Back in Focus

Ten minutes ago, the voice of Ms Cordew was a faded cocktail of grunts and groans. It was the last lesson of the day, and River’s tired eyes were glazed over in the direction of the chalkboard. Every number and letter in each maths equation seemed to twist and blend together like stars sucked into a black hole. But ten minutes ago, was also when River heard the rumble of his phone through the depths of his backpack. 

At first, he dismissed the noise and assumed he misheard it for something else. He tried to focus back on the maths lesson. The second time his phone buzzed like an angry mosquito, the haze in his head cleared and the focus in his mind was directed entirely towards the phone.

Was that a message? A phone call? Who was it? What did they want? 

When his phone buzzed again, he could just barely feel the vibrations against the skin of his right leg which he had pressed against his school bag.

Was that an important message? Is that why my phone is going off in the middle of class?

Like a tidal wave, curiosity overwhelmed River. The voice of Ms Cordew shifted from the grunts and groans to a plain white noise. She had completely faded into the background and although River was looking at the blackboard, his mind’s eye directed itself at the phone in the depths of his bag.

Maybe I could sneak the phone out under my desk. If I make myself look like I’m copying notes, Ms Cordew won’t notice, right? I’m sitting all the way on the right side of the classroom, so I won’t be in her line of sight, sort of. 

The phone buzzed two more times in succession.

What is so important that my phone is buzzing SO much?! 

And then another two more vibrations, bzz bzz, and River was pushed over the edge. He had decided his mission for the rest of the - he looked at the clock at the front of the classroom - one hour and twenty minutes of class would be to find out who was messaging him and what they were saying.

He slowly reached over and down the right side of his seat and traced his finger down the grooved track of the zipper till he felt the cold metal tab. With it firm between his fingers, he eased it up the teeth slowly and as silently as possible. Each bump and groove sounded like a motor as the River tried to tease the tag up the side at a pace slower than dripping molasses.

Bzz bzz.

River kept an eye on Ms Cordew as he quickened his pace. His breath was held at the bottom of his chest. A little bit faster. A little bit faster. A little bit faster.

“What are you doing?” Alex whispered from his left. He was a nerdy teenager who wore rimless glasses with a gentle layer of freckles dotted across the bridge of his nose and tips of his ears. A head of straight and soft dark brown hair reflected a deep caramel brown in the afternoon sunlight.

“Shh!” River replied, “I’m trying to get my phone.” 

“But we aren’t allowed phones in class,” he hissed back.

“That’s why I’m trying to do it in secret,” River said, continuing to draw the zipper further along his bag. Alex was smart and especially good at maths, so being seated next to him was especially helpful since maths was not River’s best subject, but Alex was such a stickler for the rules. He was always reminding River about the questions that needed answering, making sure River had done his homework and annoying River to not use his phone during class.

“Just keep an eye out for me,” River said as the bag opened up just big enough to slide his hand into. He kept his head down and pretended to be focused on his notebook. Instead, his concentration was directed towards spelunking deeper and deeper into the darkness of his school bag. He squeezed his right hand past textbooks, wiggled his fingers through his PE uniform, and then finally reached the bottom which was also filled with a collection of school notes and snack wrappers and long lost pen caps and erasers.

Another message from his phone caused vibrations to travel through the tips of his fingers like electricity. River rustled around more until he finally felt the familiar weight and shape of the phone against his hand.

Yes! Finally!

He pulled his phone into his lap and saw 17 unread messages, all from the group chat named MV Squad. It was a group started by Miguel a few months after he joined the photography studio so they all had a way to keep in touch. The group had only ever grown bigger and bigger to River’s delight.

“Ehem…” a voice coughed from beside him.

River froze and he could feel the sinking pit form at the bottom of his stomach. It was not the first time he had gotten into trouble in class, and unfortunately, that meant he was familiar with the sounds of upset teachers. He slowly shifted his eyes upwards without raising his head, and as expected, Ms Cordew was standing at the front of his desk with one hand held out for his phone. The rest of the class was either silent or snickering in his direction.

River shot a dirty glance at Alex before Ms Cordew pressed “Your phone, now.”

I will curse you for not watching out for me, Alex.

He handed his phone over to Ms Cordew without sparing her another look. Meanwhile, Alex gave River a look that said he only had himself to blame. Once Ms Cordew was out of earshot, he whispered “You shouldn’t be on your phone anyway.”

“What if it was an emergency?”

“Was it though?” he asked, giving River a knowing tilt to the head and a cool expression.

River didn’t give him the satisfaction of an answer and just glared daggers back.

It was torture knowing that the other boys at the studio were exchanging messages without him. He hadn’t seen most of them since the start of the year since the studio closed for renovations, so all the sudden messages had him squirming around in his chair wanting to find out the cause of it all.

“Are you okay? Do you need to pee?” Alex asked, leaning over his desk to meet River’s eyes. His hair fell in a soft wave across his tilted brow.

River had completely given up on the maths lesson and had his face pressed against the page of his book. His mind was only on one thing - the studio.

“No,” River said, turning to his left to look at Alex. His eyes were a dark brown and reminded him of Kei. “I’m just thinking of all the important messages on my phone that I’m missing out on. That I could be reading. If you had watched out for me. That I can’t read now. Because of you.”

Alex gave River a half-sympathetic look. “Class finishes soon. Ms Cordew will give you your phone back then.”

“Urgh, I can’t wait that long.”

“There’s only thirty minutes left. You’ve been moping around for almost an hour.”

River groaned and rolled his face around the table a bit more. The noise was muffled against the table and his nose was squished against the pages in his book. This was the worst thing that could possibly happen to him.

“Do you want me to help with your classwork?”

River let out an even louder groan in exasperation.

No. I want my phone back.

This was immediately followed by Ms Cordew's voice from her desk at the front of the classroom, “River, if the assigned tasks aren’t done by the end of the class, I’ll be keeping your phone until tomorrow morning.”

River sucked in air through his teeth and then thinned his lips in annoyance. He slowly turned a frustrated look towards Alex, who looked at him with a sorry smile and an innocent shrug.

“Okay. Help me with the questions. I’d have to do them quickly ‘cos I haven’t started yet,” River said, pushing his work towards Alex and leaning in with a pen in his hand.

While River worked with Alex to complete the set of questions, his mind continued to veer towards thoughts of the studio. His right leg bounced up and down in time with his racing heartbeat. Eventually, the end of class neared with the distraction of Alex’s close voice and his slender fingers that traced along each number and pointed to each equation.

River thought about how he never saw Alex at the soccer field or basketball court during lunch, or how he always stood to the side during PE classes. He compared his dirty nails and roughened hands with Alex’s clean hands. He noticed that each of Alex’s fingers stretched as long as his own, despite Alex being shorter and smaller than him. His eyes followed along the developing arms and traced each solitary freckle like a dot-to-dot. He momentarily paused at the jut of bone where the arm became the wrist before continuing along each raised ligament on the back of the hand towards each finger. River noticed the soft brown hair that started to grow on each finger above the knuckles. His eyes caught on a small piece of skin that peeled away from the edge of Alex’s nail at his right index finger.

“Are you listening to me?” Alex prodded River with a pen, “There’s only five minutes left in class, and you’re still not finished with the work.”

“What? Oh, uh. Yes.” River said, snapping back from his daydream. “Sorry, what?”

Alex looked at him annoyed. “Seriously?”

“Can’t I please just copy your work?” River begged, “I’ll read through it tonight and text you if I don’t get it or something. I just really need my phone back.” River continued, tugging gently against Alex’s notebook. “Please please please.”

Alex looked up to the ceiling with half an eye roll and surrendered to River. He wasn’t ready for all the melodramatics after the last time he denied River. He saw flashbacks of River’s stages of rejection. The whining, then anger, followed by self-loathing, then a period of silent treatment and finally bribery. It was a whirlwind of emotions that he somehow managed to rocket through in a single period of class.

River promptly copied the answers and handed back Alex’s workbook with a toothy grin just as the bell to the end of the day rang through the school. “Thanks man, I can always count on you,” he said, closing his textbook and bulldozing his calculator, pens and other stationary (mainly used to fidget with) into the top of his open backpack.

Ms Cordew analysed the pages on River’s notebook with a skeptical eye and looked between River and each calculation like she could determine if he had done the work himself. River gave her the most innocent smile, a practiced smile. At long last, she huffed out an approval that was lost in the racing thoughts of River’s mind. The only thing that occupied his headspace was his phone and what messages could be waiting for him on it.

When she finally pulled the phone from the drawer at her desk, River had to keep his hands in his pockets to stop himself from snatching the phone out of her hand. 

When he eventually took it from her with a polite and graceful smile, he backed out of the classroom like a prey keeping an eye on a predator. “Thank you Ms. And sorry Ms,” River said rapidly. “I promise I won’t copy anyone else's homework anymore next time,” he said, before disappearing through the door to his freedom. Ms Cordew was left with her head shaking in her hand and an excuse that River made up for a rule he didn’t even break that day.

River went through the phone as he walked towards the front of the school. Although his backpack was heavy on his shoulders, he felt lightened by the fact that his phone was back in his own hands. The number of unread messages had almost doubled to 31 messages!

He scrolled over the last few ‘read’ messages from the group chat - general complaints about school, pictures of food and speculation on when the photo studio would open again. They had been closed for a few months for renovations, so the messaging group was one of the only ways River was able to keep in touch with many of the others.

The oldest unread message was sent from Scott just before 2 pm. He was posing in a selfie in front of MelonVice Studios. The front doors appeared similar and sent a rush of nostalgia through River, but the signage had changed and looked more sleek and minimalistic. Shortly afterward, Scott sent another two pictures of an unfamiliar reception area and changing rooms that looked brand new, like they were a picture cut out from a magazine. 

Orange lockers lined the right and left walls with a dark oak bench down the middle. The room was lit up with natural light streaming in from narrow rectangular windows positioned high on the wall near the ceilings.

Conrad and Miguel both replied less than 10 minutes after the first messages from Scott.

Conrad: wait, wat?! Is the studio open already??

Conrad: I thought they weren’t opening until the end of next month

Miguel: Is that the studio? If it is, I might be able to come tomorrow or on Sunday.

Scott replied with a plethora of photos of what became clear to River as he scrolled through the message, that it was definitely the new and improved studio. His heart was beating faster and excitement coursed through his veins. He wanted to be there, and he wanted to be there now. 

He could see they had replaced the curtains from when he and Kei were playing tag and ripped through them in an excited bundle of arms and legs. He saw the repainted walls from the time Griffin fell into it with the ladder. He was trying to get the lighting correct for a specific shot but they ended up needing to reschedule. The linoleum that was worn down from all the turns and jumps and twists and kicks they did on camera had been refloored into a shiny new material that softened the reflecting sunlight.

Conrad: holy crap! I can barely tell that’s the studio.

Conrad: which room is that one?

Scott: it’s room 4. they combined it with room 5. its huuuge now!

He continued to scroll through a seemingly endless wall of pictures from Scott. There were images of expanded rooms illuminated by natural light, their towering windows bracketed by pairs of blackout curtains. Cities of cardboard boxes and fields of packaging wrap loomed in the background along with deliveries of shiny new equipment. 

River wasn’t surprised that Kei had not replied yet in the group chat, but he was sure that Kei was going to be as excited as he was. Knowing Kei, he was focused on his studies during school hours, then would be running off to his violin lessons straight after.

Maybe I can call him tonight and we can talk about it.

River started to type a reply on his phone while he waited outside his school for the bus home. In the middle of his text, Scott sent through a picture of Griffin and Clian working together to connect a myriad of devices and cables to walls and other fun new gadgets. The pair did not get as much time away from the studio since they were more involved in the upgrade process, such as ordering and upgrading equipment and setting up the refurbished rooms. Clian was curved over a desk filled with computers and monitors. His face was pressed up against the wall and his left hand was hidden behind a large desk with two monitors. Griffin was on his knees and bent low underneath the table, with his back arched towards the ground and hip pointing up the sky like a stretching cat. One leg extended outwards towards the camera to help maintain his balance.

Conrad: griffins gonna be pissed when he finds out you got a pic of him bending over like that uno

Scott: thats the point haha

Conrad: of course it is…

River could start to see everyone together again and it made each cell in his body vibrate with excitement. The voice in his head was also telling him “Go. Go today. Why wait until tomorrow to visit the new studio? Do it today.”

And he was off. River bounced out of the bus line and let his feet take him up the street toward the studio. He let the bursts of energy shoot through his legs and carry him along the path he had travelled so many times before. With the widest smile painted across his face, he leapt across stairs and along the paths. He was magnetically drawn towards the studio and without needing to think of which direction to go, he knew he would find himself in front of MelonVice Studios.

The studio is back! Everyone will finally be back together! This is the best day ever!