Love Bytes: Swap, Snoop, Swoon

Nathan

"Can I just take Aspen Leah please and bring your bags."
She walked over to me, greeted me politely and we walked down to the cafeteria.
"What would you like for dinner today?"
"Can I get a jacket potato please?"
"Yes, of course, come on-" She looked hesitant as I led her to the front of the line. "Hi, miss, are you able to serve Aspen please, she is with me."
"Yes, that's ok! What would you like Hun?"
"Can I have a jacket potato with cheese and beans please? With a water and a flapjack please?"
"Of course, love, here you go."
"Thank you so much" Aspen smiled at the dinner lady and then turned back to me "All done sir, you wanted to talk?"
"I would like you to come to my classroom, this mustn't be heard."
"Ok- sir." she hesitated.
We walked to my English classroom as she walked me through what she had just learnt in Chemistry, she told me about how she had been learning about the periodic table of elements.
Once we got to my classroom, I unlocked the door, "Take a seat anywhere you like, Aspen."
"Thank you," She sat on the second table back in front of my desk.
I sat at my desk, turned in Aspen's direction and asked her what she knew of Axel. "Are you friends with Axel Johnson?"
"No- uh- He-"
"Please, go on. Are you ok?"
"He is my ex, and he hasn't really 'been on my side' since I broke up with him."
"Ah ok-"
"May I ask why, sir?"
"Yes- so, I had a student come to me at the beginning of the lesson and tell me that Axel was planning to jump you when you were walking back to lesson. That is why I walked you to lesson earlier, he was there, and he looked ready to fight. But, when I had dropped you off, I couldn't find him until I went to the classroom of the student who told me Axel's plan. Axel was there. And waiting. I think he was planning to do something to them as well."
"Oh- Well, Axel does have a habit of- uh, never mind."
"Please tell me Aspen. He has a habit of what?"
"Uh- fighting to get what he wants."
"Do you mean-"
"Yes. He will throw punches at anyone, anytime. If he thinks they are in the way, or they won't give him something, he will punch them until they give it to him. That is why we broke up, he wanted me to kiss him, I said no, to which he punched me. Luckily, my friends were nearby and stopped him."
"Oh- wow- Are you, ok?"
"Yes, I am ok now. And thanks to you, I wasn't beat up today!"
I laughed uncomfortably, not knowing how to respond to that.
"What are we going to do about him, sir?"
"Well, after dinner, I am teaching and then I have a meeting with Mrs Footlow, so I will talk to her about it."
"Ok, thank you."
"You are welcome to stay here, or I can write you a pass to go to the library if you would like, for dinnertime?"
"Could you write me a pass?"
"Sure! You will be ok getting there, won't you?"
"Yes, sir, don't worry."
I scribbled down a not on a post-it and handed it to Aspen, "You know I will! Be safe, I will see you soon."
"Goodbye, sir, Thank you."

A few minutes after she left, the bell rang for the beginning of dinner. I wandered back over to the bookshelf and grabbed the books for my last class of the day, fanned them out on the front desk and went to the door to greet my students upon arrival.
The lesson flew by, they were a calm class, that listened well, got on with their work and they had a nice conversation with me for the final 5 minutes before the bell. When the bell rang, they all got up, handed me their books and said their goodbyes politely. I went back over to my desk to pick up the books I had selected, and the A3 curriculum sheet. I placed the phone in my back pocket and left the classroom.
As I walked up to Sahrina's office, I was greeted by a few small groups of children that were still in the building; Each meeting me with a smile. I got to Sahrina's office at 15:07(3:07pm), just on time as she was just leaving the office to collect me for the meeting.
She walked me into the office, to which I was greeted mildly by 4 members of SLT, sat around a table in a semi-circle arrangement. This felt like my interview for this position, all over again. I took a seat opposite them all and placed the books and curriculum down in front of me.
"So, Nathan, how far into the curriculum have you gotten with the Year 10s?" Sahrina began.
"Well, we are actually a little bit ahead, we have begun the second half of the curriculum as we have begun to read 'A Christmas Carol', which was scheduled to start after the term break."
"So, why have you taken it upon yourself to push them forward?" She stared deep into my eyes, as if looking straight through me.
"I did this in order to ensure that at the end of the year, there would be a couple of free weeks so that I could revise the texts with them, to increase their memory retention." As I spoke, I glanced around the room. Upon saying the final word, I saw multiple SLT members writing things down. I could feel my heart rate rising by the second.
"Nathan-" A voice came from the left of me, startling me, to which I turned to face the direction that it came from.
"Do you have any books, that showcase the material that you have been teaching?" Silvia continued, watching my every move as she did so.
"Yes, in fact, I have a few here if you would like to pass them round and have a look." I look around the table, handing the three books that I had chosen between the 5 other members of staff in the room. Each one of them flicked through a few pages, noting things down as they went, and then passed the books around between them. " As you can see, we have visited each section of the curriculum in depth, and before we moved through sections, I ensured that each student understood the material."
Sahrina seemed taken aback by my professionalism and depth into the students' learning, yet she didn't question it.
The look on her face soon changed when the phone in my pocket began to buzz incredibly loudly. I could feel the blood run from my face, my body froze in place, stiff. She glared at me, her stare, piercing my flesh, I could feel her inspecting me, it burnt my skin, as if she were poking me with burning needles. I quickly glanced down, pulled the phone from my pocket and declined the call without looking who it was from. My gaze slowly lifted, back to the room of SLT members, glaring at me, in such a way that I felt as though I had committed an abhorrent or inexcusable crime. It was beyond my understanding, how they could make me feel so uncomfortable, guilty, almost, intimidated.
"Nevertheless, let us contin-"
In that moment, I could no longer hear my heartbeat through my ears, my hands fell cold, my head felt like glass- frangible, as though it were to completely disintegrate with a short gust of a draught.
"Nathan. If you could kindly turn your mobile off during this meeting." She shot me a disparaging smile, making certain that I knew I was in the wrong, even with this small disturbance.
"I do apologise for the interruptions!"
Sahrina visibly disapproved of me, "Sahrina, may I ask, do you have any recommendations for updates to the curriculum?"
"Momentarily, I am accepting of it, and wish for it to continue as you know what you are doing, Nathan."
She didn't want to say it, I had annoyed her, but she said it. She knew that professionally, I was hard-working, I understood the students, and I was a good teacher.
"I believe this concludes the meeting; you are all free to go."
I roll my eyes surreptitiously, gather my curriculum and exercise books and make my way to my classroom, put them all away and left for the day.