Fledgling (4 page)

“I’m Laura, Laura Wegler. You’re new here?” The girl leaned over to talk to Ana, speaking in a low monotone, careful not to arouse the teacher’s notice.

“Yeah, I just moved this weekend. My name’s Ana Hughes,” Ana spoke in a whisper.

“Nice to meet you,” Laura said before turning her attention back to the front of the room as the bell rang.

The last people darted through the door and shuffled to their seats.

Mr. Morrisy cleared his throat, and announced to Ana’s horror, “We have a new student in class. Her name is Ana. Please join me in welcoming her to our school.”

Scattered clapping and a couple guffaws echoed through the back of the room. Her eyes widened in terror and focused forward, staring at the teacher until he continued. “Alright people-open your books to page 171. We’ll be discussing the Chain Rule today.”

Class passed slowly for Ana; the material they were reviewing was new. She struggled to keep up with the lesson, which was frustrating, since she prided herself on her school performance.

At the end of class, she approached the teacher and admitted, “Mr. Morrisy-this is past where my class was, are any tutors available?”

“Actually, Laura’s at the head of the class. She might be willing to help you out.” He motioned over to the girl who had been sitting next to her.

Laura overheard this while she flung her backpack over her shoulder. She walked up to Ana and said, “You need some help in calc? I’d be happy to help.”

Ana sighed in relief. “Thanks, Laura, that’d be great. I promise I’m a quick study-this just isn’t a subject I’ve reviewed yet.”

“No problem. So-you need help finding your next class?”

They walked out together and into the busy hall.

“That’d be great.” Ana read her schedule aloud, “I have US history with Ms. Walker.”

“Ohhh-sorry. She’s a crab. If you sit with
adoring
eyes on her the whole time, you’ll become a favorite though. Her room’s just up those stairs, first door on your right.”

“Great-thanks for the heads up.”

“Hey, Ana…I normally sit out at the patio with my friends under the trees during lunch. You can join us if you’d like.”

Laura’s invitation seemed to be offered in earnest. Ana was relieved to have someone to sit next to and accepted. “Yes-thanks. There’s nothing worse than sitting alone on your first day. I’ll look for you at lunch-see ‘ya.”

Ana climbed the stairs one at a time, as other students brushed past her in a hurry. The morning dragged by. She went from room to room repeatedly being introduced in front of each class. Her pale cheeks remained a rosy pink in constant embarrassment. She kept her nervous eyes from wandering too much, not wanting to attract more attention. If she didn’t see anyone staring at her, she could
try
to imagine it was like any other day.

She didn’t have much luck with that.

When lunch period finally came she was relieved to walk onto the open patio. Groups of milling students stared at her as she walked by with her head down. She scanned the landscaped concrete courtyard until she saw Laura sitting beneath a tree at the far corner with some friends.

Ana walked towards her, keeping her eyes on the ground, anxious Laura’s sentiment had changed since calculus. She was sauntering toward the tree when Laura noticed her, waving her over. Relieved, Ana waved back, her heart steadying in her chest. She sat down beside Laura and her friends in the cool shaded grass.

The chatty girls frowned at Ana, and then Laura turned, making the introduction, “This is Ana. She’s new here.”

A chorus of hellos welcomed Ana, then they turned back to continue their interrupted conversations.

Laura greeted Ana warmly, “How’s it going so far? Met anyone?”

“No-to be honest I’ve been trying to avoid being noticed. I take my time settling in.” Ana smiled, feeling sheepish and lowered her eyes. “The day’s dragging on. I’m just trying to get through it without incident.”

Laura shrugged. “I’d say in a week, you’ll be old news and they’ll be busy staring at someone else.”

Ana felt more eyes on her than she was comfortable with, staring down at the grass again. She sighed, “I guess I can do a week.”

Chapter 6.

Chance leaned against the school fence completely absorbed. His friends were laughing and punching each other in a mock fight. The sounds of their teasing fell on deaf ears; he wasn’t paying any attention.

“Hey Chance-what’s up, man?”

Chance turned to his friends, all of them snickering at him, his sinewy body tensing.

“What?”

“Um, whacha staring at? I asked if you were gonna be at the shop today?”

The guys turned, following Chance’s gaze to a tall pine tree that rose from the edge of the patio. A group of girls sat below it eating their lunches.

“Yeah… I’ll be at work after school. Kenny needs me to clean his office and put away a shipment of parts.” Chance acted like nothing happened but failed to ignore his friends’ sniggers and lurid comments. Anger surfaced and he snapped, “What’s the problem?!”

In a burst of power, he pushed away from the fence making it shake and shudder as he stormed toward school. He only hung out with the guys because it was easier that way, it kept his mother from worrying. He preferred being alone rather than listening to their dribble. Days like this made it hard to remember what his reasons were for talking to them.

His mother was concerned he wasn’t hanging out with his old friends, or any friends, so he made an effort. Graduation was coming soon and he wouldn’t have to keep up appearances any longer.

Voices called after him while he walked away.

“Hey, wait, man! We’re just fooling around!”

“Come back!”

Chance flung his bag over his shoulder as he passed through the courtyard. His attention was pulled back to the pretty girl he’d been staring at. He had never seen her before.

Long dark hair fell around her face and she seemed preoccupied trying to hide behind it. Her eyes remained down, but he thought he caught a glint of green.

Whatever
, he thought. Girls were the furthest thing from his mind. He wouldn’t complicate his life any more than it was already.

A pretty face was just a distraction. A distraction he didn’t want. He liked keeping things simple. Well, as simple as he could.

He pushed through the door to his next class, enjoying the dark. The bell rang a moment later and he heard people shuffle into the building. He dropped his bag beside his seat before removing the camera his mother bought him after she had encouraged him to take a class more creative than mechanics. She said he could learn all he needed on the job from Kenny and he might as well get a little culture. He figured it would be an easy class to pass, so he went along with it.

Students filed into the darkened classroom, while their teacher sat in the corner appearing to be napping, but Chance knew he would be on his feet by the start of class.

Everyone settled and Mr. Frisk rose to his feet as expected, and rubbed his eyes.

The door opened once more and light streaked across the dark room. A figure stood and hesitated before entering, and approached the teacher.

Chance caught the scent of pine and rain, giving him the sweats. His eyes bore into the white sheet hanging from the wall in front of him; ignoring his feverish neck and ears he crossed his arms and exhaled the smell from his lungs, but the fragrance lingered.

Ana wandered up the steps in search of her photography class, her legs grew tired by the time she reached the top stair, and she paused to catch her breath. People blew past her as she clung to the rail and she remembered the elation and relief she felt when she discovered gym was no longer a requirement in her junior year. Having to sit out most classes was boring and a constant reminder she was different. Of course, she hadn’t always been so worn down and unathletic.

Pushing herself forward she shook her head; she yearned to be normal like the rest of her classmates. Their ability to climb a mountain or think about a limitless future was something she envied.

Though everything she had, she appreciated. Family meant everything to her and she didn’t want or expect more. She liked things simple. It hurt less that way.

She eyed clouds moving and arching through the blue sky above a large window as she neared her door. With one last doleful look, she walked into the darkened classroom.

Dazed, she stood in the doorway waiting for her eyes to adjust before moving forward. A shaft of light was provided by a lamp clamped to a desk in the corner of the room. There, Ana spotted the teacher, who appeared to have just woken, his hair smashed to the side of his head and his clothes wrinkled. He waved her over to his cluttered desk.

She handed him her form and he grasped it in his stubby hands, and leaned down to sign it. As he handed it back to her, he smiled a warm creased grin and directed her to an empty chair.

Ana sat down, tilting her head forward to shield her from the humiliation of being drawn out yet again by another unabashed teacher. With great relief, she soon discovered that he had no interest in introducing his new pupil. Instead, he began a slideshow from a projector pointed at a white sheet hanging on the wall.

Darkness soaked into her and she began feeling comfortable for the first time that day. In the quiet dark, her heart made its own unique rhythm as though it were ready for a performance at center stage.

“Alright, listen up. We’ll be reviewing shutter speeds and apertures today. Please direct your attention to the next series of slides.”

Her eyes adjusted to the gloom as she watched the slideshow. Some of the images seemed remedial to her so she let her eyes venture across the room.

To her side, she noticed a lean figure a couple seats away. Slouched back in his chair, his coppery hand was supporting the side of his head. Thick dark hair appeared to have grown out from a haircut, falling in waves around his sinewy hand. His athletic build made him appear quite tall. She realized a little too late she was staring, the darkness offering a false sense of security. The object of her curiosity turned to meet her horrified eyes, and she snapped her attention back to the slide of a babbling brook as her cheeks and ears flushed.

“Notice how, in this image, the movement of the water is much clearer than the previous image? Can anyone venture a guess at why they’re different and why this image looks better?” The teacher’s voice broke Ana’s disorientation, as she numbly stared ahead.

Someone readjusting in a seat drew her attention; she glanced to the side without moving. The boy was staring back at her. Her green eyes flashed back to the projected image on the wall and felt her cheeks flush with warmth.

After her surprise settled, determination filled her; she had no interest in guys. They were only trouble. Angry she allowed herself to be affected by good looks; she shook her head in disgust.

Mr. Frisk continued the lecture on proper shutter speeds and Ana put all her attention on him, resolving not to turn back again. When the lesson was over, the teacher switched the lights on, and fifteen pairs of eyes blinked in surprise.

“We’ll practice shutter speeds today. You have until the end of class to pair up and take pictures on the grounds at school. I wish to see some of your experimental imagery in tomorrow’s class. Oh-and I would appreciate it if you didn’t just use this class time to ditch.” He smirked at a few select individuals.

The teacher turned to Ana as the students got up and stretched off their listlessness.

“I’m sorry Ana-did you bring a camera today?”

As though waking from anesthesia, Ana found herself being spoken to and tried to find her voice, “Yes, sir, I brought it.”

He nodded in response, waved at the door and wandered back to his desk to slump down.

Ana watched the last students filter out of the classroom. Oh, well, she would rather work alone anyway.

“Guess we’re the last two.”

Ana’s cheeks flushed as she heard a deep voice near her. She exhaled slowly, turning around. The piercing hazel eyes made her insides turn like taffy on a taffy pull, whirling and twisting into a sticky mess. She let out a shaky breath. “Oh, I thought I was alone.”

“Hey-I’m Chance.” He grasped the strap of his bag and looked down.

“I’m Ana.”

“And, you’re new here.”

“Um, yeah-just moved from Colorado.”

Ana reached into her bag for her camera, giving her cheeks time to recover and her silver pendant slipped from the folds of her shirt. She looked up in time to see Chance’s eyes trace over it. His brow furrowed and he abruptly turned away to retrieve his camera from his bag and started for the door.

They left the room together but Ana realized she didn’t know her way around yet, and wasn’t sure where to go. Some kids were snapping pictures of each other at the basketball courts; she felt there wasn’t much to work with there. She stopped, silently preoccupied, while Chance stood nearby observing her.

“Do you know any good places to go?” she asked.

“We could check out the garden. Follow me,” Chance offered, and thrust his hands into his pockets.