Photography

She was quite quiet today. She didn’t talk much, nor did she want to. She watched us, observed us, scrutinized us. She sat in the corner, away from everyone. Isolated, she jotted down notes about everyone’s behaviors. The way the girl who always wore pink fixed her hair. The way the guy who always dribbled a basketball sat deflated because his ball was taken away. The way teacher struggled to gain the classes attention because her voice was gone. She observed all of this. She observed it all.

              We all thought she was planning something. We all thought she was nuts. We sneered when she entered the room. We sucked our teeth and clicked our tongues when partnered with her. We giggled and laughed at a made-up story someone had started. We didn’t suspect a thing.

              But we were all wrong. She came into the room one day. We sneered, clicked our tongues, we laughed, and we giggled. She sat down. A plopped a bag down on the desk. It had been overlooked when she walked in. We didn’t notice it loosely hanging at her side. The room had quieted down so see what was in it. She glanced at us then pulled something out of her bag with a smirk. It was an expensive pink hair-tie…for the girl who always fixed her hair. The rest of us shared glances. She picked up more items from the bag. A basketball, a megaphone, etc. etc. She kept on giving until we all had something we wanted. She then looked around, smiling to herself, and sat back in the corner. Silent once again.