Capturing Savannah

by Krajcirovic, J. L.

Just then the girl with the long blonde hair stumbles by with a rather large box and I reach out to give her a hand with it. She seems surprised until I tell her we are roommates. We awkwardly shimmy the box into the room.

  “I’m Emily Adams,” she says.

  “Thea. Thea Clark.”

  “I’m from New York. Let me guess you’re from…” she pauses “…Alabama.” she says, as she looks me up and down without much of an expression. Which I can’t tell whether or not that is a good thing or a bad thing in her mind. She has a large bullhorn nose ring and eyebrow piercing which look like they must have hurt. I know I have pink hair and all but the huge piercings freak me out a little and for a brief moment make me miss and want to go back home again.

  “Actually. Tennessee.” I say guessing the twang in my voice was coming out a little too much. “Do you have any more boxes to bring up?”

  “Yes just two more. Want to give me a hand and save me a second trip?” Emily says in a way that doesn’t sound so much like a question.

  “Yep. Let’s go.” I say. Hoping I don’t run back into David on the way because I just don’t know what to say to him right now. We both head down the elevator and out the front entrance. I follow her to the left of the parking lot.

  “This is me.” She says stopping in front of a new electric blue hatchback mini and opening up the back. We both grab the last of the two boxes and head back into the dorms.

  “Out and about again Ms. Clark” the security guard, Max asks raising his eyebrow a little.

  “Just helping my roommate Emily with the last of her stuff.” I say as he finishes checking the IDs of two girls in front of us.

  “Have a good evening girls.” He says.

  We get back upstairs and I am relieved not to run into David. I am not really angry or anything but I don’t know what I would say to him right now. It feels like he lied to me in a way. I guess technically he didn’t but he did keep from me that he had a key that would have unlocked my door and he did choose not to share that detail.

  I decide to hang up some photos from home and unpack a few more of my clothes. Reminding myself why I am here. Which is for my fresh start and for photography and not for a boy. I don’t need to get caught up into a relationship anyways. It would only hinder my studies. Taping up the last photo on the wall by my bed I get lost in the memory of it. It’s an image of a shadow made by an iron fence. My grandma took this photo when I was a kid near her house in Tennessee. She let me and my brother go with her that day on a walk to watch her take photos. It was the first time I got to see her in her craft. My brother was a little older than me so he had gone with her before. He helped her sometimes in pointing out things to take photos of. She loved nature and finding something beautiful or striking within it. The bark on trees, a misshaped rock, and like this one an abstract shadow that made a remarkable pattern. She had an eye for finding the right compositions. I hoped I could develop myself here and become at least half as good as her. And a boy is only going to be a distraction from that.

  Emily says she is exhausted and I am too so we both decide to turn in. I brush my teeth and wearily climb into bed. I remember my head hitting the pillow and then I must have passed out.

  Chapter Two

  I wake up hot and to the sound of some angry girl music playing softly. Which is a contradiction in itself. I rub my eyes and stretch. Remembering I am actually here in my new room and I am a college student is a great thought to wake up to. I decide to wake myself up even more with a shower. Which is for the best because of all the night sweating I am sure I smell a little. After I am dressed I ask Emily if she wants to go down to breakfast together before Orientation starts.

  “Sure Thea.” she says walking with me to the door. “Oh wait I have something I need to hang up real quick first.”

  “Ok.” I say watching her dig into one of the two still partially full boxes. Her side of the room looks put together. She has several photos of what looks like family and friends. Pictures where everyone in them is smiling. Pictures capturing normal life and people. I feel jealous thinking about what it used to be like to have a normal life, a normal family, something I haven’t felt for the last four years. She digs out what looks to be a whiteboard. I quickly check my pockets to make sure I have my key and we both pause outside the door so she can hang it up.

  “A whiteboard?” I ask.

  “Ya, so people can leave us messages. Or we can just leave messages for each other.” She says.

  “Hmm. Good idea.” I say.

  “Ya let’s write something on it now.”

  She starts writing Breakfast. Orientation. Out on the town.

  “And who are we leaving that message for?” I ask.

  “Everyone. Anyone that might be looking for us.” she says.

  “Like who? Max the security guard?” I say.

  “No like one of those guys you were talking to last night.” she says.

  “Oh them. Ya not sure I am going to be friends with those guys.” I say.

  “Well you don’t know that yet,” she says. She must sense my apprehension and annoyance here because she drops it and we make our way to the elevator.

  Breakfast is my favorite type of food so I load up on the eggs and hash browns and fruit. After breakfast, which actually isn’t too terrible for a school cafeteria, we find our way a few blocks down to the Civic Center for Orientation. Since the school is in the historic downtown it’s made up of different buildings all over the city, so not your typical college with a campus. Several of the buildings are in walking distance to the dorms others you need to ride the shuttle bus to get to but they each have their own architectural style and I am sure their own story. Orientation is good. Mostly a lot of sitting and listening but then we move outside to play some games. I take off when they bust out the water balloons wanting to go back up to my room to stack the new piles of information on my art drafting desk and get my camera ready for the beach. The bus is leaving in an hour to take students to Tybee Island. They have buses set up every other weekend to go to some part of the city like the mall or some other shopping areas. Tybee Island was a monthly stop and I was glad they offered it since it was around a forty-minute drive making it well out of walking range. I change into my bathing suit and cover it with a lightweight old t-shirt and pair of shorts. The shorts are much longer than my pajama ones and acceptable to wear out. As I am getting my camera ready I like seeing my grandmothers pictures hanging by my bed but I still feel like my side of the room as small as it is, is an empty canvas. Which is a lot like how I am starting to feel about this new part of my life.

  I finish gathering up my things so I can head downstairs and grab some fruit and water to take on the bus. Just then Emily comes in soaked with bits of balloon pieces in her hair and laughing. It does look like it was a fun time. She changes and we both head downstairs. We wait in line and carry our food trays to an empty table. Me only with fruit that I am just going to pack up after Emily finishes her lunch. I see David and Dax sitting at another table and try to ignore them not wanting to make eye contact.

  Instead I ask Emily what she is up to since she said she couldn’t go on the bus to the beach today and she tells me about her plans with her mom and dad to go on the Old Town Trolley Tour of the city. Which I admit does sound fun and I am jealous of her having her parents here with her and what sounds like a normal family relationship. But the beach sounds amazing too so I can’t complain. Emily finishes up her food and we head outside to the parking lot. Our flip-flops paddling as we walk outside onto the hot asphalt.

  Emily takes a seat on the bench making herself comfortable. We tell each other we will see one another later, and I head towards the bus that is filling up quick. I am relieved to find an empty seat in the back. It’s almost time to go and there are only a few seats left at the very front. Suddenly two runners jump aboard with boogie boards, one bright green and one banana yellow. The tethered wrist straps drag along the bus floor. I slink down some into my s
eat when I see its David and Dax. I don’t think they notice me but I am sure I’ll be forced to talk to them once we get to our destination. I sit with my paisley beach bag that holds my camera hooked onto my knee, crossing my arms in my lap. Finally the bus takes off and I settle in a little more with my headphones. Hoping for a scenic forty-minute drive.

  After driving though miles of canopies of Spanish moss we hit a bridge and from there it’s marshland until we reach the beach. As we park the bus driver tells us she will leave in three hours for the next stop at the local grocery store, Piggly Wiggly then back to the dorms. All the students walk down a weathered wooden bridge passing by coastal reed grass and a large black lighthouse with a thick white stripe around the middle. There are so many potential spots for photos, but I need to take it all in some more first and make sure I save some time at the end to do some swimming or at least put my feet in the water.

  Most of the students pair off together in packs of two or four. To the right there is a large wooden pier that is where most of the group is heading. To the left is mostly beach with protruding rocks and patches of reed grass. I decide to head to the left taking out my camera and adjusting the white balance settings for this time of day. I take several test shots and get infatuated with the reed grass. The tops of the reeds are a light golden yellow with a feathered edge and brown strands at the top that connect with a green thicker blade before jetting into the sand. So beautiful.

  I am obviously in my own world because I don’t notice David until he intentionally jumps into the frame of my shot. I click the camera just as he curls his lip up into that grin of his. My heart skips a beat and I hope I was able to get that smile of his on film.

  “So second day here and you are already working?” he says teasing me. “That’s dedication.”

  “Well that is what I am here for. For school I mean.” I say.

  School and photography that is what I am here for. Though I think burying myself in schoolwork has been a reoccurring theme for me over the last four years. So I am not sure how to change that for the next four years or if I even should. After taking what must be thirty shots of the reed grass I decide to make my way a little closer to the black protruding rocks. David follows me.

  “How did you sleep with this humidity?” he asks.

  “I am getting a fan today that I can keep at my bedside.” I shudder a little when I catch the Tennessee twang accent coming out and I notice David chuckling. “How about you? Were you able to get some sleep with all the newbies locking themselves out?” I say maybe a little to firmly.

  “About that. I was going to let you back into your room when we got back. You did say you were too hot to sleep in there anyways.” He says pretty believably.

  “I guess I did. But if you had a key you should have said something.” I say reaching the rocks and setting myself up into an awkward stance to get the right angle for the shot.

  “Come on Thea. We had fun didn’t we? I did. I had fun and I thought we kind of hit it off.” He says.

  “Did you?” I say noticing that my words came out a little snottier than I meant it to. Trying to concentrate on taking photos I decide to step up onto one of the rocks to get an angle from higher up but as I do I slip and fall knocking into David and bringing us both to the ground.

  “Are you okay?” He asks sitting up to look me over.

  “Me? I am the one that should be asking you that. I knocked you over.”

  “You’re right. Can’t take you anywhere. First locking yourself out. Wearing your pajamas on a date. And now tackling the innocent at the beach.” He says.

  “A date! You call that a date? And I slipped.” I say.

  “Well if it wasn’t then let me take you on one tonight.” He says. Then he quickly adds, “Oh wait can’t do it tonight. What about tomorrow night?”

  “I am still deciding on if we should be friends.” I say

  “Well then come and take a break and let’s go swimming.” He says convincingly.

  I agree to it, thinking he is probably right about trying to have some fun. And the thought of him without a shirt on does sound appealing. “Ok.” I say. “But I am still undecided on the friends part.”

  We walk back along the beach and away from the rocks to where several other students are in the water including Dax attached to one of the boogie boards. I pause before we get too close to the water putting the lens cap back on my camera and tucking it into my paisley bag. I kick off my flip-flops and my top and shorts revealing a plain black swimsuit. I wiggle my toes into the sand. Pausing to enjoy the moment of living in a new town that has a beach. I notice David just standing in front of me starring at me and suddenly feel really self-conscious. His wicked devilish grin moves across his mouth and he surprises me by throwing me over his shoulder and running into the water, tossing me into it. It’s cold but if feels good especially when I think of how hot it was last night. His arms on me don’t feel too bad either. He leaps into the water next to me and I splash at him playfully, laughing. It feels good to laugh.

  Dax swims closer and joins in with splashing David.

  “Hey no fair.” David says.

  “Alright let’s go boogie boarding then.” Dax says.

  There are only two boogie boards so we will need to take turns on them. I watch them glide and splash to the shallow part of the beach over and over again on the boogie boards. After awhile they swim back to me. Probably to check on me. Floating on my back with my eyes closed could very well look like I am asleep or dead I guess.

  “Hop on and we can go for a ride together Thea.” Dax says a little too confidently. I fumble a little in my floating position in the water giggling quietly.

  “I’m good. Thanks though Dax. Think I’ll have a go at it on my own though.”

  He unfastens the velcro strap and wraps it onto my wrist making it a point to touch me firmly. I pull back my arm. David and I wade out together and we get swept up by the waves and pushed to the shallow parts of the shoreline only to do it all over again and again. We catch a bigger wave and right at the end of it bump our boogie boards into each other both flipping over. We come up laughing and I see the sun dancing in those cool blue grey eyes. The next wave knocks us around a little even though we are sitting on the shore. We both go to stand up and turn when he jumps out of the water pulling me with him. He jumps and runs all around and shouts “Jellyfish”. Dax yells at him to pee on it. I see him run back into a different part of the water and stop and can only assume that he is going to do just that, pee on it, so I whirl away with a hint of a smile.

  After things have calmed down some we all sit and play in the sand and I take my camera back out. I think all of us decide we don’t want to take our chances again with the jellyfish. I steal a few pictures of David and our feet in the sand partially covered. I notice his leg is pretty red and you can see where the jellyfish had wrapped it’s tendrils around him. He says it doesn’t hurt but I am not sure I believe him.

  “I am going to go see if they have any bottled water on the pier. You need to stay hydrated.” I throw my clothes back on and pick up my paisley bag making my way to the pier. I walk past several guys fishing and pause along an empty spot overlooking the never-ending horizon of water. Lingering just long enough to pull out my camera to capture a picture and glimpse the sun sinking down a little more towards the water line along the horizon. There is a concession stand on the pier and I get a bottle of water and ask if they have anything to soothe a jellyfish sting. The guy says to ask the fisherman in the red hat.

  I make my way over to him and ask if he has something that can help. He asks me where I was stung looking me over thoroughly. A little too thoroughly and seems annoyed when I tell him it’s for my friend. I ask again and he sighs asking me what I’ll give him in return and I catch his eyes wondering over me again. I think for a moment and remember I have fifty dollars on me. The fifty my dad had given me the day before as he was leaving. The fisherman seems disappointed but doesn’t object
. He grabs something out of his ice chest and I hand him the cash. Out of nowhere David is by my side. I give him a small forced smile reassuring him everything is fine and steadying him back to the beach. He asks me what I was doing with those guys and I just open the bag the fisherman gave me and a bottle of some sort of liquid, pouring it over the red lines then applying the cream.

  I see a weight lift off David’s eyes and feel a big relief myself.

  “Uh thanks Thea,” he says. “This seems like something a friend would do. Does this mean we are friends then?”

  “Well I owed you one.” I say with a hint of sarcasm. “Ok friends.”

  “It was the jellyfish that changed your mind huh?” he says.

  “It might have had something to do with it.” I say back.

  “Gotta keep things exciting around here. We are supposed to be having the time of our lives.”

  “Says who?” I ask.

  “Everyone. Everyone says college is the most fun they ever had.”

  “No one I know says that.”

  “Well you must not be hanging out with the right crowd then.”

  “Oh really? And you are the right crowd?”

  “Absolutely.” he says. “So how about that date tomorrow night?” he adds.

  “Let’s try the friends thing first.” I say.

  “Ok you two, time to head back to the bus.” Dax interjects.

  “Good.” I say. “I can get that fan.”

  I board the bus first, followed by David who takes the seat next to me. Without asking he also grabs my bag from me and stows it up top. So now I don’t have my camera to fidget with as an excuse for not talking. Most people are uncomfortable with silence, most people but not me. I feel nervous but also safe at the same time with him this close to me. It feels weird.

  We do sit in silence for a few moments before he pulls out his mp3 player. “Want to listen to something with me?” he says.

  “Ok.” I say wondering what type of music he listens to.