Walking down the street with my bike on one side and Amanda on my other, I couldn’t help but notice the color of the leaves. Fall was coming! Autumn was my favorite season. But no one else agreed with me. They all said that it’s too cold and raw, but I saw it more as comfortable. My favorite thing was sitting up against a tree trunk with apple cider and a good book. Being under all of the different shades of crimsons and ambers, left you with a great feeling on the inside. Almost like it’s nature’s way of telling you ‘everything’s going to be okay!’ But, that’s just me, Stephanie Crystal - fourteen year old camera geek from Florida.
“It’s getting so cold out.” Amanda interrupted my thoughts.
“I know! I love it!” I screeched.
“How? Steph, you’re from Florida, you should be colder than anyone in the town right now.”
“That was ten years ago, Mandy. I’ve gotten over that.”
“You know,” she nudged, “you’re kind of weird.”
I smiled and looked at her.
“Well, I learn from the best.”
“Hey!”
I giggled and hopped onto my bike. Once I started peddling, I saw Amanda jump on hers. She started to catch up to me, but when we reached the hill, I was full speed ahead. I noticed the street was surrounded by a tunnel of trees while the sun shined through the colors. I stood up on my bike and reached my arm towards the leaves above my head. At this point, I didn’t care about winning, I just wanted to capture this perfect moment.
I hit my brakes, pulled over, and leaned my bike up against a tree. I let Amanda whizz by me and I took my camera out of my bag. I sprinted up to the top of the hill, crouched down, and brought the camera to my eye.
“Perfect!” I mumbled.
Click. I took the picture and grabbed the film, then ran down to the tree my bike was on. I crouched down before it and took another photo as the mid-day sun shined through the leaves and reflected off the turquoise medal of my bicycle. I looked over and saw Amanda waiting for me impatiently, so I decided to pack up and I rode my bike over to her again.
“Really?” She asked, jokingly, with her arms crossed.
“Really. C’mon, I still haven’t beaten you home yet!”
The house was only down the street and around the corner and I was already behind Amanda. But as we took the corner, I rode on the inside of her and won by half a front wheel.
“Yes!”
I jumped off my bike and started dancing.
We both laughed and walked inside the house, side by side.
*****

“Hey, just wanted to ask, are you sure you don’t mind me staying here while my parents are away?” I asked while listening to music on my bed.
“Are you kidding? Of course! You practically live here, anyway.” Amanda reassured, finishing her homework.
Just as she finished, her cell phone rang. She looked hesitant to answer, but she did anyway.
“Hey, Bridget!” she greeted.
“Hey, girlie!” a muffled voice replied.
Bridget? Why was she talking to Bridget? She knew how cruel she’s been to me in the past and they were acting like they’ve been best friends for as long as we have.  After a few minutes, I couldn’t hear Bridget anymore. All I could hear was Amanda say:
“Yeah, she’s here. Is that a problem?”
“Why?”
“Oh, okay. Maybe some other time?”
“Okay, great, bye!”
That didn’t make me feel great.
After hanging up, Amanda flipped around to look at me.
“You’re staying after school tomorrow for photography club, right?” She questioned.
“Um…yeah…why?”
“Bridget is coming home with me tomorrow. I can’t wait!’
My face turn into a bright ruby color and felt as if steam was coming out of my ears. I was going to say something, but I caught myself and just put my ear buds back in.
“A-are you okay, Stephanie?”
I hesitated on saying something.
“You know what Bridget has done to me! So why are you hanging out with her now?” I snapped.
“Well, I don’t know! She just came up to me at school one day when you were sick. We just started talking. She seems nice! And besides, people change.”
“Yeah, I know they do…” I responded.
Amber opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but she closed it and turned around on her bed.
I put my ear buds back in and laid down on my back. I let my head fall into the pillow and the music take over my thoughts.
I woke up the next day to find out Amanda had left early for school to get breakfast with Bridget at the local doughnut shop. I had to talk to her. But knowing Amanda, she would deny she went out. I had to get proof. I grabbed my camera and my bike and started heading down to ‘Double Donuts.’
Once I got there, I hid my bike and I in the bushes in front of the café and took out my camera. I snapped a photo. But when the film came out, it wasn’t a picture, but instead white words on a black background.

“AMANDA SALEM
Good qualities:
Always sees the good in people

Bad Qualities:
Talks about people behind their backs.
‘Steph is such a geek with her stupid camera.
I can’t stand her sometimes!’ ”

“What the-?”
Since when do cameras do that? I’d have to find out more about it, but at that moment, I was just worried about what it said.
Later that day, I went up to her at school and showed her this “picture”. She claimed she didn’t mean it, but whether she did or not, best friends stick up for best friends, they’re not supposed to bring them down. I didn’t talk to anyone that morning. That is, until lunch. I turned around with my tray of gross school pizza and noticed an unfamiliar face sitting alone. I sat down next to her and just started talking.
“Hi,” I started, “I’m Stephanie”
The girl looked up at me, shyly. She had piercing blue eyes and golden blonde hair. Her nose fit perfectly on her round face and her lips were the perfect shade of pink.
“I’m Samantha.” She finally responded. “But you can call me Sam.”
“Well, Sam, how come I’ve never seen you around here?” I asked.
“My family and I just moved in from Florida. Today’s my first day here.”
“No way, really? I’m from Florida, too. We moved here when I was four.”
“That’s so funny!” She giggled. “But, it’s so cold here, don’t you think?”
I laughed. “No, not really. I’ve gotten used to the cold weather. Believe it or not, this is my favorite time of year. And take a look at this!”
I brought the pictures I took on the bike ride the day before out of my bag. They came out really pretty and I wanted to show Sam how gorgeous the bitter weather can be.
“Wow! These are amazing.” She awed. “Who took these?”
“I did, yesterday. Autumn can be beautiful, can’t it?”
We talked the rest of lunch and I got to know Sam more. We were in all the same classes, and at the end of the day, I found out she lived down the street from my house. So, after photography club, I walked to Sam’s house instead of Amanda’s.
Since that day, I never really talked to Amanda again. My parents came back a week later and I only hung out with Sam. I still see Amanda in the halls, occasionally, but she’s not Amanda. I don’t know what happened to the old her, but she turned into Bridget’s twin.
Sam and I, almost every day, did research on the camera. We didn’t find anything. Who knows how or why it did that, but maybe weren’t supposed to find out. So, we used it for our own pleasure. We took pictures of anyone we could just to find out who they really are. It may sound a bit cruel, but we never showed anyone.

“STEPHANIE CRYSTAL
Good Qualities:
Always knows the right thing to do.

Bad Qualities:
Holds Grudges”

Bridget and Amanda can move on together, but that’s okay with me. I have Sam to move on with. And whenever I take pictures with Sam, my “magic” camera shows her bad quality. But, is it bad?
“SAM MASON
Good Qualities:
A loyal and trustworthy friend.
Will never leave your side.

Bad Qualities:
Once you’re a part of her life, she’ll never let you go.”