A Lot Change In Ten Years

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn looked at the pictures he got. They all showed the same girl. Nothing weird there, since he had been taking pictures of her for the past day or two. Lucy James. No, he didn't have a crush on the girl or anything. It was only that when he heard she used to be a child actress (or whatever people liked to call them), he checked her out. Internet was amazing, you could find anything, even old footage of commercials she did a while back. It seemed hard to believe it was the same girl as she didn’t strike him as one with a sunny disposition and whoever was in these commercials surely knew how to smile. He printed a picture of her and meant to compare it with the girl. It would probably have been easier to just ask but it wasn’t much like Quinn to do so. Just like he was not really the kind to take the picture to her to compare with the actual person. It was why he took pictures of her.

He didn’t think it made him a stalker or anything. It wasn’t like he snapped every minute of her day and every move she made. He just never really liked those who posed in front of the camera. He never thought it looked very natural. Plus, he was not doing any editorial shoot for a magazine. So now he had in front of him a few pictures of her doing normal stuff and with expressions that clearly meant she didn’t think someone was taking pictures of her. Pictures of her while studying, while replacing some hair behind her ear, talking to someone, that sort of thing. Nothing he believed was compromising or anything, just snapshots of random moments of her life that no one would really care about. At least it was how he supposed people would see it. But he loved to capture the expression of people when they don’t know someone is here to capture said expression. They don’t try to hide anything as they don’t realise they should.

He went to the photography club to get the pictures. He was still there, the one of her at a much younger age, probably ten years ago or something, and the others on a desk so he could quickly look from one to the others. Yeah, there was a resemblance, he supposed. He just, somewhat, couldn’t picture the Lucy here at Bellefonte smiling like the girl he saw in the videos.

[Lucy James]

Why was Lucy James, the girl who claimed she didn't care about anything or anyone finding herself walking towards the photography club? Well, in theory, she wasn't walking towards it as much as just happening to be there. Now that she had been around for a few weeks, she had yet to explore some parts of the schools, and the student club offices just happened to be one of them. She didn't have much else to do, other than actively avoiding her clearly insane trainer and skipping class.

The brunette was still very much hellbent on getting out of this hellhole. She still didn't want to be here and she still didn't want to be a mutant. Nothing had changed. Not that she had expected it to, but her teachers seemed to think that all she needed was a few weeks to simply process it all. Well, she had processed it all, and she still didn't want to be here. Did they really expect her to just turn around and become a wholly different person? Was that what happened to all the other kids? She doubted it. Just like everywhere else, the trouble kids got slipped through the cracks and eventually forgotten about. She just had to wait for her moment.

Poking her head inside one of the unlocked offices, her blue eyes scanned over a face with equally piercing, blue eyes. Or maybe they were more gray. She wasn't too sure, and in a way, she didn't really care. The boy was clearly busy doing whatever. It looked like some kind of photography dump station. Silently, she moved inside, making sure that she didn't make any noises. She didn't know if the boy noticed her or not, and quite frankly, she didn't care.

Well, at least until she caught a glimpse of what the photographs contained anyways. "Damn," she said, pursing her lips. "I've always wanted a stalker. Never thought he'd be such a cutie though," she added with a dry tone.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn didn’t hear anyone coming in. Even if someone had, he was not likely to do more than look for a moment at who it was and return to his work. Even in this club he was a member of, he had little friends. He joined it only because his aunt was getting so worried about him and he figured she would stop being a pain if he joined some club or whatever. An activity that can allow him to meet more people. People, he sure met, but that didn’t make him more sociable. He barely said a word to them and took care only of his business.

So Quinn didn’t hear Lucy coming in. He was too busy comparing young Lucy to teenager Lucy, wondering which one was more interesting. He never would have thought the actual Lucy was here, behind him, looking at the photographs he took of her. That is, until she spoke. That only little word, that damn, made him startle and drop the picture of her so it would now rest on the table with the other ones of her.

He didn’t focus on the cutie part of her comment. She was probably joking. Who would say that seriously about him? He was more offended by the fact she called him a stalker. Even if he ended up stalking her for a part of the day. “I’m not a stalker,” he defended himself. Of course, it would be easier to claim this if he didn’t have evidence of the contrary before him. “You’re photogenic. And it’s not like I took anything that didn’t put you on a bad light,” he said, grabbing a picture he took of her to prove his point. Alright, the picture of her when she was just a child might look weird if all he did was get an interest and took a few snapshots of her. It didn’t belong there. But of all the thing she could reproach him, the fact he took pictures of her only to see if she really was the child actress he heard people talk about was the thing he was most ashamed to admit. “You can look, there’s nothing scandalous,” he added, letting her look at the few other shots. Unless there was a conversation in there he shouldn’t have caught on film, there really was nothing to worry about.

[Lucy James]

Quirking her brow, an amused smirk swept over Lucy's lips when the boy claimed not to be a stalker. Well, the evidence surely claimed otherwise, but for now, the brunette was far too intrigued to start a brawl. "Uh huh," she said, smacking her lips together as her blue eyes looked over the photos once more. She did however look at the picture he held up, her smirk only growing further. So, the boy took pictures of her -- and had pictures of her as a child. Well, that was normal. Totally. "Right, right. And I assume I was photogenic as a child too, then? I mean, by all means; whatever gets you off, though I don't think this would be considered normal."

Walking over to the table, she placed both of her palms against it and leaned forward. "Apart from the fact that you somehow have pictures of me as a child," she noted, quirking her brow again as she looked at the boy. He didn't look in any way familiar, so she didn't think she had ever seen him around -- neither here, nor back home. Though, there had to be a completely different reason for his... collection apart from her being 'photogenic'.

"Do you collect pictures of all the girls you clearly don't have the balls to actually talk to -- unless they confront you, of course?" she smirked at that, a playful chuckle falling from her lips. "So, you've been running around taking pictures of me, and have actually done some research to find my child photographs. How is that any different from being a stalker?"

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn looked down at the picture of her as a child. It didn’t help him not look like a stalker. The pictures of her now were already not helping but this definitely made it all worse. He knew he had a reason to have this picture in his hand, one that he thought was legitimate. That is, until she noticed it and pointed out how strange it was for him to have such picture in his possession. Quinn shifted, ashamed to have been caught at fault here to the point he was not able to retort anything with his usual cynicism. “I... Some people said you used to act, others claimed it was not you. I just, I wanted to check,” he admitted. Again, his tone was so different from the one he normally had. Why was he feeling so embarrassed right now? Normally, even when he knew it was his fault, he would fight back, say something. But right now, all he could do was look at the pictures he took of her. Yeah, he might have been stalking this time. A little. “I didn't do it to get off.” He still felt like defending himself on that matter.

“Hey, I have the balls to talk to anyone I want!” he let out, this time finding a little of his fire back. He didn't know if it was her comment or the smirk she had while saying it that annoyed him more. And he lost it almost as quickly when she questioned him. Sure, said like that, it was sort of hard to justify himself. “It’s not like I would have done it forever. You don’t need no restraining order or anything. I just figured you wouldn’t let me take your picture if I asked. And, well... like I said, you’re rather photogenic.” Okay, this was so not helping him. Now she probably thought he had a crush on her or something of the like. He groaned at the situation he put himself into. “You can have them all back if you want. Like I care. I wouldn’t have done anything with them anyway.”

[Lucy James]

"And exactly why did you care?" she asked, furrowing her brows. "Or is it some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder, where you have to prove people wrong?" Well, whatever his reason was, he had followed her around, taking pictures of her, and even collected pictures of her as a child. If that wasn't stalking, she didn't know what was. Then again, he was hardly the first, ironically. Seemed like Lucy was doomed to a life with people who just didn't want to leave her alone. "Hey, I'm not gonna judge," she added as she lifted her hands up, shaking her head.

Chuckling at his reaction, Lucy had to admit that pushing his buttons was surprisingly easy. In fact, she hadn't quite expected it to be this easy. "Oh, I'm sure you do. That's why you run around taking pictures of people without their consent. I mean, that has to be against some kind of law, right?" Or maybe that was actually posting the pictures somewhere. Ah well, it hardly mattered. "So, basically what you're saying is; 'this girl is pretty, and instead of asking, because she might say no, I'm just gonna go follow her around and take her pictures without her knowing it'" She cocked her head to the side as she pursed her lips.

"Tell me how that is not stalking."

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, Lucy shrugged. "I don't mind. Keep the pictures. Stalk me. Do whatever it is that you need. I don't care either way, I just wanted to push your buttons for shits and giggles."

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn shrugged at her question. He supposed he didn’t really care if she had an acting career before being thrown here. She was not the first to consider him like some annoying paparazzo. He didn’t think he was. Paparazzi were looking for anything that would sell, especially if it was scandalous. He didn’t want to stain Lucy’s reputation, he couldn’t even care less about it. He was just looking for a good shot. “I was just curious,” he mumbled. Damn, why was she able to make him feel like a kid who was just caught after breaking his mother’s vase? He never meant to stalk her and he didn’t intend to do anything creepy with the pictures. “I’m not. I just like taking people’s photograph,” he let out again on a defensive tone.

She was pushing him too much though and Quinn didn’t like that. He could become quite a brat when that happened and he could feel it happening. “No, actually what I’m saying is you have the reputation of being a bitch and I didn’t want you to give me an attitude. I supposed I should have just checked on the internet, I obviously did if I found this picture, but I wanted to compare you then to what you look now.” Quinn grabbed one picture, the one he liked best, when she was concentrating on reading something. He couldn’t tell what it was that she was reading but there was something about her facial expression there that he liked. “You think you could have looked this way if I asked? Because I know you couldn’t. People never look the same when they know someone is watching. They keep things inside instead.” Okay, that was not helping his case about being a stalker but he didn’t care. It was still the reason why he took this picture.

“Well I hope it was fun,” he said with obvious bitterness in his voice. He didn’t like being mocked, not even when he put himself in this situation. Maybe rumours on her account weren’t all lies after all. “I won’t do that anymore. I just wanted to get a picture or two of you and compare them to what you looked before. Why would I bother taking your picture again?” He might be a little offended she made fun of him. Just a little.

[Lucy James]

"Without their permission," she pointed out as she lifted her finger. Well, she figured she could take it as the compliment it was... Well, might have been meant as. Not everyone could say they had this weird kid running after them, taking their pictures. Had it been someone other than Lucy, she might have expressed that appreciation; or been freaked out. Luckily for the boy, she was Lucy, and instead of doing any of the above, she simply mocked him.

Seemed simple enough, right?

Tilting her head, a curious expression formed on her face. "What does my bitch reputation have to do with anything? Oh, don't tell me that scared you into being a stalker? How sweet," she said as she clapped her hands together. "Brava; really. Though, I don't understand why you'd want to compare my old pictures with the new ones, but I figure that considering how you've thus far been incapable of providing me with a real answer without getting your defensive panties in a twist, I'm probably just wasting my breath." Leaning forward, she looked at the picture for a moment; She hadn't even noticed him being around that time.

Heck, she couldn't even remember that exact moment. She'd probably been high, which she was ninety percent of the time, mind. "You're not doing a very good job at defending your case here, Shroomer."

"Aw, how cute; he's being bitter." Reaching her hand out, she flicked one of his curls with her fingers before chuckling. It was amusing how quickly he got on the offensive, though, Lucy couldn't blame him. She seemed to have that reaction on people, although she had pretty much caught the boy redhanded.

"For what it's worth, you do have a talent."

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn could just see it. He was a poor little mouse trapped in a corner and Lucy was that big cat already licking her lips at the thought of the meal she’ll make out of him. But before gobbling him whole, she intended to play with him a little. Cats were doing that. They loved to torture their prey. “Alright yes, I didn’t ask your permission. It’s not like I intended to do anything with those, other than perhaps show my skills. Who would want a picture of you reading a book anyway? We can’t even make up what you’re reading.” It was a poor defense and he knew it but he also knew that, on this, he was in the wrong. Most people didn’t know and rarely cared. Like he said, it wasn’t like you could do much with the pictures he took. Unless you wanted to blackmail someone because they could read. But who would do that? “I do ask permission, sometimes. But when you got your shot right there, you don’t ask for the person to stay still, you take it and apologize later if they find out.” That too didn’t sound all that great but it was still how he saw it. He didn’t feel sorry one second for taking pictures of Lucy and probably would never. What he was a little more sorry about was to get caught by her.

“I’m not scared of you!” Quinn argued. His attitude thus far might not have helped him being convincing here. “Be a bitch all you want, I didn't want to ask you and sound ridiculous...” Although it was a little late for that. “You weren’t supposed to see those,” he said, pointing at the pictures. She probably figured that much on her own. He shrugged at it. She knew now and he couldn’t quite do anything about it to change that. All he could do was to apologize and let her have the pictures if she wanted. And maintain he was no stalker.

He pulled his head away as she reached for his curls. Being cute for being bitter was not something he wanted to happen. Being further ridiculed either. He looked down at her pictures when she said he had talent. He always wanted people to tell him that, just not under those circumstances. “Thanks,” he muttered. He then looked right back in her eyes. “Why are you here to begin with? I don’t remember you as a member of this club.”

[Lucy James]

Lucy simply quirked her brow at the guy as he spewed another attempt at defending himself, or explaining himself, or whatever the hell he was trying to do. She didn't say anything as she figured her expression would say it all. It was actually a little funny that he was getting so defensive, especially as Lucy wasn't mad. At all. In fact, she found the whole thing rather comical. Then again, her sense of humor wasn't exactly something people wrote books about.

"Aw, poor baby," she said, making her voice as sugar-sweet as she possibly could. She was almost tempted to push him even further, but she decided against it. The poor guy had suffered enough, and he was already getting rather heated. She'd rather not have him use his ability on her - which she couldn't quite make out what was. It was something with heat, she thought. At least, that was what her power sensing told her. Oh well.

Pursing her lips, the brunette shrugged. "Why not?" As if she was the one to blame. Though, she was hardly surprised. The guy was defensive already, she figured he'd try to place some of the blame on her somehow. "The door was open, and I walked in. It's pretty simple if you ask me."

Lucy hardly needed a reason to be anywhere. She just was, and that was it. Usually, anyways.

"You're kind of cute when you're mad." Again, Lucy leaned forward, her blue eyes scanning his face for a moment before a bemused smirk formed on her lips.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn grew up to like the photography club. He wouldn’t quite put it that way if asked but it was a place where he could feel comfortable. He didn’t have to talk to the others and even if he did, it would be about a common passion, photography. In here, he wasn’t a creep. But Lucy made him feel like one in one of the few places where he shouldn’t and he didn’t like it at all. He normally wouldn’t bother justifying himself, as he didn’t think anyone was worth the waste of saliva and time but this was his territory and he couldn’t let someone stain his reputation here, even though there was no one to witness it. This situation was starting to annoy however and he knew he could lash out when that happens. “Will you stop that! I’m not here so you can make fun of me,” he let out. He wasn’t able to hide how pissed he was at the tone she used. He was no little kid you could laugh as they make a tantrum. He didn’t think this situation was funny at all.

The door was open? Well, yeah, it was possible. It wasn’t like Quinn would really care whether the door was open or not so long as he had the room for himself. “So you just felt like walking in? Like that? I didn’t know there was any room in this school that might make you want to do that,” he replied. He didn’t sound as if he was judging her though, more that he didn’t understand the interest in having a peek and even get in to look at what this single student was doing. But, hey, it wouldn’t be the first time people did something he did not understand.

He frowned again, not liking being called cute. He didn’t want to be considered cute by her. Because the way she said it sure sounded more like the things you go ‘oh it’s cute’ and leave without a second look at them. If she wanted to be on her way, she might as well start walking now. “I’m not mad I’m just... annoyed. You’re making fun of me,” he pointed out. It wasn’t like she could deny this.

[Lucy James]

Chuckling softly at his words, Lucy found herself enjoying the fact that he was so incredibly easy to rile up. "Yet you make it so easy," she noted. She didn't anything else on that subject though. It hardly mattered. She had made her point, and it was already obvious (at least to her) that she was only prodding at him for the sake of prodding, as opposed to actually minding the fact that he'd been secretly sneaking around, taking her pictures without her consent.

As innocent as it might have been intended, that was exactly what he'd been doing.

"Oh look, who is the one firing the shots now, huh?" she said, grinning. "These club rooms are open for anyone to enter. With your logic, no one would be allowed to enter a club room where they do not attend - like for example the music room, or the art room. That hardly seems fair, as it's not restricted to the clubs alone." She shrugged somewhat at that as she cast a glance around the room. In all honesty, Lucy cared very little about what other people thought of her, or where she decided (or decided against) to walk or enter.

She looked back at the boy and remained silent for a moment. At last, the brunette sighed. "You're not annoyed with me. You're annoyed with the fact that you know I'm right, and thus, annoyed with yourself. You know that you're the one that has done something wrong, and thus deserve the heat you're receiving." It was quite simple, really, but Lucy wasn't going to waste her time continuously repeating herself.

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn could easily lose his senses. People didn’t know because he never let them close enough to watch him express anything, whether it be joy or anger. Having an interest for someone led to expectation and expectation led to disappointment and pain. To avoid pain, all he had to do was avoid interest. It was easy. Quinn avoided Lucy. The problem here was that Lucy was not avoiding him. She enjoyed herself and kept coming at him instead of leaving. She could even go to a teacher and say he stalked her if she wanted, as long as she left him alone afterwards. But no, she had to stay and make fun of his state. Lucy was a bitch.

“No, that’s not what I meant,” he let out as she twisted his word once again. He supposed it was to keep torturing him. She seemed to like that. “But people usually don’t bother coming here unless they have a reason. Even a bad one,” he explained. He didn't really care what her reason was though. She might as well decided to come here to get high in peace. He might have agreed to leave her alone. But she was the one who came to him.

He looked away as she pointed out the obvious, that he didn’t like the fact he was caught and that she was right about. “But it’s not like you care. You don’t even seem mad I took pictures of you without you knowing. Don’t tell me it’s because you’re so used to paparazzi,” he argued. He looked at the pictures he took of her and made a pile of them. “You can have them if you want. I didn’t mean to look like a stalker, I just like taking pictures. It’s not like I would have taken anything embarrassing for you anyway,” he said as he handed them to her. The embarrassing pictures were only for those who really pissed him off... Which meant he might want to do it now with her. Though he probably wouldn’t. She already knew what he could do, she might expect that.

[Lucy James]

"Nah," she said, shaking her head. "It's not because I'm used to it, it's simply because I couldn't give a single fuck. So what if you have a bunch of pictures of me and stalk me around like a lovestruck deer on the highway," she drawled.

"I'm sure it's very obvious, but I enjoy watching people squirm." Truth be told, the boy was making it better by getting defensive and aggressive. It made it all the more fun to poke at him, but the brunette hardly had to say as much. She had made that very clear from the first second they had interacted - or so she thought anyways.

Shaking her head at his offer, she waved her hand dismissively at the photos. "Keep 'em." She had no use of them anyways. However, at his mention of embarrassing photos, the brunette's lips quipped into something of a smirk. That could quickly turn out quite interesting.

"Embarrassing, huh?" she asked, nodding. "Like naked photo-embarrassing - which, I'd be more than happy to comply," she said with a devilish grin on her face. She leaned back against the table, popping her chest forward as a hollow laugh fell from between her lips. "Or are you talking about the blackmail kind? Which in truth, is also somewhat interesting, but clearly more dull."

[Quinn Wiley]

“I wouldn’t say lovestruck,” he argued. At least she didn’t care he took pictures of her so it wasn’t like she would go to a teacher and say he was being a creep. “You might be pretty but not enough to make me go after you in the hope you notice me.” Quinn didn’t want to talk about what he could do when he was interested in someone. Because he was not doing anything. What was the point when he was ninety percent sure they would turn him down? He was not stalking them either, just looking at them every now and then when they happened to be in the same room. He was not chasing after them if they left, he was not taking pictures of them at every moment of the day and he was not trying to get into their room to steal their panties or anything like that. He was not that much of a creep. He just liked to take pictures of people. He was not doing anything creepy with them.

“No, really? I didn’t notice,” he let out. She’d have to be a complete idiot not to hear the sarcasm there. He didn't mind should she decide to keep the pictures. It wasn’t like he couldn’t get more of them. Not that he would, but he could. He had a dry laughter when she talked of naked pictures. He bet she wanted him to be embarrassed at this but he would not give her this pleasure. “Yeah right. And then we both get in trouble because neither of us have the legal age for that,” he pointed out.

He shrugged when she claimed blackmail was dull. “That’s because your bitchy reputation precedes you. They don’t want to cross you. But when you pose no threat to them, they might need a little reminder not to annoy you,” he told her. He was aware it meant he was not above blackmailing people with his pictures. But, really, what else could he do when some tough guy decided it was funny to toss him in a locker or mock his appearance? He could have a sharp tongue too at times but, unlike Lucy, they wouldn’t hold their punches because you don’t hit a girl.