Page 58 of The Other Side
21
All day Monday I was on edge, knowing what I planned to do with Chance that night.
“What’s up with you?” Jolene threw a crouton at me while we ate lunch at her desk.
Having passed Halloween over the weekend, she was transitioning into more Thanksgiving-inspired sweaters. That day she wore one in a deep russet, with brightly colored leaves in different mediums and textures adorning the front.
“Nothing…” I replied absently.
“I’m still waiting to hear the full story about what happened on Friday night. Is that it? Are you still mad at me?” Jolene pouted.
“I’m not mad at you.” I looked up, making sure she felt the truth in my words.
“Then what is going on? What happened after you broke in?”
“I didn’t find anything before he stormed in.” I recalled the feeling of dread when I had seen dozens of eyes, all my own, staring back at me, through the photographs he’d taken, in his makeshift darkroom.
I was glad he’d given me the photos, and while I initially would have been upset if he hadn’t, after more carefully inspecting them in the privacy of my apartment, I started to feel guilty about having the negatives as well.
While I was the primary subject matter, the photos were his art. He was clearly a skilled photographer, even if he considered himself a novice. The way he framed the shots, the angles, and the diffusion of light…they were beautiful. I hadn’t seen other photos he’d shot, but I believed him when he admitted that he was proud of them.
If I hadn’t been the subject, or they hadn’t been taken without my permission, and I had stumbled upon them at a gallery, I would have thought them something special. I was considering returning the negatives to Chance, under the agreement that he not shoot any more photos of me without my permission.
“Did you ask about his name?” Jolene extracted me from my reverie.
“He said he didn’t want special treatment.” Just like Chance had coached me, it wasn’t the whole truth, but it wasn’t an outright lie.
“Oh.” She set her fork down, disappointed in such a banal reason. “Then what?”
“Then I apologized for breaking into his room like a crazy person and asked him not to report me.” That was a little bit of an exaggeration.
“And he let it go? Just like that?”
Jolene wasn’t convinced.
“I’m not sure.” I sighed. “He’ll probably hold it over my head until he wants something.”
Why was it getting easier to stretch the truth?
“What a jerk,” she sneered.
I nodded, picking at my salad mindlessly. All I could think about was how awful it would be if Jolene got hurt becauseI couldn’t let Daniel’s disappearance go, and put her in the crosshairs. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
“You’re sure you're okay?”
“Just stressed over fitting everything in for class before Thanksgiving break,” I replied honestly. But then the thought occurred to me that I could use the opportunity to spend more time with Chance—for the investigation—obviously. And in the process, slightly distance myself from Jolene, so if someone was observing us, they would be less likely to target her to get to me.
“Actually,” I began, “I don’t know if I’ll have time to do dinner for a while, just lunch.”
“No worries.” Jolene smiled sweetly, making me feel awful for lying and using her understanding nature to my advantage.
“I’m sorry.”
“Violet, you’re just doing your job.” She laughed. “Speaking of your job, you better get up to your class—the next period starts in five minutes.”
“Shit.”
Whereas the morning crawled by at an excruciatingly slow pace, the afternoon passed in a blur.
