Halfway Perfect Read Online Free

directions. Alex does everything she asks perfectly. He’s not even a little bit intimidated by her or by the dozens of people watching him. His chemistry with Elana is almost immediate. Whether manufactured for this job or real, it’s there, and it’ll be there in the photo too.
    His arrogance is also painfully familiar. So much that I can’t watch them anymore. I lift my camera to my face again and start snapping shots of Janessa as she works. Despite her comment about teen fashion magazines not being her “usual cup of tea,” she’s completely absorbed and on task. It’s as if she’s never taken a bad picture in her life and she doesn’t plan to start now.
    By the time my focus returns to the actual photo shoot, Janessa has moved on to a different set of models, and Elana is on the floor punching buttons on her sparkly-pink cell phone.
    â€œAre you supposed to be taking pictures in here?”
    I glance at the intern beside me. “I’m writing a paper on Janessa Fields. She said I could include some environmental photographs of her workplace.” Okay, so maybe she didn’t say that , but she didn’t tell me I couldn ’t either.
    â€œOh. Gotcha,” the girl says, backing down so quickly that I almost feel guilty for lying. “It’s just that Elana—actually, her assistant —would have a fit if we allowed photos that aren’t part of the shoot. Especially with all of the reporters. No, we wouldn’t want that.”
    I lower my camera and take in the round Hispanic woman the intern referred to as Elana’s assistant. “How old is Elana?”
    â€œNot sure. All I’ve gotten are mixed answers,” the intern says. “What’s your guess?”
    I shrug, shaking off a flashback of me, four years ago. “Hard to say.”
    My guess is fourteen or fifteen. Sixteen tops.
    The girl leans in to whisper to me, as if we’re suddenly BFFs. “She’s already hooked up with Alex Evans. I heard they might be doing a big campaign together.”
    My camera returns to my eye, and I zoom in on Alex, who’s clear on the other side of the room. After all his flirting with Elana a few minutes ago, I expected that to continue off camera, but he’s moved himself as far from her as possible.
    â€œI wouldn’t be surprised if you’re right,” I say to the girl. This seems to please her, and she leaves me to return to her work.
    I zoom in on Alex. His back is to me as he stares out the window. His hands are stuffed in his borrowed jean pockets. He lets out a breath and his shoulders slump forward a tad and the muscles in his back become less defined. A rush of adrenaline zips through my veins and I start snapping a dozen pictures, walking sideways to capture his profile.
    Without any warning, his back becomes perfectly erect again and his head snaps in my direction.
    Shit .
    â€œWhat are you doing?” he demands, stalking over and placing his palm over my camera lens.
    â€œNothing.” My heart thuds a little too fast. “Just getting some shots of the skyline. You know…out the window.”
    His eyebrows lift, challenging me. “Oh yeah? Well don’t let me block your view.”
    He steps aside and now I can clearly see that there isn’t anything out that particular window except the side of another building. My face heats up despite telling myself not to blush. He’s gonna think I’m some obsessive girl trying to sneak pictures of shirtless models. As if I haven’t seen enough of them for a lifetime.
    I have yet to be caught photographing a human subject. Usually I’m in wide-open spaces like Central Park and no one suspects they’re in my shot. And those photos are for my professor or my own walls, not National Geographic like Janessa’s stuff or even Seventeen . If the roles were reversed, I’d be pissed off too.
    I flash him my most genuine fake