photos were everywhere

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Photos were everywhere. They were scattered mostly on Zoe's bed, but she'd sort of ran out of room there and had to trail them off the bed into a circle, in the middle of which she sat. She looked all around, unable to quite believe that she'd taken quite this many pictures since her arrival. Because indeed, all the pictures that lined the floor and bed were of Bellefonte, or of people that lived there. Several of the shots were well-framed photographs of the various buildings in the school, such as the library or the main auditorium, mostly taken from the outside, though not entirely. Quite a few of those had apparently been taken in the rain, or during overcast days.

Other snapshots showed the faculty and staff of Bellefonte in all their mixed being. There was a series involving Shiloh, the young boy wearing about every expression in existence, only one of which showed him starting to turn invisible, his eyes seeming to stare right at the camera. Others showed a pretty girl with tattoos directing water as it rose out of the lake. She seemed to be dancing. Another showed someone at a piano, bent over, completely enthralled in the music, or at least looking to be. There was a shot of a handsome young man playing a guitar and singing, a blonde girl standing nearby, with another, older man looking on, his arms crossed. Another showed Mr. Legrange, the bedraggled dwarf giving the camera a severe look. Several students were mixed in the background, wearing a mixture of expressions. There were posed shots of a few groups on campus too.

Not any of Zoe though; she'd managed to avoid actually being on that side of the camera. She chewed her lip, looking about the photos, trying to figure out what to do. She picked one up, the one that showed Shiloh disappearing. She thought she'd written a poem on the back of this one, but she couldn't entirely be sure. Just as she was moving to check, the photos on the bed started to shift. Zoe didn't notice them until they were starting to slide down, threatening to bury her under an avalanche of film.

[Tessa Andrews]

Tessa lay on her bed, looking around at her walls. There were a few posters of her favorite bands but most of the space was being taken up by her own pictures. There were a lot of her favorite plants. Of course there were also ones with other students in them. She always seemed to catch them when they were moving though so some of them looked blurry. But she wouldn't frown because they were a lot better then when she first started some time ago and there were ones that the other students or people were framed just perfectly.

Tessa couldn't begin to understand why she loved photography so much. She'd picked it up as a passing interest, thinking it wouldn't last long, but something about the printed picture caused her to pause and smile. She'd captured that moment. And while she hadn't started out that great at it, she'd been told by a few of her teachers at the time that she had a knack for it, a natural talent. So Tessa kept at it. Since being at the school she hadn't taken a bunch of pictures though and she was starting to feel rather sad about it. "That's what you get when you're trying to make a name for yourself," she mused out loud.

With a sigh she sat up, and deciding she needed a snack, left her room. Coming up on one of her room-mates rooms she saw the door open and just as she was stopping in front of it to say hi she saw the pictures sliding off the bed. "Watch out," she shouted as she rushed into the room, having to skip over some of the pictures her roommate had lined up around her on the floor. Tess dove, landing on her knees at the edge of the bed and spreading her arms out wide to catch the falling pictures. She was able to stop some of them. The pictures resting between her arms and the bed. She had to fight not to laugh, as some of the edges were poking her when she shifted in a ticklish way. The ones that she wasn't able to catch fell. "Sorry...wasn't fast enough," she said with a small apologetic smile.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

At first, Zoe had been too wrapped up in the whole avalanche of photos to realize that one of her roommates had arrived and was making a dive for those same photos. She'd been scrambling to try and catch them, though she supposed that letting a few fall to the floor wouldn't be that bad, really. However, as soon as she realized that there was a person near her, Zoe immediately scuttled backward, photos flying up. Her heart was racing, and she sat there, staring, not quite believing what had just happened. The other girl had moved so fast. Zoe recognized her, of course; you couldn't really live with people without at least seeing them after all.

"It-it-it's okay," managed Zoe, taking a deep breath and looking up at the other girl. She held up a hand, realized that she still wore a glove, took a deep breath and lowered the hand to her chest. Yes, everything was going to be fine. Unless the other girl had some kind of ability that could puncture the glove or fling her senses from a distance or something. Zoe took another few breaths, looked at the scattered photos, then up at the girl.

She should say something.

"I'm Zoe," she managed, though she felt rather stupid for saying so. Surely the girl knew that. Try something else: "Thank you for saving my pictures." Or at least trying, but it was the effort that counted.

[Tessa Andrews]

'Do I smell bad or something?' Tessa mused to herself as the girl moved backwards. Being careful she moved a hand slowly and started gathering up the pictures that she'd managed to save from the floor. When she had them all in her hand she turned to fully face Zoe, setting the pictures down in front of her on the floor.  She herself adjusted her legs so she was sitting on the floor, her legs folded neatly.

'Crap, I know her name, I do! Its just there at the tip of my ton..' and just as Tessa was thinking that Zoe said her name and Tessa's smile widened. "Zoe! That's it! I couldn't remember and you know that feeling you get when you KNOW something and its right there at the tip of your tongue, I had that feeling and its a frustrating feeling! Anyways, I'm Tessa, or just Tess," Tessa breathed, and realizing it might be rude to forget your roommates name added, "I don't mean anything by not remembering. I'll definitely remember now cause I LOVE taking pictures too, I just haven't spent much time with you." Tessa winced inside. "That doesn't mean that I don't want too...uhhh...you know what I mean, right?" she asked, feeling like she was coming off as rude or something close.

Tessa looked down at the assortment of pictures. "I haven't taken nearly as many as you though, I'm jealous," Tessa said admiringly. "You're really good too."

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Zoe just stared, overwhelmed by the sheer amount of words pouring forth from Tessa's mouth. It was rather impressive, actually, the speed at which they fired off. Zoe could only stare, uncertain as to what she should be saying or if she should be saying anything for that matter. There was an introduction in there, a name, too, and one that Zoe recognized. They had filled her in on the various other students that she'd be rooming with; Zoe had been rather insistent on that point. There was something about not remembering or something. Zoe just sort of nodded at that; chances were pretty good that she wouldn't forget Tessa after this meeting either.

Thankfully, the stream of conversation eventually leveled out into an area that Zoe always felt comfortable with. She nearly breathed a sigh of relief at the first mention of photography, nodding. She flushed a little with the praise, looking at some of the nearest photographs. Well, she was good, saying she wasn't would just be false modesty, really.

"I've had quite a bit of practice," said Zoe. "I'm actually hoping to be a professional photographer," which, thankfully, her ability didn't disrupt. She could still photograph people just fine without needing to touch them. She looked up at Tessa, again feeling like she should be saying more. She looked to the photographs for help. "Um, I could take your picture sometime, if you'd like. I'm out of film for my camera at the moment," she bit her lip, flushing. She didn't like to admit that, but it wasn't like she could have film all the time. She was still building up her supply after making the mad dash to Kalispell. She also hadn't expected to be quite this prolific either.

[Tessa Andrews]

"Oooo, professional, huh. I haven't given a thought to what I wanna do. Hell most things don't seem to keep my interest for very long. Photography is just something that stuck but I don't know if its something I'd want to do professionally." Her head tilted to the side slightly as she briefly contemplated her future. "Maybe I should try planning a party." She mused out loud. 

Her attention snapped back to Zoe quickly at the offer to take her picture. "You'd take my picture?! That'd be awesome! Film is no problem! I have tons. Let me go grab my shoe box real quick." With a wide grin Tessa jumped up, carefully skipping over the pictures on the floor and dashed to her room. Her eyes frantically searching her room until they locked on the old shoe box peeking out from under her bed. She grabbed the box, flipping the lid off in a rush to make sure they were the new film rolls and ran back to Zoe's room. 

After settling back in her spot she'd occupied earlier she reached out her arms with the box, "I forgot to ask what film you used but there's a few different kinds in there. I hope there's a role that you use, if not we'll have to plan a shopping trip. I've been dying for a new camera anyways," Tessa said, bouncing slightly.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

Again, Zoe found herself sitting there and weathering another burst of conversation. She didn't really see any openings to throw her own words in, nor did she really have the courage to try and intervene, especially given how excited Tessa kept getting. The girl seemed younger than Zoe, or so the other girl figured, what with the bounciness and general indecision. Zoe, of course, had never been quite like that, always quiet and such, but she recognized it.

The picture offer had apparently gotten an immediate response, and Zoe found herself smiling against her will. She quickly gathered up some of her photos and such, figuring that this was a project she'd have to try and finish on her own. she was mostly finished by the time Tessa came back, and managed to jerk a few more of the photographs nearer her person as the other girl landed.

Zoe looked over the offered film with a critical eye. Strange that Tessa had so many different types of it; it made much more sense just to collect all the same type as the camera you had. Then again, given how scatterbrained the girl came off, maybe that was what she'd thought she was doing. Either that or the girl really had gone through six cameras, including at least one that was more expensive than Zoe's well-tended machine. She picked up a roll, studying it.

"Why do you have so many?" she couldn't help but ask, looking over at Tessa. She decided against that roll and put it down, only to pick up another. This one she studied quite closely, turning it over in her hands. "I also hope that you've saved quite a bit of money; a good camera can be quite expensive," said Zoe, looking up at Tessa with a little suspicion in her eyes. Zoe'd had to save up for her camera with ages, and even then, it had been a Christmas present that she'd bought with her parents. This was why she kept such good, careful care of it. She finally decided that the roll she had in hand would work, but she'd have to check to be sure.

[Tessa Andrews]

 "I like to be prepared. Also I haven't really found a camera that I just absolutely love. Like the way it takes pictures and such so I've gone through a few and the film just kinda built up. My box of abandoned cameras should be stuffed under my bed somewhere too actually." she said with a shrug, answering Zoe's question. 

"I'm not to worried about money. Daddy upped my allowance since I've moved to the school. He said he wanted to make sure I didn't have to worry about not having anything." Tessa's eyes lit up as an idea came to her. "Hey! Maybe you can help me pick out my next camera!"

Tessa so that Zoe seemed to have settled on a film. "So is that the right one? Do you have any preferences where you like to take pictures?" Tessa folded her arms over her chest, one hand reaching up to tap on her chin as she thought, a small crease between her eyebrows showed how intently she was thinking. "Something fun, and something serious, and something random..." She said with a small nod, "also, we should see if we can get someone to take one of us together too. That'd be awesome!" Tessa grinned.

[Zoe Wallerstein-Smythe]

This struck Zoe as being a little more than just "prepared," but she wasn't about to suggest that to her roommate. Her "preparedness" had resulted in Zoe getting much needed film, after all, so who was she to complain? The explanation of money did strike Zoe as sounding a little... entitled. she knew that people came from all sorts of backgrounds to be here, so maybe Tessa was from a very rich family. That would certainly explain why she "experimented" with something as expensive as photographer, at least like this. Zoe had made certain she was committed too, but she'd done that by borrowing cameras and attending photo club sessions at her various schools, not to mention borrowing the family camera and using cheap disposables.

"I guess I could---" she said, wanting to offer help, or at least advice, as the case may be. Zoe had already found the film she needed and Tessa was already off and moving. Zoe couldn't help but wonder how people dealt with someone who had this much energy. It took nearly all Zoe had just to keep track of Tessa, let alone really contribute to the conversation in any meaningful way.

"I usually just take pictures of people wherever they are," offered Zoe, figuring she might as well try to help again. "I've taken some posed pictures and stuff before too,' she paused, chewing on her lip for several moments. "The courtyards have some pretty areas, and there's a really pretty clearing..."