Picture Day (Abby)

[ABIGAIL JAMES]

Abby was relieved that it had at least stopped snowing and it had warmed up some, but it was still cold. It was August, for Christ’s sake! It shouldn’t be this cold, but at least it gave her the chance to pull out some of her cute fall clothes. Today she sported her red pea coat along with her dark brown leather riding boots, a white, floppy knit beret on her mass of curly hair. Her boyfriend Marius had asked that she not leave the house alone, not with everything that was going on with the Therians and the Avisailles being held prisoner in the camps outside the city. Marius knew she was a Geomancer, a witch, and he was afraid she would get taken away too, but the fear was unfounded. The existence of witches had yet to be revealed and the resistance that was forming between the guardians was still in its baby stages. The city was still too confused to care about a seemingly normal person like Abby James.

Even so, she did feel bad for going against her promise to Marius. She was only going to be out for a little while to take a walk to the tree that started all this crap, and then she was going straight home. It would be quick and easy and Marius would never have to know, especially since it was early enough that nobody was really out and about yet. As she walked down the path to the tree, she took a deep breath and enjoyed the cool air filling her lungs. Freedom felt so good. There was even an extra bounce in her step, relishing the feeling of really stretching her legs. It would also be nice to see somebody she knew while she was out of the house. Her gay best friend Lafayette had come by often enough, and Marius was certainly in the picture, but outside of them she had hardly seen anyone in a week! A friendly face, any friendly face, would be more than welcome.

So when she came up to the tree and found a young girl with bright red hair lying in the grass and taking Polaroid pictures of the tree, she was super curious. Was that the Crayola red hair she thought it was? Her head tilted to the side as she walked closer to the girl. Yup, that was Quinn! She was one of her better students, one she had become something of a mentor to in the last school year. Quinn was eager to try out new media for her artistic inspiration and her work was always beautifully done. For Abby, she was a dream come true as an art student, her mind full of ideas just waiting to be put down on paper. It was only in talking to Quinn after class that she found out she was struggling in other subjects. “Hi Quinn!” she greeted cheerfully, catching the girl’s attention. There was a big smile on Abby’s face as their eyes met, always finding it kind of neat to see a student outside of school. “What brings you here so early in the morning? Don’t most teenagers sleep well past noon on their summer break?”

[ABIGAIL JAMES]

Quinn got to her feet, returning Abby’s smile. “Hey Ms. James.” It had taken Abby quite some time to get used to being called Ms. James. She had only been teaching for two years, since she graduated college, but it had taken her about four months to really get over being called Ms. James. Now it was typical. “Oh, well I came out her to take pictures of the tree. It’s so pretty at this hour, the lighting makes it look like something out of a fairytale.” Abby smiled, glancing to the tree as well before turning her eyes back to Quinn. She had a good point, but she was more amused at how artistic her student’s answer was. “Yeah, most kids do sleep in late, but when you have a chance to get such a great shot like this, who can sleep in? Besides I have to get up early on the weekdays for summer school so I get used to it. It is almost hard to sleep in at this point, yah know? And once my parents are up they don’t like me going out, so I kind of have to sneak past them. They don’t care. So long as I don’t come back with a black eye or something. Or get arrested yah know? My parents don’t do much. Well they work. Well my dad does. My mom just stays at home. She cooks and cleans but other than that doesn’t get out like at all. Except to go to the school when I fail something which was only English this year.” The girl talked a mile a minute, but it was always fun to listen to her talk. It was like she had a million thoughts at one time and she was racing to get all of them out before they slipped away.

“I remember having to sneak out on occasion. Usually after a regatta so I could go party with my friends,” Abby reminisced fondly with a small mischievous smile on her face. Her high school years had been great: crew, good grades, art shows and parties. Was it really six years ago that all of that ended? “But you failed English? I thought you loved reading and writing!” Abby was genuinely shocked. Quinn often depicted fantasy scenes in her artwork, whether from a book or from her imagination. The two of them had discussed the subject of her artwork a few times, which is how Abby gleaned that her student was into creative writing. She had such a wonderfully imaginative mind, how was it that she failed English? Then again, she supposed it could be difficult for the girl to move from fantastical subject matter to the books that were often assigned in school or even Shakespeare.

She started to really consider Quinn in other subjects, her thoughts coming together in a matter of seconds. The girl was so good at moving from one media to the next, but there were times when she struggled to complete one project before moving on to the next one. Perhaps it was like that in her other classes too. She seemed like the type of girl that might have trouble focusing. It made her a great artist, but perhaps not a very good student. Abby was making assumptions, but she thought they were fair, since she had interacted with the girl plenty in the last school year. “You know, if you’re having trouble with English in school this year, there’s a teacher who might be able to help you. She’s a friend of mine, actually. Her name is Ms. McManus. Do you know her?” Abby had actually had Maxi as a teacher when she was in high school too, so when she came back and found her favorite high school English teacher physically unchanged, she had to ask what kind of guardian she was. Maxi revealed she was a Blurr, and Abby and her had been lunch buddies ever since. If anyone could help Quinn with English, it would probably be Maxi McManus.

[ABIGAIL JAMES]

“Oh, I know Ms. McManus. She actually is the new summer school teacher as of…I guess it would be a couple weeks ago…Or maybe it was last week. I don’t remember. She is okay, I guess. I just find summer school pointless. I end up missing like a total of two weeks just due to vacation time with family and then of course there are days I just can’t make it or just yah know don’t show up. I am currently barely passing the class right now. I need to get at least an 80% on the essay for To Kill A Mockingbird or I fail and I have to take the class again once school starts which means that I will end up short an English credit and won’t be able to graduate when I am supposed to…” Quinn was kicking the ground as she said this and Abby could see she was upset at the idea of not graduating on time. She’d had friends in high school with the same issue, one of which being her best friend Lafayette, and she knew it was really stressful. Not being able to really start your life because of one stupid class you couldn’t pass? Yeah, that sucked big time. She felt for the girl, but she was still surprised. She wouldn’t say she was disappointed, necessarily, since she didn’t really judge, she was just surprised.

“I remember To Kill A Mockingbird. I loved that book; it was one of my favorites in school. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it outside of school and didn’t have to do assignments on it, but it was still really good. Did you know I had Ms. McManus in high school, too?” She smiled, showing just how young she was from that statement. “Yeah, she was great then too. I think if you talked to her she would give you a chance to do some extra credit or modify your assignment for you so it’s something you don’t fail. She’s super nice like that. I know she just hates failing students. I’m shocked she doesn’t have ulcers from having to do it.” She laughed a little to show she was joking. Really, though, Maxi got too worked up over things sometimes. When she did fail a student, it was like she had shot them, that’s how bad she felt for it. Abby often had to remind her to lighten up. She was too sweet for her own good sometimes.

“What kind of books do you like? Wait, wait! Let me guess. Hmm…any books that have to do with magic or mythical creatures or maybe different renditions of fairytales…I bet you like Harry Potter, which, ohmigosh, I love so much. Am I right?” There was a big grin on her face, certain she had guessed it right, but wanting to hear it from Quinn. If she liked Harry Potter, she was going to have a blast talking about books with this girl. Abby was a very excitable person, and Harry Potter was one of those things that could really ramp her up. She could admit, she was kind of a geek.

[ABIGAIL JAMES]

“You’re right on the dot!” Ha! Abby knew her students and she was good at reading people. She felt a little triumphant at guessing what Quinn liked. “I love fantasy and fairy tale things. Harry Potter is awesome. I have read them all, seen the movies, and then reread the books. It’s amazing. The movies are so epic although the books are always best in my opinion. You just can't get all the same details and information across. I am also a big comic book person. I have always wanted to go to a comicon and dress up. But there aren't any in this town. I would have to travel and my parents are not real keen on that idea. They don't even like it when I go more than ten miles away from home. It is kind of crazy. Well they are. Have you ever met them?” Wow, Quinn really talked a mile a minute. First they were talking about Harry Potter and then they were talking about her parents! It was funny to Abby though. She loved how excited some of her students could be and Quinn was definitely one of her favorite students. She had such talent and such an imagination, and what a talent for all kinds of mediums! Abby thought about just asking her an open-ended question and seeing how long she could talk, but decided against it.

“I think I met your parents for a teacher conference. I just had to explain to them what we would be doing in class when I arrived at the beginning of the year. It’s required whenever you begin a class. Even though I just took over Mrs. Mangan’s class when she had her baby, I still had to make the presentation. I don’t remember them being crazy though.” She smiled wide and laughed a little, letting her know she was teasing. “They’re probably just being protective of their little girl. I’m an only child and my parents were the same way when I was growing up. I’m shocked they let me go to California for college. Of course, I got about three calls a day the first year I was there; my mom had to know everything I was doing and if I was okay. I mean, I was only in Sacramento, it’s not like I even went to southern California. It was kind of cute though. She still calls me about once a day to see how my day is going even though I’m back here in town. I find most Italian mothers are worry warts.” She gave a cute shrug and giggled. Abby was very close to her parents and they doted on her constantly. Lately, though, most of what her mother wanted to know was when she was going to marry her boyfriend who she’d only known for about a month and a half. Sure, she loved Marius, but they weren’t nearly at the point to talk about marriage. Still, she could picture her mother saying to her friends with her thick Boston accent, “My daughtah’s gonna marry a doctah.”

She tilted her head to the side a little and smiled curiously. “I didn’t know you were into comic books, though. I had a few friends who were really into that and tried starting some of their own. I can do that style, but I prefer realism. It’s fun though! Did you ever think about going to college for art? I think you would really excel at that. You’re so versatile in your work, I think it would be very good for you. And you could make good money as a graphic designer. I would say become a photographer, but these days that’s more of a side business. Weddings and other events like that can be really fun and profitable to shoot, though.” She could see Quinn genuinely loving a job like that. Quinn would also probably enjoy travelling the world studying art. Quinn seemed like the kind of person that would be happy with making little money as long as she was doing something she loved and got to be free from responsibilities while she did it. She seemed like a fun girl, but Abby hoped she would seriously think about college.