Babysitter

Ch 1: Meeting

I hate school.

People always stared at me, especially a few days ago. I can honestly see why, but they should just mind their own business. I had just slammed a kid into a locker, but he totally deserved it.

"Hey Asian chick!" The guy called out. I turned on my heel to face him. "You look good in your uniform," he snorts. "It outlines all your best features."

He outlined me with his hands. All the other people were watching. It was after school hours, so I couldn't really get in trouble for what I was about to do. Rules no longer apply. 

I stomped towards him and took him by the collar, pushing him up against the wall. He looked pretty strong, but I didn't really care. He could actually push me away at any second, but I wanted to make my point. "Oi!" I called, "It's not good to treat people with disrespect, y'know. Especially Asian chicks... now listen, you seem pretty strong physically, but if I hear of you disrespecting any girl I will punch you. I will punch you a lot!"

He didn't look scared, but I let him go. I didn't care if he was scared of me or not because I knew that I could beat him. I walked away calmly, but the stares really did bother me. I think I was actually starting to get a reputation for this—talking back to people, I mean. I didn't want that to be all I was though, so that's why I was here in front of the photography club doors.

There really is a special kind of beauty to nature, and I really wanted to capture it in a way more permanent then memory. I've played around with cameras before and I think I'm actually pretty good. Maybe if I convinced the weakest, yet relatively popular kids in school that I wasn't horrible, I wouldn't be viewed in a bad light.

Hesitantly, I opened the door. "Hi," I mumbled. They all looked up. It was a lunchtime meeting, so I think most of them were here. "I was wondering if I could hang out here?"

They were all silent. I was about to leave, when the most handsome member, Benjamin McCoy pulled up a chair next to him. "Sure!" He said. "But can I take your picture?"

I slowly walked over and sat next to him. I took a second to compare the two of us. I was just a little taller than him. His tanned skin was very different from my own, which was almost white. His hair was dark brown, but not as dark as mine which is pretty much black. His eyes were a pretty shade of grey while again, mine were almost black. I understood why he was the talk of the school for his looks, but I wanted to know more about who he was. I was a little taken aback when I heard a camera shutter.

"Ah," he said, "you blinked. Is it okay if I take another one? Make your natural face..." I crook my head and look at him questionably and he takes another picture. He blushes down at his camera. "Ms. Frost, you're so pretty! Your hair is so long!"

Again, everyone was staring. He looked really happy, but he also looked oblivious and ignorant. He wore rectangle glasses, which were forest green and I could have sworn I saw a little dinosaur on the sides. If it weren't for the his little scruff, I would have mistaken him for a child. "Just call me Reina. I'm just here to decide if your club is worth joining."

His face lightens up. "Really?! I'd be happy if you joined our club! You're so pretty!"

"Stop calling me pretty," I state. "I thought this was photography, not compliments."

One of the other kids pipes up. "It is photography," he says. "That's why we're wondering why you're here."

"Like I just said, I don't know if I want to join yet. I want to try it out."

The kid sitting across from him joins in. "But you're Reina Frost! You're short-winded and not afraid to throw a punch! I'm sorry, but the only thing we're shooting here is a camera." The first kid nods. I think that was an attempt of saying I was a thug, but all I could imagine is them taking their cameras to a shooting range and shooting them... with guns. Maybe my mind works differently.

I shrug. "Maybe that's not how I want to be seen," I state. "People will tell you I punched someone, but all I actually did was scare them a little bit so they'd stop being a douche. You have no idea how girls are treated at this school."

Benjamin stands up. "Please don't get into an argument," he smiles. Everybody immediately turns their eyes to him. "Reina's only here to observe us and if she decides to join, that'll be okay because it's good to have multiple people in our club, especially if they're strong. So why don't we get down to business because we're not only a photography club, but a lot of us also work on the yearbook, taking pictures and organizing them in a way that will make students, teachers, and parents go 'WOW!' when they see what we did!"

They all sit back down and start discussing what they'd like to get pictures of for the yearbook. I looked over and Benjamin was taking short, 1-10 word notes on everything. I realized that he accepted everybody's suggestions with no consideration and held back a lot when he clearly wanted to say something himself. He got interrupted a lot and at the end of the lunch period, he looked a little sad as he looked at his notes.

They also discussed other things like pictures they took on their own time and things they saw that would have made a good picture, but the business part of the meeting still bothered me. Maybe that's common for everybody, though.

"Why did you accept everything they were saying?" I ask. "Doesn't that mean there's gonna be more work?"

He jumps a little and looks at me with a smile. "I want everyone to be happy! There's never too much work if it means I could see people smile," he says.

Again, I give him a confused look. "But you barely said anything. You let other people talk, but never said anything yourself."

"Oh," he says. "My thoughts aren't that important as long as they have good ideas. I mean— I'd probably come up with something lame anyway, right? I'm only the face of the yearbook committee so more people would join..."

"But aren't you the president?"

"Yeah, but it was easier to manage when there was less people. A lot of my friends I made here were older than me, so they all graduated. I'm kind of just waiting for-"

"Waiting for the job to be over? That's a dumb way to look at things. People would look at your glasses and think you're smart, but under them you are just a pretty face, huh? This is our last year in high school, y'know, so why let it go to waste?" I hold my hand out to him, but he turns away.

I scowl, standing up. "Your type bugs me, y'know. You'll say something nice for show, but you're actually really worried about what others think of you. Thanks for standing up for me today. You don't have to worry about having to do it again, though." I walk out the door and continue my classes.