Birds || Fuenciado

Chapter 6: Never Have I Ever

"Sugar?"

"Please."

Miss Elliot adds a teaspoon of sugar to the teacup and stirs it quickly, spoon clinking on the china, and then passes it over her desk. I take it gladly, thirsty and oddly nervous.

"Thanks, miss."

"It seems so odd, you calling me miss, now," she muses, having a sip of her own tea before setting it down on her desk, delicate hands wrapped around it. "I almost feel we should be on a first name basis."

"Oh, I think that would be twice as odd," I laugh. "You'll forever be Miss Elliot to me."

"That's often said by OCs," she nods sagely. "It's like we condition you to address us as teachers for the rest of your lives. How have you been, Vic? You're looking well."

"Not bad," I smile. "Thank you for asking. It's quite weird, not coming to school every day. Walking in through the doors today was the strangest feeling. Days I'm not working, I have no idea what to do with myself."

"Where is it you're working now?"

"Nice little café called Rachel's. It's not much, it's hardly my dream job, but it'll do for a gap year. I get pretty good discounts on cakes, so Mike thoroughly enjoys dropping by."

"I should think so," she chuckles, revealing that sweet-natured smile. "Perhaps I should stop in sometime for some taste testing."

"I'll get you a brownie on the house."

"Much appreciated, Vic. Now - speaking of Mike..."

"Yes," I say slowly. "Yes, we have something of a problem there."

Miss Elliot's emerald green, twinkling eyes become concerned and sincere, and she takes a final sip of tea before setting the cup away from her, readjusting her glasses, tucking a strand of white blonde hair behind her ear and then clasping her hands together on the desk. Features that are aging but remain youthful with unconditional joy take on a seriousness and readiness. "How long has this bullying been going on?"

"As far as I know, about three weeks, if not a bit longer. I first heard about it about two weeks after the semester started."

"Right," she says lowly, jotting down something on her notepad. "Although that's awful, it's also a good thing. It gives me some ground to say this isn't a one-off occurrence. And it's been the same perpetrator?"

"So I believe. Unfortunately, I don't have any proof the graffiti was down to him, but due to the wording itself, I think it's quite safe to assume. Say, where has this kid come from? Clairemont has rarely had bullies like him."

"What I can say about students is limited," she says, regret in her voice. "But I can tell you he didn't leave his last school by choice."

"Expelled?"

"Indeed. His record here is already full up of detentions. The teachers are trying but he refuses to cooperate, and what's worse is that he seems to have taken on something of a group. Their grades are being affected by it, to say the least."

"I do try and find it in me to feel sorry for such people," I frown. "But since it's my brother on the end of the aggro..."

"Understandable," she reassures me. "By the sound of what you've told me, he'll be issued his first formal warning."

"I suppose that's something."

"As for preventing it in the future...do you know what classes Mike shares with Phil?"

I produce the previous list I'd compiled this morning after a quick conversation with Mike, and I rattle off the lessons they share. She jots down what I tell her, biting her lip as she does so. "Okay. It might be possible to shift him over to the second class in a few of these, since the sets are mixed ability...my only concern is that it would take him away from Nick Martin and Jordan Fish. I understand they're quite close...alternatively I could just move Phil, couldn't I? That avoids those issues. However, in the other two classes, they're the only sets...the most I can do there is make sure the teachers keep a closer eye on him."