Caught In The Frame

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A copious amount of photographs coated a section of the wall above a small, neatly made bed. Various scenes of plants and animals alike were stamped onto the small pieces of plasticized paper. A few images were scattered about the floor or on the plain-looking desk that sat across the room.

The door of the room was opened and a weary teen shuffled inside gently shutting the door afterwards. S/c hands slipped the boy's shoes off before hooking around the straps of his backpack and setting it down next to the bed.

It had been a rather stressful day and the boy plopped down onto a stool next to his desk. The camera that hung so heavily around his neck lightened as it met the top of the table yet his shoulders still felt heavy. On the camera was a picture of a subject who had captivated him. One he had many photos of and of those photos there was never a single fault. Each one was a frozen embodiment of perfection.

Y/n's hands settled on the cold object square-like object. A finger pressed down onto one of the buttons and the previously dark screen lit up displaying a few options to choose from. Another button was clicked, this time choosing one of the options, "gallery". The gallery was a page of tons of tiny little photos separated by dates. His finger moved again a yellow box shifting from photo to photo until it landed on the most recent one. A finger hovered above one of the buttons before pressing down on it.

Perfection. That was what was displayed on the small screen. That is what Y/n saw. Y/n felt his muscles relax, he hadn't even realized how tense he had been. The thought of his subject discovering him had made Y/n nauseous and nervous throughout the day.

But, he was fine now. There was no reason to be afraid. Y/n rested his head on his arm and began to click through photos. Photos all with the same subject. Hundreds, perhaps even more. Each one seemed to fill that unexplainable cavity that sat deep within his chest.

Bam!

Practically jumping out of his seat, Y/n swiveled around to get a look at the small intruder. His door was wide open slightly trembling from the impact with the wall. A young girl, rather chubby, with little pigtails decorated with unicorn clip-ons, stood proudly in the doorway. When she saw Y/n her round e/c eyes seemed to become infested with sparkles her smile revealed tiny white teeth and a few holes.

The girl made a happy squeal before rushing towards Y/n who rotated his chair to face the little ball of energy. Holding out his arms the girl jumped onto him clinging to his neck and rubbing her face on his shirt. He clumsily smiled before giving the girl a pat on the head.

"Did you have fun at the park, Eliza?"

The girl's head shot up and she gave a violent nod, pigtails whirling around in the air.

"Me and Mommy saw a lot of dogs," she sat herself in a crisscross on Y/n's lap making large motions with her hands, "one was really fluffy and had fur shaped like clouds."

"It's called a poodle sweety," a woman looking to be in her thirties stood just outside the room, "how was school, Y/n?"

"It was fine," his mother nodded at his response used to her son's short sentences.

"I'm going to start dinner, I'll let you two little troublemakers know when it's done," she smiled creasing her deep blue eyes before walking away back down the hall.

Y/n gave a slight nod before turning his attention back to Eliza who was looking through the photos that littered his desk. While she was distracted with that he sneakily turned his camera off.

"Woah!" Eliza grabbed a photo of a snapdragon its vibrant pink-ish color glowing in the sun, "this one is pretty!"

"Oh, yeah I suppose so," Y/n agreed blankly.