FOREST

6 - photographs and suffocation

Kaden's eyes were immediately drawn to the biggest photograph in the room. In the middle of a simple black frame stood a picture of two men kissing, plastic bags covering their faces. It was such a powerful piece, it made everyone who entered shiver.

The small gallery was dark, and had it not been for the bright lights shining onto the pictures, it would have been pitch black. Quiet, indie music was playing through the cozy space, quiet chatting and footsteps mixing with it.

"Zoie!" Layla, who came with Kaden and Spencer exclaimed, making Kaden turn around.

Zoie stood in a navy blue dress, which could have easily been mistaken for a black one in the dim lights. It was very simple, but at the same time it hung on all her edges perfectly, reaching her mid thighs. Layla hugged her, making the smile on Zoie's face widen. It wasn't there for too long though, as it disappeared as soon as her eyes landed on Kaden.

"This is amazing," Spencer said to her whilst looking around, but she didn't blink, let alone move her eyes to look at him.

"Hey," she seemed to snap out of some sort of a trans, "I didn't expect to see you here?"

The combination of the words ended up sounding like a question as she approached him and Kaden's eyes slid up and down her body, before he even knew what he was doing. There was a dose of uncertainty, a dose of confusion and a definite dose of shock in her eyes.

"Is this your first exhibition?" he moved his eyes back to her face.

"Aha," she crossed her arms, her eyes wandering around the room, "I know it's not that good, but I had to start somewhere."

"You have to be kidding me," Kaden let out a small laugh, "It's amazing."

Zoie didn't  say anything, but didn't look at him either.

"I didn't get a chance to see everything yet," he said, "Would you care to give me a small tour?"

Spencer and Layla had disappeared somewhere, but he would have asked the question even if they hadn't.

"Yeah, sure," she scratched her upper arm and started walking towards the picture nearest to the entrance. It was a picture of two people, their faces hidden in the dark. You couldn't tell whether they were male or female, but they were laying on top of each other under the covers, one's spine showing. The angle that the photo was taken from made it look even better, the rain visible on the window in the photo, all the colors dissolving into one another.

"This one is from a couple of weeks ago, when that terrible storm hit us," Zoie said quietly after a few seconds, "And then this one," she went towards the next one in the line, "is just a closeup of the previous one."

That picture consisted of two side-by-side pictures of hands in handcuffs. When he looked at the previous photo, Kaden realized that he missed the small detail. Both pairs of hands had light falling on top of them, making them look angelic on top of skin and white sheets.

"And-"

"Hey Kaden!"

In only a second Melanie managed to slip between the two, wrapping her arms around him.

"I didn't even know that you were coming! When did you arrive?"

"Uhm- Just a few minutes ago?" he looked at Zoie who had a sour expression on her face but soon it transitioned in a neutral one.

"How amazing are this one's pictures?" she smiled at Zoie.

"They are seriously something else."