He Said I Was Unphotogenic Yet My Photos Shocked The Entire School Chapter 05

He Said I Was Unphotogenic Yet My Photos Shocked The Entire School Chapter 05

Someone nearby gasped. “That’s Derek Stone? The one who won the National College Photography Gold Award? He did the B-roll for last year’s admissions video?”

Derek didn’t look at them. He handed me the folder. “Come on. Let’s go clear this up.”

Back in the office, the admissions coordinator glanced up. “You’re the photographer?”

Derek placed his student ID, award certificates, the forum screenshot, the chat log, and the payment receipt on the table.

“I’m Derek Stone. I did work on last year’s campus promo, but that was a separate project.”

“I’m not on this year’s selection committee, and I have no affiliation with the Public Affairs Office.”

“My contact with Emma started with that twenty-dollar post on Campus Voice.”

The official flipped through the documents, her frown deepening.

Derek pulled out a portable drive. “Here are all the raw files. Every image has a timestamp, camera settings, and original metadata.”

“Here’s the BTS video. It proves the shoot involved only Emma and me. No commercial team. No stand-ins.”

On screen, my first session played back, shoulders tight, hands gripping my skirt, eyes darting downward. Derek’s voice off-camera, “Don’t fear the lens. It won’t yell at you.”

The room went quiet.

The footage kept going. Library. Field. Science building. Alumni wall.

In every segment, I didn’t start out natural. I froze, laughed mid-take, didn’t know where to put my hands. But each time, Derek just redirected me.

“Look at the light.”

“Don’t duck.”

“Turn back now.”

“Yes, that one. Exactly.”

The official was silent for a long time. *This material does correspond to the final submission.*

The student conduct officer asked, “And the retouching?”

Derek opened the edit log. “Only exposure, white balance, and cropping. No skin smoothing, no body sculpting, no AI face replacement. What you see in her photos is her actual face.”

When those words landed, my throat closed up.

Jason stood at the door, his expression carved from stone.

The official turned to me. “Ms. Calloway, could you deliver the final line from your video, right now?”

My fingers tightened. Derek met my eyes. “Don’t think about proving anything. Just say what you meant. Like you did that day.”

I took a breath and looked up. “May you come here and slowly find yourself.”

My voice shook, but I didn’t look away.

The coordinator looked at me, then at the screen, and finally nodded.

“Confirmed. Genuine work by the applicant. The finalist ranking is reinstated. As for the online misinformation, the university will issue a statement.”

I walked out on shaky legs. Derek reached out as if to steady me, but stopped short of actually touching.

Jason called after me. “Emma.”

I stopped.

“I didn’t know he was Derek,” he said.

I turned. “So if he weren’t Derek, you’d still refuse to believe me?”

Jason froze.

This time, I didn’t wait for his answer.