“Ready?” Drew asks. I take a deep breath and nod. He shuts the door, plunging the room into complete darkness. I start to feel the familiar panic rising up in me immediately, but then I hear Drew’s voice. “Do you have the reel ready?”

“Yes,” I say, taking the tip of the film and sliding it carefully into the reel. For a second, my hands start to shake and I almost drop the reel and the film on the floor, but suddenly Drew’s hand is on mine, steadying it.

“Thanks,” I say gratefully, wondering how he knew.

“You got it,” he says softly, and I start to slide the film onto the track, moving quickly as it falls into place. I close my eyes while I do it and pretend I’m out in the bright classroom, just practicing with my eyes closed.

“Okay,” I say, “I’m done.”

“I’m going to turn the light on, okay?” Drew asks.

“Wait! Will you check it? To see if it feels right?”

“Sure.” I try to hand him the reel with the film in it, but I can’t see anything. My hand brushes against his cheek. I feel the scruffiness of his face, and a wave of heat flows through my body.

He moves my hand down and takes the reel from me. “Feels great. Ready to turn the light on?”

“Are you kidding?”

The room becomes flooded with light, and I fan myself, pretending to be hot, in case I’m flushing from when I touched his face. What is wrong with me? Am I really such a loser that being away from my boyfriend for six weeks makes me want to jump on any guy I’m the least bit close to? Ugh.

Drew squints and looks down at the reel. “Good job,” he says, squeezing my arm. I take a step back. “You all right?” he asks, opening the door to the blackroom.

“Of course!” I say, my voice and my step a little shaky. I glance down at the reel in my hand. It looks like it’s loaded properly, with no film sticking out or anything. “Oh my God!” I say, delighted. “It totally worked!” I throw my arms around him in a moment of bad judgment and unmitigated happiness over the fact that I just might possibly not fail this assignment.

“No sweat,” Drew says, once he’s detangled himself from me.

“Thanks so much,” I say. “Really, this was huge.” My head is reeling from his closeness, but I’m trying not to show it.

“No prob,” Drew says. “So do you want to develop them?”

“Yeah, I think I will,” I say, “but you don’t have to stay, really.” Please stay, please, please, please. “You’ve done enough.”

“I don’t mind staying,” Drew says. “Besides, I’m kind of interested to see what Ally Cavanaugh, amateur photographer, has come up with.”

I smile. “You sure?”

“Absolutely.”