Please Just Leave Me Alone
Photography Class
I'm sitting here in Photography this horrid Monday afternoon. We each were given a stack of pictures, and were told to sort them into groups, good pictures, bad pictures. I have already been told off by Mrs. Benderson for getting the sweat from my palms on her precious pictures. Fuck her.
I can feel her eyes on the back of my neck, and I know that she wants to talk to me, but we both know the deal; no talking to each other in school. I wipe my palms on my skirt, leaving dark trails of sweat along my navy skirt. Damn it. I don't know whether I'm nervous because of Grace, or because of my date with Johnson this evening.
"Miss Ritter! Hand in your pictures and go wash your hands. Now!"
I jump up, making my chair fall to the ground. I take a deep breath, set the chair upright, hand the pictures to the teacher, and leave the room. Thank God that is over... I quickly turn into the girls restroom, soaking my hands under the cold water of the faucet. Turning the water off, I grab for a paper towel, drying my hands slowly.
I drop the paper towel into the garbage and look at myself in the mirror. My face is all red, and my curls of hair are falling hazardously around my face. I take a step back, surprised. Is that really me? I shake my head, and tear the scrunchie from my wrist, tying my hair up in a ponytail, letting my few wisps of bangs hang about my eyes. Better, I guess. I glance back in the mirror, taking in a deep breath before I leave.
As I return to the classroom, I notice Mrs. Benderson collecting all of the pictures, congratulating some students, scorning others. I take a seat back at my desk, staring at the board. It says that we should be finished, but... we still have ten minutes left in class. Oh please dear God, don't let her let us have talk time...
I watch as she sets the pictures carefully in a drawer, and as she takes up a pile of papers. Oh thank God. I let out the breath that I had been holding, and relax my shoulders. An assignment. She slowly passes out the papers, and keeps one for herself.
"Okay, listen up. This is an assignment for your final grade of the quarter. You are to make a collage of pictures. I don't care what of, just make it amazing. Let your pictures tell a story. I don't want rainbows and butterflies from the internet either, that means nothing to me. Make this collage something special. You have the rest of the month to work on it, and don't think that you can put it off till the last minute."
I can feel her eyes on the back of my neck, and I know that she wants to talk to me, but we both know the deal; no talking to each other in school. I wipe my palms on my skirt, leaving dark trails of sweat along my navy skirt. Damn it. I don't know whether I'm nervous because of Grace, or because of my date with Johnson this evening.
"Miss Ritter! Hand in your pictures and go wash your hands. Now!"
I jump up, making my chair fall to the ground. I take a deep breath, set the chair upright, hand the pictures to the teacher, and leave the room. Thank God that is over... I quickly turn into the girls restroom, soaking my hands under the cold water of the faucet. Turning the water off, I grab for a paper towel, drying my hands slowly.
I drop the paper towel into the garbage and look at myself in the mirror. My face is all red, and my curls of hair are falling hazardously around my face. I take a step back, surprised. Is that really me? I shake my head, and tear the scrunchie from my wrist, tying my hair up in a ponytail, letting my few wisps of bangs hang about my eyes. Better, I guess. I glance back in the mirror, taking in a deep breath before I leave.
As I return to the classroom, I notice Mrs. Benderson collecting all of the pictures, congratulating some students, scorning others. I take a seat back at my desk, staring at the board. It says that we should be finished, but... we still have ten minutes left in class. Oh please dear God, don't let her let us have talk time...
I watch as she sets the pictures carefully in a drawer, and as she takes up a pile of papers. Oh thank God. I let out the breath that I had been holding, and relax my shoulders. An assignment. She slowly passes out the papers, and keeps one for herself.
"Okay, listen up. This is an assignment for your final grade of the quarter. You are to make a collage of pictures. I don't care what of, just make it amazing. Let your pictures tell a story. I don't want rainbows and butterflies from the internet either, that means nothing to me. Make this collage something special. You have the rest of the month to work on it, and don't think that you can put it off till the last minute."