Fledgling

by Natasha Brown

  “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, 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 answered, “Thanks. There’s nothing worse than sitting alone on your first day. I’ll look for you—see ya.”

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

  Ana walked toward her, careful to keep her eyes on the ground, anxious Laura’s sentiment had changed since calculus. Laura looked up and waved her over. Relieved, Ana sat down beside her and her friends in the cool shaded grass.

  The chatty girls frowned at Ana until Laura made 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 leaned in and asked, “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, 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 and focused on her lunch and said, “I guess I can do a week.”

  As if she had any choice.

 

  Chapter 5

  Chance leaned against the school fence as he stared across the courtyard. His friends were laughing and punching each other in a mock fight. Their taunts fell on deaf ears. He wasn’t paying any attention.

  “Hey, Chance—what’s up, man?”

  Chance turned to his friends. They snickered at him and his sinewy body tensed. “What?”

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

  The guys turned and followed Chance’s gaze to a tall pine tree that rose from the edge of the patio. A group of girls sat below it.

  “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?!”

  He pushed away from the fence and made it shake and shudder as he stormed toward school. He only hung out with the guys because it was easier that way . He would prefer being alone and not listen to their dribble. Days like this made it hard to remember what his reasons were for being friends with them. His mother was concerned he wasn’t social enough or had any friends anymore, so he made an effort. Graduation wasn’t far off. If he could make it until then, 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 returned to the pretty girl he noticed from across the grounds. He’d never seen her before.

  Long dark hair fell around her face and she seemed preoccupied with hiding 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 pushed through the door to his next class and settled into the darkness. The bell rang a moment later and he heard people shuffle into the building. He dropped his bag beside his seat, then removed the camera his mother had bought him. She had encouraged him to take a class more creative than mechanics and said he could learn all he needed on the job from Kenny, so 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 and appeared to be asleep, but Chance knew he would be on his feet by the start of class.

  Everyone settled and Mr. Frisk rubbed his eyes and rose to his feet as expected. The door opened once more and light streaked across the dark room. A figure stood and hesitated before approaching the teacher. It was the new girl.

  Chance’s eyes bore into a white sheet that hung from the wall in front of him. When she walked past his seat, he caught the scent of pine and rain. 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. It was a constant reminder that she was different. Of course, she hadn’t always been so worn down and unathletic. 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.

  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 through the skylight as she neared her door. With one last doleful look, she walked into the darkened classroom.

  Dazed, she stood in the doorway and waited for her eyes to adjust before she moved 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 smiled a warm creased grin and directed her to an empty chair.

  Ana sat down and tilted 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 intention to introduce his new pupil. Instead, he began a slideshow from a projector pointed at a white sheet that hung on the wall.

  Darkness soaked into her and she was comfortable for the first time that day. In the quiet dark her heart made its own unique rhythm.

  “All right, 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 while she stared at the slideshow. Some of the images seemed remedial to her, so looked around the room.

  To her side she noticed a lean figure a couple seats away. Slouched back in his chair, his coppery hand supported the side of his head. Thick dark hair appeared to have grown out from a haircut and fell 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 offered a false sense of security. The object of her curiosity turned to meet her gaze and she snapped her attention back to the slide of a babbling brook as her cheeks and ears flushed.

  “Notice 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.

  Her attention was drawn to someone shuffling in their seat and she glanced to the side. The boy stared right back at her. Her eyes flashed back to the projected image on the wall and her cheeks flushed with warmth.

  After her surprise settled, determination filled her. Ana, you have no interest in guys. They are only trouble. She shook her head with disgust, angry at herself for being affected by good looks. 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 school grounds. 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. “Did you bring a camera today?”

  Ana tried to find her voice. “Yes, sir, I brought it.”

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

  The last of the students filtered out of the classroom. Along with them, any opportunity to find a partner. It didn’t matter, she’d 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 and turned around. 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.”

  “No such luck. 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 to give 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 then started for the door.

  They left the room together but Ana didn’t know her way around yet and wasn’t sure where to go. Kids were already on the basketball courts busy with the assignment, and she didn’t want to be a copycat.

  “Where should we go?” she asked.

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

  He led her around the building, past a grassy area to a small fenced garden. While they walked through the entrance and across some dried vegetation, Ana noticed how soundlessly her companion moved. She closed her eyes and heard her feet scratch across the earth and would have guessed she was alone, but when she let her lids slide open, Chance was moving silently beside her. She stopped at the center of the garden.

  “Perfect. I can work with this.” Ana said in enthusiasm and wandered around the small lush enclosure.

  Chance squatted in front of a tiny daisy. A bee was busy collecting pollen at its center. Ana left him there to take a couple of shots while she looked for a suitable subject.

  A group of tiny white butterflies flicked around the garden as though attached by strings, tugged up and down by the air currents. Fascinated with their paper-thin wings, she turned to Chance. “I have an idea for a picture. Do you mind helping me?”

  “Sure,” he said.

  “Would you get up on the bench and jump down with your arms out? The butterflies gave me an idea.”

  She pictured it in her mind, then set her camera on a birdbath that was flipped upside down and prepared for the shot.

  She looked up at Chance. “On three. One, two…three.”

  She pressed her finger down on the shutter release just as he jumped off the bench arms outstretched, landed and paused before the camera.

  They huddled together and reviewed the image. Chance looked like he was flying with wing-like arms arched out. The delayed shudder speed and the movement created a motion trail that gave the illusion of wide wings.

  Ana met Chance’s eyes as he said, “Wow, you’re good.”

  Her heart stuttered, gave a squeeze, and she curled her pale fingers tight around the camera.

  The school bell rang out across the school grounds.

  “Thanks for helping me out,” Ana said, staring at the ground. She turned to walk away. What was wrong with her? Why was her heart behaving this way? She was in a daze, woozy. It would be better to gain some distance from him so she could clear her mind. Boys were trouble and she didn’t need any more trouble.

  While she moved toward the large brick building lost in thought, she glanced sideways and discovered Chance in stride beside her. They passed a cluster of students who whispered and stared at them as they walked by. Ana noticed Chance’s jaw tighten and his expression harden.

  Ana was surprised to hear his voice break the silence. “So, what class you have now?”

  “Um, English with Penroke, I think.”

  “Follow me,” Chance said with a wooden voice. She was confused. He seemed angry with her. If he didn’t like her, he didn’t have to speak to her. He wasn’t obligated to show her around. Plus. he didn’t seem like the welcome committee type. In fact, she really couldn’t figure out why he was focused on her at all.

  They approached a flight of stairs, which he jogged up effortlessly, and Ana was left behind. Out of breath and tired, she wished he hadn’t offered to lead the way. She was too thin to appear out of shape. It was too soon to tip her hand. Was a fresh start too much to ask for? She yearned to know what it was like to fit in without sympathy wherever she went. Eyes to the floor, she reached the top stair and followed beside him down a hallway until they stopped.

  He held open the classroom door for her, followed her in and went to his desk. The teacher signed Ana’s form and pointed her to an empty seat at the corner of the room. She set her bag down beside her chair and breathed a sigh of relief. Now she could take a moment to collect herself.

  “Miss Hughes, I’m sorry but we don’t have enough textbooks in the class—cutbacks. You’ll need to share with someone until we can get another,” Ms. Penroke said. “Is someone willing to share their textbook?”

  A couple of unenthusiastic hands rose around the room, but Ms. Penroke called the first one to rise. “Yes, Mr. Morgan. It’s nice to see you participating in class for once. Go ahead and sit next to Miss. Hughes.”

  The teacher paused while Chance grabbed his belongings and settled into the chair beside Ana. An array of faces watched him shuffle across the room, then turned to snicker and whisper to each other.

  “We’ll continue reading To Kill a Mockingbird, and then you’ll have some assigned reading tonight. Please open your books.”

  Ana was relieved to discover she was ahead in at least one of her classes. She remembered it well, one of her favorite books from last year. She turned to Chance. Something about him made her nervous and it bothered her. No one caught her off guard like this. There was a certain convenience to staying emotionally distant from everyone.

  Chance lifted his desk as if it didn’t weigh a thing and brought it closer to hers.

  “Um…thanks for sharing,” Ana said and stared at her hands.

  “No problem.”

  The class was just past chapter two. She read the pages held steadily before her and became unnerved when Chance finished the page well ahead of her. Prideful when it came to reading, she ate literature like a starved animal. When he stared at her while he waited, she became flustered and disoriented. After she finished a paragraph and realized she just reread the section twice, beads of perspiration dewed at her temple. Finally at the page’s conclusion, Ana smiled at Chance to indicate she was done. Finally.

  Dejected, she slumped in her seat and assumed he thought she wasn’t very smart from her tortoise-like reading speed. Resolved to get her own copy soon, she glared at the book in agitation. Anyway, since when did she care about what a guy thought about her? As her mind wandered, she stalled out on the page and closed her eyes to collect her thoughts, which scattered and broke like spider webs in a fierce wind.

  “All right class, I want everyone to read through chapter three tonight. Within chapter two, one of our main characters says that you never really understand a person until you climb into his or her skin and walk around in it. I’d like us to explore this topic together
. I want all of you to create a poem about this subject matter. Feel free to get creative. It’s due Friday.”

  The bell rang and everyone grabbed their belongings and left so fast Ana questioned if it had been a fire alarm. She rested her head on her hand and said to her reading partner, “I’m sorry I was so slow—I threw you off pace.”

  “I’m very fast,” he said and his face softened. “Good eyesight runs in the family. Sorry I made you self-conscious. You can use the book tonight. I’ve already read it—I don’t need it.” His skin brushed against hers when he placed it in her empty hands.

  “I read it last year, but I guess I should skim through it tonight if there’s a poem due. It isn’t a bad read.” She turned to slip the book into her bag so she wouldn’t have to meet his eyes and falter in a lapse of stupidity. Again.

  She stood and walked out of the room into the sunlight. He followed at the same pace and appeared to wait for her to lead on as though any direction she picked was fine. Why did he seem so interested in her? She didn’t consider herself pretty and was disappointed she hadn’t exhibited a great intellect in his presence, which she thought was her strongest attribute.

  Ana broke the awkward silence and said, “I need to go pick up my little sister now. She’s waiting for me.”

  “I’ll walk you to your car…if you want,” he said and grasped onto the strap of his bag as though it were the only thing that kept him from floating away.

  “Sure.”

  “So, why’d you move here?” Chance asked with clear distain.

  “Well, my mother got laid off and her sister lives here and was able to get her old job at the bank. My mom grew up here. We needed a change anyway. It’s a really small town. . .smaller than I’m used to. We moved from just outside of Denver.” Not wanting to ramble on, Ana stopped to clear her throat. “What about you?”

  “I’ve lived here forever. It’s a really small town. Not much to say about it, like you said, it’s small.” He paused. “How do you like it?”

  “It’s beautiful. I didn’t think I’d be happy here, but. . .I might have been wrong.” Ana thought better of continuing, apprehensive to expose too much about herself.

  “What?”