Photographs of Claudia Read online

  “Call me Claudia, please. And there’s no magic here. It’s a

  teaching philosophy based on something called the Pygmalion

  Effect.”

  “What’s that?”

  “We studied it in college.” Claudia turned sideways and

  cupped her mouth so her students wouldn’t hear. “It’s a principle

  that says students usually do what you expect them to do. So at

  the start of the school year, we told them how pleased we were

  that they had given us all the top students.”

  “So that’s it. You got the cream of the crop.”

  “No, actually we didn’t. They’re just a randomly assigned

  group, but they think they’re the top group so they act like it.”

  “Pretty sneaky.” Leo looked at the youngsters again. “I think

  I can manage your class by myself if you want to take a break. I

  just need to explain the process, and your students look like they

  might actually listen.”

  “They will, I guarantee it. But I don’t mind sticking around if

  it’s okay with you. Maybe I can help.”

  Leo was more than happy to see her stay, and not just to

  keep the children in line. After three days in a row of being with

  kids, she was starved for adult conversation. As Claudia handed

  out the black combs with the studio’s name printed in gold, Leo

  introduced herself to the students and walked them through the

  photo process. Then she assumed her position behind the camera

  while Claudia directed each student to the footprints on the floor

  and helped them pose behind the rail.

  “That’s it. Left hand on top,” Leo said.

  After positioning the children, Claudia scuttled to stand

  beside Leo to coax smiles from their faces. With her enthusiasm

  and help, Leo finished the class in half the usual time.

  “I don’t suppose I could hire you for the rest of the day.”

  “I wish I could, but this isn’t as much fun as arithmetic,”

  Claudia answered, looking at her students for support. “Is it?”

  The children grumbled and rolled their eyes.

  “I understand. Nothing is that much fun…unless it’s getting

  your teacher to pose for a picture.”

  “Yeah!” twenty-five young voices answered in unison.

  Leo nodded toward the backdrop. “What do you say?”

  Claudia shook her head. “I don’t think so.”

  “Oh, I think so. You’re going to want a souvenir of Melrose

  Elementary. What better one than this?”

  At her class’s urging, Claudia acquiesced and went to stand

  behind the rail, which was below the level of her hips. “This is

  going to look pretty funny.”

  “It just so happens…” Leo loosened a wing nut on each side

  and lifted the rail to waist high. “It’s adjustable. No more excuses.

  Now you have to smile.” When she positioned Claudia’s hands,

  she noticed an enormous diamond ring.

  “It’s going to look pretty funny when my picture comes back

  with the others.”

  “I won’t send these through the school.” Eschewing the

  long-roll camera on her tripod, she took three photos with

  her handheld favorite, a 35mm Nikon FM2. Then she handed

  Claudia her pencil and notepad. “Jot down your address and I’ll

  mail them to you. On the house.”

  “Why don’t I just write down my phone number? You can

  call me when they’re ready and I’ll come by your studio and pick

  them up. That way I’ll get the tour of your house.”

  “Sure, that would work.” Leo was already looking forward to

  the call. “I should have them ready by next week.”

  The next group appeared in the doorway and Leo checked

  the clock on the wall. Five minutes early, but that teacher didn’t

  seem to care, since she had already disappeared. Claudia turned

  her line toward the door and in a soft voice directed her students

  to return to the classroom.

  “Thanks for your help,” Leo called.

  “Anytime.” She glanced at her retreating class, then back at

  Leo. With a sheepish shrug, she qualified her offer. “Except now.

  It’s time for arithmetic.”

  0

  Chapter 3

  Leo loaded the last of her equipment from the media cart

  into her vehicle, an eight-year-old blue Volvo station wagon. A

  panel van would have been more practical for the business, but

  she couldn’t afford to maintain two vehicles and didn’t want a van

  for her personal use. The Volvo was like family, over a hundred

  thousand miles and still going strong.

  Her afternoon had flown by, thanks to Claudia Galloway,

  who had occupied her thoughts through four classes of second

  graders, the last on the schedule for Melrose Elementary. She

  had put Claudia’s technique into practice, and was amazed at

  how quickly the children quieted when told they were the best-

  behaved class she had seen all day. Too bad she hadn’t known

  about the Pygmalion Effect three days ago when she started her

  shoot at Melrose. It was definitely going into her bag of tricks

  for future jobs.

  From the teachers’ parking lot she had a direct view of the

  bus ramp where excited students were lining up to board buses

  for the ride home. Claudia was supervising the chaos, and Leo

  took the opportunity to study her from afar. In her tan skirt and

  pink oxford shirt she was the picture of professionalism, and at

  the same time the girl next door.

  In just twenty minutes of casual chatting, Claudia had sparked

  her interest, though the rock on her hand had quickly defined

  the parameters as friends only. Of course, Claudia might not

  be keen on being friends once she learned Leo was gay, which

  some people guessed as soon as they took in her appearance, her

  deeper than average voice and the way she carried herself. She

  made no pretense about it, but that didn’t mean she felt a special

  obligation to reveal anything about her personal life, especially in

  a case like this, since the only real interest Claudia had expressed

  was in touring her Victorian house.

  “That’s right. She only wants to see the house,” she said

  aloud, and then looked around as she slammed the back gate of

  her wagon to see if anyone had overheard her talking to herself.

  She lowered her sunglasses and looked back at the bus ramp,

  where Claudia was waving goodbye as each busload pulled away.

  Leo wasn’t normally quick to make friends and could barely keep

  up with the ones she already had, but something about Claudia

  compelled her. She walked back into the building past the media

  center to the familiar classroom, where Sandy was grading papers

  at a table in the back of the room. “Hey, stranger.”

  “Leo! Sorry I missed you today.” Sandy, easily the most stylish

  of Leo’s friends, wore a smart green dress with a flowing paisley

  scarf and brown heels. She pushed her straight blond hair from

  her brow and grinned over the top of her glasses. “Very sorry, in

  fact, because I was in a parent-teacher conference with a mom

  who thinks her son ought to be skipped ahead to high school.”

&
nbsp; “If anyone’s ready for high school, it’s the kids in your class. I

  couldn’t believe how smart and well-behaved they all were.”

  “You can thank my intern for that. She’s pretty amazing.”

  Leo pulled out one of the miniature chairs and perched on

  the edge. “She told me how you expected them to be the best and

  they were.”

  “It was all Claudia’s idea, and it’s not just the kids. I sit up

  straighter too!” Sandy laughed as she stood and collected her

  purse. “Come with me to the lounge so I can have a cigarette.”

  “Good, I need to talk to you about something. I hope you

  don’t get mad at me.”

  “Depends on what you did.”

  Leo waited until they were inside the empty lounge and

  seated on a vinyl couch. “Where is everybody? I figured all the

  teachers dashed in here the minute the kids left.”

  “Nah, they’re probably doing their lesson plans for tomorrow.

  Not everyone is lucky enough to have an intern. I tell you, it’s like

  having a personal slave.” Sandy lit her cigarette and took a deep

  draw. “So what am I not supposed to get mad at you about?”

  “I, uh…I sort of slipped and told Claudia we were friends.”

  Sandy shrugged. “No big deal. I already told her that

  much.”

  Leo was mildly surprised. “I thought you tried to keep your

  personal life under the radar here at school.”

  “I usually do, but Claudia already knows about Maria and

  me.”This she found shocking. “You’re kidding.”

  Sandy shrugged. “We spend a lot of time together, so we talk

  about things. She just struck me as somebody who would be okay

  with it, and she was.”

  “I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. She’s pretty nice. Most

  of the teachers just drop their kids off and leave me to deal with

  them but she stuck around and helped.”

  “You’re smitten,” Sandy said with a conspiratorial grin. “Too

  bad. She’s got a fiancé. Did you get a load of that three-carat

  diamond?”

  “I am not smitten.” Intrigued, she conceded, but not smitten.

  “So she wasn’t freaked out about you and Maria?”

  “Seems to be fine. She came over to the house for dinner

  last week. Matter of fact, I was thinking about asking her to our

  Halloween party next weekend. You’re going to be there, aren’t

  you?”

  “Sure, but”—she lowered her voice in case someone walked

  in—“why would a woman come to a lesbian party if she has a

  boyfriend?” Maybe it was the Patty Clemons theory. Patty

  thought straight women who hung out with lesbians weren’t

  really straight at all—they just didn’t know it yet.

  “I feel sorry for her because she doesn’t have any friends here.

  Her family lives down the coast in Cambria. She’s only going to

  be here for a semester, so why not include her in the mix if she’s

  up for it?”

  Leo nodded in agreement, determined now to add Claudia

  to her list of friends. “She said she liked my house and I invited

  her over to see it. You think that’s okay?”

  “Why not?” Sandy nudged her teasingly. “Maybe she’ll have

  an epiphany.”

  “Very funny.” Leo smacked her knee and stood. “See you

  next weekend.”

  She scooted out the side door to the parking lot, glancing

  back at the bus ramp one last time. The kids were gone and so

  was Claudia. It was silly to be disappointed about the fiancé.

  Claudia smiled as she silently shuffled down the carpeted

  hallway to the classroom. Her first day in charge of the full

  schedule of lessons had gone better than she had hoped, which

  she attributed to Sandy easing her into the job one subject at

  a time. The only hitch had been the incident after lunch when

  David Spiegel threw up at her feet. At least she had managed to

  fight back the urge to return the favor.

  She was eager to debrief the day with Sandy, but when she

  reached the classroom it was deserted. “Probably smoking in the

  teachers’ lounge,” she murmured. She had half expected to find

  her talking with Leo Westcott, whom she had seen re-enter the

  building. Maybe both of them were having a cigarette…nah, she

  had stood right next to Leo while she adjusted the split rail and

  hadn’t picked up even a whiff of stale tobacco.

  The question that really intrigued her wasn’t if Leo smoked—

  it was whether or not she was gay. Not that it mattered one way

  or the other. She was only curious because Sandy had said she

  was a personal friend. There were things about Leo that fit her

  usual image of lesbians—like her short hair, plain attire and

  sinewy build—but those also described lots of straight women

  she knew from UC-Santa Cruz. They certainly didn’t make her

  unattractive, especially with those stunning green eyes and long

  lashes.

  Claudia had finished the day with a geography lesson, getting

  so caught up in talking about Thailand that the final bell had

  taken her by surprise. Her students had enjoyed her firsthand

  accounts of the Thai people and their culture, and she was glad

  for the chance to revisit her memories. As a result, the photos

  and souvenirs she had collected two years ago in Bangkok were

  scattered across a table at the front of the room, and she was

  gathering them up when Sandy returned.

  “Nice job, kiddo! I’m going to bring my pillow tomorrow so

  I can catch a nap while you do all the work.”

  Claudia grinned sheepishly. “I’m just glad I got my first day

  behind me. I don’t expect it to get easier but at least my nerves

  will start to calm down. The kids weren’t too hard on me.”

  “If you were nervous, it didn’t show.”

  Sandy drew an emery board from her purse and filed a sculpted

  nail, another reminder to Claudia that stereotypes didn’t hold up

  very well. She would never have guessed Sandy was a lesbian if

  she hadn’t told her.

  Claudia nodded toward the back of the room. “You wouldn’t

  have gotten much of a nap today. Every time I looked back there

  you were writing something down.”

  “I made a list of little things you could work on but there’s

  nothing major.” Her upbeat encouragement notwithstanding,

  Sandy went on with a pointed critique that included insufficient

  eye contact, a tendency to talk too fast and to stand in one place

  too long. “At first I was worried you weren’t projecting enough,

  but then I saw that everyone was straining to hear and I figured

  that was good, like they’re afraid they might miss something.

  Maybe you’re onto something with that.”

  For such a glowing review, the list of weak spots was too long

  for Claudia’s satisfaction. She tried to keep a positive attitude

  throughout the evaluation, but her discouragement must have

  been obvious.

  “Don’t get all down in the dumps about this,” Sandy said,

  gripping her shoulder. “A lot of these things are just differences

  in teaching style. I was back there nit-picking, tryi
ng to come up

  with suggestions so you’d know I was paying attention. You’ll be

  a terrific teacher even if you ignore every single thing I said.”

  Despite her disappointment, it helped to hear what she could

  do better and she didn’t want to inhibit Sandy’s criticism. “No, I

  want you to tell me what you think I need to work on. I just feel

  silly for some of this stuff because I know better.”

  “Of course you do. But this job isn’t as easy as it looks. You

  just need more practice and that’s what your internship is all

  about.”

  Sandy was right. She’d had plenty of chances in the past two

  years to stand in front of a classroom, but taking responsibility

  for a full day was tougher than she had anticipated. It was hard

  to remember all the little things when she was preoccupied with

  staying two steps ahead of her students.

  “You’re still frowning. Quit worrying about it already,” Sandy

  said. “Leo stopped by and said she was going to give you a tour

  of that old house of hers. She must have liked you because she’s

  never offered to give any of us a tour.”

  Considering how quickly she and Leo had hit it off, she was

  surprised. “Hmm…I sort of invited myself. I hope I wasn’t too

  pushy.”

  “Don’t worry about it. She’d have found a way to say no if

  you weren’t welcome. She’s not unfriendly, but she does tend to

  keep people at arm’s length, especially at first. I think she’s just a

  little shy.”

  “Really? I would never have guessed that.”

  “That’s because you saw her with her camera in her hand.

  Maria says she’s a whole different person when she’s shooting

  pictures, all relaxed and confident. She really likes Leo’s work.

  Says she’s going to be great one of these days if she keeps

  learning.”

  Claudia remembered seeing Maria’s photography hanging

  throughout the house when she had gone there for dinner.

  “That’s high praise coming from someone like Maria.”

  “Yeah, Leo definitely knows her stuff. By the way, she’s coming

  to our house next Saturday for a Halloween party”—she lowered

  her voice markedly—“along with about forty other women of

  the lesbian persuasion. Why don’t you come too?”

  “A Halloween party?” That answered her question about