The results are in for The Art of Eloquence Challenge. I'm excited to say that first place goes to EvangelVamp511, and and second place goes to Reena Catheryn! So here it is, the second place story! Enjoy!
*Disclaimer: Neither the author nor I own Twilight or Les Mis.*
Author's Note: Okay wow! So you may not believe it, but this is indeed a one shot. It took me two and a half hours without leaving my computer to complete this short, short story. Obviously, if this were intended to be a multi chapter story I would have made the development of Edward and Bella's relationship much slower and more detailed and rich in all things literary. But I wanted Bella's development as a character, and as an artist, to be the prominent aspect of this story. Also, I'm on a huge Les Mis kick currently so that had to be prominent in here as well. Also note that my casting for Les Mes (with the Twilight characters) is quite random. I just wanted to get the main characters in there.
This story was written for GinevraMarieChaseEverdeen's "Art of Eloquence" Challenge. The rules were that it was a one shot, rated T or under, no swearing, all human, cannon couples, and of course must be Bella and Edward, and must feature an artistic Bella of any medium. I hope you enjoy reading it J
~ The Beauty Lies Behind the Lens~
"Rosalie, please hold still," I begged as she fidgeted.
"This is not my fault Bella. Alice made this dress insanely uncomfortable!" she growled, flicking her golden curls to show her annoyance.
"Beauty is pain Rose," Alice tsked, flitting around the room and making necessary adjustments as she saw fit. I lifted my camera to my eye and snapped just as Rosalie looked up toward the stained glass window in the art room. The light filtered in gloriously and I captured Rose's stunning beauty in an instant.
"Stop! That's it, I got it," I grinned victoriously, clutching my precious camera for dear life.
"Figures," Rose rolled her eyes. "All this fuss and time and makeup and hair product for one picture. You're a real thorn in my side, Bella," she grumbled, moving toward the dressing room area. Rosalie Hale, aka the most beautiful girl in the world, was my first cousin and phenomenal model. She lived in LA, but was often in New York for photo shoots and visited me when she could. We were close, since neither of us had siblings and we were only a year apart in age. She often acted more mature than me and sometimes liked to nag me like a mother, but in the end she could collapse into a fit of laughter over the same immature things as I could. It wasn't like either of us were children anymore. The current fuss was over my Senior Portfolio. Rosalie was helping me by acting as a model for my human subject portion. The portfolio was a requirement to pass my final photography class at NYU: Steinhardt School of the Arts.
Alice Brandon, the force of nature with a pixie haircut, was my best friend and aspiring (or shall I say successful) costume designer who was also graduating from NYU with me. Thanks to her boyfriend, older than us by a year and a graduate of NYU: Tisch, she was currently costuming her first on Broadway production, "Les Miserables". Her boyfriend, Jasper Whitlock, was playing Enjolras in his third on Broadway production. I hadn't seen the show yet, but Alice had pulled some strings to get me an all access pass because she wanted me to document her "masterpiece" and take photos for the director. As if she even had to ask, I adored Broadway. If I could've I would've pursued that instead. But I had a lot of self esteem issues in high school and never let myself audition. I worked backstage at all the shows my school produced, but I preferred the shelter of my camera.
"I'm leaving Bella! I have a quick shoot with Forever 21 and then I'll be coming to see the show tonight. I expect we'll be going out after it tonight, so dress hot," Rose gave me a quick kiss on the cheek before she picked up her purse and rushed out the door.
"Jesus Christ Superstar!" Alice exclaimed, jumping into action and grabbing my wrist once more. "We're not going to have time to grab some caffeine before call time if we don't hurry right now!" she pulled me out the door and I followed without complaint. Don't ask me how I'd managed to make it through four years of college in New York without becoming addicted to coffee, but whenever Alice needed caffeine I grabbed a mint hot chocolate. So we stopped by a Pete's Coffee, grabbed our drinks and dashed to the theatre as quickly as Alice could drag me.
When we got there, she rambled a bunch of directions and had some person in a headset handed me a laminate tag. Alice waved me off, directing me to go take pictures of people getting ready as she rushed off to take care of a costume malfunction. I wandered off toward where a bunch of people in makeup were hustling in and out of rooms, assuming those were the dressing rooms and found myself outside an open door where two guys leaned in front of a mirror, putting makeup on. I stifled a laugh as I recognized Jasper.
"Say cheese, Jazz!" I laughed, snapping the picture before either of the boys could make a stupid face.
"Hello Bella," he said politely, laughing as he stood up to shake my hand. Jasper was from the South and had been raised with strict, proper manners.
"Bonjour Monsieur Enjolras," I giggled. Les Miserables was quite possibly my favorite show of all time because of its stunning music.
"Ooh la la! Enjolras, how could you keep Mon ami from me?" the other guy, clearly done up as Thenadier, stood, kissing my cheek without permission.
"Ah! I am scandalized, master of the house!" I pretended to slap his face and snapped a picture of the shock on his face.
"Emmett, this is Isabella Swan, Alice's best friend," Jasper introduced us.
"Emmett McCarthy at your service, mademoiselle," he did a quick bow before turning to a rack, searching through hangers for his costume.
"Pleasure to meet you, Emmett. And please, Jasper, I've told you before...It's Bella," I scolded him softly.
"Of course," he acknowledged my request with a head nod before joining Emmett at the costume rack.
"I'm off to continue taking pictures!" I waved goodbye to the two of them before entering the next dressing room.
"Hello," I knocked softly on the open door at the two older men inside the room. "I'm a friend of Alice's... she's asked me to take pictures of everything tonight. Do you mind?" I asked politely. I knew it was a huge deal to ask these professionals if I could invade on their space, but everyone I had met so far had been very kind and apparently very in debt to Alice.
"It's not a problem at all, my dear," the man with long black hair, tied in a ponytail said, touching up some foundation on his face. It was definitely a strange sensation to see all these men putting on makeup. "I'm Aro Volturi, or I suppose you'll see me as Inspector Javert," he kissed my hand and I fought a blush.
"I'm Carlisle Cullen; I play Jean Valjean," the other man, a handsome blonde, shook my hand politely before he continued to button up his costume. I stayed for a few minutes, taking a few opportune pictures before thanking them and moving to the next dressing room.
"Ah! You must be Isabella! Alice told me a photographer would be coming. Now, make sure you only get my good side," a girl a bit older than me, but not as old as the woman standing beside her pulled me into the dressing room with a smile plastered on her face.
"Um hello. Yes I'm Bella, but I really prefer to take candid photos so if you'd just go about your routine, I'll make sure to get the best photos," I told her, a little shocked by her abruptness.
"Really Jessica, that's quite enough," the older woman scolded her in a good natured way. She had caramel hair that was cut raggedly short, but was in the process of getting extensions clipped in.
"I'm assuming you play Fantine," I guessed.
"Yes, dear. I'm Esme Platt, or I suppose Cullen, but I chose to keep my stage name," she smiled.
"So you're married to Carlisle, then?" I asked brightly, thinking of the two of them together.
"Yes," she laughed happily. "Have been for the past five years. This is Jessica Stanley, she plays Madame Thenadier," she gestured to Jessica who was busy putting on her cakey makeup in a way I suppose she was attractive.
"It's a pleasure to meet you both," I smiled before snapping a few pictures and high tailing it far away from Jessica Stanley, who seemed to want nothing more than to get her hands on my precious camera. The next dressing room was empty, so I continued on to the next but forgot my entire routine when I saw who was standing there.
I didn't know him personally. I didn't even know his name. But I knew he was gorgeous, and I knew he was standing there with his pants on and his shirt not buttoned up. His hair was disheveled, but styled and was a light brown with specs of gold. The light reflected off it perfectly. I snapped a picture before I caught myself and as he looked up; I was shocked with the perfect jade green of his eyes. I pulled the camera up to my face and snapped another picture of his shocked smile before lowering the lens slowly to face him.
"I'm sorry, that was rude. I'm Bella, Alice's friend. She asked me to take some pictures tonight," I tried hard to fight the blush that was forming as the Adonis of a man who stood before me buttoned his shirt up and shook his head with a crooked smile.
"Of course she asked you to take pictures of us. My name is Edward Masen. I play Marius, in case you need that for a caption of some sort," he informed me before holding out his hand for me to shake. I did my best, though my hand was dwarfed by his.
"I should've known. You've got your June Rebellion patch and everything," I smiled knowingly as I took in his costume.
"Marius my love!" a voice trilled from the hallway behind me as a girl with long blonde girls and a bonnet through herself at Edward. He laughed, though, as if it were normal and turned her to face me. I snapped a picture of her as she turned and though at first she seemed offended, all she did was laugh.
"Hello camera! I'm Tanya Denali," she stuck her hand out and I shook it, surprised she wasn't more offended of my standing near her...love interest.
"Hello Tanya, I'm Bella Swan. I'm assuming you play Cosette," I smiled politely.
"Yes of course," she laughed. "And this is my Edward...whoops not like that! He's my cousin. So if you'd like to take my moping cousin out on a date tonight, Bella, I'd really appreciate it," she winked before leaving the room as Edward's cheeks turned a scarlet red.
"Sorry about that," he shook his head.
"It's not a problem," I shrugged. The conversation got a little awkward after that, so I took a few hasty pictures and left. As I wandered around, I caught a few of the chorus members in makeup and hair and managed to get some really good shots of all the younger cast members, including my favorite Gavroche. I found the costume department and walked in on people running around, shouting, crying, and furiously dialing numbers.
"What is going on?" I asked Alice as she shouted at another person to call some girl named Samantha.
"Our director fired Lauren, who played Eponine. Apparently, she decided that in the middle of rehearsing and performing a professional show was a good time start a family and she couldn't fit into her costume. That wouldn't have been a major issue if she didn't start crying out of nowhere every five minutes. So for the first time in his career, Marcus fired a major cast member on the night of a show!" Alice rambled, rubbing her temples as people kept hanging up their phones furiously and dialing new numbers.
"So just have the understudy do it," I rolled my eyes.
"Bella! Don't be so naïve. Marcus Volturi is notorious for not hiring understudies. He casts a show with only one group of people and puts them in insane contracts so they can't leave, have a day off, or be sick. It makes for an amazing show because the cast is very close knit, but it's suicide in situations like this. Now we're trying to call everyone that we know that has played this role and knows it well enough but everyone is busy or nowhere near here.
"That's a no on Samantha, Alice," a brunette with glasses sighed. Suddenly Alice got a crazy look on her eye, the one she always got when she knew she had an idea that would work out perfectly, but usually involved me doing things I didn't want to.
"You have to do it Bella!"
"What? Are you crazy? No!" I responded immediately, backing up from her as the room got quiet and everyone stared at me curiously.
"Isabella Marie Swan. This is MY show. Sure other people worked their butts off on it, but it's MY masterpiece and YOU as my BEST friend will NOT let it go down in flames!" Alice stomped her foot childishly.
"That's absolutely ridiculous Alice. It's not your artwork, first of all, and second of all I've never played this role. I've never played any role. I'm behind the scenes and you know it," I rolled my eyes as others began gathering in the doorway, watching our argument.
"Bella you have studied this show like it's a bible. I know for a fact that you worship Eponine and know everything there is to know about her. I also know that you sing all her parts in the shower," Alice sang, taunting me.
"Alice!" I gasped.
"What, Bella? Did you think you could keep your insanely gorgeous voice a secret from your best friend?" she rolled her eyes as she began rummaging through a rack of ragged costumes.
"I don't dance," I stated blatantly.
"There's no dancing in this show. It's all vocals," Alice dismissed it.
"It doesn't matter. None of that matters. I'm not doing this. No one would want me to do this anyway. I don't know anyone or blocking or how to wear a mic or entrances or exits. I don't know this show Alice," I rambled, trying to come up with excuses. I had the strongest feeling that nothing I said would matter because Alice always got exactly what she wanted.
"MARCUS!" Alice called. My eyes flashed with panic as I shook my head frantically. A man with pale blonde hair and a cup of coffee practically glued to his hand was in the doorway almost instantly.
"Tell me you've found me a replacement!" he begged.
"I have, but not one you've heard of," Alice nodded. He gave her a 'don't kid me' look and she shoved me forward.
"This is my best friend Bella. She eats, breathes, and lives this musical and this role. Sing Bella," she stomped my foot and I gave her a pained look before turning to Marcus to make excuses. The hopeful look in his eyes, though, made me stop. In an instant, all the dreams of singing on stage I'd ever had flashed past my eyes. Here I was being handed a dream that people worked their butts off for their entire lives for. Who was I to turn it down? In a second pure adrenaline I opened my mouth... and sang.
"Sometimes I walk alone at a night when everybody else is sleeping. I think of him and then I'm happy with the company I'm keeping. The city goes to bed, and I can live inside my head. On my own, pretending he's beside me. All alone, I walk with him till morning. Without him, I feel his
arms around me. And when I lose my way I close my eyes and he has found me. In the rain, the pavement shines like silver. All the lights are misty in the river. In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight and all I see is him and me forever and forever. And I know it's only in my mind, that I'm talking to myself and not to him. And although I know that he is blind, still I say there's a way for us. I love him, but when the night is over he is gone, the river's just a river. Without him, the world around me changes. The trees are bare and everywhere the streets are full of strangers. I love him, but everyday I'm learning all my life I've only been pretending. Without me, his world will go on turning, a world that's full of happiness that I have never known. I love him, I love him, I love him, but only on my own," I closed my mouth, shocked with myself. I suppose the sharp intakes
of breath due to my insane nerves were taken as Eponine's emotional distress, because with only the slightest tear in his eye Marcus gave a swift nod.
"Put her in costume. Miss, I don't know who you are or where you came from or really why you are here. I don't care right now. Alice, put her in a costume and make her look like my Eponine. You have five minutes to work your magic before I put her in..." he glanced at his watch, "...2 hours of furious rehearsal. You better be able to pick up entrances and exits quickly. You'll get one formal introduction to the cast, and hopefully have time to run at least your solo with the musical director once before group vocal warm ups," he glanced upwards and shook his head furiously.
"Gods of Nubia if this show falls apart I will feed myself to the nearest Audrey Two I meet. And if you pull this off," he redirected his gaze at me, "I will quit drinking coffee, cold turkey," he said utterly seriously before leaving the room in a furious rush.
The rest of the night whizzed past in an insane blur. I barely registered anything that was happening until I was standing on the stage, completely and utterly alone and bathed in spotlight. And in those beautiful minutes when I sang "On My Own" on a Broadway stage in New York City, to a full crowd... I swear I was dreaming. But I wasn't.
I continued to play the role for four months until it was time for the show to go on tour. Marcus wanted to take the entire cast on tour, because of his whole no understudies, no backups rule, but I hadn't finished school. Alice had already arranged to turn in her final projects and would be leaving with the tour. I hadn't and didn't think I should. I was getting a lot of attention from Broadway fans, having popped up literally out of nowhere one night, but I couldn't let my four years of work at NYU go to waste for something that I couldn't see myself continuing. Sure I could play Eponine in this production until it closed, but I couldn't dance so where was I going to go after this if I dropped photography? Capturing the beauty in life was my obsession, my expression, my art. I loved singing, and if I could play Eponine forever I would. But there was a reason I got into photography in the first place. I couldn't paint, but when I saw beauty around me... I knew how to angle a camera just right. I knew whether a flash was needed; I knew just where to stand. Any idiot can take a camera and press click. But a photographer, a true artist makes everyone see the beauty they saw in that moment. That's what I did. I wanted everyone to see what my eyes saw, so I learned how to use a camera properly. It's amazing what timing and the right lighting can do.
The other issue was Edward. In the show, Eponine loves Marius with her entire being and until her very last breath, having sacrificed her life to see him. Now, I would hardly say I felt that way for Edward. But I had taken Tanya's advice and gone out with him that first evening after the show. We chatted and got to know each other and he even helped me rehearse and keep up with my class work in the following months. I guess we were in a relationship, though we hadn't been quick to label it or anything crazy like that. We got to know each other well. In fact, at that party a lot of people had met people they seemed to hit it off with. Rose hit it off with Emmett so well that he was planning on getting an apartment in LA. Tanya had met a stagehand named Alec she was still dating. Jessica met some bartender named Mike she messed around with.
Edward and I were different, though, we were complicated. We weren't madly in love with each other like Jasper and Alice. We didn't have some insane physical attraction like Emmett and Rose. We didn't even have a sickly sweet, companionship like Esme and Carlisle. We were best friends, who secretly both wanted more, but didn't have the courage to admit it or act on it.
So I guess that's how I found myself alone as the others spent a day running auditions for a new Eponine and I spent the day developing all the pictures that'd been sitting on my six cameras for the past four months. As I exposed one strip I was hit with an overwhelming feeling. It was the first picture I'd taken of Edward.
There he stood, in that dressing room I'd come to know very well. His hair glistened with hairspray, the light bounced off his sharp cheek bone; his well defined arms were evident even through his unbuttoned jacket. And then of course, there was his ever present smile. You could only see half of it in the photo, as he was turned to the side. But it made something in me stir. Tears welled in my eyes as I stared at the picture. As dread filled inside me, I knew what I had to do. I grabbed my keys, tossed on my sweatshirt and started running. It was eight long New York blocks to the theatre, and I was very much out of shape. But my time was very limited and I had a purpose. I don't know how long I ran or how I didn't have to stop for traffic lights. I guess you could say that someone up there was making sure I got the chance to do what I needed to do. Or maybe it was just Lady Luck. Either way, I made a mental note to go to church since I hadn't been in a while.
I burst into the lobby, where Demetri (our stage manager) sat at a table.
"I'm sorry Miss, but all our audition slots are filled," he stuck a hand up before he looked at me. "Oh, hey Bella. Did you need to talk to someone?" he asked. I put a finger up, breathing heavily. "Are you okay?" he asked, genuinely concerned.
"Just pant really pant out pant of pant shape!" I tried to exclaim. He laughed a little before waving me into the theatre. I took off at a sprint again, just as a girl left the stage with a disappointed look on her face.
"Next?" Marcus called hopelessly. Another girl went to step out onto stage.
"Just a second please!" I called, still trying to regain my breath, but more able to speak. "Hello," I faced my friends, as I stood on the stage. "My name is Isabella Marie Swan. I know I'm not on your list, but I'd really like it if you'd let me say a few things to you. First, you all must be crazy for hiring me to play a role on Broadway when I've never acted once in my life. Second, I am an idiot for ever thinking I could just walk away. And third, I must be absolutely insane because I'm about to do something really stupid," I took a deep breath and let them sit in shock as I rushed off the stage and into the aisle Edward was sitting in, wrapping him tightly in my embrace.
"I love you Edward Anthony Masen. You've always been the essence of everything I find beautiful in the world," I whispered, as I showed him the picture that changed my life.
"Oh Bella," he laughed softly. "How could you never see that all the art and all the beauty comes from behind the lens?" he tapped my nose and then he just kissed me.
Then and there, in front of all my cast mates and potential replacements, we had our first kiss. But it should be noted, that it wasn't our last.