HELPLINE

SEVENTEEN

S E V E N T E E N

I S A A C

"Henry," I hissed into my phone. "Henry, are you there?"

"No," he drawled. "I just picked up the phone for no reason. Why are you ringing me? Shouldn't you be opening children's minds? Introducing them to the world of art?"

I shuddered. "They're not even children, Hen. They're teenagers."

Henry paused, and I imagined him fending off Shania or something. "What's the difference?" he asked after a while.

"They- they're sulky, and they spend all their time on tumblr, and they think my tweed jacket is stupid -"

"You're wearing that tweed jacket? I told you not to, you like like some nerd in a rom-com circa 1999 -"

"This is red alert, Hen!" I hissed. "I can't do this! I have no idea how to work under pressure! Or work at all!"

Henry exhaled slowly. "Okay, babe. Deep breaths. I know you can do this. The kids will love you. Maybe not immediately, but once they've figured out you have absolutely no idea what you're doing -"

I made a noise that was somewhere between a sob and a growl.

" - it'll be fine, sweetheart," Henry said soothingly.

I took a deep breath. "You really think so?"

"I know so."

"Bye, Hen."

❄

Okay, I thought to myself, staring at the door to my classroom, deep breath, Isaac. You can do this. good. Now just open the door.

"Sir?" a voice said behind me, and I span round to face a girl with brown wavy hair. "D'you want some help opening the door?"

Sir?

Sir?

Sir.

"Yes, thank you," I smiled, and stepped aside.

"Art's my favourite subject," she told me, as we walked into the classroom together. "I'm Holly."

"Mr Rogers," I smiled. "Thanks for your help, Holly."

She smiled at me slightly and went to sit down. I, however, made my way to the front, and the class fell silent.

"Hi," I announced.

"Hi," a couple of people replied.

So far, so good.

"I'm Mr Rogers," I said, trying to smile. "I'm your new art teacher."

"No shit," a kid mumbled, and I glared at him.

"No swearing in class, kid," I told him. "Anyway. Today we're doing mosaics..."

❄

I sprinted all the way home.

It wasn't that bad. Some of the classes were pretty good, actually. Teenagers were still scary as hell, and I wasn't quite sure what the brown sludge I'd eaten for lunch in the cafeteria was, but it could've been worse.

I rang Henry the minute I got home.

"Wow, you rang my mobile," he said appreciatively. "How'd it go?"

"Good," I told him. "Good! Okay! The food was bad. Lessons were alright. The English teachers were all, good on you for being gay -"

"English teachers always are," he scoffed.

" - but it wasn't a complete disaster. In fact, I might even grow to like it, I think."

"That's good," Henry said. "Hey, d'you wanna speak to Shania?"

"Yeah, hand her over," I said.

Henry mumbled something to Shania and then I heard him pass the phone over. "Hey, Shay," I said.

"Hi," she mumbled. "I'm glad one of us is happy."

I made a sympathetic noise. "You are happy, Shay. You're better off without that freak -"

"I guess," she sighed. "Anyway, how was your first day?"

"Good," I told her.

"Okay."

Poor Shania. I did feel sorry for her.

"I'll hand you back to Henry," she said, and I nodded.

"See you, babe."

"Hey," Henry said, "I'll be quick because I'm about to run out of credit -"

"Why aren't you on a contract? Are  you stuck in 2006, or something?"

" - but, I was thinking. And this is only if you want to, but I was wondering -"

"What?"

"Would you like to go on a date with me tomorrow evening?"

❄

a.n: edited 4/12/15