A/N: All right, everyone! Long time no see, huh, peeps? Well, I've been debating whether or not to post this here, actually, because I have some crazy homophobic friends that might freak on me about Shay and the whole Tyla plot line. But I decided to say, "Screw this crap, man!" and post, because I love this story too much to let something like that stop me from sharing it.

Okay, so, this fic is VERY Original Character dependent. It's AU. It has pretty much nothing to do with the actual plot line of Instant Star, except for bits of Jude's past and, of course, the characters. Just thought I'd let you know, because some people don't like fics like that? Anyway, I'll shut up in a second and let you have the fic. Ha.

DISCLAIMER OF DOOM: (takes a deep breath) Okay, I own Shay, Lizzy, Ty, and any other random OCs that pop up in this. I own my plot. I own my words. I do not own any of the Instant Star characters. I do not own the song lyrics used in any of this fic, unless otherwise stated. So don't sue me! There! DONE! Also, I got the whole "Give me...flash" thing from Chuck Palanhiuk's book Invisible Monsters, or, as most people are more familiar with, Panic! at the Disco's song "Time To Dance" which is based on that book.

Note2: For those who haven't read my fics on DLS, I almost always post a "Note2" saying what I'm listening to. I just like to share music. Ha. Anyway, right now I'm listening to "The Guillotine" by Escape the Fate, which is one kick-arse band, thank you very much.

Chapter One
"In Which A Task Is Given"

"Come on, give me envy!"

Shay made a jealous, envious look at the camera in my hands.

Flash.

I put the camera down and gave my friend a thumbs up and a smile. He grinned and bounced over beside me, eagerly waiting to see what I'd come up with.

Shay Morgans was one of my roommates and my best friend. He has straightened, sleek jet-black hair that swooshes to one side of his face. He has ice blue eyes that are constantly sparkling with emotion. He has two silver lip rings, one on either side of his mouth, and a smile that could make your heart melt. He's stick thin and 5'10", and wears the tightest girls' jeans and t-shirts to accentuate this great figure.

He is, to be frank, one insanely gorgeous emo boy. Too bad he's gay, eh? Except not really, because then I wouldn't have my gay super buddy.

"I wanna see," he said, poking me in my side, right under my ribcage. "Hurry up, Jude!!"

"Patience, Shayla!"

He pouted at me and crossed his arms over his bony chest. "Please?"

"Nope! You know The Rule."

"The Rule" being that no one saw my photos until I had touched them up with Photoshop. Ran them through effects and stuff, y'know? They always had to be perfect before anyone could see them.

"Oh, fine!" Shay flopped down on the middle seat of the couch, sighing dramatically. What a drama qu—king.

The door to the small house that me and my roommates shared opened, and in walked Lizzy Way, my best girl friend and other roommate.

"I have arrived!" she declared with a dramatic pose. I laughed. My friends were completely insane.

Lizzy was a few inches shorter than Shay and I, at 5'7". She's thin, but not Shayla thin. She has dyed red-or-orange hair that fell to her shoulders with swooshy bangs over the side of her face. Her hazel eyes, which were perpetually ringed with color, were currently lined with lime green eyeliner and pale green eyeshadow. Lizzy was a walking hurricane of color, never far from bright yellow or green shirts, funky skirts, or Vans with little penguins or hippos on them.

Between Shay and Lizzy, there is never a dull moment in our house. They were the best roommates and friends that I could ever ask for.

"So, what's the assignment this time, Jude?" Lizzy asked, flopping down next to Shay on the couch.

"Posed shots," I recited. "Pick one person, preferably someone you know, and get them to model for you."

"Well, why didn't you ask me to model for you?!" she gasped.

"Cuz I'm hotter," Shay smirked at her. Lizzy stuck out her tongue at him.

"Cuz he wasn't off around campus," I said, sitting down between them. "And I already took pictures of you."

Lizzy heaved a sigh and crossed her arms. (Sometimes I really wondered if her and Shay were separated at birth. They acted so much alike sometimes that it was creepy.) "Okay, fine. But I wanna see the Shayla pics before you turn them in!"

I smiled. For some reason, the two of them were intensely interested in my photography. Just like I loved Shay's music, and how I always went to Lizzy, Miss Psychology major, for advice. We were a family; I guess that's why we were always so interested in each other's lives.

"Of course I'll show you," I said, rolling my light blue eyes. "Do I ever not?"

"No," Lizzy admitted, looking over at me. Of course—I always showed them my photos the night before I had to turn them in—which was tomorrow, Monday. For now, I had to run all fifteen shots of Shay through Photoshop and then print them onto photo paper. Then I could show them the finished products.

"You can see them tomorrow," I told her. She playfully shoved me, causing me to shove Shay, who let out an indignant gasp and shoved me. I shoved Lizzy. Lizzy shoved me. I shoved Shay.

This went on for several minutes, until we all were giggling too hard to continue. These two giggling people were my best friends, my roommates, my only family that I really had. They were all I needed.

The second I turned eighteen, my mom and her boyfriend kicked me out of our house. The day after my birthday, there was a moving truck with my stuff loaded into it. I was hurt, but not surprised. Mom and Don had done the same to my older sister, Sadie, three years earlier. I didn't see my sister again until her funeral, a year after she left. She had been hit by a car.

I used my entire college fund to pay for an apartment to get through my senior year of high school. It was only because of extremely harsh study sessions and a lot of hard work that I actually got a four-year scholarship to this college.

I hadn't spoken to my family since they'd kicked me out.

Now I was three weeks into my freshman year, and I have never been happier.

On Tuesday, I walked into my photography class, my folder of Shay pictures held tight in my hands. I took my seat, near the middle of the class, and quietly waited for class to begin.

Professor Hudgens called the attention of the class a few minutes later. Miss Hudgens was probably my favorite teacher—she really gave us a lot of creative freedom, but pushes us to do better than we thought that we could. She's a thin woman about my height with shoulder length blonde hair, and green eyes.

"All right, everyone, before you hand in your latest assignment, I'd like to tell you what your new assignment will be."

I give her my full attention—I had become used to paying intense attention in class. After all, if I didn't have great grades, I could lose my scholarship, and if that happened, I was pretty much screwed.

"This is an all year project," Miss Hudgens explained, eyeing us each in turn. "It's going to count a lot for your final grade, so don't procrastinate on this."

There was a murmur of worry across the classroom. I wasn't included in the noise, but I frowned nonetheless.

"Your subject will be e-mailed to you," Miss Hudgens continued, causing the room to fall silent once again. "The assignment is to take candid shots of your subject, really capturing who they are, without them realizing you're taking pictures. You are not to tell anyone in this class or out of it who you are taking pictures of unless you are positive that they won't tell anyone.

"You can use any coloring you would like, though I will require one full-color, one black and white, and one sepia-toned.

"This assignment is going to be your portfolio for the year. Make sure not to waste your time or mine with bad shots—I want good, clear, strong pictures. Can you do it?"

A few enthusiastic "yeah!"s rippled through the back row, while the rest of us nodded and mumbled our affirmatives.

Miss Hudgens smiled. "Well, all right—pass you assignments this way."

That night, Lizzy, Shay, and I were all huddled up on the couch, watching House. Shay was in the middle, as per usual, and I was on the side with my laptop balanced on my knees.

In my inbox was an e-mail labeled "Subject". I opened it and read through it.

Holy crapping shizz.

Shay paused the show (thank the Lord for tiVo) and both of my friends leaned in to read through the e-mail. Nosy. Lizzy gasped, followed by Shay saying, "LE GASP! Dmn, girl, you're lucky! He's fine!"

The e-mail read:

Jude,

I've assigned you to take pictures of Tom Quincy. He's a senior and a music major, and seems like he would be an interesting subject. I really believe that you'll put out a great portfolio. Don't let me down.

-Ms. Hudgens

Picture is attached, if you aren't sure who he is.

If I'm not sure who he is?

Give me bad boy.

Flash.

Give me smoking hot.

Flash.

Give me Tommy Q, every girl on campus's naughty dream.

Flash.

A/N: All right, so this chapter is really short, and mostly an intro to the first half of the main characters. I promise that this DOES get better, ha. And this fic's going to last for a while, as it is outlined to be roughly 31 chapters. So you're in for a long ride. ;) Anyway, I really hope y'all like this. Review, please! I'll post a new chapter soon.