Dreamcatcher

Chapter Forty-Three: Mark Jefferson

The moment he walked into the room, everybody became enlivened.

"Good morning, class. My name is Mark Jefferson, and I'll be your new Photography teacher from now until the end of your school career." The brown-haired man sang out with a clear, strong voice as he picked up a clip board. "I will begin roll call and you will respond by saying, 'here,' or 'present.' "

Some students repositioned in their seats at the same time as the only two people who really paid attention were Max and Victoria.

"Alyssa Anderson."

"Here."

"Daniel DaCosta."

"Here."

"Max Caulfield."

"H-Here."

"Victoria Chase."

"Here, Mr Jefferson!"

"Taylor Christensen."

"Present."

"Trevor Fox?"

"Yo."

"Want to try that again, dawg?" Mark replied sharply. 

"Sorry. H-H-Here, Mr Jefferson, sir."

"That's better. Where was I... Stella Hill."

"Present, sir."

"Hayden Jones."

"I'm here, Mr Jefferson."

"Kate Marsh."

"P-Present, sir."

There was a slight pause from Jefferson when he resumed roll call.

"Clark Price."

When there was no response, Jefferson looked up and scanned the classroom. He even recounted the number of names he'd called and then the number of heads he'd got up to, only to find that there was indeed one student missing from the room.

Max was very surprised to hear Clark's name get mentioned in the roll call. She never expected him, of all people, to take up photography and art as the last thing she remembered his big interest to be was acting.

"Has anybody seen Clark Price? Anybody? Nobody at all?" Jefferson raised his voice out of growing irritation.

Some of the students gave him half-arsed answers. Nobody could've given him a satisfied answer as Clark's absence was all Jefferson needed to rule him out as absent.

"Brooke Scott."

"Present."

"And Courtney Wagner."

"Right here, Mr Jefferson!"

Satisfied by the near full class of students, Jefferson put down the clip board and stood in front of his desk and began to lecture the class.

"Since this is my first lesson with you all, I hope we will all get through this journey together and fortify our knowledge of art and photography. That is, after all, the reason as to why I came here: to teach the youth the intricacies and important details behind world-famous sculptures and the artists themselves. Art historiography is the historical study of the visual arts. Can anybody name some famous artists off of the top of their heads? How 'bout you, Kate? Can you contribute anybody?"

The dirty-haired blonde perked up and quivered slightly for being put in the spotlight.

"C-Claude Monet. He was a founder of impressionist painting, and an inspiration for French artists in the late eighties." Kate responded, lacking full confidence.