Time's Daughter (4 page)

“
Yes, actually.”

He chuckled rather than becoming further offended.
“Well, mute girl, I didn’t get your full name.”

“
Mute girl works for me.”

I was apparently quite amusing because he laughed
again.

“
Aeon mute girl? Okay. I’m Alex
Chattan and I’m the new guy in town. Pay no attention to the weirdo
stalking me with a camera.” He shot a look over his shoulder. “Oh
wait, I see you have one too.”

“
Seems an epidemic,” I drawled while
hiding a smile.

“
You have a dry sense of
humor.”

“
Most think I’m rude and not
humorous at all,” I said. Nervousness fluttered in my belly because
his comment had sounded like a compliment rather than a
complaint.

“
They don’t appreciate art when they
hear it.”

That drew a chuckle from me but I could think of
nothing to say in response that wouldn’t start a more personal
conversation about my interests. Conversations with strangers were
something I liked to avoid.

He made a noise of annoyance when I didn’t follow-up
but we entered the photography studio before he could comment.

I gestured to the sink of drying metallic objects as
I crossed the room toward my usual seat and then rewound the film
in my camera. “Grab a tank, a reel, a cover and a pair of scissors.
I’ll show you to the boxes.”

He remained quiet while we wound our film onto the
reels in our separate tiny light-free rooms within the bigger
darkroom. The lack of conversation continued as I showed him where
all of the chemicals, timers and sinks were for the developing
process. He remained mum during the first minute-long water
soak.

Was he embarrassed to talk to me in front of
others?

A few murmured words served as a question about the
developing time for the brand of film he’d gathered out of the
communal tin. I tried not to let it bother me as I helped him
figured out the developing time for the film. We set the timers for
our respective tanks.

He faced me, giving a wolfish smile and speaking at
full volume. “You like this photography stuff.”

“
Yes.” I dropped my gaze to the
metal tank. He was so out of my league. I was terribly uneasy
around him. But it wasn’t just his good looks. There was something
not quite normal about Alex Chattan but I couldn’t put my finger on
it.

“
I guess it makes sense,” he said
and gestured to where Mrs. Lozano repeated the lecture about
f-stops to the twins for the third time. “She probably wouldn’t ask
someone who hated it to help her out. Does that mean you’re the
teacher’s pet?”

I couldn’t help but frown. “I didn’t think so.”

“
There are worst things than
teacher’s pet.”

Yeah, like a freak with a cameraman following
her.

I grabbed my tank as soon as the timer hand neared
the zero and switched it off a moment before it would have buzzed.
Cold water stopped the developing process. By the time I finished
pouring out the water and repeating the steps, Alex was ready for
his turn at the water. I measured out enough fixer for the next
step, poured the chemical in the tank and shook vigorously for ten
seconds as I set the timer for five minutes.

“
So what other classes do we have
together besides history, lunch and this one?”

He’d
noticed
I was in those classes with him?
I supposed a girl with a camera following her was hard to miss.

I peered at him from beneath my eyelashes. “Are you
asking me my schedule?”

“
I guess...”

“
After this I have drawing and
painting then P.E.”

“
So if I have physical education
during period eight, does that mean I have it with you?”

Four classes total with the new kid was quite
remarkable. I didn’t have more than two classes with anyone else,
cameras not withstanding. “Yeah,” was my uneasy reply.

“
Tyler says he has physical
education then too,” the new kid said.

I’d nearly forgotten Tyler O’Connell—the football
star and heartthrob of Junction Hill High—was in my gym class.
“Three of us in one class? That kind of sucks.” I lowered my voice.
“Dodge ball ought to be fun. I wonder how many times I can get a
camera guy hit.”

Alex’s mouth spread wide, revealing straight white
teeth. “Oooh, dry wit
and
an evil streak. I think we could
become good friends, mute girl.”

My cheeks went pick. I quickly turned away, using
the vigorous shaking of my film tank as an excuse to avoid looking
at the cute expression on his handsome face.

The last timer went off. I poured out the fixer and
pulled off the cover. A quick glance at the negatives on the outer
edge showed that the film had developed without any problems. I
shoved the tank beneath running water then stepped aside to wait on
the new kid.

“
I’ll show you where everything is
in the dark room once you’re finished but I don’t think we have
time to make any prints today,” I told him.

He nodded then duplicated the steps I’d taken.
Moments later we were standing in the red light of the dark room
and I was gesturing to large machines around the room, the trays of
chemicals that were already laid out beside the plastic bottles
that held the required solutions.

“
You need to bring your own photo
paper. The photography store at the mall is the only place in town
that sells it. There are four enlargers. I think they’re pretty
standard but if you have questions about them ask Mrs. Lozano…or I
guess me if I’m around.” My cheeks reddened again but I hoped he
wouldn’t see it in the already red light.

I gestured to the manila folder taped to the wall
near the door. “Brushes, dodge and burn tools are over here. We go
from right to left in the trays.” I waved a hand over the table
with the trays at the center of the room. Next I pointed to the
huge jugs of liquid. “If one of the solutions is really dirty you
can replace it from here but usually they don’t get that bad.” The
bell rang in the middle of my final word. “Well, have a good
one.”

I rushed back out into the lit area so I could hang
up my film to dry. Alex followed me and did the same.

“
I’ll see you at P.E.,” he said on
his way out.

It was then that I realized my pale skin would be a
beacon outside on a day like today. Briefly I was embarrassed that
I had never been out to tan.

But what did it matter if I were pale? It wasn’t as
if someone like Alex would ever be interested in me. I wasn’t sure
I’d want him to be. Besides, if I had to have tan skin to interest
a guy then he wasn’t worth my time to begin with.
Honest
.

* * * *

“
Still life with
camera,” the drawing teacher said with a chuckle as the entourage
known as “mute girl” entered the studio next door. “I guess you’re
permanently exempt from posing for figure study.”

“
Woo!” I cheered playfully. “I’d
much rather be drawing than posing anyway.”

“
I know, dear.” Ms. Finch patted me
on the shoulder as I passed by her desk.

The quiet of still life drawing and peers that
respected me meant I got to relax after the frustrating day of
glares and insults. I was in the zone. Drawing was one of the only
things that made me happy and put me into a Zen-like state. But it
would only last until the bell rang.

No one respected me in physical education class.
They had good reason. I stunk at every sport man had created and
most physical activities as well. In fact if I sat and thought
about it hard enough I couldn’t come up with a single thing I
excelled at in that class.

Sluggishly I put my art supplies away, set my still
life drawing on the rack and then forced myself out the door to the
locker room. The fact that the cameraman wasn’t allowed into the
girl’s locker room gave me five minutes of glorious respite from
the documentary.

By the time I’d stepped onto the field and joined
the flag football game the groups had been picked. I was sent to
join the team without the red mesh shirts. That worked for me. The
idea of the mesh being worn by other sweaty students before me gave
me the willies.

Two cameras floated behind Tyler and a red-shirted
Alex at the other end of the field. Alex dodged Tyler’s swipe for
his flags as he ran toward the goal with the ball in hand. I
watched in awe at his quick sprints, turns and fake-outs. Not only
was he handsome and book smart, but also he could play sports.

“
Hey, mute girl,” Alex said on his
way down the field in pursuit of Tyler and the football.

It was the extent of what he said to me all period.
I was content with that because the small greeting had generated
strange looks from my classmates. The final whistle was blown. I
started back to school.

The final bell rang on my first day of documented
school. Though I was free to go home, my day wasn’t over yet. A
paper was due this and every Friday in A.P. History.

Ordinarily I’d have used the computer at the
Henderson’s to do my research while babysitting Jeffery. But since
Mrs. Henderson was wary of her son being filmed, she’d told me I
couldn’t sit anymore. It wasn’t a big chunk of money but it would
hurt my spending money fund, what little of it there was. It also
hurt that I now had to use public property to do my work.

I took a different route downtown to the library and
hid my smile when the cameraman was hassled at the door. Ultimately
he was asked to wait outside. I did the wise thing and tried to
argue on his behalf.

The head librarian listened impatiently to my
explanation that he was part of the documentary filming in town.
She shook her head sternly and continued to refuse him entrance
while he still had the camera. I didn’t know if she thought I was
lying or if she didn’t care. After a shrug directed at the glass
door where he stood filming still, I headed back to the reference
books and computer terminals.

The sun had begun setting when I walked out of the
library with my printed paper. My personal videographer joined
me.

“
Sorry,” I told him in a whisper as
if I wasn’t supposed to talk to him. “I tried to explain but she
didn’t care.”

“
Thanks,” the man said in an average
sounding baritone voice.

“
It’s going to be a weekly problem.
I have a paper due every Friday in history class. Maybe you guys
should pick another girl.”

“
Don’t worry about it.”

If I was worried about anything it was that they
wouldn’t
pick another girl.

The little apartment my mother and I claimed was
dark when I unlocked the door and waved goodbye to the camera guy.
Monday also meant my mom was cutting hair until closing time. She’d
arrive shortly before ten in a state of exhaustion. I’d probably
get a handful of words out of her before she crashed on the
bed.

Cognizant of the cameras stationed around the place,
I considered what to do with my time. Monday was one of the few
days I didn’t have to work but I was too tired after the library
visit to do anything productive.

I flopped into the sofa and zoned out to escapist
television. A Betty Grable musical on the old movies channel was
what I selected. During one of the elaborate dance numbers I fell
asleep, drool crusting my mouth every bit as much as this
morning.

CHAPTER THREE

I delicately
slid the photo paper into the tray with the developer solution in
it. Within seconds an image appeared from nothing. I smiled. It was
almost like playing god.

I glanced at the tray beside. A print from the
person who had been in before me floated in the liquid. What looked
an awful lot like my face stared out of the glistening reddish
water. I glanced around the dark room for the person responsible
but found myself alone. Everyone else was out shooting rolls of
film for their projects because it was a nice day.

As soon as my print was finished developing I
dropped my photo on top of the other one, blotting it out. However
it resumed its haunting when I moved my sheet to the next tray. I
ignored that tray.

Into the light I returned and checked my negatives
for other potential prints while waiting for the photo to finish
rinsing. A few students were developing film near the sink and
quieted their conversation when the cameraman and I neared.
Conscious of the audience, I dropped my negatives onto the light
table and looked at them through the magnifying lens.

I selected the next shot and left the videographer
in the studio once again. The photo of my face had disappeared from
the darkroom trays. I must have been mistaken. It was probably of
someone else.

“
Hey, mute girl,” Alex said from one
of the enlargers. “I didn’t see you at lunch today.”

“
I ate outside.” I’d avoided Ashley
because she’d been in a particularly foul mood.

“
Lunch alfresco. Nice. I’ll have to
try it.” He set the timer. The light flipped on, illuminating the
photo paper. The timer click-clicked as he faced me. “I was going
to invade your table but dining outside is a much better
idea.”

The thought of Alex sitting with my friends was
absurd. We weren’t the bottom of the social totem pole but we were
pretty damn close. Someone would explain who was who to him soon
enough. Then he’d be sorry he’d ever associated with me.

I put my negative in the enlarger’s lens and checked
the positioning in the light without my photo paper. “Why would you
want to sit with a bunch of gossiping girls?”