Selah doesn't see; she's blind, like music, and heartbeats.

Selah and I had argued about this once. This, and a lot of things all at once, because I was, I quote, a "ripped bodybuilder dancer", and she had demanded that I see -- caustic emphasis not mine -- her just as whole. She'd been annoyed, and called me stupid and ignorant and blind, for thinking that she sees with her hands. It was -- funny. Selah had always been funny, taken things a lot easier than April. So I'd snorted a laugh. She'd answered with a snort of her own, kind of glaring at my eyes. Then, she'd turned deliberately and stalked away out of the dance studio, only just missing the doorway.

April had been furious. She didn't come home that night. Instead, she went to watch Selah. And Time had gone to watch them both. He'd asked, and they'd let him, finally, after he told them that they're beautiful together. I think most people would've said 'hot', but Timmy's earnest like that. He'd thought, and still thinks it's rude to say it like that, because Lawrence had said the same thing, and he was a fucking creep to April. So "beautiful" is alright, I get it. And I know Time does too, because it's in his photos -- the ones that he'd show me and April and Jesse and Matt and tell Selah about, but that he'd rather die before showing Lawrence. They're intense photos -- like Time was Selah's twin, or April's invisible friend. And it's kind of too bad -- if he'd submitted those pictures, he could've gotten into Emily Carr with Jesse, no problem. But he's not throwing them away, so he probably wants to show them someday. Maybe when he doesn't think it's rude to -- or when he gets the guts to ask April and Selah.

That night, when Time came to tell us that April wasn't coming home, he brought one of those photos, an instant one that he'd just taken. We went to my room so he could show me. I told Mom and Dad that we were going to do some gaming, so they wouldn't ask to see the picture too. Mom wouldn't get it, and Dad would only try to say the girls were friends. They'd always thought April would end up dating Time instead. And so did I. And April was angry at me for that too. April was always so angry. It'd come out in the way she danced -- sometimes she landed so hard on a jump that I thought she was doing it on purpose. To hurt herself, to make other people hurt, to make Selah hurt.

But never in Time's photos -- in them, she's happy. I mean, she's not angry. Like the one he brought that night -- in that one, she's just listening to Selah. There's not much else in the photo -- Time hated using flash -- just orange streetlight from the window, on purple-blue walls and purple-blue floorboards, April in one half, Selah in the other. April's skin looking orange, and her shadows looking purple-blue. Selah sitting spread-legged on the purple-blue cajon, black and waving like a shadow. April's head tiling up at the ceiling, Selah's head probably bending towards the floor. April's eyes are closed; Selah's are probably wide open. It's a little too far to tell, but April might be smiling; Selah's probably concentrating and frowning. April is clear and sharp; I'd blinked, and for a moment, Selah wasn't there, just one of her arms blurred in a strike. But I'd blinked again, and she was right there, otherwise the picture would look too one-sided, April too small and alone. And Time would never take a picture of April looking small and far and alone. I'd thought that maybe this was how he showed that he still liked her, even though he couldn't date her.

"You think I still like her, even though I can't date her," Time had piqued, grinning incredulously at me.

"What'd you expect?" I'd retorted, rolling my eyes, feeling caught. "I'm trying -- I'm trying not to think that, okay? I know you're not Lawrence." I'd paused, letting the reassurance sink in. "You're worse -- ow! -- at least Lawrence isn't their creepy invisible photographer friend!" I'd laughed, and he had too.

"Keep it," He'd offered easily, holding the photograph towards me.

I'd stopped laughing. "What -- Time. I was joking. I know you're not a creep."

"I know," Time had replied, still smiling. "But I came here to give it to you. They said I could."

"For what? You never give out these photos."

"I don't know -- well, actually. Selah told me what happened. So I thought maybe -- if you had a picture like this -- maybe you would sort of see her better, I guess. I don't know. And Agnes wouldn't stay mad at you."

He'd gotten all flustered, like he still kind of does when asked to explain his pictures. And I'd gotten a little flustered too. "Oh my god -- you're like an old man, Timmy. An old, old man." I'd shoved lightly at him, my turn at being incredulous. He'd laughed again, admitting the charge like the earnest amateur photographer he'd been.

So I kept the photo, even though April is Agnes now, and doesn't need to be angry all the time anymore. And I still have that photo, and Time is still earnest, and Selah is still blind like music, and still feels every step and every leap and fall of Agnes' dance like heartbeats.