Chicago Year

Chapter 6: 20 Seconds

Logan:

I didn't do any of my homework last night, so today I had detention. Detention lasts from 3:30, when school gets out, to 4:45. Right now it's 4:40.

I'm supposed to be doing my homework while in detention, and I finished everything for math and history. I could do science, but there is only 5 minutes left, so I don't want to start something new.

Instead I stare at the clock, listening to the seconds continually move on.

Four more minutes.

Three.

I literally stare at the clock for the last five minutes, and at exactly 4:45 p.m., I turn my stare to the teacher monitoring detention.

He doesn't notice the time. He's completely submerged in the papers that he is grading, and by the time he looks up, it's 4:48.

"Oh, uh, you can go home now. Have a nice day."

Today I was the only one in detention. That isn't always the case. Sometimes my archenemy, Drew, is there. And sometimes there's a couple of punks. But today it was just me.

I gather up my books and swing my backpack over my shoulder, quietly making my way into the hall. It's completely silent, and the lights have been dimmed. I decide to check the photography room anyway.

As I round the corner, a janitor is just locking up the room.

"Excuse me, sir?" I ask, "Can I pick up some of my photographs from the dark room before you lock up?"

He nods his head and lets me in.

Squinting my eyes to see inside the dark room, I find the photos with my initials on them, and slip them inside an envelope.

"Thank you." I tell the janitor as I exit the room.

Walking through the halls towards the back door of the school, I decide to look through my photos. Some of them turned out okay, but most of them are out of focus, or badly lit, or the composition is all wrong.

There is one photo that I do really like though.

It’s the picture of Olivia, the new girl, when she was introducing herself to the class. She looks really nervous, like her thoughts were scattered or something. She has a little bit of hair in her face, her cheeks are flushed pink, her fingers are fiddling with the corner of her shirt, and her feet are slightly pigeon-toed. It’s a pretty good photo if I do say so myself.

The photography assignment was to capture emotion, so I think it turned out nice.

As I'm about to put the pictures away, I see Drew out of the corner of my eye. He's with his friends, walking across the parking lot towards his car. Football practice is over. That means it must already be five o'clock. Or past that I assume, because Drew and his friends aren't wearing their uniforms or practice gear.

Drew sees me and gives me one of his evil smiles. I just can't stand that guy. I decide to walk all the way around the parking lot, in order to avoid them.