Being Shot

P h o t o #16 - Ignorance Within Oneself

(Okay. I kinda sucked at Elliot's POV, but I still tried, so I guess that's good enough.)

P h o t o #16 - Ignorance Within Oneself

~Elliot's POV~

"What?" I asked, somewhat startled by the sudden change of the subject. I was trying to think about what she had mumbled, wanting to piece together what she had said, but I couldn't think of a word that would fit the complicated puzzle correctly, so I decided to go with the change.

Emma turned to face me once again, her eyes glassy in the light, "Why did you use a camera to decide which girl to use? For the tradition, I mean." Her eyes never left mine like usual. Instead of asking about why we do that crazy tradition, the one we all came up with for fun during our freshman year since we all had the entire school in our palms, she asked about something that no one had ever even thought to ask me. The camera.

I broke eye contact and stared down at the mucky concrete of the park, not sure how I should even begin to react to this. Tonight was eventful, to say the least. From the few rides I rode that gave me a strong headache that was still throbbing at my temples, to the haunted house incident where I intelligently thought it would be amusing to mess with this witty girl next to me, to almost having an asthma attack from all of the annoying green smoke I hadn't known would be filling the last room of the house, and then finally being saved by Emma. To this?

What the hell. When did I let myself become so vulnerable around such a girl like Emma Leighs.

I went back to the question I was asked before. I didn't know what to make of that question. Or, maybe I just didn't know what to make of this girl sitting to my left, silhouetted by the hazy park lights and milky white light from the slit-like moon above. I didn't understand. Wasn't she supposed to laugh at how undeniably pitiful I looked all red-faced and wheezy? That's usually what happened during these situations, making me forever afraid to let my common condition show.

But I didn't care anymore. I didn't care about what people truly thought of me. Just like I shouldn't care what she thought.

But why did I?

I shook my head, falling out of my tumbling thoughts for the second time and finally getting back to Emma's question. Now that I ultimately processed her words, I guessed I did have an answer. "I've always been into photography. I guess you could say it's the field I want to get into once I'm out of high school."

I bit the inside of my cheek, waiting for the words that'll convince me that my dream was useless, that that field was something like a one in a million chance of being successful in, that it was all just wishful thinking of a naive teenagers brain. Just like I had heard it from my father time and time again.

Silence.

I hated it. Once again, she sucked the truth right out of me. I couldn't lie to her. I had figured that one out the first day we had gotten into this mess. This mess that has consumed my entire senior year of high school so far. There was something about her eyes that I usually tried to avoid.

"Really?" I heard her voice call out to my left, an excited tint bubbling in her tone. I jerked my head back up to see Emma's face, which was on the brink amazement. "You like photography? That's amazing! No wonder you had such a huge, high-tec camera that day." She then seemed to contemplate, putting her pointer finger to her chin. "It seems we do have a bit in common, don't we?"

I blinked at the girl, not knowing what I could say. Not knowing what I was to expect. I seemed to always have a hard time talking to her, usually just passing by, watching her from a distance as she easily wedged her way into our lives. But this was a completely new level of being at a loss for words around this girl.