Find The Beauty Within

The Most Beautiful Sight

Normani's POV

"Wherever there is light, one can photograph." -Alfred Stieglitz

I've always seen myself as an open minded person. Maybe that's because photography is something broad, general. There is no specific way to take pictures, nor is there anyone who can tell you what to take pictures of. Photography is up to the photographer, leaving beauty literally in the eye of the beholder. And for me, everything was beautiful, especially the simplest of things. Trees, flowers, butterflies, the sky, candids of friends, or anyone for that matter, were all beautiful to me. Truth be told, I was the kind of person who found beauty in even the darkest of things, like the way lightning would strike the dark sky during a thunder storm, or how light anyone's eyes got when they cried because their eyes were so red due to crying. Sometimes, beauty in the darkness is more beautiful than the areas we tend to shine light on.

"Mani," my best friend called to me. "We've been taking pictures for hours, can we go now?"

I shook my head, dismissing the short girl with a wave. "Not yet, AllyCat. Just a few more pictures, I promise."

"You said that fifteen minutes ago," she pointed out.

"You're right," I chuckled. "Give me fifteen more minutes then."

Ally groaned, leaning back on her blanket, kicking her tiny feet childishly. "We're at the beach, Mani! You've literally been photographing the same thing over and over again for an hour! How many more shots do you need?"

I let my camera hang as I turned to face my frustrated friend. My hands clasped together, mouth slipping into a pout I knew she couldn't resist when I tacked on the puppy-dog eyes.

"Oh my God! Fine!" she relented, covering her big brown eyes with her tiny hands. "Just fifteen more minutes!"

"Thanks, doll!" I cheer happily, returning toward my original position halfway facing the ocean.

I was expecting to see nothing but the shoreline, running crookedly toward the boardwalk, but there was an extra figure in my shot. A tall blonde staring off into the waves. Her tousled curls were flowing freely, sprawling out behind her due to the wind. I didn't even need to see her face to know she was beautiful, because her strong, tanned thighs, firm butt, posture and aura gave it all away. The girl had the perfect physique, and I was positive she had a face sculpted by the Gods to match.

Without thinking, I tried to capture a picture, completely forgetting that the flash was on. The blonde whipped around quickly, giving me the perfect view of her face for the first time. She was utterly gorgeous with her arched eyebrows, warm brown eyes, long dark lashes, full, rose colored lips, and a jawline sharp enough to cut glass.

"What are you doing?" she questioned, her voice soft but curious and scared.

"I-I just...I saw you, a-and you looked s-so beautiful...and I just..." I trailed off rubbing the back of my neck nervously.

The girl pursed her lips. "Beautiful? Me? No, you've definitely got the wrong chick."

"I don't," I said, shaking my head. "You're absolutely stunning, and if you can't see that then-"

"Then what, huh?" she interrupted, her voice quiet. "Then I'm blind? 'Cause I can assure you I'm not."

    "I wasn't...I just...you..."

    She took a seat on the shoreline, not caring for the waves that splashing her softly. "Can you just delete them and we can both go our separate ways."

    "I'm sorry, I can't do that," I responded.

     "Please," she begged, turning to me with tears in her eyes. Her expression broke my heart, and it was the only reason I deleted the amazing picture I took of her, then showing her the proof. I should've been upset that I had to delete the picture, but her image was already so etched into my mind, that I didn't need a picture to see her face.

    "Thank you," she whispered. "Now can I please go back to being alone?"

    I swore she mumbled something along the lines of, "it's better that way" but I wasn't too sure.

    I kept my feet planted, willing her to look at me, but when she didn't I continued to ask my question anyway. "Do you think I can see you again?"

    "You don't even know my name."

    "So tell me," I shrugged. "What's your name?"

    She let out a long sigh, obviously debating on whether or not she was going to give out that information. One of her hands raked through her hair, pushing part of it to one side, the side I was on.

    "Dinah." Her voice was so soft, I almost missed it, but I heard her.

    Dinah. A beautiful name for a beautiful girl, even if she didn't think so herself. But I was determined to change that. I didn't know what her story was, just as she didn't know mine, but that was something I wanted to learn. I wanted to know everything there was to know about Dinah. I wanted to know what her favorite genre of music was, if she was into art, if she had a favorite subject — all the trivial stuff. But then I wanted to know the deeper stuff, like why she didn't think she was beautiful, what happened that made her think any differently, and why she felt the need to hide in the shadows when she should be in the spotlight. Or rather, she was the spotlight.

    Dinah was the light any photographer needed to photograph. She was pure, raw beauty, and every inch of her needed to be captured on camera. And I was determined to do so.

    "So, Dinah," I said, rocking on my heels. "Can I see you again?"

    "No."

    "O-oh," I mumbled. I wanted to be persistent, but something about her changed drastically within seconds, and I didn't want to bother her more than I already had. So I decided to wait. If I saw her then, there was a huge chance I was going to see her in the future, so I decided that the next time I saw her, I'd try again.

    I gave her one last glance, but she didn't look my way again, not even when I said my goodbyes.

    "See you around," I told her before walking back to my best friend.

    I just really hoped that I actually did see her around again.

A/N: So here is chapter one of "Find The Beauty Within"! Just a heads up for this story, Jesselle_Loves_You and I will be switching off on POV's. You'll get Dinah's POV from her, and Normani's POV from myself. We kind of just thought this up in like 10 minutes so let's see how it goes. Hope you enjoy!
-Penguin aka Simba aka Gabby aka thenotsocoolweirdo