Overexposed

by Adrianne James

  The front doors to the school opened, and the police and dogs went in. Then, not two seconds later, the whole student body raced to the doors to follow.

  The only ones I didn’t see heading into the school were Brock, Nick, and two other varsity members who just so happened to head to the parking lot instead. I had to smile to myself since I knew that they were afraid of getting caught.

  “What do you think is going on?” someone said quickly off to my right.

  “I bet they are looking for the old pot head janitor!” someone else rattle off.

  There were a million other theories rolling around as we slowly followed the police down the hall, to the left, down another hall, to the right, and all the way to the principal’s office. The way they were talking made me look like the least gossipy person around. Come to think of it, I hadn’t spread any gossip since the whole project started. If there was one thing I had learned was that sometimes there is a thing called knowing too much.

  When the Sheriff knocked on the principal’s door, the whole student body fell silent. The creek of the old wooden door rang through the hallway as if it were the morning bell, just ten minutes early.

  “Can I help you?” Mrs. Nash said as she opened the door, not looking at who was doing the knocking. She was reading the morning paper and when she finally looked up, her bright and cheery smile fell from her face in place of a scowl. “Animals are not allowed in my school. We have students with allergies and you will not be making them ill. Get those dogs out right now and then we can talk.” Then the door slammed in the police officer’s faces. The Sheriff took a deep breath and knocked again, while Max turned around and began sending us all off to class.

  “Nothing to see here, move along.” Max waved his hands about like he was shooing an annoying fly from his plate. I had a feeling there was going to be a lot more to see than nothing, and I wanted to capture every minute of it. I did have an assignment due after all.

  I PULLED JILLY from my bag and tried to slip into the corner that was blocked by two sets of lockers. There was enough room for me to fit, and it was at a really good angle to get some good shots, at least of the doorway.

  “Vi, what are you doing? Haven’t you learned your lesson about snooping?” Ashley asked with an exasperated tone. I could see her point, but I had a counterpoint, as I always do.

  “Ash, this isn’t snooping, this is honest to goodness photojournalism. How do you think news stations get all their footage of crimes or arrests happening? Someone is there, photographing or video taping events. This is something the public deserves to know. Now please, don’t blow my cover, just go to class and tell Mr. Bennett I will be there soon.”

  “Fine. But if he asks where you are I am not lying.” Ashley and Macy, and the rest of the students, went off to class and I snuck into my corner with my camera at the ready.

  I began snapping pictures right away. Pictures of the students being shooed away, pictures of the police dog sniffing at Mrs. Nash’s door and the floor and even the walls. I took pictures of the Sheriff rapping on the heavy wooden door and pictures of the other officer standing behind him.

  The door opened slowly and Mrs. Nash stepped forward, standing tall and rigid as ever.

  “Now, how can I help you?”

  “Mrs. Nash, we have a warrant to search the parameter of the school for any form of drug or drug paraphernalia, check any computer for communications between students correlating to drug use or transactions. I have a list of students who I need you to pull from class and have waiting for me. Please also call their parents in.” The Sheriff handed Mrs. Nash a piece of paper which, I assumed, had the varsity teams’ names on it. I just kept taking pictures because I wasn’t sure what would end up being important and what wouldn’t be.

  “My school is completely drug free. You are wasting your time searching, but go ahead if you must. I will collect the students.” Mrs. Nash turned around and closed the door in the Sheriff’s face yet again.

  Suddenly, a hand dropped onto my shoulder, scaring the hell out of me. I jumped about a foot in the air, and let out a little squeak. I turned to see Mr. Bennett standing there with a not-so- approving look on his face. When I turned back around, I saw all three of the officers staring right at me. The Sheriff was not pleased.

  “Let’s go, Vi.” Mr. Bennett said then stepped back, allowing me to go ahead of him. We walked down the main hall in silence, but as soon as we turned the corner, he was full of questions.

  “What were you thinking? Haven’t you gotten into enough tough situations because of your innate curiosity? How did they get what they needed to come search the school?”

  “I was thinking that I was taking the assignment seriously, and that news reporters did that all the time. I knew that taking pictures of the Sheriff doing his job wouldn’t get me chased through town or my house broken into so I felt it was safe. And Jason confessed to everything he knew this morning. He was trying to protect me.”

  “Just be careful, Vi. When the police tell the students to go to class, they mean it. Being a good field reporter is being brave and putting yourself out there, but it is also making sure your safe enough to deliver the photographs to the public.”

  I just nodded my head, and thought about how in a few hours this should all be taken care of, and back to normal. Mr. Bennett opened the door to the classroom and I took my seat next to Ashley.

  “Sorry, I had to tell him. He asked me, and you know how bad I am at lying.”

  “It’s okay. I think I got what I needed anyway.” We smiled at each other then turned our attention back to Mr. Bennett who began talking about capturing motion in a photograph without losing the beauty in art by making it look like a blurry messy snapshot.

  ***

  The bell rang signaling the end of class. Mr. Bennett made sure to assign our homework before telling us all to be careful and to participate fully if the Sheriff or the other officer’s had any questions.

  We all packed up and left the room, but I walked much slower than everyone else, so much so that Ashley had to stop and turn around to wait for me. I took my camera out once again and placed the strap around my neck.

  “Seriously? Vi, what the hell?” Macy asked as she too turned around to see what was taking me so long.

  “What? We got the pictures that started everything, might as well finish strong. I already took some earlier and if I see anything, I am taking pictures. Don’t worry, I am not going to go searching for anything this time. I’m not entirely stupid, you know.”

  My best friends shook their heads and walked ahead of me, not wanting to be part of my apparent insane wish to continue with the project.

  Watching the student body mill about the halls, and listen to the whispered suspicions, was incredible. I got pictures of girls whispering to each other, another crying and blabbing to her friend about how she didn’t think cheating on the SAT would be bad enough for the police to show up, and then there were the guys. Every boy on the varsity hockey team that I could see was acting skittish and worried and giving me death glares. They knew why the Sheriff was wandering the school with police dogs, checking each room and letting the dogs smell each locker.

  “Vi, you better hope that they find what they need to put us away because if they don’t, you will be wishing for the days of broken windows and rude classmates,” one senior said as he pushed past me, making sure to hit his shoulder against mine.

  I just kept taking photos. There wasn’t anything else I could do. When the bell rang letting us all know we only had a minute to get to our classes, the hall emptied quickly. Entering into my class and sliding into my desk, I checked the clock. Just a few seconds until I could forget what was going on outside the classroom and just lose myself in the classwork.

  ***

  About halfway through class, the door opened. Mrs. Nash stood there, looking much older than she had that morning.

  “I apologize for the interruption, Ms. Nattick, but I need to see Mason Le
ster. Mason, grab your bag and follow me.”

  I quickly picked up my camera and snapped off a few more photos as Mason did as he was asked. When he walked past my desk, I heard a few choice words I had become accustomed to being called over the last few days.

  When I looked back to the door, Mrs. Nash was staring at me like I was the problem with the school. I knew she hadn’t done anything to stop them, but I couldn’t imagine that she wanted drugs in her school. She took such pride in being a member of Willowspring High for so many years.

  The door closed behind them, and the escape that the coursework provided was gone. No one was going to go back to discussing the tear down of the Berlin wall when one of the varsity hockey players was just taken in while the school was being searched by police.

  “What gives, Vi? What is going on?” the girl who sat behind me asked. I wasn’t sure if I should say anything at all or if I should tell them the truth. Maybe one of them would show signs of being a buyer.

  “I know about as much as you do,” I lied. I really wanted to tell them all. To feed my gossip monster, but until the whole thing was resolved, I couldn’t risk making it worse. I knew that I was in on the secret, and that had to be enough.

  “Class, I see that you no longer have any interest in studying and with only minutes left of class, you may close your books and put them away. But please keep the noise to a low rumble.” Ms. Nattick sat down and opened her book. She was always reading the paperback romance novels that were in the grocery store. You could tell when she got to a good part because her typically pale skin would flush red and this little smirk would show up on her face. She didn’t care what we were doing at that point, her hero was probably taking his heroine on some log or something.

  When the bell rang the class had so many theories I had lost track and stopped paying attention. Instead, I had been flipping through the images on my camera. Walking out of the classroom, I hoped to catch some more happenings to take pictures of.

  Leaving the classroom, I ran right into Sheriff Vincent. He was just standing there like he was waiting for someone. Then I realized he was waiting for me.

  “VI, CAN YOU FOLLOW ME please?” I just stared at him, wondering what on earth I was in for. I slowly lifted my camera and snapped a picture of his face, then turned it on myself and took one of my face with a purposeful quizzical look.

  Sheriff laughed at me softly then motioned with his head to follow. I sighed and did as I was asked. The students in the hall stopped whatever they were doing to watch as I was being walked down the hall like an inmate on death row. At least, that is what it felt like. A wrongly accused inmate.

  By the time we reached the principal’s office, Ashley and Macy had been pulled from class as well, and were waiting with the same look of dread on their faces. Mrs. Nash stepped out of her office and cleared her throat.

  “Ladies, officers, if you will all please come in.” She held her arm out like she was welcoming us into her home or something. More like the gates of hell if you asked me. I never had a problem with Mrs. Nash before, probably because I never had a reason to actually speak to her. That is the wonderful side effect of being perfectly in the middle of your class; not at the bottom where interference is needed, and not at the top where you gain the attention of everyone. Not to mention none of the stress over staying at the top. I have talked to Melanie Leblanc, the girl with the highest grade point average in the school, higher than even the previous years’ valedictorian, and she was a giant ball of stress. No thank you.

  “Girls, we haven’t found anything at the school to suggest the allegations you put forth. I am also very dismayed that you felt the need to go to the Sheriff before coming to me. We have spoken with every member of the team that you said you saw that night, with the exception of the few who were not here today.”

  “What are you talking about? We came to you! We showed you pictures!” I yelled at her. I had never yelled at an adult before, at least not a real one. I yelled at fictional characters all the time on TV or in books, but they don’t count.

  “Do not talk back, and stop spreading your lies. I know that your family is going through a tough time right now, but dragging other families’ names through the mud and wasting the Sheriff’s time is not acceptable. I suggest you stop talking and listen up.” Mrs. Nash snapped at me. My blood was boiling but I had no idea what to do about it without completely ruining my chances of getting out of that office without being suspended for insolence.

  “But that is not fair. You have my memory card. Please, don’t do this. They trashed my truck, Vi’s room, and Ashley’s sculpture.” Macy said, crossing her arms and looking at Mrs. Nash, and the officers in the room with a look of utter disgust. Ashley sat quietly, staring at her hands in her lap.

  “So, Vi has you lying as well? No wonder your father wants me to keep you two away from each other. Ashley, do you have some lie to tell as well, or has Vi’s manipulative ways managed to skip you over?”

  Ashley just started to cry and shook her head no. She looked at me and mouthed her apologies for not saying anything, but I couldn’t be mad at her. She was afraid of making things worse. I was ready for it all to be over just as much as they were, but not at the expense of my chances of getting into a good college and getting the hell out of Willowspring.

  “Now, Mrs. Nash, I have reason to believe the boys we were interviewing may not have been truthful. I wanted to ask the girls a few more questions and that is all. I am in no way jumping to the conclusion that the girls are lying. Can you give us a few minutes, please?” The Sheriff made the same sweeping motion with his arm that she had just moments before, and the look of outrage on her face at being kicked out of her own office made me smile. She stomped out of the room like a petulant child, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Ashley elbowed me, and I coughed to stop myself from laughing anymore.

  “Girls, you know I believe you, especially after Jason came forward today, but I haven’t found a shred of evidence to prove any wrongdoing of any member of the hockey team. Is there anything else you can think of that can help me?”

  Ashley sniffled a few more times before looking up. She pointed to Mrs. Nash’s desk. “In there. She put the memory card in there.” The other officer stepped away from the bookshelf he was leaning against and walked over to her desk. The Sheriff held up a hand, motioning for him to stop for a minute.

  “It may or may not be in there. I don’t know why she would hide a memory stick that could stop this whole thing. And if she is hiding it to protect someone, who would that even be and why?”

  “I don’t know, but the only way to find out is to look,” I said.

  The Sheriff nodded his head and the tall officer opened the drawer.

  We all held our breath while he riffled through the contents of the drawer. “Sorry, nothing here but a bunch of pens and paper clips.”

  “Damn it!” Macy yelled.

  “What about you Vi? You took photos too, are they still on your camera?” I groaned in frustration because the memory card I had used was in my laptop card reader slot, in Brock’s possession.

  “Nope, it was in my laptop. You know, the one stolen from my house. I have been using my spare.”

  “Well, we need to question Brock and Nate again once we find them. They’re not at school today so we haven’t been able to speak with them after Jason told us his side.”

  “But they were here today. I saw them in the parking lot this morning before you all got here,” Ashley said, standing to look through the window at the parking lot, searching the cars for any sign of Brock’s beat-up red car.

  “I saw them get in Brock’s car before the bell,” I said.

  Sheriff whispered something to Max and he quickly left the room. I saw Mrs. Nash staring at us for the brief moment the door was open, before it closed.

  “Girls, unless you can think of anything to prove that it was Brock and the rest of the team who have been bullying you three, there isn’t much else I can do
besides keep looking for any kind of evidence to prove your claim, and your brother’s statement true.”

  “Wait!” Ashley called out, turning from the window. “When you took pictures in Vi’s room, did you see the blood on the windowsill? That has got to be Brock’s.”

  “I wasn’t the one who took them, but I didn’t see anything in Max’s report about blood. Where was it exactly?” The Sheriff began flipping through his notes, page after page. I was really glad he was taking this seriously enough for that many notes, unlike Mrs. Nash.

  “That I do have pictures of.” I dug my camera out of my bag and flipped through the images until my destroyed room lit up the little screen. I found the one of the windowsill with the red smear and showed it to the Sheriff.

  “Has it been cleaned up?” he asked, grabbing a radio walkie-talkie thing off the side of his hip.

  “Yeah, but Dad did it, so the glass and stuff should still be in the trash. Pick up isn’t until tomorrow.” Finally, something seemed to be working in our favor.

  The Sheriff put the walkie to his mouth and pressed the button. There was a loud beep then the Sheriff spoke into it. “Get on over to the Blake house. Ask Mr. Blake where the glass he removed from Vi’s window is. There should be a blood sample on one of the shards. Next time don’t give the okay for evidence clean up without my approval.”

  The walkie beeped again when he lifted his finger off the button then again right before Max’s voice echoed through. “Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir.”

  “If the blood is a match to Brock, we at least have him on that. You girls finish up your day and we will be in touch.” The Sheriff opened the door, and Mrs. Nash charged back in just as we were standing to leave.

  “Girls, please sit back down. We have things to discuss as well. Sheriff, if you will excuse us.”

  The Sheriff eyed her carefully before leaving the office with the second officer right behind him. The three of us sat back down and looked to our principal, waiting for her to tell us why we were still in there. She took her time to walk around her desk, pulled out her chair and sat down. The chair squeaked in protest, but Mrs. Nash just leaned back into it.