{BFS} I Make Beautiful Look Simple (open)

[Ryan Alexander]

Putting dreads in your hair had about a twenty four hour grace period before you were screwed.  She was using that to her advantage to look very cool.  She'd done her bright red hair up in dreads, donned the clothes she'd been given by Erika, and she was ready to strut her stuff for the fashion show.  Currently she was just backstage though, still getting ready.  She didn't have much to do, so she was eating a granola bar and drinking a juice box.  If people thought she was weird and gave her weird looks, she just stuck her tongue out at them.  Not mature, true, but maturity was for lame people.  They were just jealous she was eighteen and not letting herself be sucked in by the constrains of society. 

"I wonder what there is to do before I have to go on?  It isn't like I'm in uncomfortable heels.  I'm showing off an outfit that exudes my personality.  Erika really does know what the hell she's doing."

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn was wondering why he was here. There was already Zoe and Kiara taking pictures, he was not really seeing why they bothered with him too, or had one of them told Erika he was good? Because he didn’t really know Erika, other than the many rumours going on her account. And that she apparently knew her fashion very well and how to make clothes. Because this was her collection they were about to show. And Quinn was meant to take pictures of this.

He actually liked the energy there was backstage. Everyone was going everywhere, doing last minute checkups of everything, the light, the music, the setting, the models, the dresses, the makeup and hair... Quinn had little to do right now. Except to take pictures. Because he was about to take pictures of this too.

He knew little about fashion, he would admit to that but he liked it around here and the opportunity he had to capture all this on film. Don’t get him wrong, he would be by the runway later on to take photos but right now this was the place to be. No one really cared about taking pictures of the kissing booth or the scavenger hunt. Well, except perhaps the newspaper but he was not their photographer, not officially, so he would let others take care of that. He wondered if he could give his pictures for the article they would no doubt write about the fashion show. Maybe, if he could beat Kiara and Zoe for it.

After a few shots, Quinn ended up sitting next to one of the model. It was how he got her comment. He turned to look at her. “You were ready pretty fast, some are not even fully dressed on yet. It shouldn’t be long though.”

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan saw the guy with the camera sit down next to her and heard his words and she chuckled.

"Yeah I'm pretty speedy. I suppose it helps that when I was a kid my mum made me kiddy model. And through high school I kind of liked to watch runway shows and the behind the scenes. So I know a bit about how things are done and it makes me more efficient. What about you? Dragged her with your camera last minute, or were you totally eager to take a bunch of pictures of people showcasing clothes? I won't judge if the last one is true. There are guys who can like fashion. Some of them are even straight!" She grinned.

[Quinn Wiley]

Did Quinn know she used to model as a kid? Obviously not. His love for fashion was in an artistic way, how he could create shape and beautiful imagery, not in who happened to model and what. He was the last person you should ask about the latest trend. He would clearly not know, as if the fact he was wearing the plainest black shirt and dark jeans not obvious. Unless fashion was for black these days? If he looked around, not likely. Even if he looked around, it was not likely. He was not fashionable. He was also fine with that.

He had never done that but he was here only to take pictures and that he had done a lot. “I’m not a model, I’m one of the photographers,” he explained. Zoe apparently modelled. It was hard to believe, with how shy the girl happened to be but it would not be the first time she surprised him. He straightened up, slightly offended at the comment, as if she might be doubting his manhood or something. He already answered her though. He was not a model, only here precisely to take pictures of the people showcasing clothes, as she said.

[Ryan Alexander]

Gee this guy wasn't all that talkative, was he?

"Well make sure to get my good side. Which, FYI, just means take pictures of me. Erika's outfit makes me look fantastic I know it does. I'm not even going to try to dispute that." When he straightened up and looked offended she arched an eyebrow.

"That comment about sexuality wasn't an insult. I'm part of that community myself. I was just making a joke. Bashing wouldn't be very productive for me. I'd have nothing to gain whatsoever. So having fun yet? I'm a lovely girl, aren't I?" She batted her eyelashes and then laughed. She was teasing of course.

[Quinn Wiley]

No, Quinn was not one to talk a lot. He said what he had to say. He could probably tell her more but this was not a subject interesting him enough not to watch his mouth nor was she someone he happened to be close to enough for that to happen.

He looked down at the outfit she was wearing. He could actually like that. He didn’t know if that was the latest fashion but he could see she was wearing it well. “I took pictures of you while you were in the makeup station,” he told her. Though he could see the interest in taking one of her right now, standing, all prepped up, before the actual walk down the runway happened. He stood up and pulled his camera. “Can you stand up, so I get all the clothes right?” he asked her.

He didn't mean to look homophobic when he sort of flinched at her comment. “I have no problem with that ‘community’ I’m just not a part of it,” he explained. He didn’t want to expand on the fact she was apparently not the first person to think he might be gay. What about him looked gay? Was there even something that could be referred as a gay look? He said nothing about her being a lovely girl. He could tell her that the fact she did most of the conversation was fine with him since, as she figured out already, he was not very talkative.

[Ryan Alexander]

She heard him ask if she could stand up so he could take pictures and she arched an eyebrow.

"Uh...okay." She stood from the canvas chair and straightened out her skirt quickly.

"Not sure why. I mean, I know I'm fantastic and all, and I am technically ready. I know the photos of me in the make-up station will probably end up being decent as well. But still...any particular reason? Or...you know, pose you want me to strike?" He defended himself and she laughed.

"I know both of those things. Your reaction wasn't a homophobic flinch. I know a homophobic flinch and withdraw when I see one and yours wasn't it. I also know you aren't gay as my gaydar is fairly accurate and it didn't go off. If you had ended up being gay, I would've been very disappointed with myself."

[Quinn Wiley]

She agreed to stand up just as he asked but also asked him why he needed her to. And also if she needed to strike a pose. “Not really. I just want to get the clothes as they look when you stand still. The movement, it will be during the fashion show,” he explained. That made a lot of sense, right? He thought it did and that he explained himself well enough but he never really knew when it came to other people and what they did and didn’t get.

She got he was not gay though, and that he had nothing against gay people. It sort of reassured him, both facts. He didn’t exactly want people to see him as some sort of anti-homosexual freak. Now, what do you say to someone after they tell you that? “Thanks. You’re about the first person who seems to get that.” Was he a little pissed by it? Of course he was!

[Ryan Alexander]

Just stationary poses.

"Planning on comparing me unofficially?" She laughed. She honestly didn't care. He looked pleased when she mentioned that she knew he wasn't gay though. And he spoke about it and she shrugged.

"People rely on stereotypes too much. If you're good enough at reading body language though, that becomes something you don't need to rely on. There are some general things that I look for in body language. I can't really explain them. I just know instinctively or something. And I can understand why it upsets you. A lot of gay people are upset when they're mistaken for straight. It doesn't happen as often, but I was sure straight people got upset when they were mistaken for gay. Now you've proven my point so thank you for that." She turned around slowly for him, just in case.

"It's all about whether you want people to see you as something you're not. I used to pretend to be someone else myself to pass as the perfect little heiress for example. Then I gave up. My parents didn't care. It was only for other people really. And the other people were so determined to suck up to me, I don't know why I didn't let loose earlier." She shrugged and laughed. It was a laugh free of constraints.

[Quinn Wiley]

This was a joke right? In doubt, Quinn would take it as a joke. He was still ready to justify himself though. “I figured Erika might want pictures of her clothes to put in her book and show what she could do.” There. Made total sense. The sketches of her clothes might prove she made them but a picture of the ending result could be good as well and Quinn figured the best way to showcase it was to have a pose of this girl doing nothing but wear those clothes.

She seemed pretty sure he was not gay and he was glad that she was able to see he was not. Finally one who did! Because the others seemed to misread his body language, as she said it, big time. “I can deal with a guy flirting with me. It’s just that everybody seems to think I’m gay,” he explained. Why so, he had no idea. Was it because of his voice that was so soft when he was not angry or some way he projected himself? Was it because he liked taking pictures of people around him or just the fact he was barely ever seen with a girl around him? Because he was not that much with guys either. Sure, he was no macho but he didn’t think you either had to be full of testosterone or gay.

He blinked a few times once he took her picture and she talked about make believe. “I’d rather they don’t think of me, period.” Alright, he may be exaggerating here. May.

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan laughed when he mentioned he'd rather they didn't think of him at all.

"I'm sure that's not completely true. I do know where you're coming from though. That was practically my childhood dream. Being part of the 'famous Alexander family' of billionaires though means going through school without being noticed is kind of an impossible task. That's one thing I've always liked about the powered schools like Bellefonte. Nobody cares who you are. You're just you. I can just be a crazy artist, or a weird teenage girl, y'know?" She shrugged.

"It's annoying, but I do enjoy having access to the money. Having the racehorses was cool. By the way, you don't by any chance know anyone who'd like a summer job taking care of them, do you?"

[Quinn Wiley]

The girl explained she came from a billionaire family. Was this true? He was not sure and his face probably showed some skepticism but he didn’t say anything. As a child, he didn’t want to be totally ignored by people. But things changed and after a while, he just wished he was invisible sometimes. There were people who ignored him just as much as if he had been a ghost already but most saw him as some sort of creep. And that had been so for a while now. “You had people all over you because you were rich and they wanted to either hate you for that or get money from you. Try to be the ‘famous’ kid because your father stole millions before running away,” he let out. He was actually surprised he said that. He rarely talked of those things. He never talked of those things. At least he managed to stop himself before he mentioned his mother, although he knew he nearly did. In the end, his mother’s suicide hurt him more than what his father did. It was more personal. She chose to die rather than be with him, when he was just a kid and needed her the most. But this was a wound he was not ready to discuss, especially with a stranger.

He shrugged when she said that Bellefonte offered her the chance to be whoever she wanted to be instead of just her parents’ daughter. “I don’t know. I’m still a creep here, just for different reasons.” What was so creepy about taking pictures? It was not like he always did it without people’s consent.

He didn’t exactly like as she brought up the question of money. truthfully, it did not matter as much as he let it show sometimes, but the simple fact he had next to none and she flashed hers to him sort of upset him. “Not really. There might be one girl who loves horses but she prefers to sing so I don’t know.” Wow. Was he going to be the one connection between two people? Who would have thought that possible?

[Ryan Alexander]

Ryan shrugged. So his father had run away with millions. That was interesting. Maybe her parents might've been affected by that somehow, but she doubted it. Besides which, she was talking with son so it didn't matter.

"Well you've basically got why they were nice to me, but you forgot a category. The people who were nice to me because they were scared of what my family's influence could do. My dad kind of has the reputation of being a devil in the business world..." She chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Well you don't seem that creepy to me right now. Then again, people find me weird too. I've scared people off before. I get in trouble because I kind of can't figure out exactly what the rules entail and why they're there...I have a moral code but I think it might be different than other peoples'. And...a girl who would rather sing than help out a stable of racehorses. I might have to meet her just because she sounds interesting." She grinned.

[Quinn Wiley]

It was weird how people here couldn’t care less about who his father was and what he did. There had to be at least one person in there who suffered from this as he heard he took money out of hundreds of people. Quinn was not really looking for them though. And he knew it was not just what his father did that had people stare at him. His mother’s suicide, the fact he was living with his aunt, his attitude towards it all... those things were not all that common outside of Bellefonte but in here, everyone were taken from their family, making him not as weird as he used to be. If Quinn did not fit in here, it had more to do with his behavior than that of others. He didn't want to fit. Ironically, it felt safer for him not to.

She claimed there were some who were also nice out of fear all this because of her family’s influence. “That’s still more reasons they would take from their parents than what they came up on their own. Their parents have an opinion, they repeat it and act like it’s theirs. My father always said you had to be a shark to survive in business...” Obviously, Quinn minded little about her father and his influence. His life sucked already, they couldn’t do much worse in his opinion. And their daughter didn’t look like a spoiled princess. She even said they thought she was weird.

She did not scare him. She was weird, he would admit to that, but he was not afraid by her behavior. “Some guys don’t like when another guy takes pictures of their girl. And some people just don’t like having their pictures taken at all,” he let out to explain why they thought he was a creep. She wanted to meet the girl. Quinn shrugged, wondering how he could arrange that. He was even more surprised that he would do that. He never thought it was something he would ever do. “She likes to hang out by the stables. She mistook me for someone working there,” he explained. Hoping to find her or ask the people at the stables might be the best way to know who she was and how to reach her. It was not like Quinn bothered to know that.

[Ryan Alexander]

"True. People tend to judge on appearances. Part of the time I act like a weird ditz on purpose. It kind of helps me figure out who's worth getting to know. They don't care how I act. By the way, you passed the test with flying colours. However weird other people find you, I think you're a cool person. If I can get that impression shortly after meeting you, I'd say you're pretty cool." He mentioned about the pictures and she shrugged.

"People can be picky about that sort of thing. I once painted a painting based on a girl I knew. I just meant to tell her she was interesting in the only way I knew how. But she just thought I was a 'judgmental bitch'. She was a friend, but that kind of soured things." She sighed. There were a lot of things she regretted. In the end though, you had to move forward because it wasn't healthy to dwell on things like that.

"I might go down to the stables and see if I can find her then. I can use all the possibilities for friendship I can get." She chuckled.

"I'm Ryan by the way. Ryan Alexander I."