In between being young and being right

[Quinn Wiley]

It was strange. Quinn did not expect a wave of nostalgia to hit him when he entered the photography club’s room. How much of his time in high school did he spend there? It was just a room though, he didn’t think it should have held that much power on him. He shook himself up. That feeling had to go away. It was pointless. He was not here after all to reminisce on the past.

Quinn had not given up his hope of making photography his career. And he still wished it to be as a fashion photographer. He supposed travelling the world to take other kinds of pictures could do as well but for now, that really was his first choice. It might have to do with the pretty girls.

He didn't have a lot of pictures with him. He had not been back long enough to get a lot of people to model for him. But he brought some he made in New York. He kind of wanted to show off a little with those. But now that he was placing them on a table to sort them out, all he could remember was how they had not been enough to make his dream come true. Maybe they were not worth to show them after all...

[Blair Collins]

Blair felt like a hypocrite that day, looking at the other club member's work but never showing her own. It was not that she felt hers were not good enough, it was just that her photography has become more sentimental this past year. So allowing them for another's viewing--be it with judgment or not--felt too intimate for her liking. If pictures say a thousand words, this was the easiest way to get to know someone. But she admired people who were confident enough to reveal their work. That required a certain kind of bravery--either that or these things do not mean much to them.

That was when Tarquinn caught her eye. She had seen him some years ago when she first transferred to Bellefonte but had never talked to him before he graduated. Heck, she barely talked with anyone--too caught up in her own melodrama. Well, that was about to change. He was focused on spreading his work across a table so the girl crept up behind him and sneaked a peek. "Wow," she blurted out. "I like your stuff, mate." But she did not recognize the places in the pictures. She looked at him, stuffing her hands in her back pockets. "Where did you take these?"

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn always found it difficult to let people take a look at his pictures. He thought the pictures of girls who wanted to be models, therefore nothing too personal for him, would be easier. It wasn’t. Because it was not so much the subject he feared people would comment about but his technique. If the picture sucked, how much was it the model’s fault? Which part of blame did he have? If this question was really asked to him, he would have to say all.

Still, he couldn’t come back here, he couldn’t rejoin the club and take a minor in photography without letting people see his work at one point or another. Only, he didn't expect it to happen this fast, or like this. He didn’t hear her coming in, too busy with his pictures, trying to find which ones could be worth showing. He startled when he heard her behind him, slightly to the side. For a moment, he feared he would hit her with his elbow while he turned around. He didn't think there was anyone and she really startled him. Almost to the point she didn’t hear what she was telling him. He was staring at her, his eyes slightly bigger than normal. It took a few blinks for him to realise he should be talking now. “Oh, hmm... New York. The city, I mean.”

Did she say she liked it? Did it matter though, considering he didn’t even know who she was? Probably not, but, just in case... “Are you in the club?”

[Blair Collins]

in between being young and being right.

Blair took a careful step backwards when he turned around. Jumpy, ain't he? She tried to keep a pleasant smile on but shifted a little under his gaze. She had made him uncomfortable with her creeping--would not be the first time--and in return, the feeling became mutual. The universe was a bitch that way. In comparism, the two were stark contrasts. Her eyes were bright blue while his were almost dark green with bags under them. He seemed to have a natural frown--be it intentional or not--where she almost always had a smile--sincere and/or otherwise. Light and dark. And yet, they shared at least one common interest.

She let out a short whistle at his answer and cooed softly, "The Big Apple..." Despite being in the United States for four years now, she had barely ventured outside Kallispell. And even then, rarely beyond the Academy itself. That sounded depressing even in my head. I really need to get out more. She cast her eyes back to the pictures spread out on the table. Past the models, the view of New York City was amazing. The girls were nice too, she supposed.

So distracted by these as she was, she almost did not hear Tarquinn's question. "Hm? Yes," she answered briskly. When asked a question--of any sort--one could usually respond with a "How about you?" But she already knew the answer to that. Besides, it was pretty obvious then. So she searched her mind for any alternative. "Who are these ladies?" She started to reach out to touch a photograph but then stopped to look at the boy. "Uhm, may I?"

tag: quinn | notes: temp test

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn studied the girl. She was younger than he was. Or, at least she looked younger. You just never know around here. Quinn was not exactly the best at judging people’s age. But she looked young. And she was silent for he didn’t hear her walking in. He looked at her, her blonde her, her blue eyes... He didn't think he knew her. Not that it would be all that strange. It was not like Quinn knew a whole lot of people before he left and now that he was back, he assumed he would know even less students than before.

She was impressed he might have taken pictures in New York. Maybe it was impressive. Sadly, all Quinn could think of was how it failed and not how amazing it was he might have gone this far at his age. He was a glass half-empty kind of guy. “Yeah, I went there for a while,” he explained. Why did he feel like he had to justify himself? He knew why. She was creeping him out a little and it was all his brain found to do about it. What can he say, he never pretended his brain was good for anything else but shitty plans.

So she was in the club. That made sense. Rare were the people not being part of the club who ventured around here. They had no reason to. Unless they wanted to meet with someone or wished to speak with the staff in charge for something. Since he was alone in there he doubted he was the reason she walked in here. So she had to be part of the club. Why this club attracted the weird ones? Like he was one to talk! He was pulled away from his thoughts by her questions. He nodded as she wanted to hold one of the pictures. “They’re models. Well, models in the making, I guess. I did some shoot with them so they could have pictures for their book,” he told her. Was he proud of this? He was pretty sure a part of him was proud of this. He had no idea if it worked for them. He knew it didn't for him so he shouldn’t be proud. But he was. A little. How many others around here could pretend they did that?

[Blair Collins]

in between being young and being right.

Blair in comparison was one of those glass-is-always-half-full people. She was always one to pick her people up, trying to be the light in darkness. At least, this used to be the case. For the past few years, she felt each smile become more insincere than the last. A facade to convince herself rather than others. So she dwelled on fixing anyone else's issues to procrastinate getting her own life together.

Still, seeing someone else do something with their life reminded her how much she did not do. It was somewhat depressing, to say the least. But the way he said it made it seem like it was no big deal--or even a waste. This irked her. "At least you got to go to there," she pointed out, trying to keep the envy out of her voice. "Some of us stay in one place for so long, it..." she faltered before she babbled any more. Shrugging, she added, "I have never been."

She picked up a photo and leaned against the table, fingered the Empire State building in the background. Gosh, I must seem like a total freak. This was yet another issue of Blair's. She hardly saw boundaries until she crashed right into them and even then, she sometimes could not bring herself to care much. One would think that after so much damage from trusting her gut, she should stop doing it. But no.

She smiled a little when Tarquinn explained what the photos were for. She did not need her superhuman hearing to know that he took some pride in his work. How could anyone not feel proud at a compliment?

Models though... More people who actually had a goal in life. Ambition is important. What is mine? She did not know the answer to this. What was once a clear path had become a blurred picture. She had a number of passions and her grades were fairly good. But she did not feel like pursuing anything academic and it was hard to be make a living out of photography. She did not even feel sure enough to reveal her work to the public.

Not like Tarquinn. He might actually get somewhere. "So you are a professional, then?"

tag: quinn | notes: none

[Quinn Wiley]

Photography was Quinn’s life. It took him a while to find a passion and he never would have thought it would be this big. At first, he accepted it mostly so his aunt would stop trying to make him smile again. He apparently used to be quite the smiling kid once. He could not remember. Life had a way of turning you upside down. What was a hobby to evade an ever present family became a passion and ever since someone said he was pretty good, the seed was planted and he just wanted to make a living out of this. He knew how hard this could turn out to be but he couldn’t just give up. If he did, he knew he’d be bitter about it. And he didn’t want to be bitter more than he already was.

If she tried to hide the envy, it failed. Quinn heard something like it in her tone of her. Yes, he went there while others stayed in one place. It was not like he felt the need to move constantly though. But the way she said she never went there... he shouldn’t care but Quinn was not exactly as heartless as he might appear to be. He felt somewhat guilty, like it was his fault she was sad she never left the town. “You can still end up doing that,” he argued. He didn’t really know what else to say about it. He made it not that big of a deal because it didn’t work out the way he wanted it to but he could not tell her that. If she was smart, she probably would guess it because he was here right now and not shooting girls in bikinis somewhere.

He was a professional? “I wish,” he let out at what sounded like a question. He did photoshoots and he had been paid for those. Well, some of those. So maybe he was a professional. Or used to be. He couldn’t bring himself to admit it didn’t get where he wanted it to. It was too humiliating. So he bit his lips and said nothing more.

[Blair Collins]

in between being young and being right.

Blair had only gotten into photography about four years ago--in fact, she could pinpoint it. Since her manifestation, she had been unable to turn off her powers. Everything around her kept changing and new information was constantly flowing into her brain. It overwhelmed her, giving her an ever present headache. The psychiatrist at Sir Henry Barnet's was the one to introduce her to photography. "This way, things can stay still," he had said.

He was right and she fell in love with her camera immediately. In pictures, everything froze, the moment captured. Staying the same when things, seasons, people change. She could relax and just appreciate the details. Even when Blair changed--and goodness knew she had changed a lot since then.

What Tarquinn said was right, she supposed. Still eighteen, she had a whole life ahead of her. Heck, she had yet to graduate high school. But even that, I could barely survive. It seemed to take too long. She wanted to get out of there already, leave Kalispell and never look back.

But he was trying to be nice and the girl did not want to make him feel bad. It was not his fault she allowed herself to be "imprisoned". I am to blame. "Yeah."Her voice came out soft and she exhaled sharply. "I guess I am just a little impatient, is all." This was an understatement but he did not need to know that.

She placed the picture back onto the table and looked at Tarquinn. He had the look of someone who did photography for a living. Dark and mysterious... like an artist with a complex. "You sound bitter, mate," she pointed out frankly. Admittedly, it was a much too familiar tone. The corners of her lips turned up in a knowing smile and placed a hand on the table, leaning on it. "Set yourself up for something and was disappointed? Been there, done that... Can I ask what happened?"

The idea that she could be probing where she was unwanted never crossed Blair's mind as she waited for a reply.

tag: quinn | notes: I am slowly making my way through replies xD

[Quinn Wiley]

Quinn had never been into sports like his cousins. He was a fast runner but never found any interest in that, other than run faster than his cousins when they wanted to go after him. Climbing was somewhat easy for him too but he was not interested in it for the same reason as running. Photography however... He was not an artist, at least he didn’t think he was. He could not paint how he felt or write stories to get these thoughts off his mind. Photography achieved that though. It calmed him, had him focused on something, made him ready to wait for as long as it was required for the perfect shot. And it was something he could do on his own while also having the ability to share it. Not that he shared it a lot but he could do it.

It had grown into something he wanted to do, more than anything. He wanted that chance of doing something that made him feel the closest to happy he had in years.

Being impatient was something that he could understand. He too had wished to get out of here. Yet he returned. Still, he just couldn’t wait to be done with high school. “In what year are you?” he asked her. Hey, who knows, maybe it was almost over for her. Besides, it was rather easy to take some months off, even a year, when you were in college. Well, easy might not be the word but it sure was doable.

He didn’t think New York was all that impressive. He wished he could see the world, Europe, Asia... That would be so awesome to travel it and take photos along the way. He forced himself to focus though. He wanted to be a fashion photographer, not take pictures for the National Geographic or some touristic magazine. Although...

He shrugged as she claimed he sounded bitter. She’d get used to it, he always sort of did. “I’m just naturally bitter,” he said, not wanting to talk too much on the subject. But he found it rather amusing she’d claim to have been in the same situation as he had. Certainly not the same but something similar, he supposed. Still, he found it hard to believe. “It’s hard to be a professional when they don’t give you a chance.”