Chapter Five
Clara
Max Lyndell slouched in the chair, scowling. The boy would no doubt break hearts at some point in his life with those brooding looks, but right now all he seemed intent on breaking were rules and anything in Clara’s office he could get his hands on.
‘It’s ok to be angry,’ Adele Robson said, crossing her long legs and leaning forward. ‘But it’s not ok to damage property.’
Max shifted, eyeing both of them with a mixture of defiance and boredom before reaching out to flick a pen off Clara’s desk.
Clara watched the pen skitter to the floor but didn’t react. Adele’s jaw went rigid, but she said nothing either, her eyes not leaving Max.
‘Max, I know it’s not easy being in here.’ Clara fiddled with the ring on her middle finger. ‘But why don’t you tell us why you’re angry with Mr Halley?’
There had been another flare up in Kerr’s class, which was strange as Kerr was one of the most laid-back teachers in the school, but Clara remembered Kerr’s self-confessed outburst at Max and was pretty sure it had a lot to do with that.
Max was anti-authority, so being told off always incensed him.
Max snorted, folding his arms. ‘What’s the point? It’s all a waste of time anyway. And he’s just a dick.’
‘Max, personal insults are not acceptable,’ Clara said.
He gave an exaggerated sigh, rolling his eyes, before sagging back in the chair, making it scrape against the floor. ‘It wasn’t an insult. Just the truth. He thinks he’s so fucking cool and that he’s one of us, but he’s an old git.’
‘No need for the bad language either,’ Adele said.
Clara almost smiled. Kerr was younger than her by a few years, so that must make her ancient.
And as for Adele, who was approaching forty…
Well, the look on her face said everything, though Clara couldn’t imagine Adele being anything but beautiful, sophisticated, and completely together no matter what age she was.
‘Max, we understand you’re frustrated,’ Clara said. ‘But we’re trying to find a way to make school work for you. Insulting the teachers isn’t going to help.’
Max’s hand shot out again, flicking a small notepad off the edge of the desk. ‘Well, he insults me.’ Clara’s stomach clenched – her desk was her space, carefully organised, and set out to look welcoming, much like everything she put in here. But she forced herself to ignore the disruption.
‘Max.’ Adele shook her head. ‘Damaging Miss Morgan’s property is not ok.’
‘Who the fuck do you think you are? You’re not my mum.’ Max pulled a face at her.
Adele’s expression said, thank god for that. ‘That language is inappropriate for school.’
Max snorted.
‘How do you think Mr Halley has insulted you?’ Clara looked him in the eye.
‘He yelled at me. It was rude.’
‘His intention wasn’t to be rude, Max. You were being disruptive in the corridor, and you’ve continued that disruption in class this week. He’s let it go one too many times. If you poke a bear too often, you run the risk of it snapping. Consider your behaviour in this.’
He let out a bored groan and lounged back in his seat.
‘We’re here to help you.’ Adele took a deep breath. ‘But if you refuse to cooperate, we’ll have to take further steps, and that means calling your parents in again.’
For a moment, a flicker of something passed over Max’s face, but he only shrugged, refusing to meet either of their eyes.
‘How about you come and finish your lesson in my office?’ Adele suggested. ‘You might find it calmer.’
Max tapped his foot on the floor.
‘Max.’ Adele raised an eyebrow. ‘You have a choice. You can come to my office and work or stay here and work. But wasting time isn’t an option. If you choose to continue being rude and to damage property, then I have no choice but to contact your parents again.’
‘Yeah?’ Max glared at her, a defiant edge sharpening his gaze. ‘I suppose you just want to see my dad so you can screw him.’
Adele gave him a look that could have cut glass. ‘That kind of statement is not helpful. You’re in here complaining about teachers being rude to you, while you’re talking to us like that? What do you think your parents would make of it?’
Clara watched the tiny flinch in Max’s expression. She’d seen it occasionally with him, though not often, a flicker of vulnerability buried in there somewhere.
‘Look, Max,’ she said. ‘No one’s trying to make your life difficult. We just want to help you get where you need to be.’
Max huffed and groaned for a moment before he finally muttered, ‘Fine, whatever.’ He pushed himself up from the chair with a loud scrape.
‘You’re choosing my office?’ Adele asked, watching him carefully as he passed her.
‘Yeah.’
As soon as he was out of the door, she exchanged a glance with Clara that summed up her utter disgust at his words. Privately Clara agreed, but she kept her smile in place and followed Max into the corridor.
He was only just sixteen, but already taller than her, though that wasn’t difficult – most of the pupils were. ‘I like your keychain.’ She took hold of a metal tag on his bag shaped like a bright mask. It looked like something from a manga or anime series.
‘Yeah.’ He glanced at it, then tugged his bag away from her, and walked along the short corridor to Adele’s office.
With a bracing inhale, Adele followed. At the door, she glanced back at Clara with a god-help-me expression.
Clara closed her office door and made her way to the stairs. Giving Kerr a quick update would be sensible before she got back to her notes.
He was in his classroom at the front, pointing to the Promethean board and smiling.
Clara swallowed back all the sensations that hit her in the gut when she looked at him and knocked.
His hazel eyes flashed almost red, which was so unlike him, then he tapped the stylus in his hand and came to the door.
‘I thought for a moment you’d brought him back. I almost had a panic attack.’
‘No, he’s in Adele’s office.’
Kerr’s mouth twitched, and he stepped out into the corridor, lowering his voice. ‘Well, he responds better to her than me.’
‘For now.’
He nodded and leaned in even closer. ‘I was hoping he’d be suspended for the week of the inspection.’
She let out a little laugh. Even in this chaotic moment, being close to Kerr, and catching the powerful scent of his cologne, made her pulse quicken.
Only this time, it was different. Not the fragrance, but the way it caught her.
Her heart wasn’t doing the backflips she associated with proximity to him; it was more like the scent reminded her of something – something not entirely unpleasant, but something that had passed.
‘It’s a pity that the council leaders are so against us suspending pupils – especially in cases like this.
’ Everyone knew it put Gil under a lot of pressure as schools were judged badly if they had too many, so he resisted suspensions almost every time.
Clara patted Kerr’s arm. ‘Hopefully the rest of your day will go well.’
‘Thanks.’ Kerr returned to the class, calling for their attention, and Clara headed back.
When she got back downstairs, Adele was leaning on the frame of the headteacher’s door, talking to Gil. He had a very loud and commanding voice, but today he was speaking so low she could hardly hear him.
‘Oh, hey.’ Adele raised her hand when she saw Clara.
‘Just filling in Gil on our little tête-à-tête with…’ She pointed her thumb over her shoulder at her closed office door and raised an eyebrow.
‘We need him to behave himself during this inspection. He’s causing so much added stress to the teachers.
And I do not want another encounter with his parents. ’
Clara pulled a face. ‘They’re as difficult as him, aren’t they?’ She’d never met them, but she knew Adele encountered problems with them frequently.
‘Don’t get me started.’ Adele whispered, holding up her hand.
‘I don’t think they appreciated being called in at all, and if I ring them again, they are likely to be furious.
If they start complaining too, then goodness knows what scrutiny we’ll come under from the inspectors.
I’m confident we’ve done the best we can, but we know historically inspectors come down heavily on the parents’ side and schools pay with lower results, no matter what evidence we provide. ’
‘It’s an extremely unhelpful position,’ Gil said. ‘But at least we’re aware, so we can try to mitigate the situation.’
Clara went into her office and sat down with a sigh.
It looked like a bright and cheery day outside; the kind that promised spring was on its way.
But a stuffy kind of tension lingered inside.
How was it that one pupil could cause so much stress to so many people?
And he took up so much time. He wasn’t the only pupil with issues, but wow did he make life difficult for everyone. Including himself.
The imminent inspection heightened everything. Teachers were already on edge, and the disruptive threat of Max was taking its toll.
Come lunchtime, Clara needed out. She could walk to the nearby shop and grab some chocolate. She really needed it today.
Lissa was in the staffroom when Clara nipped in for her coat. ‘Hey, do you fancy a walk to the shop?’
‘Oh, what a fab idea. I need some air. It’s tense in here, isn’t it?
Clara nodded. ‘Yeah, it really is. What a morning.’
‘I can’t wait until this bloody inspection is over, and we can relax.’
‘Same.’
‘Maybe I should plan an end-of-inspection party. We could all go out for drinks.’
‘Sounds great.’ Clara buttoned up her coat. ‘And it would give us all something positive to look forward to.’
They were halfway down the corridor when Clara spotted Sam heading towards them, chatting to some students and laughing.
He didn’t have on his usual dark blazer but was wearing a black shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top button undone.
Clara gave him the once over, blinking. Her insides gave her a weird little nudge. He looked kind of fine.