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happened. Leah looked at the clock above the fireplace and saw that it
was 3:30. They heard the front door open, and they heard David and
Heather close the door gently behind them. The couple found their
partners in the living room, and David said, "Sorry about that, you guys.
Let's get back to work, OK?" Everyone agreed. Heather seemed calm
and composed, a sharp contrast to when she stormed out of the house,
but her presence still made the three students on the sofas feel
uncomfortable.
J.M. Reep | 153
The five of them went back outside and Alex stopped to examine
the camera. "Hey David," he said, "I think you left the camera on while
we were taking a break."
"Oh crap did I?" David asked, disappointed with himself.
"Well, the battery is still good." As he checked the camera, everyone else
returned to their seats. Melanie had her report in her hands and she was
silently reading it, practicing her speech. When David got the camera
ready, he started recording again, and Melanie took another shot at
reading her report. She didn't start giggling like she had earlier, but she
did stumble through the first paragraph of her report so she started over.
Everyone's patience was running thin, and although no one said
anything, there was a lot of tension in the air. They were tired and wanted
this to be over so they could go home. When Melanie was halfway
through her next attempt to read her report, she abruptly stopped in the
middle of a sentence for no apparent reason. Her four partners turned to
her and found her peering at the camera.
"Now what's wrong?" David asked.
"I don't think the camera is recording," Melanie replied. "The red
light on the camera just blinked and then it went out."
The others looked at the camera and saw that Melanie was right.
David and Alex both jumped from their chairs and ran to find out what
was wrong. David looked into the viewer and said, "Oh, no."
"What's the matter?" Heather asked. Her voice came as a surprise
since she hadn't said a word since she returned to the house after
storming off.
"I think the battery just died," David said wearily. "I was afraid
that might happen." Alex let out a deep sigh.
"What are we gonna do now?" Melanie asked.
David removed the camera from the tripod and looked at his
watch. "Well, it's almost four o'clock. There's no time to recharge the
battery unless all of you have four more hours to kill."
"No way!" Alex said.
David shrugged. "I guess we're just gonna have to bring our
reports to school tomorrow and read them in front of the class."
154 | Leah
No one liked that idea, but there wasn't another option. They had
gone through two cameras and still hadn't been able to record their
speeches.
Heather, who was as tired as everyone else, resigned herself to
her fate. "Yeah, let's do that. We'll be the only group to stand in front of
the class the whole time, but who cares?"
Leah cared, but she didn't say anything.
"What a waste of time this has been!" Melanie whined.
David ignored her and said, "OK, we'll read our reports to the
class, but we'll keep this same format. I'll still introduce the project and
we'll present in the same order."
"Are we still gonna use those dumb pictures we drew to illustrate
our reports?" Heather teased.
David replied, "No, we'll just use yours. In fact, that can be your
report. Just stand in front of the class and say, 'Here's a picture I drew of
a sailboat on the Nile.' You'll get an A for sure!"
Everyone laughed except Leah who was surprised that the
antagonism she had witnessed a few minutes earlier between David and
Heather had evaporated so quickly. There was definitely a resiliency to
their relationship that only confirmed what Leah suspected: David and
Heather might always have fights and arguments for as long as their
relationship lasted, but however much they yelled and screamed at each
other, they were willing to hug and make up afterwards.
David picked up the tripod in one hand and held the camera in
the other. He carried them both into the house and the rest of his team
followed him inside. David said to them, "I'm sorry we didn't get
anything accomplished today. If you guys wanna call your rides, you can."
He started to carry the tripod and the camera upstairs by himself, but
Heather said, "Let me help you," and she followed him upstairs.
"Should I call your mom?" Melanie shouted after Heather.
"Yeah," was the reply she received as David and Heather
disappeared from sight. Melanie went into the kitchen so she could use
the phone.
Alex called home next, and when he was finished, it was Leah's
J.M. Reep | 155
turn. As she dialed her phone number, she heard David and Heather,
along with Mrs. Parks, come back down the stairs and join Alex and
Melanie in the living room. Mrs. Nells answered the call, and Leah
quickly identified herself and asked for a ride home. Mrs. Nells promised
to pick her up in a few minutes.
Leah hung up the phone and returned to the living room. She
found Mrs. Parks apologizing to the teenagers that their afternoon had
not turned out as they had planned, as if she were in some way
responsible for their problems. "I feel so terrible that you weren't able to
make your movie," she said. "But you can never depend on those video
cameras. Just when you need them the most, something goes wrong. We
took a different camera with us when we went on vacation last summer
and everything we recorded came out looking weird and distorted. Do
you remember that, David? I still have no idea what happened."
Mrs. Parks apologized to them again and then went into the
kitchen. Heather, Melanie, Alex, and Leah gathered their notebooks and
belongings and went to the front door of the house where they waited
for their rides. Leah listened as the other four talked about school,
movies, their mutual friends, and whatever else came to mind. Once
again, Leah suddenly felt like an outsider as she stood by silently and
listened to the others talk, her eyes peering out the window watching for
her mother's car. David and Heather were now in the same good mood
that they had been in a few hours ago. Leah silently hoped that maybe
they would start fighting again, and this time not forgive each other, but
they were all smiles and laughter.
Heather and Melanie were the first to leave. A gray car pulled up
to the house. Leah, the only person looking out the window when the car
arrived, was the first to see it, but she didn't say anything to the others.
After half a minute, Melanie noticed the car and said, "C'mon Heather,
there's your mom." Heather looked out the window and then said
goodbye to David. She yelled a thank you to Mrs. Parks in the kitchen for
allowing them to use the house that afternoon. Mrs. Parks emerged from
the kitchen and said goodbye. Melanie and Heather, with their reports in
hand, walked out the door. Leah watched them through the window and
156 | Leah
felt relieved to see Heather go. When their car drove away, Mrs. Parks
said to her son, "David, I want you to go into the kitchen and clean up
your mess."
"OK," he said reluctantly, and he marched off to the kitchen.
Leah stood there, disappointed, for she hoped she might have a chance
to talk with David alone, but now she wouldn't. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]