Teach Me

Chapter 1

The annoying jingle of the bell pulls me from my reverie. I roll my eyes and make my way to the classroom door where I'm met with a stampede of students spilling out of the classrooms and into the corridor, bustling past each other trying to get to their first class of the day.It's always the same kind of set up, there's always the entourage of girls sauntering down the corridor twittering about the latest gossip, there's always the young lads shoving each other into the wall thinking it's funny, and there's always the loved up couple with their mouths glued to each other and their tongue down each other's throat... and a typical, first thing in the morning, fight. Great.Leaving my year 7 class lined up against the wall, I propel myself down the corridor a short way and grab the two boys by their collars and pull them apart 'seriously? First day back and you're picking fights' they try in vain to make excuses pointing and accusing each other but this only makes things worse and before I can say a word they're rolling around on the floor punching the hell out of each other. Without hesitation I grab them once again and pull them apart 'you at the front of the line, you at the back and if either of you start again you'll be spending break with me. Got it' they both mutter a small 'yes miss' before re-joining the line.'Ok, would you all like to go in? Sit anywhere you like and each take a sketchpad, if there aren't enough please let me know' I smile as the children file into the classroom, grabbing a sketchpad before taking their seats.After a few moments everyone is seated and all of their little faces are watching me, 'hello everyone I hope you all had a lovely holiday. For today I'd like to focus on getting to know you all better, for starters my name is Isabelle Riviera and I have no problem with you calling me by my first name when there are no other teachers around' I glance around the room and I can already tell the good students as they're smiling at me while some of the other students look completely bored stupid. Nevertheless I continue 'I've prepared a presentation for you all to watch about what we'll be covering this year but before I play it I just want to quickly say that I won't tolerate any nastiness in this room, so no fighting, back chatting or slagging off each other, or me for that matter. If you have any problems just come and talk to me and I'll get it sorted ok? Cool. Let's watch the presentation.'Less than five minutes later the presentation is over so I do the register, as I say each name the students tell me a little fact about themselves which allows me to see who are the quiet students. Following this, I have prepared another more creative task 'right then, for the rest of the lesson I would like you all to decorate the front of your sketchpad and the best design will get a £10 gift voucher of your choice' I hear quiet muttering and see that some of those bored students have quickly perked up as they begin their task.'I'm gonna get a MAC voucher' 'I want a Primark voucher' 'well I'm gonna get one for Lush' I hear a small group of girls exclaim to each other, whereas pretty much every boy simply says 'I'm gonna get an Xbox voucher.'While the students are busy sketching I make my way around the room to be nosey at what they're doing, a lot of them aren't bad but I can tell the ones who will excel straight away. One such student is a timid girl who is sitting away from everyone else on the table that I'll eventually use for naughty students, she doesn't notice me as I make my way over to her but as I reach her I see her head slowly lift and her midnight blue eyes meet mine. Bless her she looks terrified. 'Hey, you ok?' I ask quietly so as not to disturb the other students, she says nothing she just nods her head causing her tight red curls to flop over her forehead. 'Can I have a look' I motion towards her sketchpad which she slowly pushes towards me.My mouth drops, 'you drew this?' I can't help the sound of amazement in my voice as I stare at the sketch of five horses running through water. She smiles but still says nothing. 'This is absolutely amazing, I suck at drawing horses you have a talent' I enthuse to the young girl as I hand her back the sketchpad, although her smile quickly falters and is replaced with a frown 'mum doesn't like me drawing, she says I should focus on important subjects like maths. She doesn't realise how much I love drawing' she says quietly. I glance at her then at the sketch 'as much as I would like to tell you to ignore your mum you really shouldn't, maths and English are very important but at the end of the day it's your life and you should be able to do what you want to do even if your mum doesn't entirely agree with it. She'll still be there for you' the young girl smiles back at me 'thank you Miss Riviera.''Fucking teacher's pet' I whip my head around and within a couple of strides I stood in front of another girl who is wearing far too much make-up for her age 'I'm sorry Whitney what was that' 'didn't say owt Miss' she protests staring me straight in the eyes with a slight smirk on her face. 'Hmm how strange, it almost sounded like you said effing teacher's pet. But I doubt you'd be that stupid to say something like that on the first lesson back would you Whitney? Or that you'd think I'd have favourites' my voice dripping in sarcasm as Whitney looks at me dumbstruck. 'I suggest that you keep that nose out of things that don't concern you or it will land you in a lot of trouble one day' I smile far too sweetly at her before I continue walking around the classroom.Thankfully there are no more incidents and the rest of the lesson passes fairly quickly, 'ok everyone, time to pack away. Please have your sketchpads finished by next lesson as we'll be starting something new' everyone quickly tidies away their belongings and when the bell sounds they flow out of the room to their next lesson. Whitney and her two friends scowl at me as they leave and I can hear them bitching about me when they think they're out of ear shot 'I can hear you, you know Whitney' I shout 'shit' they panic and flee which makes me smirk. Silly little girls. Jenny, the red headed girl, is the last to leave and the beaming smile hasn't left her face all lesson.Outside my classroom a boisterous line of year 10's are waiting, this isn't going to be fun. Few of them acknowledge me as they saunter into the classroom and lounge around on the chairs chatting happily away, even as I welcome them and begin to play the presentation a few of them continue to chat and the rest who have been listening don't seem impressed by my efforts. 'Thought Logan was taking us this year' a young man shouts 'Mr Logan will be teaching you on a Friday and I'll be taking you for the rest of the week' I smile until I hear another snide comment from another young man, who I believe is called Josh, 'you can take me anytime you want love' he gestures towards his crotch while his friends high five him. I fight my instincts to snap out a sarcastic comeback and just roll my eyes before shooting him a glare. As this is BTEC art I don't waste time getting the students to draw on their sketchpads, instead I jump straight into the proper lesson. For this term the topic is famous people and characters, so each student has to do numerous sketches of their chosen celebrity and eventually create a mask of said celebrity.It takes ages to get the students to focus and knuckle down but eventually they begin working even though they never stop talking, but if they're working then I don't really mind. I stroll around the classroom looking at all of the artwork stopping momentarily to answer a question only to feel a hard slap on my backside, I slowly turn around and look straight into Josh's eye, he can't stop smirking and his friends are trying hard to stifle their laughter. Right two can play this game. I smile back at him then, with a precise kick, I knock the stool from under him causing him to fall to the floor in a heap. His friends are cackling away, as are the rest of the students. Thankfully he isn't physically hurt, but I think his ego is very badly bruised.Eventually the bell rings and everyone rushes out, glancing up from my desk I call 'Josh, a word please' 'I'll just be a sec' he mutters to his friends as they leave the classroom. He slumps over to the desk where I'm seated with my arms folded in front of me on the desk, 'do you think that your actions today were acceptable' I ask straight to the point as he smirks 'just having a bit of banter miss' he doesn't disguise the fact that he's staring at my breasts. I sit up straight and click my fingers in front of his face pulling him from his reverie 'eyes up here and don't forget it. Sexual innuendos and smacking a teacher on the backside is not acceptable, this is your first and only warning. Do it again and I'll make you take your art lessons after school with the head teacher and before you even try to bs me with the whole, that's not fair you can't do that, crap. Yes I can and I will, now leave' I point with my pen to the door watching him as he scurries out of the room with his head lowered.'What she say?' I hear his friend ask, 'just being a bitch and making a big deal about me offering to fuck her. Shit, she sounds like she needs a good shag. Stuck up bitch' Josh remarks. If he only knew...As it's break time I grab my handbag and make my way to the staffroom where a few other teachers are already sitting drinking coffee and chatting happily about what they did during the holidays. 'Hey, Isabelle isn't it?' an attractive brunette mentions standing in front of me 'yeah, sorry I don't think we've met' I shake her hand 'Melanie Osbourne, I teach science.' 'Nice to meet you' I smile before making my way over to a plush blue chair in the corner and taking a seat, everyone quickly introduces themselves, there's no way I'm going to remember all of these names.'So when did you start teaching Isabelle?' Paul, an English teacher asks 'it's actually my first teaching job; I was in retail for three years before going to uni' I smile taking a sip of my tea until Alison a maths teacher remarks 'retail? Why would anyone want to go into retail? I can't imagine anything worse, constantly listening to people's problems stacking shelves and cleaning. Ugh my nails would never cope in such conditions.' 'I guess some people aren't afraid of a little hard graft' I mutter but she clearly hears me as she shoots me a dirty look. 'What made you choose Barnhart Academy?' Paul asks in the hopes of lightening the mood 'I used to go here when it was Mill Hill and it was here I found my love and talent for art and I wanted to help other kids to do the same' I mention simply as the bell sounds again to signal the end of break and the beginning of the next lesson.I hurry back to my classroom, rounding the corner a bit too quick I walk straight into someone. 'S...sorry' I stammer as I look up into the most beautiful hazel eyes staring back at me 'it's quite alright, I wasn't looking where I was going' oh my lord his smile is even more gorgeous. Oh god I'm staring 'uh, I best get to my classroom' I mutter before scurrying away to my classroom where a few of my students are already lined up outside the room. I drop my handbag into the drawer of my desk, smooth out my skirt and make my way back out into the corridor to welcome my next class which is another group of year 7's.The next two lessons pass in a blur and I'm getting really sick of hearing my presentation as I've already heard it at least four times today and my energy is rapidly fading. By dinner time I'm so thankful for a rest, I hurry straight to the staffroom and grab my chicken Caesar salad and apple juice from the fridge and take a seat at the table. Paul and Melanie are already sat down and we chat happily as other teachers flood into the room 'so how's your first day been so far?' Melanie asks before biting into a cheese panini 'tiring, the year 7's, and 8's I'd happily teach all day it's the year 10's that I'm not so hot on' I admit. 'Tell me about it, there's one lad in Monsal, Josh Knightly, such a little perv. Couldn't take his eyes off my tits and when I was explaining how the Bunsen burners work by blowing gas through the tube he said and I quote... fancy giving my tube a good blow Miss' she explains rolling her eyes. 'He was in my class earlier, I said Mr Logan's teaching them on Friday's and I'm taking them the rest of the week. He said I could take him whenever I liked then he smacked my backside as I walked past' I note.'Cheeky fucker. What did you do? Detention for the rest of the term?' Melanie asks edging closer to me, to which I can't help but laugh 'kicked his stool from under him' I reply nonchalantly causing Paul to spit his coffee all over the table, a few other teachers stare open mouthed but Melanie is holding her chest because she's laughing so hard and so is Paul; there are giggles and smirks from everyone else apart from Alison who looks like she's chewing on a bee. Stuck up bitch.I continue to chat to the other teachers though it feels surreal to think that some of them were here when I was a kid though I'm not surprised when only a handful remember me but thankfully dinner finally draws to a close and I head back to my final lesson of the day with a group of year 11's. Ugh. Just like the year 10 class I spend as little time messing around as possible since I want to get straight into the work, and as this is again BTEC it involves a lot more materials. For the first part of the curriculum they have to choose a hobby and create artwork to represent this; the students knuckle straight down and work in almost complete silence which astounds me since all of my lessons have been full of talking and stools moving and pencils clattering. So this is... weird. I can even hear a student sharpening a pencil from the other side of the room.A sudden knock on the door disrupts the silence startling us all, 'come in' I call and in strolls a tall young man. Oh geez it's the same man I walked into earlier. He makes his way over to my desk 'sorry to interrupt your lesson, but do you have any A2 sugar paper?' his voice is soft, almost like velvet and his face is so close that I can smell the minty chewing gum in his mouth as he leans on my desk. Oh god he's gorgeous, I could stare at those hazel eyes all day. He cocks his head to one side and I realise I haven't said anything yet 'sugar paper... yes... I'll get some' I flap making my way into the joining stockroom where I spot the paper on a shelf just out of my reach.As I step backwards I bump into something, 'sorry I didn't realise you were in here' I apologise as I turn to face the young man who is smiling at me, he steps forward and I instinctively step backwards until I feel a cupboard behind me.He takes another step forward effectively caging me, he gazes down into my eyes which widen as his lips slightly part giving me a glimpse of perfect white teeth causing my heart to thunder against my ribcage, his body is flush against mine at this point as I'm pressed against the cupboard. His face is so close that I can feel his soft, warm breath against my neck as he reaches above us and grabs a few pieces of sugar paper. He takes a step back 'thanks' and with a smile he leaves the stockroom and I faintly hear the classroom door open then close. I stare at the door that he's just walked out of as I remain leaning against the cupboard. What the hell just happened?I steady my erratic breathing before making my way back into the classroom where my students are still hard at work. After walking around the room checking everyone's work I return to my desk and continue to work through my lesson plan for tomorrow but my mind is elsewhere thinking about him. I don't even know who he is but my god I want to.