He Said I Was Unphotogenic Yet My Photos Shocked The Entire School Chapter 06

He Said I Was Unphotogenic Yet My Photos Shocked The Entire School Chapter 06

The university’s statement went up that evening.

[Verification confirmed that Ms. Emma Calloway’s submission was her own genuine work. No commercial team, excessive retouching, AI replacement, or improper resource exchange was involved.]

The university will further investigate the dissemination of false information.]

The forum thread was deleted quickly, but screenshots were everywhere. People who’d called me dishonest switched tones.

[So it really was her.]

[Derek Stone shot it, no wonder the quality’s top-notch.]

[Who started the rumor about her and the photographer anyway?]

The club chat stayed quiet for a long time. Then someone wrote: [Everyone, stop spreading stuff.]

Soon, several people messaged me privately.

[Emma, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have piled on.]

[Your piece is really good.]

I looked at those late apologies and felt no satisfaction.

During those hours in that office, I’d been grilled about my integrity. People had hurled words like “relationship” and “exchange of favors” at me like dirt.

They said sorry so easily. But I’d been genuinely terrified.

The next day, I went to the club room to pick up my registration materials.

As soon as I reached the door, voices inside stopped. A few people looked at me, awkward.

Someone murmured, “Claire’s comments yesterday were pretty leading. She said Derek ‘couldn’t be just anyone.’ Wouldn’t be surprised if she filed the complaint.”

I closed the cabinet door with a soft click.

Claire stood by the window, pale, her eyes quickly welling up. “Emma, I really didn’t mean to hurt you. I just thought things should be checked.”

I looked at her. “Claire, you said I used to avoid cameras and might have been over-produced. Do you know what that implies?”

She bit her lip. “I just wanted the school’s promo to be honest.”

I laughed. “You wanted honesty. So you let people say I traded favors for photos?”

Tears rolled down her face. Jason stepped forward from behind her. “Emma, that’s enough. She apologized.”

I turned to him. “When she implied something improper about me, you didn’t say enough. When she questioned my integrity, you didn’t tell her to stop.”

Jason’s face went pale. Claire cried harder. He instinctively moved in front of her.

That small gesture snapped something in me. I held my folder and said evenly, “Jason. We’re done.”

The room went dead quiet.

“What?” He stared at me.

“I said we’re done.”

All the color drained from his face. “Over this?”

I shook my head. “Not just this. Graduation day, you shot two hundred of her and two of me. You told me I wasn’t photogenic.”

“When I got accused, you doubted me first. And even now, you still think Claire is more hurt than I am.”

Jason opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

I turned and walked past them.

My phone buzzed. Derek: [Still shooting for the final round?]

My eyes burned. I typed: [Yeah.]

He said: [Then this time, we’ll shoot who you really want to be seen as.]