katiehalli21
Willow Christensen, 16, is used to being invisible. The quiet, artistic younger sister of the assertive and popular Wendy Christensen, Willow drifts through McKinley High like a shadow-present but unnoticed. Teachers forget to call on her. Classmates don't remember her name. Even at home, Wendy tends to speak for her rather than to her.
Willow doesn't mind-or at least she tells herself that. She finds comfort behind the lens of her camera, capturing moments no one else sees: the cracks in hallways, reflections in puddles, tired eyes when people think no one's looking. She fills notebooks with photographs and words she never says aloud.
One afternoon, while taking photos for the yearbook in the school's tech wing, she wanders into the metal shop. It's loud and chaotic, filled with flame and steel-everything Willow usually avoids. But something about it draws her in.
That's where she first truly notices Ian McKinley.
A senior, Ian is the polar opposite of Willow-loud in his silence, defiant in every movement. He's labelled a weirdo, a cynic, the guy who talks about death too much. But when Willow accidentally snaps a photo of him welding-sparks flying, eyes focused-he notices her.
Instead of brushing her off like everyone else, Ian surprises her:
"Didn't think ghosts took pictures."
At first, she's embarrassed. Then intrigued.