Color my World
"What's this?" Norah asked. She held the pamphlet Neal had dropped onto her tray in one hand. It wasn't the junior intern lying piece of trash pamphlet, this one was black and white.
"A list of side activities, sports, classes and stuff. What," he smiled blearily, "Did you think we'd be in a lab all the time?"
She shrugged, yeah, she kind of had. "So this is stuff to do in our free time?"
"Yeah. Required."
"Required free time."
"Yeah."
"Required fun."
"Yeah."
"Do we see a problem here?"
"Uh - "
"This wasn't in the pamphlet!"
"Actually," he started to touch the paper but she raised her hands above her head in protest.
"The stupid pamphlet had color! And it never said anything about required FUN!"
"Am I interrupting something?" the man from last night stood slightly to the right of Neal, causing the boy to twist to see him.
"No," Norah said, in a very small voice. He smiled with perfect pearly teeth against tanned skin.
"I overheard you talking about the, ah, activities and wanted to recommend a course - here, can I have this?" he freed the pamphlet from Norah and opened it. He tapped a class The Write Way, "It's an anything goes creative writing class, I think you both may find it very informative and even voluntarily fun." His smile flashed wider for a second to show he was teasing. Normally, Norah called that patronizing, that rude thing grown-ups got to do to kids. But now she reminded herself that she was newly 18 and legally an adult, and just maybe, that was how this guy was. Smooth, easygoing. (ease down) Most of the people were nice here (for a change).
He handed the pamphlet back to Norah and continued on to the table that had been full of Cavaliers the night before. It was starting to fill up and a low murmur sucked the sound away from the two junior interns. Norah sat next to Neal and poked at her cereal with her fork. She picked up a soon-to-be soggy corn flake and let it slide off.
"They out of spoons?" Neal asked.
"I think so," she said. That was way too early to get upset like that - even if it was the play anger at the stupid pamphlet. She felt like all the energy had left somewhere and suddenly even holding the fork was too much. She set it down and yawned.
"You okay?" Neal was looking at her with concern, and though that was a nice change from people in general, she didn't need it right now.
"Yeah, fine," she forced herself to smile wide her eyes just a tad and play pretend perky. He nodded with a start of his own smile, but still he watched her like he wasn't sure.
"You gonna do the writing class?" she asked him.
"Yeah, maybe. First meeting's today. Well, kind of all of them meet today. Lab work starts tomorrow."
"Sucker us in why dontcha - is that horseback riding?!" she took the pamphlet up again and yes, that was equestrian - the rest didn't matter. Horses. Real, live, horses.
And the next - photography, watercolor, music theory, cooking - "Do you think they'll let us do more than one?" she asked.
As it turned out, no, they didn?t. There wasn?t enough time ? so she ended up hiding in her room until the writing class started. Neal, the traitor, opted for photography, so Norah was all by her lonesome. The classroom was actually one of the many lounges or meeting rooms that had a whiteboard at one end and several comfy chairs around a table. It looked intimidating even before people started coming in. Norah picked a chair toward the end well away from the whiteboard and hunkered down like she could disappear in the cushion. She had brought a notebook, composition book actually because it was cheaper and a pen and now she set the notebook in front of her, open to a fresh page and set the pen on top and very carefully folded her hands in her lap and waited.
Presently, the air conditioner kicked on and her hands grew cold and clammy with nervous sweat. This was a bad idea. Neal would say, maybe, ?Most things are.? Or would he?
She got caught up in thinking of what Neal would say that she didn?t notice when new people came in and when next she looked up there were four more people then when she had started. Um.
?H-hello,? she tried.
?Hiya!? a blonde girl, all legs type with a bright yellow T-shirt said. She was probably the bubbly (I bet she giggles) type. ?I?m Samantha,? she stuck out a hand and Norah shook it, praying it wasn?t too sweaty. Samantha didn?t pull it away or scrunch up her face so Norah was to assume it was alright.
?I?m Norah,? she said.
?Oh, I?m just so excited!? Samantha giggled, ?I LOVE to write, don?t you?? Rather then glance and launch into a new subject, like any decent blonde with no brains, Samantha looked at Norah as though waiting for a response. Maybe she (could be genuine) wasn?t just a dumb blonde.
?I, um, I?m taking this on recommendation of this guy I ate dinner with last night.?
?Oh, really! Who?? Samantha looked around interestedly as if the guy were in the room.
?Hi, kids, I?m Reno Nevada,? he said his name slowly as he wrote it on the whiteboard, ?And for today we?re just going to go through the quick basics of storytelling on paper. Now, most beginning writers tend to start out with their own lives as a basis for their writing ? ? as he went on Norah pointed surreptitiously.
?That one,? she whispered to Samantha.
?Who ? Reno Nevada?!? until then, Norah didn?t realize that yes, you could squeal in a whisper. She nodded.
Reno Nevada, recorder of the Hong Kong Cavaliers? exploits. Why hadn?t she freaked out yesterday, when even walking by the big guns? table had got her all up in knots? Because ? (spit it out already we all know how it goes this time silly) she hadn?t known who he was. Now she did.
Reno Nevada, normal guy with a penchant for leisure suits. Could be worse.
They could be plaid.
?So I want you to get into pairs and interview each other, alright? We?ll go for, oh,? he checked his watch, ?about fifteen minutes. Minimum of five questions each.? He smiled like they should jump to it, excited. No one moved for a few seconds.
Then Samantha turned to Norah and asked, ?Wanna be my partner?? she looked like Norah would say yes anyway, but something about the way she held her breath made Norah feel like she was a little nervous even if she was bubbly.
Norah smiled, ?Sure.?
?Who wants to go first?? Reno glanced at the young and trepidation-filled faces and watched as Samantha tried to raise Norah?s hand but failing that, raised her own proudly. This could be interesting.
?I asked what would you do without toes, and she said, fall down a lot,? Samantha nodded earnestly as she read from her paper. ?I asked what country she would have preferred to be born in and Norah said England, because they speak cool and guns are outlawed. I asked who her favorite writer was, and she said Michael Moore. I asked her favorite movie and she said Bowling for Columbine. I asked why she picked food science at Davis and she said because she didn?t want to leave the state and she watches too much TV. I asked how much is too much and she said when she memorized the entire Good Eats show on squash.? She dropped her paper and looked out at the others with slightly wide eyes.
?Okay, good. You kind of jumped around then built on the answers, that?s great! Follow a thread,? Reno said, not that he needed to really say anything, but because it was moment that teachers usually fill with some inane comments. Why couldn?t they have gotten Perfect Tommy roped into one of these? Reno took a second look at Samantha and Norah and nodded to himself. Okay. That?s why.
Norah held her notebook up in front of her face and whispered something rapidly.
Reno leaned forward, ?I?m sorry, what was that??
She looked at him all worst fear realized then a blank canvas snapped over her face in its place. She lowered the notebook slightly and resumed reading where she had left off. Her voice trembled and shook like she was either crying or just really nervous. Poor thing. Reno shook his head slightly. Where had that come from?
Class (if you could call it that) let out after an hour, with an assignment for the kids, two pages on something you feel strongly about. Something that puts fire in your heart, something you would go down fighting over. He figured he had left it pretty loose so as not to ?cramp their creativity? or whatever they called it these days.
?Can you believe that? Something you?d go down fighting over?? Norah said. She wavered between canned peaches and cold corn, and finally got a little of both.
?Oh, I know,? Samantha said, ?What if you feel strongly about not fighting?? Norah stole a glance at her new friend to see if she were serious. She was.
?Then you find something worth going down?not?fighting over?um.? She led the blonde to a table while she tried to think of some way to get the rant back on track. ?This wasn?t in the pamphlet,? she muttered to herself. They sat and munched while Samantha wandered around the peaceful terrain of pacifism before asking Norah, ?So what are you going to write about??
?We?ve got four days. Tuesdays and Fridays, right??
?Yeah, but you really shouldn?t procrastinate,? Samantha shook her head gracefully.
?Um?gun control, probably.?
?Oh. Oh! Because you like that Moore guy and he did that one movie!?
??yeah.?
?Hey, guys, uh, gals, can I sit here?? Neal set his tray down with a whack and sat before they could answer.
?Sure,? Norah said, ?Hey, this is Samantha, from the writing thing.?
?Pleased to meet you,? he stuck out a hand without sparing the blonde so much as a glance.
?Hi,? she said.
?So, um, how was photography?? Norah asked.
?Oh, it was okay.?
?You, take any pictures yet??
?A few.?
?On what??
?Digital camera. Provided.?
Something has got to get the geek talking (what gets every geek talking) so she tried, ?What software did you guys use??
?Adobe photoshop 8 with the most awesome resolution! We could instantly fix any blemish without the hassle of the older versions which was mostly a problem of ?? Norah let him drone on because it made him happy and nodded and ?Uh-huh?ed every once in a while and once or twice caught Samantha looking at Neal like he was saying something important. Interesting.
?So you?ve got pictures now?? she asked.
He settled back, looser than before, and said, ?Yeah, but I don?t know what I?m going to do with them. It?s kind of a waste of paper,? he blushed, ?but it was better when I could hold a finished product in my hands.?
?Oh, I so totally agree,? Samantha said, resting her chin on her fist.
(help me) ?Could I have them?? (where did that come from?)
Neal looked surprised, ?Sure! I don?t see why not.? He handed her an envelope thick with photos. She slipped it under her tray until she was done eating. Samantha looked at her, then away. (this could be bad)
On the way out of the cafeteria she saw Reno (?Just call me Reno, kids, none of this Mr. Nevada stuff? smile. Gotta be a crime to have teeth so white.) wave at her. She was unsure if it was her so she checked behind her, no one there but a real (senior?) intern who said, ??Scuse me,? and pushed past.
?Norah!? Reno called. (oh God) She walked over to the table (Perfect Tommy?s hair hasn?t been that shade of blue since issue 63) and stood slightly behind him. He craned his neck to see her. ?How did you think the class went? Was that okay??
And it had never occurred to her that he (Reno Nevada!) might be unsure of anything, but maybe this was his first time teaching. ?It was fine,? she said, ?pretty normal stuff.?
?No glaring errors?? he smiled.
?Nope. The whole work together bit, that?s a classic,? she said, grinning in spite of herself (don?t get comfortable).
?Okay, thanks. Was the assignment open-ended enough??
?Um?there may be such a thing as too open-ended.?
?What?d you give them?? asked Perfect Tommy, eyes flitting from Norah to Reno and back (help me).
?Two pages on something they felt strongly about.?
?Aw, come on,? Tommy sat up and starting gearing up for an argument.
?I?d like to see you do better!? Reno said, sitting forward slightly.
?I?ll, uh, see you Friday, then,? Norah said, her voice dropping a few decibels as she felt the conversation close her out.
Reno nodded and took a few seconds to say, ?Right, I?ll see you then,? and to smile at her again.
That was nice of him. She made her way down the hall to her room, and wrinkled her nose at the musty smell. (There?s got to be a way to open these windows)
She took clear tape out of her desk because a Girl Scout is always prepared and set the photos on her bed. She slipped off her sneakers and stepped onto the comforter brought from home and working from the topmost corner, she began to cover the wall next to her bed with the pictures. There were only about fifteen or so, so she didn?t get very far, but she had all summer. None of them were of people she knew, except one had Neal, one hand outstretched to cover the lens too slow. And he was laughing.
She hopped off her bed and stood in the doorway and examined her work. Well, they weren?t posters, but they drew her eyes to the one spot of true color in the room. So maybe it will be as bad as she thought, but she couldn?t help noticing that everything was contrary to expectation, probably just to be difficult. (maybe it won?t be such a bad season) And now her room had color.
Like in the stupid pamphlet.
Comments are much obliged.
