Plot Twist

man with a secret.

"I don't know why, but every single time I sit down to watch the sunset, it seems so much better than the last..." She sighs, laying out her sleeping bag under the darkening sky.

"Never fails to impress me," I agree. "Now what?"

"Now I need to go and adjust my settings." She stands up, turning to the camera and takes out another lens from her bag. Screwing it on, she sighs and faces the camera towards the twin mountains in the east.

I can tell she loves this a lot, but it's a labor of love for sure - she grumbles quietly to herself as she messes with the settings.

"Perfect." She glances at me and smiles. "Camera doesn't like me sometimes, and it's hard to figure out the right settings when you shoot manual."

I'm already lost. "Wait, what?"

"It's hard to explain. But enough about my obsession with cameras," she laughs, sitting down again beside me.

"No, no, I want to hear about it! It's amazing," It's funny how she doesn't realize how wonderfully creative she actually is - she shrugs it off and tries to point the conversation towards me. But two can play at that game, and I've got more to hide.

"I'm not the amazing one - the stars are."

"You're both amazing."

The words startle me when they come out of my own mouth. I hadn't meant to actually say them out loud, but they're so, so true that I can't take them back.

She blushes.

And then I remember everything - she's just a character, just a character of my own making and I can't fall in love with her because -

Because of the plot twist.

"Thanks." The word hangs in the air and I can't freaking bring myself to mumble "You're welcome," or "No problem," or even "It's true!" because I can't get too attached, I can't let her know that I already -

"You okay?"

"Yeah." She snaps me out of my thoughts and it bothers me that I can't tell her how I actually, truly feel.

"How long have you been, well, living around here?" she asks gently.

"Six months or so, I think; I left a couple of months into the school year."

"Wow."

I want to yell to everyone who's ever judged me about being homeless, scream "I'm seriously okay, better than I've ever been, you don't have to worry about me!" into the darkness, but instead I nod. "But I'm so much happier out here, y'know? Without all the stress, and the bullies -"

"I was bullied too," she blurts out. Biting her lip, she repeats, "I was bullied too, and it sucks. It's terrible."

"Why?" I ask gently, struggling to keep up the pretense that I don't know, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever -

"I have dyslexia, and I was falling behind in school because of some -" she swallows - "some stuff at home, and I had to see tutors and all this stuff..."

It's taking everything I have not to yell "I know! I know!" at her, to hug her tight and tell her I know everything already and that she's so strong, so, so strong...

Her father was diagnosed with cancer when she was twelve.

He recovered, but the impact it had on her was irreversible.

"We're just a massive bundle of problems, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but we're recovering. We're making it through." There's the Elle I know, the Elle I created, the strong one, the determined one.

And I can't help but to whisper "If only you knew," as she stands up to check on the camera.