Overexposed

by Adrianne James

  “I wonder if Nate would want to know what color my dress is so he can match his tie.” I knew it wouldn’t take long until she became like any other boy-obsessed girl in our high school. But it was Ashley. She could get away with murder, and I would still love her.

  “Girls, dinner will be ready in an hour. Why don’t you work on your homework, then wash up. I will let you know when to come down.”

  Ashley and I bounded up the stairs calling a quick “Thanks, Mom!” over our shoulders.

  The house wasn’t large, but thankfully I didn’t have to share a room with my brother. I knew some kids from school had to share with their siblings because there were more than two of them, and these houses all had either two or three bedrooms. My room was at the top of the stairs and had a bright purple door. When I was little, I was the biggest girly girl you could imagine. I had purple everything, and if it could have sparkles, all the better. However, that was when I was five. Since the time I was thirteen I have been begging my parents to let me paint my room black and splatter paint it, much like I want to do to my dress when I get it. They said that would look tacky and when I moved out the black would be too hard to cover. So I was stuck with a purple room.

  The door closed behind us, and we both flopped down on my twin bed. Staring at the ceiling, with all the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck in a random pattern everywhere, we started talking about the classes that we didn’t have together, but of course the chatter somehow made its way around to the dance and to Nate.

  “Don’t you think he is just a little cute?” Ashley prodded, poking me in the arm.

  “Yes, he’s cute. I’m not blind. I just have no real interest in falling for any boy. Feelings make girls go nuts.” I looked over at her, and saw her death glare, and quickly added “Not that you are just any girl. You will be fine and normal and not go insane.”

  “That’s right. I won’t. But maybe you could try to get a friend-type date anyway, and we can double. I mean, I am sure that Michael or Dean would want to go with you.”

  Michael and Dean were both really nice guys. But even still, I didn’t want a date. And if I did decide I wanted to go to the dance with someone, I would at least pick someone I thought was good looking. Good looking and dumb. It is easy to appreciate the beauty, while knowing perfectly well you would never be well suited because the brains just were not up to speed. That sounds so horrible, I know, but at least I am honest.

  “Nah, I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea and tell people I have a boyfriend or something.” That was when she laughed at me. A loud, obnoxious laugh. “What?”

  “You mean you wouldn’t want someone to spread gossip about you. You wouldn’t like that at all, would you? What do you think you do every day?”

  “My intel comes from reliable sources! Maybe our photo assignment will give us stuff to talk about that comes with actual proof. What do you think we should try to capture?”

  “I don’t know, Vi. What if we just sit outside the school with the camera ready to go, and see what we see?”

  “That isn’t a plan! That is just waiting for the photo to happen. We need to be proactive!”

  “The assignment is to be takers. We need to just let the moment happen. The most proactive we can be is to be sitting somewhere ready to snap a picture in a spot that is likely to have something newsworthy.” I sighed in frustration, because she and I both knew she was right. This class might be more challenging on a personal level than I thought.

  “Girls! Dinner is ready!” Mom called from downstairs. The minute I opened the door I could smell the chicken. If there was one thing that mom did better than any other person I have ever met, it was cooking.

  “Oh, that smells amazing,” Ashley said as we came down the stairs. Her mother rarely cooked, and when she did, it was usually something that came in a box or out of the freezer with directions written on it.

  As we walked into the dining room, I was handed a stack of plates and Ashley was handed the napkins and silverware. We went around the table setting it seat by seat, plate first, and then she would put the rest. This was something that happened every night. We always ate dinner at the table as soon as Dad got home from work. Jason would help Mom bring the full plates of food in from the kitchen, and we would all sit around, serving our own meals at the table.

  Like clockwork, the front door opened at five thirty. Instead of the door closing gently, there was a loud slam followed by a rather colorful word being yelled. The noise made us all jump, and Mom raced out of the kitchen to go see what was wrong.

  I had a feeling what it was, but I really hoped I was wrong. Dad was one of the last few human miners left, and we had a new girl in school today. No one moves to this town without working for the mine. New employee in that probably knows computers and can push a button to work one of the machines, old employee out who works with his hands.

  Jason had come into the dining room with Ash and me. No one knew what to do. We all just stood there, waiting for something, anything, that told us how to react. Dad never had a temper. It took a lot to get him to raise his voice, let alone slam doors.

  “Another machine! A goddamn machine took my job! You are his secretary! How did you not know I was being replaced? Damn it, Sara, why didn’t you tell me?” We could hear the shouting from the dining room. We didn’t even need to sneak into the hallway behind the closet door, where you can hear even whispers in the living room without being seen.

  “I swear, I didn’t know. I knew that someone was going to be out, but I never thought it would be you. You have been there longer than anyone else except for Lance Nellman.”

  “Wouldn’t surprise me if he was next! Seems the only ones keeping their jobs are custodians for the offices, and office employees—no one that has been risking their lives for as long as they worked there. No one who, day in and day out, break their backs lifting, sifting, pushing, and pulling their black gold out of the mountains. I hope to hell you stay on his good side because we need you to keep your job until I can find another one.” You could hear the anger in his voice, and I was scared. Not of Dad, but of what was going to happen.

  Jason started rubbing my back, as the tears coated my cheeks and reddened my eyes. I quickly wiped them away because I didn’t want Dad to feel any worse than he already did.

  “Let’s get this all ready so when they come in here they can both just sit down and eat,” Jason said. He may be a jerk to me most of the time, but he did have his moments of consideration.

  We had everything set on the table by the time they both came in. Mom’s eyes were red rimmed, but not a trace of salty water left on her face from tears she obviously had shed.

  I walked straight up to my dad and wrapped my arms around him. He hugged me back then pulled away silently.

  “This smells amazing, Sara,” Dad said as he helped himself to the rosemary chicken, roasted vegetables, and mashed potatoes.

  “Thank you, dear.” Mom took the plate from dad and began serving herself before passing it along to Jason.

  “So, how was your first day back to school kids? How is your photo class, Vi?” Dad had always called me Vi. It was his nickname for me to begin with.

  “It was great. We got into this huge debate on what is photography and what is art in photography. We were even given our first assignment, and I can’t wait to start.”

  “That’s great, sweetheart, what about you Jason? Any interesting classes this term?”

  “Dad, school isn’t interesting. It is a glorified babysitting service.” Jason said through a full mouth. The boy had no manners.

  “Watch it. School is more than that, and you know it. Look at all these college grads taking the jobs of the common folk around here. Maybe fifty years ago you could get away without having a degree, and do a hard days work for good pay, but today? Today’s world you need more schooling to be able to push a damn button, and get better pay than any hardworking laborer will be able to get. Henry told me just the other day he tried
applying for a construction job, and do you know what they asked him? Where he went to college. Even laborers now need formal education.” Henry was Ashley’s dad. He had been laid off for four months, and has been out every day looking for work without having to commute farther than Layton. They were lucky her mom was a cleaning lady for all the other businesses in town.

  “Okay, geez. Sorry. I had math, English, Spanish, and gym.”

  “Make sure you study that math and English. Those two are the really important ones.”

  “All right, Dad.”

  It was the most strained dinner we had ever had. I don’t remember discussions ever being so serious before. I could understand why, but I didn’t like it.

  MY ALARM WENT OFF way too early the next morning. I am not a morning person with a full night’s sleep, let alone with the few hours I managed to get in the night before. Add to that the fact that the clock said five twenty-five and you have one cranky girl on your hands. I had been too worried about my family and my dad to be able to close my eyes without my brain running a mile a minute. I knew I had to keep my ears open for any kind of job that was available.

  Ashley and I had decided to get to school early, hoping to see a photo opp. When I looked outside, I saw that not only was it still dark, but there was a thick blanket of fresh snow covering everything. Again.

  I pulled on my jeans and a tee shirt, then covered that with a sweater and headed downstairs. I quickly ate my breakfast and finished getting ready just in time for the soft knock on my door.

  Running to the door, I grabbed my backpack and my camera bag. Pulling the door open, a rush of cold air blew into the house. Goose bumps erupted on my skin and my body shivered.

  “Are you sure we should leave this early? It is still technically nighttime!” I whispered as aggressively as I could to Ashley, pointing behind her to the slowly lighting sky. It was actually pretty as the sun rose over fresh snow on the ground. It sparkled like tiny diamonds.

  “Yes, we need to be there before everyone else.” I huffed my acceptance, as I closed and locked the door behind me.

  We walked for a while in silence, just taking in the scenery. The trees that surrounded us were either bare and ice-covered, or a beautiful green with a white frosting. I actually had taken many pictures of the nature that surrounded Willowspring over the years. I had more pictures of trees than anything else. The trees didn’t complain when I took over a hundred pictures trying to practice my techniques.

  “So, last night.” She was trying to ask me if I was okay without coming out and asking how things went down after she left. As soon as dinner was over, she excused herself, saying she had laundry to do. It was a lie, but I know how uncomfortable being in the house was last night. If I had somewhere to go, I would have, too.

  I didn’t answer her right away. I stopped and positioned myself to capture a picture of the sun peaking through the trees and waited until just the right moment, when the sun hit the ice crystals, sending a kaleidoscope of rays in all directions. After I let Jilly leave my eye, I sighed and turned to Ash.

  “After you left it was silent. Like, completely. Dad didn’t turn on the TV, Jason didn’t blare his music, and Mom just sat in the living room pretending to read. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I do know that we will make it work.” I smiled at her so she knew I believed what I said. And I did. I just didn’t know how long it would take to make it work.

  “Are you going to try and help out? I mean, it’s been four months for my dad, and I am really close to applying everywhere I can. I really should have already started applying.”

  “Do you really think in this town, if there was a job open, they would give it to a teenager? There are so many adults out of work, I think they would be fighting over any job right now. Our best bet is to find little side jobs. Like my babysitting. I bet you could maybe do art lessons or something for little kids. I don’t know how many people would have the money for it, but you could try.”

  “You’re right. That could be a good idea. As long as I didn’t make it too expensive and posted flyers for it on both sides of town, maybe the art classes will work out.” The conversation had gotten too serious for my liking so I bent down while we were walking and scooped some snow, forming it into a ball and pelting Ashley with it. I laughed and ran ahead of her while she screamed and chased after me. She really was like my sister, best friends and annoying sisters all in one.

  By the time we got to the school, we were covered in melting snow and freezing. There was still close to twenty minutes before the students were set to arrive, and the teachers would be flowing into the parking lot one by one.

  The snow had stopped falling, which I was extremely pleased about since Jilly was temperamental and hated to get wet --cameras and water do not mix, after all. After wiping the snow off the bench on the sidewalk closest to the parking lot, I pulled out my camera. Ashley was in charge of watching the actual parking spaces, and I was in charge of watching the entrance, but particularly the stop sign that the senior class kept being ticketed for running. It was on school grounds, so the school would ticket them, not the small town police. But a school ticket, depending on the infraction, gave the students one or two detentions, plus they lost driving privileges for up to a month.

  “I heard that the teachers always run this stop sign. Maybe we can catch them and then give them to the school paper to run a story how the kids are being treated unfairly.” I said through chattering teeth.

  “That would be good! I bet we would get an A on the project! I hope that I can borrow a camera today. I want to start learning. Oh and I brought you a smock from my house for class today.” She knew me so well.

  Finally, two cars pulled in one after the other. I had my camera turned on and ready to snap the criminals in action --okay, maybe criminal is too harsh-- but unfortunately both stopped at the sign just as they should.

  “Damn!”

  “Shouldn’t you be glad they are following the rules?”

  “Um, no. What kind of story is that?”

  “Good point.”

  We went back to silently watching our surroundings. But only a minute later, Ashley slaps my arm hard and starts to quietly chant “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!”

  “What?” I turn to look the direction she was in charge of, and I see that the drivers of the two cars had parked beside each other and were holding hands, and making goo-goo eyes at each other.

  “Mr. Mensa and Mrs. Green? Isn’t she married?” Ashley asked, as I picked up my camera and began taking photos. We were told to get all the moments, the before, during and after. I wasn’t sure which stage this was, but I was getting it.

  “Separated. Her husband wanted to move into Willowspring so she wouldn’t have a commute. She refused to move here. Don’t blame her really. But that wouldn’t split anyone up, so I asked around some more, and the reason he wanted to move but she didn’t was he had some mistress in Willowspring, and he wanted to be closer to her. Guess Mrs. Green didn’t think the commute was too far for a mister. Is that what it’s called when a woman cheats? The man is a mister if a woman is a mistress?” The more pictures I snapped the cozier the two looked.

  “How do you know that? And I’m not sure there is a name for a man being cheated with. You know what, never mind. This is a private moment, put that down!” She tried to push my camera out of the way, but I moved off the seat.

  “No! This is what he meant! Capture everything! Eww kissing!” It may have been disgusting to see two teachers making out, but I wasn’t going to stop taking pictures. I didn’t know what I would do with them yet, but I knew I had discovered something.

  When they broke apart, they smiled at each other, grasped hands briefly, and then went their separate ways as if nothing had happened. I would have to watch them more closely in school to see if they showed any signs of really being a couple, not that the morning time make out session didn’t tell me already. But sometimes, a kiss is just a kiss, not a rela
tionship. I had to find out more. Then, I had a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself.

  “Do you know what this means?” I asked Ashley excitedly.

  “That they’re a couple?”

  “No! Well yes, maybe, but no! It means that we can be like paparazzi! We can turn into spies and find out everyone’s secrets! The TMZ of Willowspring! I bet the audio video club would love to partner up!” I had put Jilly back in her case and grabbed Ashley by the arm to drag her into the school. We took some great pictures, not exactly what we were looking for, but better. Plus, it was cold, and I wanted to warm up before class started.

  “I don’t know, Vi. That seems kinda, well, kinda wrong. Secrets are secrets for a reason.” We had gotten to our lockers and had started to take off layer after layer of outerwear so we didn’t boil inside.

  “I am not saying to expose anything that could really hurt someone, but fun possibly embarrassing stuff? Totally. I mean, if they didn’t want to be seen, why were they out there in the middle of the parking lot. They could have gone into the school, into one of their classrooms for privacy. Plus, it will be way easier to skew reality like the assignment says with more interesting news.” I could see her face changing. She had this look when she was thinking. She would bite the inside of her cheek, her blue eyes would shift to the side, and she would sigh loudly.

  “Fine. But there should be rules. One, if we see something that could ruin someone forever, we do not take the pictures. Two, if you wouldn’t want it said or shown about you, we don’t show it about them. And three, no nudity. If we stumble upon some boy peeing outside or something, we do not take the picture.” Her arms crossed her chest and her face turned all serious. I loved when she tried to get all strict with me. I admit, sometimes it was needed, but it was still cute.

  “Agreed.” Then we shook on it. After that, the rest of the student body began to filter in. When the bell rang, we headed off to photo class, excited about our new direction for the project.

  Every student was in their seat when the late bell rang, but Mr. Bennett was no where to be found. The class was getting restless, and the noise level was approaching the magnitude of a pep rally.