Picture to Burn (Carter)

[Jacelynn Heron]

So much for that boyfriend of hers. Things with Sam had been rather rocky. He wasn't around and she didn't want to wait forever. She hadn't even bothered trying to go to one of his friends to see what the deal was, she honestly didn't care. For all Jacelynn knew, he'd found another prettier girl. It was typical for guys to use girls for a couple weeks and drop them shortly after. Nothing Aleks hadn't seen before. After all, she'd seen her own guy friends do it a couple times.

Still, that didn't mean it didn't sting.

What did one do after heartbreak? Well, this girl was a photographer, one who'd taken plenty of pictures of her and her former boyfriend. What better way to get over him than burn his face out of her mind? Out of the photo albums she kept stored around in her room? It wasn't a difficult thing to do. She'd kept them all clipped together with the date and what had been happening before the picture was taken.

Striding out to the lake only a little ways away from the college, she carried a box full of pictures and a grill-lighter in her hand. Strapped to her back was the backpack she kept her camera in, just on the off chance she found something she wanted to add to her collage project. Fall was coming to its peak and it was the perfect time for good scenery pictures. Once she finished burning Sam out, she could just sit there like always and zone out through the camera lens. Who knew? Maybe she'd find a new subject to take pictures of.

Unlikely though.

[Carter Chevalier]

Whatever Carter had walked into, it didn't look good.

"A girl, a box and a lighter." He muttered to himself, allowing all pieces of this simplistic puzzle to click together with ease. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, whether they lash out on the person or deal with it in their own way. He weighed his options for a moment or two before siding with his better judgement and walking right on over towards her.

Why not? It wasn't as if she was going to burn him. She might try, but he doubted she would end up successful. "Burning someone out of your life?" Carter asked lightly, shrugging his shoulders as he allowed his hands to rest in his pockets, "Literally, it seems."

[Jacelynn Heron]

The voice was her first indicator. Clairaudience made it possible to hear anything, and yet, she had ignored it for the time being because she really just didn't know who it was and didn't care at the moment. She went on flipping through the photos plucking out the ones of the two of them and pressing the lighter to his face before it caught fire. The smell of burnt photo paper had her scrunching her nose as she flipped to the next one after the fire went out.

The footsteps were her next indicator that someone was determined to talk to her while in this mood. It wasn't a bad mood really, just a fed up with the idea of relationships. It had been her first and for a while it would be her last. What was the point of relationships at this age anyway? It wasn't as if she was going to meet Prince Charming and have him sweep her off her feet. That just didn't happen.

And then the person came to a stop. A boy she could guess by the sound of his footsteps, but not one that she would know, and the voice didn't match up either. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and plucked another picture out of the remaining stack. "Perhaps. He isn't a part of it anymore, so why keep the memories?" She asked quietly as she set the smiling couple ablaze.

[Carter Chevalier]

The small move she gave allowed Carter to get a better look at her. She was beautiful, there was no denying that. He could appreciate being in her company in a second, despite the mood she might be in. He did like to surround himself with people he found attractive. He also liked to help people out when he could, even if they were strangers. He was just lucky that he knew a lot about love from his own personal experience; maybe he'd have advice or something.

"Exactly right." Carter replied, moving again to kneel beside her. He would go if she asked, but as of yet she hadn't given him any indicators that he should leave.

Tentatively at first, he reached over and moved to pick up one of the pictures. From his jeans pocket he produced his own lighter; he had one for his own reason that mainly involved the fact that he liked to smoke. "Can I help? Two lighters are better than one." He asked, looking over at her again.

[Jacelynn Heron]

Honestly, Aleks wasn’t the nicest person to talk to when she was in a sour mood, and usually she didn’t like much company. The fact that it was a guy really should have made things worse, but she didn’t mind having someone there. Ya know, in case she set her hot pink extensions on fire...which would be bad. So instead of telling him to get the hell away from her, she accepted his presence. In fact, she welcomed the conversing.

He knelt down beside her and she refrained from looking at him. She wasn’t about to start going after another guy. No way, she was going to stay single for as long as possible. That meant no flirting as well.....Ha. At least he seemed to understand the way she was thinking. Either that or he was just agreeing to make it seem like he understood. Who knew with guys?

The guy’s hand reached over and he took one of the pictures from her stack. A picture of Sam all by himself just smiling at her from a distance. It almost seemed like he could have really cared about her, but she didn’t dare think of that. Instead she glanced at the boy next to her and raised an eyebrow as he pulled out his own lighter. It took her a couple seconds before she realized that he was offering to help. Clearing her throat, she nodded slightly trying to force back the sadness she was beginning to feel. “Th-thanks. Uhm, don’t bother asking if I want any of them saved. I don’t even care if I look good in the picture or not, I just want them gone.”

[Carter Chevalier]

"I figured as much." Carter replied lightly. He took a few seconds to study the picture he was holding before he took to the corner of it with a lighter. It was slow to burn in the beginning, but once it caught on fire he held it for as long as he could before needing to drop it or really risk burning himself.

He picked up another, studying it again. Not because he wanted to see the guy or anything like that, but he was just curious. "Did you take all these pictures?"

[Jacelynn Heron]

The stack had shrunk drastically since she first brought it out to the lake. All of the memories began drifting away along with the ashes. Whenever Aleks was determined to forget someone, she would literally take them out of her memories. Sam was just another pretty face to her now, there were no ties to him and she didn't ever want to think of him again. She was fairly sure that after this, she wouldn't feel the need to.

Glancing over once more to the boy next to her, she saw him looking at the picture of her and Sam at his auto shop. It was shortly after he'd gotten everything sorted out and was about to open it. Months, it had been months since that picture was taken. And she'd nearly forgotten about it. Aleks gave a slight shrug and nodded. "Yeah, I'm a photography major, so I tend to take a lot of pictures."

[Carter Chevalier]

"Oh, at one of the colleges nearby?" Carter asked, assuming the answer was yes. Still, it was a way to strike up a conversation while striking up some flames. "I wasn't entirely sure if they offered those kind of degrees." He wasn't completely sold on staying past graduation so he hadn't really checked anything out in the area yet.

He watched the pictures burn, and the pile dwindle down slowly. "They're beautiful pictures. From a photography standpoint, I mean." Carter started again. "I don't know much about photography, but I know about art."

[Jacelynn Heron]

Aleks nodded, "U of V, it's really not too far away from here." She was actually glad that this boy had come talk to her. It was keeping her mind off of Sam (despite all of the pictures of the two of them) and it was better burning pictures with someone than alone. "Oh yeah, I'm getting a bachelor's degree in it. You can get a masters in film production and everything, but I like taking pictures of people not making movies," She shrugged as she watched the flames of the fire.

It was a pretty good fire that she'd started, burning away the memories and thoughts of a boy that had said so many nice things but hadn't been able to follow through with them. "Thank you. This is my only tie to art. I wish I was better at drawing, but I figure this is the next best thing." If you can't draw, take pictures of something someone else could draw. Or in her case, take pictures of beautiful people and the art of their bodies and clothing and make up.

"Eventually, I'm hoping to get out of this place and hit up one of the fashion capitals. I wanna take pictures of models and stuff since I'm not exactly cut out for modeling." Because she deemed herself ugly and models couldn't be the brace face nerd girl that she once was.

[Carter Chevalier]

Having gotten a feel for her skills as a photographer, Carter started just lighting the pictures on fire as opposed to spending time studying them. It was this one guy. They must have been together for a while and it must have been in important relationships because she had so many pictures of him. And whatever the nature of the photographs, each one had a hint of intimacy that came in a relationship with strong feelings. He kept it all in mind.

"Well, I can draw." Carter offered, keeping his eye on the flames instead of her. "And paint. But I still find what you can capture through a lens more enthralling than what you can create with your hands."

He shook his head a few times at her next statement, disagreeing completely. "I believe wholeheartedly in chasing your dreams," He agreed, looking over at her again, "But not in putting yourself down like that. You are beautiful. Anyone can see that." He smiled, before looking back and picking up another picture to burn.

[Jacelynn Heron]

It wasn't so much that they'd been together long because they hadn't, but it was the first boyfriend she'd had and he had made her feel special. The strong feelings must have only been one-sided because she hadn't really understood why he'd been ignoring her. Maybe it was for a legitimate reason, but either way she was done with it. The intimacy had been there, but it was short-lived and now Jacelynn was over it.

Her face perked up a bit when he admitted to being able to draw. She'd always admired artists, the real ones that could create pieces of work that were their own. "But it's never really your own ya'know? I mean you can take a horrible picture, but edit it until it looks like a great picture. It's all just a bunch of falseness." She stared at the flames as well and bit the inside of her cheek, "Artists, the ones that create their own things are much cooler. They take an idea and can put it on paper, we take the ideas that are already presented in front of us as photographers."

She saw his head shake back and forth, her head tilted to the side. His explanation had her blushing and she smiled shyly, "Well I wouldn't go that far. I mean, I'm pretty enough I guess, but models are like supreme being types. They're really skinny and have the greatest facial structures ever. I'm pretty for a normal girl, not a model." She'd studied herself enough in the mirror to see that there were subtle major differences between her and a typical model.

[Carter Chevalier]

"I'm sure you never really need to edit your pictures." Carter reasoned, though he did agree that the act tended to take away from the genuine beauty of photography work. He was beginning to wonder if she was always this negative about herself, but he chalked it all up to circumstances. "People say there are no new ideas. If you believe that, then I suppose we as artists are all imitating something."

Carter couldn't help but smile when he saw the shade of red on her cheeks. Again, he shook his head. "Hn, the concept of models being higher in life than the rest due to their looks." He replied, leaning back on an arm to take a break from destroying the pictures. "Some would say realistic women are more attractive and interesting than models." Carter paused, looking over to gauge her reaction.

"And regardless, pretty enough doesn't do you justice." He pointed out genuinely.

[Jacelynn Heron]

Jacelynn shrugged, maybe he had a point, but she didn't have to admit to that. And she didn't see it as being negative, she saw it as being realistic. She thought it was better thinking the least of yourself so that no one could hurt her by saying something she already knew. Getting put down for so many years in her life, it had become her defense mechanism. Often she would snap back at someone who tried to put her down, if that didn't work she just smiled and agreed with them as if it didn't phase her.

But it did.

She saw him smile and rolled her eyes, of course he was just trying to get a reaction out of her. It was like most guys, always dying to see if they can get the girl flustered and nervous. Well, that would be the last time it would work on her. Aleks wasn't easily flustered. "And some would say that models are the ideal image of women. Why do you think girls try so hard to look like them when they are younger? Models are the ones that get looked up to, not the ones taking the picture."

She had thought she was fluster-free, but his last remark sent heat once more to her cheeks and Jacelynn just smiled, "You are determined to make me think that by the end of this aren't you? Well kind sir, you'd be surprised at how stubborn I can be."

[Carter Chevalier]

"Those girls don't interest me." Carter stated matter-of-factly. It wasn't a statement he was shy about or one that he put much purpose behind; his natural nonchalant behaviour was shining through. He had no issues with being honest about that kind of thing. No one wants to date a model. He didn't like it when he had.

Carter chuckled at her statement, looking out over the lake. Calm serene waters with a dimly lit fire at the edge. And them. "Stubborn women are always more fun to be around." He pointed out. "They keep you guessing. They don't conform and fall at a man's feet over some pretty words." He looked back over to her.

"They're real. Unlike any model." He added, his lips pulling into an amused smile.

[Jacelynn Heron]

So maybe that small fact about him made her appreciate him a little bit more, but that didn't mean she would agree with him on anything else. Aleks was glad that he didn't like the girls that were often too dumb to converse with, the ones that guys usually favored because they could be molded into the perfect wife that said nothing. She wasn't like that in the slightest. Jacelynn could hold her own in a debate and often would stick up for her own beliefs until the other person got sick of hearing her.

Carter would never have to worry about her conforming or falling to a man's feet over pretty words. Nor would he have to deal with the same old boring thing from her daily. She was a rebel with a cause. Jacelynn also liked to think that she didn't have a totally boring personality either. But who knew. "True, us stubborn girls are more fun, but we're also a pain in the ass and most men like their women silent."

Aleks ran her fingers through her blond and hot pink-streaked hair, "I'm fairly sure nine times out of ten a guy would pick a model over a normal girl. Most guys just care about boobs and butt, not substance. Then again, maybe I've been hanging around the wrong guys."