Free Exposure by Kim Askew Page A

three o’clock that afternoon. Kaya and I were crouched inside the senior visual display window in the reception area outside Principal Schaeffer’s office hanging the Yup’ik masks when Tiffany and her parents were ushered in by Dottie Hen, Schaeffer’s plump and frazzled secretary.
    â€œI’m afraid Principal Schaeffer isn’t here at the moment,” she explained breathlessly, “but he said that you should wait in his office.”
    â€œThat’s fine; we don’t need to see him.” Chief Towers had his hand on Tiffany’s shoulder. “We just wanted to make sure that Tiffany wasn’t penalized for her absences this week.”
    â€œNo, certainly not,” said Miss Hen. “We all know what a terrible ordeal this must be for your daughter….”
    I stole a glance at Tiffany and the poor girl did look truly miserable. Her face was pallid except for two bright spots on either cheek, and her brown eyes were red and puffy. Between that and the unusually somber black dress she was wearing, she definitely looked like a woman in mourning. All she needed was a veil to complete the picture. Were the widow’s weeds really necessary? They’d only been an item for two weeks, max.
    â€œMiss Kingston, hon?” Miss Hen interrupted my train of thought. Damn, had I been thinking aloud? But then she continued, “Why don’t you walk Tiffany to her class?”
    As she and I walked along the hallway, the echo of Tiffany’s heels clattering against the linoleum was the only sound. Just as it was starting to feel really awkward, she broke the silence.
    â€œDid you know Duncan?” she asked softly.
    â€œOnly superficially. We sort of moved in different circles.”
    â€œBut you were there, right? I saw you with Beth and Craig.”
    I nodded, wondering where this was going.
    â€œYou know, he wasn’t as drunk as everyone is saying,” she said, pushing her thick auburn hair out of her eyes and looking me in the face as if to see my reaction. I didn’t really know what to say, but I stopped walking and waited for her to finish.
    â€œHe
wasn’t
,” she said again. “And he wasn’t cheating on me. I know what everyone thinks, but he wouldn’t do that. Somebody
has
to know what really happened. There’s more to this. There’s got to be.”
    â€œOkay,” I said, not sure how to respond.
    â€œHe was always honest. That’s the one thing you could count on with Duncan.” The word “honest” hung in the air as if it were Duncan himself staring me down, accusing me, haunting me. “He even told me when Beth made a pass at him.”
    â€œYou think Beth would really do that?” I said, thinking, not for the first time since that night, that maybe Kristy had been telling the truth after all.
    â€œYeah, you’re not
surprised
are you?” she said with a withering look. Maybe she was smarter than I’d given her credit for.
    â€œNot exactly.”
    â€œDid she tell you about it?”
    â€œNo, but it’s not like Beth and I are friends or anything … the opposite, actually.” She started walking down the hall again and I followed.
    â€œEven if you were, I doubt it would be something she’d want to advertise….” She trailed off, but I sensed an unspoken question behind her words.
    â€œWell, I’m really sorry about Duncan,” I said lamely as we reached room 113, freshmen English. I wished I could tell her what I knew, but it was hazy, uncertain, and liable to drag me down just as Duncan had been pulled down into the icy current. My self-protective instincts kicked-in, and I walked away from the poor girl feeling as though I had betrayed her confidence. I proceeded back down the hallway feeling more alone than ever and with absolutely no one I could confide in. Not a soul.
    When I got back to the office, Kaya and Tess were standing outside