Kendall raised his eyebrows as a surprised breath left his throat without warning. “It makes you way better than those people,” he admitted, rustling his hair with his hand. “I don’t know, maybe I’ve just always given teachers the benefit because I wanted to be some kind of teacher growing up, like maybe a hockey coach or a summer camp director. Now I’m not sure if I’d be great at that either but, you know, we have time to decide, at least.” He thoughtlessly bit his lip a little after saying that, not liking that it made him sound so down on himself. He tried to talk that sort of negative self-talk out of his friends all the time, he should try harder to get rid of it within himself, and yet. Thankfully, ‘golly’ seemed to do the trick in distracting them and he couldn’t help himself from laughing at the way it sounded coming out of Addison’s mouth. “Okay, dang it, it does sound funny coming from someone else, I can’t fault them for that anymore,” he chortled out, reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder to steady himself. “No, no, lesson learned! I’ll keep my gollies to myself!”
The pink on Addison’s face just made Kendall want to take a picture even more; she looked so pretty with that color on her face, the picture practically took itself in his mind, which didn’t happen often. Photography was just a hobby for him, after all. “You do?” he asked happily, a smile spreading across his face. “Awesome! I wasn’t really sure because, well, I mean, I’m not good at this like you are, but lucky for me, it turns out you’re just as inspiring in front of the camera as you are behind it! I always like the option that creates a narrative, you know? When people can fill in the blanks themselves, it usually turns out best, like a group effort. So, yeah, let’s set up! I think the way you’re facing is pretty close already. Let your body relax and do what’s natural and your face…can you just tip your nose up a little bit more?” he suggested with a shrug as he lined up. Looking at her through the camera, he let out a small whistle and smiled. “Anyone ever told you that your nose is, like, perfect?” He meant it, but he also wanted to get a genuine smile so that he could click and capture the moment.
Addison narrowed her eyes at Kendall. Maybe it wasn’t her place to be making snap judgments about him, when she’d overlooked him for so many years and only really gotten to know him when their dating lives had thrown him together... But hearing him say he didn’t think he’d be a very good teacher seemed like it couldn’t be further from the truth. “What makes you think that?” she asked him, softening sympathetically. She knew what it was to get down on herself, she supposed, even if she wasn’t as good at being vulnerable and admitting it the way Kendall seemed to be able to. “Because from what I can tell, you’re pretty smart about camp stuff and hockey stuff... But more importantly, you’re smart about people stuff. You can learn whatever you don’t know, and practice ways to teach it to people, but if you can’t like... notice when people are having a hard time, and figure out the right ways to reach people...” Addison trailed off, shrugging. “If you decide you don’t want to do it, then that’s one thing. But if you just don’t want to do it because you don’t think you can, then I’ve gotta say, I think you’re wrong. Real... golly... wrong,” she tried, stifling a laugh at her own attempt to cheer him up.
Addison tried not to bask too much in another compliment, but she couldn’t help herself. She had a feeling later, when she couldn’t hide from her feelings anymore and she had to actually deal with the fallout of what had happened with Hadie, she’d be able to cling to what a nice time she’d had with Kendall to help buoy her and keep her afloat through it. Addy relaxed into the shoot, following Kendall’s instruction and smiling proudly every time he navigated her through something that she herself would have suggested if their roles were reversed, too. “Perfect nose is a new one,” Addison giggled as she tipped it up higher towards the sky, letting Kendall take a few of the mysterious, serious shots they’d discussed before sticking her tongue out at him and then striking a few silly poses for him to snap, too.
