Authors: Kay Brooks
28
Two weeks passed before Darren Pierce was allowed to go back into lessons. On his return to Logford, he had a series of meetings arranged for him and his mother to attend where his behaviour and future at the school were discussed. Darren was asked to sign a behaviour contract that had been specially written up by Mr Briggs. Corinne, having been present at some of the meetings, was able to give us a description of Ms Pierce. At first, she’d come in with an aggressive attitude; this switched to defensive when she realised just how much trouble Darren was in and by the end, she was practically begging for the school to keep Darren on role. “Her face was an absolute picture when Mr Briggs told her that it was unlikely any other schools in the area would take on a pupil with such a bad behaviour record and that, if Darren was unable to meet the standards at Logford, she would most likely end up educating him herself! The thought of having to put up with him all day, every day was clearly much more than she could take!”
The change in Darren was communicated to me via the other teachers. Darren kept his distance from me, which suited me just fine. In fact, everything seemed to be on the up. We’d been told in briefing that Amelia was going to be back in school on the next Monday and if it hadn’t been announced, it is entirely possible that I may have walked right past her. Firstly, her hair was tied back, plaited and finished off with a blue ribbon that perfectly matched her clean, ironed uniform
.
To add to that, her face was clean and she’d put on weight. Amelia now looked like a fifteen-year-old girl. When I saw her, she was racing towards form, her new rucksack bouncing around on her bag. I was about to go over when a couple of the year eleven girls threw their arms round her. Amelia returned the gesture slightly awkwardly, as though it was an alien concept to her, but with an energy that I hadn’t seen her possess until now. Morgan came out of the form room to greet her and walk her in. I noticed that she was already turning a few heads.
In English, she came into the room like a walking ray of sunshine. “Hi, Miss!” she cried, clearly fighting the urge to be more familiar. “Hi George!” she said, as he stood up to greet her.
“Hi Amelia. Miss Morgan said you liked the teddy bear.”
“I did. It’s sitting in my new bedroom. I called it George.” I was sure I didn’t imagine the blush shared between them. I hoped not. They would make such a lovely couple at the prom.
In lesson, Amelia practically shone. She had her hand up for every question, answering correctly when called on. The task the class was given to do was done to the same high standard that would be expected of the higher GCSE classes. If she kept this up, she might be able to move up to a higher ability set before the exams but, either way, this was incredibly promising. It just went to show how important a little bit of care and attention was. She continued to thrive under the loving care of her foster parents. All the teachers were singing her praises in the staffroom and she had suddenly become more popular. Girls in year eleven who had not even noticed Amelia before her disappearance and assault now wanted to sit next to her in the canteen. Even some of the more popular boys were making an effort to ask how she was and be sociable.
Just as I was starting to get used to not using my peripheral vision as a
permanently activated ‘Darren radar,’ he managed to again make me feel intimidated and small. On my way out of school, an hour after all the pupils should have left, Darren appeared from out of a science classroom. As soon as he saw me, his face twisted into a grimace as though he’d just caught a whiff of a bad smell. We ended up walking practically side by side. Feeling that I had to do something to remove myself from the uncomfortable situation, I stopped and started to root through my bag, in the hope that Darren would assume I’d just realised I’d forgotten something. “Don’t worry, Miss Gordan,” he said. “I didn’t ask Mr Green to keep me in detention so I could stalk you out of school.”
“I don’t believe I expressed any concern, Darren.”
“Just making sure. You know, some people like to flatter themselves. They like to think they’re something special, but you aren’t all that, are you?” He snorted to himself as he walked away. I stood still wondering what I’d just looked like through his eyes; certainly not like a confident authoritarian. I imagined that I looked exactly how I felt, which was like a frightened young girl.
I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t leave the building. Instead, I went back to my classroom, unpacked my marking and stayed there until it was done. I left as it was starting to get dark and the caretaker had begun his rounds of the classrooms to ensure there were no lingering members of staff before he secured the building for the night.
Theo rang my mobile while I was on the bus. “Where are you, Gill?”
“Just on my way home now.”
“Great. I’m outside yours. I’ll wait.” I was flattered to see that he obviously couldn’t wait to see me. He’d walked to the bus stop and greeted me with a kiss as I got off.
“I think I may need to consider getting another car. I hate those things,” I commented, as the bus drove off in a thick cloud of spluttering smoke.
“Why are you so late home?” he asked.
I sighed deeply and then told him about what had happened on the way out of school. By the time I’d finished, we were cuddled up on the sofa.
“I don’t like this, Gill. The whole thing with this boy gives me a really bad feeling. Do you remember Jo Callespie?” I shook my head. “She was a newly qualified teacher working at a tough inner-city school in London. She was having problems with discipline and was planning on leaving at the end of the year. There was one boy in particular who was causing her a lot of problems. She kept reporting that he was being aggressive towards her. If I remember rightly, he threatened to damage her car and was excluded for a week. Rather than staying at home, though, he came back to the school and waited in the car park for Callespie to leave. When she did, he attacked her.”
“You’re scaring me, Theo!” I cried. Darren Pierce was certainly capable of behaving like that.
“I’m not trying to scare you,” he said, pulling me closer. “I just think you need to be careful, that’s all. No more leaving after everyone else. I’ll pick you up when I can and on the other nights, arrange to leave when Morgan or Hazel does. That way you aren’t walking out on your own and you’ll have a witness to any comments he makes.” It made sense. “I can pick you up tomorrow. Don’t look so worried, Gill. The boy will get bored and this will blow over. Come on,” he stood up and held out his hand. “Let me take your mind off it.”
The next day, I stuck to what Theo and I had agreed. Rather than hanging around the building, I packed everything I needed to do into my bags and left the
building at four o’ clock. It wasn’t until the doors had shut behind me and I was on top step that I saw Darren sitting on the bottom step. The volume on his Ipod was so loud I could hear Eminem’s lyrics. It was no wonder he could only flick absent-mindedly through the magazine that sat on his lap. He paid me no attention as I came down the stairs, but the slight tilt of the head told me he knew I was there.
I looked up and saw Theo leaning against the back of his black Land Rover. The sight made me take a deep breath. With his muscled arms crossed against his chest, his sunglasses on, and the sunlight glinting off his hair, he looked almost too good to be true. His face broke into a beautiful smile as he walked quickly towards me, taking my heavy bags with ease. As he kissed my cheek, I noticed the silence in the air. What noise had disappeared? Darren. His Ipod had been turned off. Deliberately, I refused to look around, instead following Theo to the Land Rover and climbing in. As we reversed out of the space, I glanced in the rear-view mirror to see Darren climbing to his feet and walking sullenly away.
“I’m guessing that was the charming Darren Pierce, then?” Theo asked.
“Yes.”
“He didn’t look too pleased at seeing me here. You know, after seeing that, I’m inclined to agree with Morgan. This could all be the effects of a silly teenage crush.”
“If I wasn’t on the receiving end, I’d be inclined to agree, but you haven’t seen the way he looks at me. It’s as if he hates me intensely.”
“Let’s forget about him for now and focus on the weekend. What do you say to dinner out this evening with your mother?”
I smiled. “I’m sure she’d love that. She likes a bit of fuss! I’ll ring her when
we get back and ask.”
As expected, my mum was flattered to be invited and when we picked her up at seven, she looked like she’d stepped straight out of a magazine. As Theo opened the door for her, she flashed me a smile that told me just how much she approved. Theo took us to the same Chinese restaurant where we’d eaten with his parents. He took a back seat for the evening as my mother and I drank extravagant amounts of wine, chatting incessantly about our experiences at school. Darren only came up once. Theo told her what we’d arranged to ensure that I was safe after school.
“I appreciate what you’re saying, but I was thinking about this boy after we talked the other night,” Mum said to me, then turned to Theo. “I was very annoyed at how lightly his behaviour had been taken. After thinking about it, though, I genuinely believe that the bigger a deal you think this is the more fun it is to the boy. Imagine if he kept doing it, but got no response. What would happen?”
“I guess he would get bored,” I admitted reluctantly.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking. What you, Corinne and Mr Briggs are doing is feeding his need for attention. He’s probably not getting any at home, so even negative attention is better than being ignored.”
Theo listened, but when he saw that I was starting to dwell on it again, he quickly changed the subject, asking my mother what her views were on schools changing into academies.
After we’d dropped my mum back of her house, I apologised to Theo. He looked surprised. “I mean I’m sorry if you were bored.”
“Not at all. I like your mother. She’s great and I like listening to the two
of you. I’d be happy to spend every Friday like that.”
I smiled, thinking of all the different ways I could say thank you to him once we got back home.
29
Monday came around too quickly. I wrote a report of what Darren had said on Friday so I wouldn’t forget, and then tucked it into my lockable desk drawer. I would go and see Corinne when I had time. After the chat with my mother, I’d decided that Darren was no longer going to be high on my priority list. I focussed on welcoming my form in and ensuring that my classes were planned for the day.
At break time, I did my duty in the canteen. I couldn’t help but notice that Amelia was drawing a little bit more attention from Scott and Phil than was normal. Darren didn’t seem to be around, which I took as a blessing. Curiosity got the better of me as I edged closer to Amelia to hear what was drawing so much attention. To my surprise, it was the usual teenage girl’s gossip that came after a busy weekend of socialising on Facebook. It seemed so strange hearing Amelia talk like that, but it was pleasant. She deserved a taste of normality. “Oh my! Did he reply?” one of the other girls asked, twirling her hair round her finger.
“After a full hour! He asked me if I wanted to meet up, but Amanda, she’s like my new big sister, said not to ask about going out on my own yet. She said Alice might be weird about it for a while.”
Alice must be her new carer. I hoped that she would encourage Amelia to go out and socialise before long. It would do her good. I also hoped it was one of the nicer boys she was talking about. George would do, I thought as he walked past with a couple of his friends, stopping to smile at me.
At dinnertime, Morgan came to seek me out. “Are you avoiding us?” she teased.
“Not at all. I’m just trying to do as much in school as I can until I can talk my mum into letting me buy a car! It’s hard dragging all this home on a bus every evening.”
Morgan settled herself on the desk in front of me. “Do you think I should ask Will Bennett out?”
That got my attention. I dropped my pen and looked up.
Morgan had clearly made more of an effort than usual today. She wore
a hip-hugging pencil skirt, combined with a red silk blouse that matched her lips. “I’ve been considering it all weekend. You were out having a good time with Theo, and Dean took Hazel to a spa on Saturday. I just got to thinking that I really want someone to do things with. Not just anyone, either. I want someone who makes me swoon.”
I pictured the skinny guy with his thick-rimmed glasses she was referring to and the expression on his face when he’d asked where Morgan was on the last day of term.
“I think you should,” I encouraged her.
“What if he says he’s busy?”
“Then he’s busy so you try for another date.”
“Yes, but what if he says he’s busy, but what he really means is that he doesn’t want to go out with me?” she whined.
“I don’t think that would be the case,” I said, stifling a giggle. Morgan looked up and smiled. “Honestly, everyone said that he’s crazy about you. I think you should ask. Especially since it would be a waste of such an effort.” I gestured towards her
outfit and she blushed, making me laugh.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, unable to keep from giggling herself.
“You just remind me of a teenage girl, shy and unsure of herself!”
“That’s a good description of Amelia Carr’s demeanour this morning. She seems to be quite loved up, although…”
“Although?”
“Ach! You aren’t going to like this. Not at all.”
Already I could feel goose bumps rising all over my arms and legs. “Go on. Who is it? Oh God! It isn’t…”
“Darren Pierce? Yes it is. The one and only. I overheard her talking in form this morning. He’s added her as a friend on Facebook and then spent his entire weekend chatting with her, trying to convince her to sneak out and meet him.”
A wave of sickness washed over my body. He had to be doing this to get at me. Then I stopped myself and pictured Amelia as I’d seen her in the canteen earlier. Her long, glossy hair framing her glowing face, it wasn’t hard to imagine that boys would find her attractive. I silently berated myself for being so vain as to imagine that everything Darren did was about me.
Morgan moved around the desk and squeezed my shoulders. “Don’t worry. I had a chat with her about making sure she was safe and keeping out of trouble. I explained that the authorities would have their eye on her more
so
now that she was at the Websters’. I tried to subtly scare her out of doing anything stupid.”
“I was hoping it was George,” I muttered.
“Little, slow George! He might have stood a chance with Amelia before, but now…look at her.”
I had to agree with her. George wasn’t the brightest button in the jar nor the most popular despite his friendly nature. Amelia was now friends with the cooler crowd and was definitely on the verge of being moved up a class set in English.
“Anyway, back to more important matters: My love life! What should I do about Will? I can’t just ask him. We need a plan.”
The next day at dinner, we walked into the staffroom together. Hazel had been texted and debriefed on Mission: Woo Will and was in position. On one side of her sat Polly from IT and on the other, Will himself. We walked over together. “Don’t worry about it, Morgan. Honestly, it isn’t a big deal,” I said, loud enough to draw attention.
Now it was Hazel’s turn. “Oh, Gill, I’ve spoken to Dean and we can definitely make it for the meal on Saturday.” Hazel turned to Polly. “We’re going to Thai Dreams. I love Thai food, don’t you?”
“This is a total disaster!” Morgan cried, a little too dramatically.
“What’s wrong, Morgan?” asked Hazel. “Will, make some room, could you?”
Morgan barely gave him a chance to make enough room before she flounced down into the gap between them. “Sorry, Will!” she squealed.
“S’alright. Are you ok?”
“Oh, it’s silly, really. We’d planned to go out for a meal as couples. Gillian and Theo, Hazel and Dean, me and …”
Too long a gap, I screamed silently at Morgan. Quickly, I thrust a tissue into her face. It was used but I was sure she would forgive me. “Norman,” I blurted out.
“Don’t say his name!” Morgan cried, giving me a filthier look than I’d have thought her capable of. “He was supposed to be coming with us, but he’s let me down.”
“You weren’t that keen on him, anyway, Morgan. Maybe this is a good thing,” Hazel suggested.
“True. But now I won’t be able to go. I don’t want to be the only one without a date and it’s a bit late now to be trying to find one, isn’t it? I was really looking forward to it, too.”
Will sat forward in his chair, nearly falling off the edge.
“I love Thai food and I’m free on Saturday,” he enthused. “I mean, it doesn’t even have to be a real date, does it? You just need someone to accompany you. What do you think? Would I do?”
A huge smile spread across Morgan’s face and I hoped Will wouldn’t notice the red lipstick on her teeth. “That would be great, Will!” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t I think of that? Are you sure you really don’t mind?”
“Not at all. I would be honoured to be your date, pretend or otherwise!” said Will, a wide smile on his face.
Morgan walked out of the staffroom like the cat that had got the cream. Hazel followed us. We saved the high fives until we got to Morgan’s classroom, though it later became evident that everyone who had been witness to the conversation had realised what was going on apart from Will. Various teachers would walk past, patting Morgan’s arm and whispering, “about time!”
The week flew past as we looked forward to our meal out. I tried to turn a blind eye to Darren’s new interest in Amelia, deliberately not reading into the fact that every time I happened to pass the two of them in the corridor, he would pull her towards him. As long as he didn’t treat her badly it wasn’t any of my business. It was reassuring to know that both Morgan and Carrie were keeping an eye on her. Plus the relationship was still in the early days. Hopefully, Amelia would see that
he was an idiot before it got serious.
Saturday night was brilliant. The air was full of conversation and laughter. Even Will looked at ease. After a couple of drinks, he plucked up the courage to put his arm around the back of Morgan’s chair, and she leaned back into it. They made a lovely couple.
“So, Theo,” Hazel began, “you’ve been with Gill a while now.”
“It’s not been that long,” I interjected.
“Seven months,” Theo said, taking a sideways glance at me.
“Is that all? It seems like much longer,” Morgan said
.
“It’s starting to feel like too long to me as well,” I teased. I was suitably punished by a mock punch on the arm. “You see what I have to put up with?”
“It’s me they feel sorry for!” Theo joked. “I guess we’ll have to make do with each other though. No-one else would have us!”
After that, the conversation turned to our upcoming Easter holidays. Dean and Hazel were going away to Corfu for the two weeks. Theo and I had agreed to spend as much time together as we possibly could, but had no specific plans as of yet. After we’d contributed, the attention turned to Morgan and Will. Morgan looked uncomfortable, but before I could think of a distraction, Will took over.
“I usually go and stay at my parents’ cottage in Cornwall for a few days. It’s right near the sea so I can go surfing every day and for long walks along the cliff tops in the evenings.”
“It sounds absolutely idyllic,” Morgan commented dreamily.
“It is! You should come, if you aren’t busy. It would be great to have some
company. I mean, there would just be us, but there are three bedrooms so you could get away from me when you wanted.”
Morgan’s face went beet red and she took a gulp of her wine. “I can’t imagine why I would want to get away from you. I’ll definitely come. Thank you!”
It was difficult to say which one of the pair looked more ecstatic. I smiled. Life was good!