Taking Charge (10 page)

They played the end of the song and Joy
smiled.
“Jimmy Cliff. I can see clearly now.” Jordan moved his chair and
stood up. He stood and looked at Joy as they both sang. The entire
band were singing. He looked around. The entire pub’s customers
were on their feet and they were singing. Joy smiled as she sang.
The crowds were loving it.

Jordan smiled.
“Second last song ladies and gents. It is a school night after
all!” Thomas roared with laughter.
“Men at work. Down Under.” Joy smiled and Jordan grinned. Chase was
on the Drums in an instant. Roger stood at the little keyboard and
played. He grinned as he listened. The crowds were louder than the
band. Jordan laughed and looked at Joy. She grinned. She stood and
giggled and shook her head. The patrons were so loud they sang
every word. The chorus got even louder. Tanya roared with laughter.
Jordan grinned and shook his head.

Joy grinned.
“Yazoo. Don’t go.” Chase grinned. Joy sang the lyrics. Every time
she sang ‘don’t go’ the entire pub came alive. She grinned and
looked at Jordan. He smiled as he strummed his guitar. He joined in
with the lyrics. Clyde tapped his foot and played the
trombone.

Jordan smiled.
“Last song ladies and gents. Our school anthem.” Joy started
clapping her hands and stomping her foot. Everyone joined in. Every
single person sang. Bruce ran in and roared with laughter. He
grinned as he looked at Frank.
“Hell I thought I was here to make an arrest. Wow!” Frank nodded.
Jordan grinned. He let his guitar sing out the amazing tune. Chase
spoke into his microphone.
“One more time!” Jordan chuckled. Joy grinned and nodded. Every
person was on their feet. Bruce grinned. Even the kitchen staff
came out of the kitchen. Jordan smiled. They stood and danced and
clapped their hands. Stomping their foot. Joy smiled as she joined
Jordan with the guitar piece. The pub was so loud you could not
hear anything. The song came to an end. They all started to stomp
their feet and clap their hands. Jordan nodded. They struck up for
the third time. Joy smiled and sang. They all pointed at Joy as the
solo lyrics came up. She sang and sang. It was so loud. Joy smiled
and looked at Jordan. She closed her eyes and lay her head on her
shoulder. Jordan nodded. They came to the end of the
song.

Jordan got up.
“Ladies and gents. My band. Jordan’s.” They all took a bow.
“See you on Friday.” Joy smiled and winked. She slowly vanished
through the crowds. Joy made her way out the front door. She made
her way around the pub and walked through the back door. She ran up
the stairs. Joy smiled. She had a quick shower and hopped in to
Jordan’s bed. She sighed and closed her eyes. She soon fell asleep.
Jordan crept in to bed at two in the morning. Joy smiled and hugged
Jordan when he got in to bed. He kissed her and held her in his
arms. They were both asleep in seconds.

Joy woke up and looked at Jordan. He
rolled over her and made love to her. Joy smiled as he made love to
her. She clung on to him.
“Oh Jordan. I love you so.” Jordan smiled.
“I love you. Good morning sweetheart.”
“Morning my angel.” Jordan smiled. He kissed her.
“Last night.”
“Was out of this world.” Jordan chuckled.
“There are going to be headaches.” Joy smiled and nodded.
“What time did you get here?”
“Two!” Joy giggled.
“And it is all your fault. You got them all hyped up!” Joy
giggled.
“And now for work.” Jordan smiled. Joy got up and showered. Jordan
made her breakfast and her lunch. Joy smiled.
“That is so nice.” Jordan smiled and walked down the stairs with
Joy. She smiled.
“Oh Jordan.” He smiled as he looked at Joy. He had turned her van
around and it was ready and waiting. She kissed Jordan and
smiled.
“Later.” He smiled.
“Later. I love you.” Joy blew him a kiss.
“I love you.” Joy drove off.

She pulled up at the school and opened her
boot. She soon had boys helping her carry boxes to her office. She
smiled and looked at her watch. She took the huge chain and padlock
and looped it through the gate. She looked at her watch. She looked
up. Pupils flew through the gate. Barry flew through the gate and
adjusted his tie.
“Morning Ma’am.”
“Morning Mister Gibb.” Joy tied the two ends of the chain with the
padlock. She hooked it over the other side of the gate. It wasn’t
really locked. She walked to the offices and smiled. She had never
seen people move so fast.

Dalton and Anne roared with laughter as
they sat and watched. Anne shook her head.
“As in so clever!” Dalton grinned.
“It isn’t even locked. Did you see those kids fly?” Anne grinned.
They slowly drove off.

Tanya walked through to Penny.
“Can you give this list to Miss Sheridan?” Penny nodded.
“Will do. What is it?”
“Sneaker sizes. Hush hush.” Penny nodded and folded the list. Penny
got up and made a cup of coffee for Joy and took it through to her.
She gasped.
“What are they?” Joy smiled.
“Books and stationery.”
“But we don’t get a stationery supply.” Joy smiled.
“Those are for Monday. I need you to start setting up a newsletter.
Penny I need your e-Mail address.” Penny smiled.
“I will send you a mail.” Joy smiled and nodded. Penny handed her
the list.
“Sneaker sizes.” Joy smiled.
“I need something else. I need a list of every single pupil per
class. On wooden boards. Listed. With those letters that you stick
on.” Penny smiled.
“I will do those by the weekend.” Joy smiled.
“Thank you and I am going to need every single phone number. Of the
pupils and their parents.” Penny smiled.
“I will do it and mail it to you.”
“It is highly confidential.” Penny nodded and smiled.

Thomas
walked through with two boys. He left them in the reception
area. He walked through to Joy.
“Miss Sheridan. If they are caught smoking. What do we do?”
“One strike and you give them a set of shears and they cut the lawn
for an hour.” She handed a pair of shears to Thomas.
“How many Mister Carter?”
“Two Ma’am.” She handed him another pair.
“Make sure they know that is one strike. And Penny needs their
names.” Thomas nodded and walked out.

The boys were taken outside and handed the
shears. Thomas nodded.
“See you in one hour. Get busy.” The boys stared.
“But.”
“One strike gents. One strike. Strike three and you lose the
sneakers.”
“But Sir is that for real?” Thomas nodded.
“Oh yes. At the end of the term you get your sneakers. But not like
this. This means you have two strikes left. Blow it and you don’t
get your sneakers.” They both looked at each other. They got busy
on the lawn.

An hour later Thomas walked out. He
fetched the boys and they walked in and gave their details to
Penny. She nodded as she wrote their details down. Penny
whispered.
“Don’t do that again. Those are brand name sneakers.” They both
nodded and looked at each other with huge eyes.

Joy took the list of shoe sizes and placed
her order on the internet. She put in a block order for the entire
school with sizes to be confirmed. As she put the details in
she
placed another order
for Golf shirts and Track suits. Everything to be confirmed. She
typed in her credit card details and sent the order through. She
knew it was worth every penny and she did have money
available.

Joy walked past all the classes and took a
look around. It was quiet as she walked. She headed to the main
building and looked at the lawn and smiled. There was a huge patch
which had been trimmed and it looked really good. She walked inside
and took all the shears. Penny got up and took a few pairs.
“Where are these going?” Joy smiled.
“They sit on the grass at breaks do they?”
“More like stand.” Joy smiled and nodded. They stuck the shears
into the ground all along the pathway. Penny giggled.
“Makes you want to take them out and get busy.”
“We hope!” Penny roared with laughter.
“Miss Sheridan I will get those boards up by Friday.” Joy nodded
and smiled.
“Let me know what it is going to cost so that I can give you the
cash.” Penny nodded and smiled.
“This is so exciting.” Joy nodded.
“It should be.”
“Tony would like to know if you want the name plates put up. He can
help over the weekend.” Joy smiled.
“Can you arrange something for ten on Saturday morning?” Penny
nodded and smiled.
“I will.” Joy smiled as she walked through to her
office.

She carried on working on all the rosters
and time tables. She printed them all out and checked every single
one compared to the current roster. She had made a few changes. She
walked through to Penny and handed her the sheet.
“This is highly confidential. Make a copy for each teacher and
yourself and set up a staff meeting at second break.” Penny nodded
and got up. She swung in to action.

Joy stood in the staff room with all the
teachers. She handed the rosters out.
“I want you to look at your subjects. Go through this with a fine
tooth comb. Miss Lewis you will now be taking over the English
lessons. Mister Carter you will be Mister Biology in future!”
Thomas roared with laughter.
“Oh yes!” They all roared with laughter.
“Hand your notes to Mister Biology please Miss Lewis.” Tanya smiled
and nodded.
“Keep this very quiet. Everything will change on Monday. And I mean
everything. You will each have your own classroom. The children
will do the walking from class to class.” Wayne nodded.
“And by the end of the day we will lose half our pupils.” Joy
smiled and shook her head.
“No because you will each do a roll call the minute they walk in.
If anyone is missing that is one strike.” They all grinned and
nodded. Paul smiled.
“We get to have our own classroom?” Joy nodded.
“Yes. And you can decorate it the way you would like. If your
classroom needs painting let Penny know and we can have something
arranged.” Tanya smiled.
“Posters?”
“Your classroom. You can decorate as you please.” They all
smiled.
“Everything will be announced on Monday morning at assembly. Please
keep this quiet.” They all smiled and walked out.

Joy stood and scratched her head.
There
was a lot to
do.
“Prefects.” She already had two pupils in mind. Barry Gibb and Jane
Smith. She took a look to see who their home room teachers were.
She smiled and got up again. Joy walked through to a few classes.
She knocked on the door and walked through to Wayne.
“Wayne who is the most disruptive pupil in your class?” Wayne
whispered.
“Sheila Jones.” Joy walked to the door. She looked at the
class.
“Miss Sheila Jones. I would like to see you in my office please. Do
you mind Mister Reid?” Wayne shook his head.
“No Ma’am not at all.” Sheila stared with huge eyes.
“But I didn’t do anything.” Joy smiled.
“In my office please.” Sheila followed. Joy walked through to her
office and closed the door.
“Miss Jones.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
“I am going to be announcing my Prefects on Monday. Five boys and
five girls. Are you interested?” Sheila stared with her mouth
open.
“Me?” Joy nodded. Sheila beamed.
“Yes Ma’am.” Joy smiled.
“You cannot breathe a word to anyone. Please let me have your
jacket size later today. Please ask your parents to join us at
Assembly. Do not tell anyone anything. Can you keep this between
the two of us?” Sheila beamed. Joy smiled.
“Thank you. You are excused.” Sheila literally ran back to the
class. She quietly walked in to the class. No one said a
word.

During the day Joy did the same for the
rest of her
handpicked
Prefects. There was a lot to do. She had to organize brooches and
blazers for each of them. By the end of the school day she had all
the sizes. Joy headed to town and bought the blazers. She bought
black blazers which they could wear once they had left school. She
had already placed her order for the brooches on the internet. She
walked over to the post office. Jill beamed as she walked in.
“Miss Sheridan!” Joy smiled.
“I have a parcel for you.” Joy smiled as she walked out. Everyone
wanted to chat. She drove back to school and took all the blazers
and hung them up in the office. They each had a plastic cover. She
smiled as she walked out.

Joy drove over to the pub and parked out
front. She walked in and smiled. Craig smiled.
“Coffee Miss Sheridan?” Joy smiled and nodded.
“Yes please.” Jordan walked through and smiled. He took a seat with
Joy and held her hand. She looked up and he slowly pulled his hand
away. Craig smiled as he put their coffee cups down.
“No chains today?” Joy smiled.
“Served its purpose. My pupils are very eager to get to school!”
Craig and Jordan roared with laughter. Joy smiled. Craig walked off
and left Joy and Jordan. She put out her hand and he held it in
his.
“And how was today?” Joy smiled and nodded.
“The teachers now know that they will have their own classrooms. I
have given them their rosters to look through. And Tanya will be
teaching English and Thomas will be teaching Biology. I expected a
bit of a complaint there but Thomas was over the moon.” Jordan
chuckled.
“And you have been out shopping. I can see it in your face.” Joy
chuckled and nodded.
“I went to go and buy the blazers for the Prefects. Oh they are
lovely. Plain black blazers. They will be able to wear them if they
go out and also after they have finished their final year. Really
good quality. And I fetched their little brooches. It is all coming
together now. Would you like to see?” Jordan nodded and Joy looked
around. She took one of the brooches out of the package. Jordan
smiled as he took it and looked at it.
“Not female or male. This is nice.” Joy smiled and nodded.
“Two of them are different. Head boy and head girl. But no names.”
Jordan smiled and nodded.
“Don’t expect these back. The pupils will fall in love and want to
keep them.” Joy chuckled and nodded.