PICTURE PERFECT // Jack Manifold X Reader

17

You crouched down on the pavement outside the school building, angling your camera upwards to capture the rays of early morning sunlight that were coming down through the clouds. Of course, you weren't able to see much in the picture now, but with some editing, you were sure you would be able to draw out what you were trying to capture.

"You should get one, like, through the flowers or something." Ty suggested from where he was sitting on one of the stone ledges that jutted out from the school building. Dawn leaned against the brick wall a few paces away, absently scrolling through her phone.

They weren't really supposed to be out here with you - they had there own modeling classes to attend to, and today wasn't one of the days where your classes overlapped. You were supposed to be working in nature and landscapes today, but you had texted the twins that you were waiting outside their classroom anyway, and now here you were, loitering around outside.

Even though they could get in trouble for this, you knew they wouldn't. Somehow, they never seemed to get caught for anything.

"That could be good." You agreed, getting up and moving over to where one of the school's flower beds was. You brought your camera down into the center of a cluster of plants, leaves and petals all edging together around the lens, before snapping a few pictures of the clouds through the foliage. You could already see the potential in those shots, though the concept was a little basic.

You were fiddling with your camera, looking over what you had gotten, when Dawn's voice broke your concentration.

"Hey, Mum says there's a package for us when we get home."

"Oh nice." Ty said. "It's probably the stuff we ordered like last week."

"Yeah- hey." Dawn said, sliding her phone back into her pocket to look up at you. "Did you ever figure out who sent you that package? The one that you thought was from us?"

"You saw that?" You asked, eyes flicking up to Dawn. "You never look at the groupchat."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "Just because I don't say anything in it doesn't mean I don't look at it." She said. "Either way - yes or no?"

"Yeah, I figured it out." You said, a smile coming to your face as you thought of the little handwritten note that had been tucked in with the merch.

"Who was it then?" Ty asked.

"It was actually dear Mr. Manifold." You said. "He sent me some of the merch."

Dawn's eyebrows slid up. "Oh?"

"Yeah." You said. "He didn't say he was sending anything, so it was a bit of a surprise. But how thoughtful of him, yeah? It's like a souvenir from my first ever job as a photographer."

Ty hummed, trading a look with his sister. You knew exactly what that look meant - you had had those suspicions yourself. You'd had time to roll it over in your head though, and you still weren't sure. Were you just projecting the mild attraction you had felt towards Jack into a simple thank you? Or was this his way of prolonging himself in your life without outright saying anything?

Tricky stuff.

"What's the look for?" You asked anyway, even though you had some idea.

"He already bought us all lunch after the shoot, even though he didn't have to." Dawn said. "Seems like an awful lot to be sending along free merch as well, yeah? I mean, you don't even watch his stuff, do you?"

"I do now." You said, a little defensively. It was true - after meeting him in real life and seeing that Jack was actually quite funny, you had found yourself enjoying his content. It made for something to watch while you edited photos or when you had a moment of free time, and he was actually very entertaining. Plus, it felt a little personal - you knew him, in a way now.

"Still. It was one, two hour shoot." Ty said. "I know you said you liked him, but are you sure it doesn't go both ways? He seemed awfully keen when we went out for lunch-"

"No, I mean..." You cut Ty off, fiddling with the camera in your hands again. "Sure, I think he's good looking and all, but it was just me projecting. It wasn't anything... right?" You glanced up at the twins again now, looking for a second opinion.

"At our first shoot, they went two hours over time. They didn't even apologize." Ty said.

"Plus, we didn't eat all day." Dawn added.

"Just because he's a decent person doesn't mean I'm not making this all up in my head." You said. As much as you would have liked to think that that little spark you had felt was something mutual, you just couldn't be sure. You didn't know Jack enough to make any conclusions - you didn't even know enough to say whether or not it was normal for him to be this generous.

"Well, you could always reach out and ask." Ty suggested. "I mean, surely you still have some way to contact him-"

"Absolutely not." You said. That was possibly the worst bit of advice you had ever heard - actually talking to him about any of it would mean admitting everything (though you supposed you hadn't been too subtle when you showered him with compliments, but still).

"What's the worst that would come of it?" Dawn asked, trading a grin with her brother. "It's not like you're working with him anymore-"

"Nope." You cut her off, refocusing in the camera in your hands again. "I'm supposed to be doing classwork right now - you guys are supposed to be in class-"

Dawn raised her hands in surrender, falling silent as Ty snickered. You paid them no mind, ignoring how you could feel heat rising to your face. Instead, you turned back to the scenery around you, bringing your camera back up to your eye and trying to lose yourself in capturing landscapes again. You really didn't need to be thinking about Jack Manifold right now.

It didn't really stop your brain from trying.