* through the lens -- open

[RUBY GRACE HONEYCUTT]

Generally, Ruby liked to take photos of people. Though, there was only so many times you could point a camera in your friends faces before they got tired of it- and only so many times you could lurk around campus taking candid photos of strangers until you were deemed a creeper. So how was a girl supposed to practice her most favourite form of art? It was difficult, really. While she did work with other mediums, it was no secret that her favourite was photography. It was just not exactly the easiest to just go out and do unless you were a nature photographer. For other sorts of artists, as long as you had the right supplies you were golden. Okay, well maybe that wasn’t completely true, and it wasn’t fair for her to be so glib about it. She was just frustrated. And being a frustrated artist isn’t exactly all that fun.

Instead of moping about with her frustrations though, Ruby had decided to search for new subjects for her photos. Which was why she was at the zoo. It was for two reasons really. Or actually, three. For one, no one knew Ruby here, so even if they did think she was a creeper, she’d never see them again so it was all good. Two, at least animals were a little more interesting to snap photos of then empty landscapes and three, she actually really just liked the zoo. She always had, and for no particular reason. She liked animals alright, but that wasn’t even it. She just couldn’t explain. But then, sometimes you couldn’t really explain the things you love- not in any words that another person would understand. It was personal. You got it, understood why, but that didn’t mean it had to make sense or even be explained to anyone else.

The weather was still warm, and Ruby was thankful. While she normally preferred the cooler weather, she had to admit the zoo was really a warm weather activity. It wasn’t exactly pleasant to be trudging along the shady paths in the wind, or even rain. She knew that soon the weather would be turning cold, so she really should be appreciating a day like today. She was thankful too, for all the trees at the zoo, or her pale skin would be burning in the warm September sun. Ruby had always been a girl to burn easily, so she’d always been rather careful when out in warmer weather. It was difficult though, trying to pick clothes that would be cool, but also shield her from the sun. She guessed that was where things like hats and sun-block would be involved. Neither of which she’d even considered before her impromptu zoo trip.

Sipping her peach flavoured ice-tea, hazel eyes glanced around. She’d come to a fork in the paths and choose which way to go. She was almost certain to the left were primates, and she wasn’t overly fussed on monkey’s and apes, so to the right it was. Slipping the bottled drink back into her overly large handbag, the young woman took the right path. Nursing her camera lens in one hand. Even though the strap attached to the camera was around her neck, Ruby still felt the need to nurse her precious instrument. She was always so paranoid that something would happen, and she’d break the very expensive gift she’d gotten for her sixteenth birthday. The blonde slowed her pace as she came to the elephant enclosure. Honestly, she’d always liked the magnificent animals. Bringing her camera up, the youth removed the lens-cap, and aimed the camera for one of the nearer animals. Framing a close-up of the Elephant face.

[TYLER JACOB LAVOIE]

Tyler really had no good reason to go to the zoo.

It had sounded like a good idea at the time. Pretty much anything was better than sulking around in his room (and he did mean around the room - he'd decided that under the bed was the best place to brood, with hiding behind the desk a close second) with no more company than a bag of Skittles and a rapidly-failing computer. He had money, he knew the bus routes, he didn't have any work to complete and it wasn't like he had that many friends to stalk up and insist on spending time with. Best course of action? Obviously, hanging around in a crowd of people and looking at animals.

Tyler breathed deeply, inhaling the smells and the very atmosphere. People were all around him, talking and pointing and laughing, and there were little kids running around to see all the exotic things they'd maybe only seen in picture books before. The human voices overlaid the almost imperceptible animal noises: the cry of tamarins, quiet zebra snickers and the bickering of canaries in the bird house when he passed. It wasn't just sound, it was everything that overwhelmed - the cold ice-smell from the snowcone vendors, a brush of a passing sleeve against his arm, the clear gaze of an ape against the glass.

He'd always liked the zoo at home, too. Was it weird that he continued to think of Olympia as home? It wasn't like he'd been gone for a year or something - it had been May when they sold the house, June when they'd moved into the house in Philly. Only a few months had passed.

But he'd been really concentrating on accepting Philadelphia. New life and all that. Good thing he hadn't made a whole mob of friends in Olympia.

Tyler emerged from the primate exhibit, hands curled tightly in his jacket pockets - not out of a conscious decision, just an absent habit of keeping his fused fingers hidden. For a minute he stood, regarding the signs thoughtfully. It was a very important decision that he had to make; whether to continue on, and possibly meet someone interesting as he went, or to simply leave. There was always the possibility of meeting someone interesting as he left, but hanging out with them would be difficult if he had to go directly back to campus and not be able to wander around with them. Unless they were Emerson students.

But Tyler thought the odds against that were not in his favor.

"Left it is," he decided out loud, and as he strode down the pathway, Tyler fished a yellow Starburst from his jacket with his left hand. He'd had enough practice unwrapping things one-handed to be chewing on the lemony piece of sugar by the time he hit the elephants, and stuffed the wrapper back into his pocket as he leaned against the fence.

A small motion next to him drew his attention, and he was confronted with the sight of a familiar-looking (and, if he was going to be honest with himself, rather pretty) blonde girl focusing her camera on the closest elephant. It took a minute for Tyler to realize where he might know her from; he'd seen her around campus at Emerson a few times. He didn't think he'd talked to her at all - from what he remembered, she was an arts student, and he hadn't exactly been a social butterfly with the academic students, much less the others - but her face was definitely familiar. She was in high school, too, he was fairly certain. Maybe a senior?

"Hey," he started, as soon as Mysterious Blonde Possibly-Senior Probably-High-Schooler Definitely-Emerson-Student Girl had gotten her picture and put down her camera. "Don't I know you from somewhere?"

[RUBY GRACE HONEYCUTT]

Ruby was so focused on her shot that she hadn’t noticed the boy move up beside her. It wasn’t anything personal, at all. She could just get so absorbed in her art sometimes it became harder to focus on what was going on around her. It actually left her a little vulnerable when she was in public. She wouldn’t have noticed if Tyler was attempting to steal her wallet (or wore) till after the fact. Wow, she really needed to work at being more observant of what was around her when she was taking photos. Or one of these days something horrid was going to happen to her. That, or something just mildly upsetting. Either way, she couldn’t really afford to be ‘completely in the zone’ when she was in public. It was hard though. She got so intently drawn into what she was doing. It was an intense thing, really.

The greeting from next to her shocked Ruby a little. She felt herself jump, as she spun around her see who had spoken to her. Honestly, she was expecting someone she knew. That cute ‘Don’t I know you from somewhere’ joke seemed like something Corbin would do- smirk firmly set on his features as he did so. Ruby had to begrudgingly admit to herself that it was a little disappointing to see that it wasn’t him. More than that though, she was a little surprised really. Ruby wasn’t your typical shy girl, but she was relatively quiet, and kept to herself. She wasn’t exactly used to being approached by strangers. Especially boys. She could come off as somewhat stand-offish when it came to romance, so it wasn’t a surprise that boys passed her by. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in romance, she was. It was more the fact that Ruby was very weary of getting herself attached. Getting close to people. There was a long thawing out period that a lot of people just didn’t want to wait out.

It wasn’t that she was rude though. Oh no. Offering him a small smile, she returned his greeting with a “Hi there.” However she hesitated before continuing. Biting her lip. She didn’t want to hurt his feelings, but Ruby really didn’t find him familiar. Again, she was putting it down to the fact that she could be a bit with-drawn, unobservant and not a social butterfly. It was a safe bet though, to assume he went to Emerson. He looked around her age. She probably hadn’t seen him before though, or at least not taken a candid snapshot of him, or she would at least have known his face. Saving his feelings, the blonde nodded. “Yeah, Emerson right?” Hopefully she wasn’t wrong, or that might have really upsetting. Hedging her bet, she balanced the camera in one hand, extending her other for him to shake. “I’m Ruby.” It was a little awkward- hand shakes. It was just, she wasn’t sure what else to do. Well, besides taking his picture. That was always an impulse she had to curb.

Biting her lip again, Ruby attempted to do something to ease the awkward feeling. She really wasn’t sure what to do though. This was why she didn’t put herself socially out there- because she was pretty clueless. “It’s a nice day?” she offered, creating more awkwardness then she was fixing.

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