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 comeunder 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.’
