Mr. Hill asked.
“Not for at least 180 days.”
“I have two holiday flyers that will go out nationwide, and need someone this week. We could do them both on Friday. You’d make $2,500 per shoot. We could also work it out so you get rights to the pictures after the flyers run.”
I dialed Kendal again.
“Speak to Mr. Hill. He wants me to do two photo shoots this week.”
I handed him the phone.
While he and Kendal were talking, Tami came over.
“Mrs. Hill thinks she can sell a few more sets and some of the singles. Janet said her dad is always looking for people for the newspaper flyers. If you work out, you could make a living just doing that type of stuff.”
“Tami, this all kind of scares me. I can see how Kara got sucked into this and now does it full-time. She told me that she has to make her money now. I get the impression that once she’s done, she’ll be set for life.”
Tami had a way of making everything seem okay. I really missed her. She took my hand.
“We’ll take it a step at a time. Just relax. Your dad and brother have taught you to be patient, and everything will work itself out. You’ve been smart so far and gotten good people to advise you.”