He dragged the new file into the upload box.

“Mom, how can I take pictures on my laptop?” he called out.

But the file was huge. For the school form, it needed to be smaller. He right-clicked the photo, opened it in , and hit “Resize.” Small. Save.

He sat up straight, tucked his collar, and clicked.

Success.

The shutter sound clicked. A thumbnail popped in the corner. But the photo was dark. He spotted a little sun icon—exposure. He slid it up. Brighter. Then he found the timer: three seconds. Enough time to fake a smile.