Radiating Smile

Carver Hall was their best bet, and once again, Alice loved to stress about how the walk there was insanely far as most people did, but it was a beautiful exchange for the fifteen-minute walk considering that most amenities and buildings around campus were less than ten minutes away. 

In the winter, the coldness was a crude mistress on campus since most people weren't used to the chilly temperatures. However, at the moment when the spring breeze teased the humid summer that was soon to come it was certainly not a chore to make the trek over to the hall, instead it was a reward. 

The sun shined through the gaps of the leaves above the trees, creating various blobs of black on their path, and Alice lifted her hand up to shield her eyes to take in the leaves that were shaken with the breeze. 

The bristling branches that were dancing were taken with the wind, and soon they went through the thickened part of the woods back onto the clear path that led straight to the bridge that overlooked the pool that had a water jet that prettily sprayed the water into a show-stopping curve similar to that of the fountain found in the center of the quad.

Claudia paused for a moment over the bridge and sat down on the railing, and Alice stood right in front of her wondering what she was doing when Claudia randomly stuck out her slim hands that were clad with thin gold rings.

Alice grabbed them quizzically not knowing what Claudia wanted but ended up swinging their hands together in the air making Claudia laugh at Alice's immediate yet awkward response to her action. 

"What did you want me to do?" Alice smiled. 

"Nothing," Claudia snickered. "I was just motioning for you to come sit with me so that Noah could take a photo of us." 

Alice wrapped an arm around Claudia's waist. "We're supposed to use the camera for the students." 

Claudia winked. "Aren't we also students?" 

Alice patted Claudia's side to let her know that she won. "Okay, okay. Noah! Come here!" 

The guys kept walking ahead of them and turned around every now and then to check on them, but Alice didn't mind because it showed that the two got along great in the sense that she was able to see Noah radiate with a different energy than what he normally showed in class. The normal, placid, and extremely forced at times face that he would put on when lots of people crowded around him. 

Now, he looked free with a smile on his face as he and Rowan were talking about something intently, and she wondered what they could be speaking out with such passion and gusto which was probably the same question that was flying through Claudia's mind judging by her pursed lips and concentrated eyebrows as she eyed them. 

Noah lifted a hand to let her know that he heard her, and Alice watched as the guys walked their way back over to them. He sighed when he saw hers and Claudia's cheeky smile. "What do you want? 

Alice clapped her hands together with a grin. "Why are you saying it like that?" 

"Yeah, yeah," Noah said absentmindedly. 

"Can you take a photo of us?" Claudia asked. "We have a nice camera, so I wanted to capture more moments. We can just say that these were the testing shots if anyone questions." 

"It wouldn't matter what we take a photo of anyways," Rowan interjected. "We get to take the SD card afterward."

"Perfect, so there's no problem on our end considering that we need to kill some time," Claudia said as she snapped her fingers. 

It didn't take long for Rowan to get riled up by Claudia's comments, and Noah put a stop to a fight that was only bound to start by lifting up the camera in their direction making Alice squeeze Claudia's shoulder to get to stay quiet since they needed pose for their shots. Noah pressed down on the button, and some shutter clicks went off. 

Alice was quite comfortable in front of the camera, and her closest friend next to her was also a natural. They leaned together while tilting their heads to the lens of the camera, and Noah motioned for Claudia to come out a bit further. "The lighting is making your side darker, Claudia. Come out a little bit more and angle in slightly deeper towards Alice. There." 

More clicks went off, and they tried different variations of poses only for Rowan to wave telling them to move on. Alice went to pause for a pose when she was going to tuck in her hair behind her ear while Claudia.

For the last photo, Alice got Claudia's attention only to whisper for them to smile. Alice beamed at the camera with Claudia doing the same, ending their session with bright smiles.