500 Days of Styles (1D FanFic)

Day 475

Day 475

I squinted my eyes up at the way too bright light.

"Positions, please!" the photographer, Damon something-or-other, yelled, already frustrated when the shoot had just begun.

I swung my leg over the chair as I had been instructed and the other models took their spots.

"Okay, hold!" Damon screamed, clicking the camera button as the lights flashed at us even brighter. "Ok, you," he pointed at one of the boys to my right, "Arm down. And girl in the yellow, chin up!"

People shuffled around as he evaluated each inch of our beings.

"Purple shirt- life in your eyes!" he commanded. It took me a minute to realize he was talking to me.

I shook my head slightly, trying to compose myself and give myself "life".

"Okay, everyone hold!"

We froze in place, staring into the camera.

"Cut!" Damon screamed after clicking the shoot button way more times that necessary. "Individual shots now. You, you're first."

He pointed to a girl with raven, black hair on my left. The rest of us made our way over to a row of chairs and sat down as the girl was positioned and Damon shot picture after picture of him.

"Beautiful!" he cried. "Okay, you're finished. Next!"

An assistant was quickly in front of the line of us and she grabbed my hand, pulling me up and leading me over to the starch white backdrop.

I stared intensely at the camera as my arms draped behind me. Even I could tell that I was having an off-day.

"Eyes, darling, eyes!" Damon cried.

I tried widening my eyes and narrowing my brows- whatever I could to look like I wasn't sulking.

"You look dead! Try a new pose," he called out.

I shifted my body so that I was looking at the camera from the side. I arched my back and opened my mouth the smallest bit. The camera flashed and I quietly counted in my head until it would end.

"Darling, are you with me? You look like you're sleeping!" he said sharply.

I blinked my eyes shut, trying to force myself to wake up. I couldn't fail on this shoot- it was an important one.

Damon waved me off the set. "Take a break, we'll come back," he grunted.

I took a deep breath as I stepped away and the next girl was rushed past me to take my place. I couldn't help but feel the failure weighing down on my shoulders.

My thoughts felt clouded, my limbs felt limp, and my eyes felt heavy.

"Arden?" I heard a soft voice ask and the sound of clacking heels approached me. "Ar, what's going on?" she repeated again.

I turned to face Wendy as she ushered us both over to the side, away from the other model's prying eyes.

"Ar?"

I stared at my friend. Of course she knew what was going on.

"Is this about Harry?" she asked quietly.

I rolled my eyes. "It isn't about anything," I said, the words coming out harsher than I had intended.

Wendy took a small step back. "Arden, I know you're under a lot of pressure and a lot of stress- but you made the decision about Harry, and you made it for good-"

"Wendy," I snapped, cutting her off. "I said it was nothing," I continued through gritted teeth.

Wendy let out a flustered sign as her eyes tried to search mine for any hint of emotion. "Come on, Ar. Don't shut me out like that."

"You're my agent, not my therapist." I knew I was crossing too many lines, pushing too many buttons- but I couldn't help myself.

"I'm your friend, Arden. I care about you and last time I checked, you cared about me too." I could hear the tension easing into her voice. Wendy wasn't one to get angry- so I knew that I was taking it too far.

"Whatever," I muttered, turning my back to her and walking away. I knew I couldn't walk out of the shoot, but that didn't mean I had to stay near her.

I heard some frustrated stomps heading in the opposite direction as me and I was grateful that she had given up.

"Are you ready for another go?" the heavily accented voice asked. I hadn't even realized but I had walked right into the path of the set.

"Uh, yeah," I mumbled, feeling caught off guard. I couldn't just say no- it looked like I had walked right up to him.

"Pefect! Just remember- happy eyes!" Damon said loudly as I was repositioned in front of the plain white fabric.

As I stood there trying to focus on my body and my face and how I looked- my mind was anything but focused. It kept wandering to every corner of the world. But I couldn't help but notice that at least fifty percent of the time, it seemed to rest on one singular person.

"Brighter, brighter!" he called, breaking me away from my thoughts and back to reality.

I began to feel frustrated- but I knew I couldn't let that get to me. Being frustrated would be even more disastrous to how I felt right now. Emotions were always a bad thing when it came to posing- the emotions always had to be fake. Real emotions never came across quite right.

"There! Hold that!" Damon yelled, snapping the camera as my face help a half-smile position.

I shifted into one final pose before receiving the call to cut.

"I'm sure we'll find what we need in there. Thank you," Damon called- sounding much more dismal than he probably intended.

As I walked off the set, I knew that I had done poorly. I had let my emotions get to me. I was letting them eat me alive.