‘Your grades reflect your effort. You could do better, but you still get by in certain subjects – you seem to like practical subjects more than academic, is that right?’
‘I don’t like any of them.’
‘You do well in design and tech, music, art, and some aspects of IT.’
‘And what use is that?’
‘Depends on your choices. They can all be very useful, but seeing some of your behaviour, it tells me that you choose to misapply your intelligence.’
Max shrugged.
‘If you put your effort into making the right choices, you could make big changes.’
‘For who?’
‘Yourself and your future.’
‘So, you want me to go back in there and sit quietly, listening to him droning on.’
Sam let out a little sigh. ‘That would be the first choice, yes. But it’s the first of many. In your next class, you choose again. And again. Then it starts over tomorrow. And it won’t be easy. It’ll be hard work and take a lot of strength. But the more you do it, the easier it’ll become. One day, it’ll be part of who youare. You can make yourself someone who shows up, chooses the sensible path, puts in the effort, and leaves with the rewards. Or you can continue showing up only when you feel like it, choosing to be disruptive, and leave feeling flat and uncertain.’
‘You don’t know how I feel.’
‘Would you like me to bring your work in here for this period? You might find it a bit quieter.’
‘Whatever.’
‘I’ll go get it. If you need some air, go sit by the window. It’s a bit stuffy in here.’ Sam left him and went back to Isaac’s class.
‘Where is he?’ Isaac looked around. ‘Has he gone to Ms Robson?’
‘He’s still in my room. Or I hope he is. Let me take his stuff. He’s calmed down a bit, but I think it’s best if we keep him away from the others just now.’
‘Ok, thanks.’ Isaac went over to his desk and lifted Max’s work and his bag.
Sam took it back along the corridor and tried not to act surprised when he saw Max sitting at the table by the open window.
‘Here you go.’ Sam gave him his stuff. ‘Just carry on writing what you can.’ Without looking at him, Sam returned to his desk and opened his laptop. Max didn’t speak either but huffed a few times before putting his head down.
When the bell rang, Max slammed his pen down. ‘Can I go now? Or do I have to sit here all day?’
‘You can pack up and go.’ Sam got to his feet as Max thrust everything into his bag. ‘And think about what I said. We all have choices in life.’
Max shrugged. ‘Sure. Whatever.’
Sam watched him leave the room, leaning on his doorframe, not sure whether anything he’d said would make a difference. Almost every teacher in the school had tried, so it was unlikelythat his words would do anything but drift out of Max’s other ear at any second, and Max would be back to his usual nonsense in his next class.
‘Thanks, man.’ Isaac appeared behind him. ‘I’ve never seen him as bad as that. He was wild.’
‘Yeah. He calmed down after we had a chat, but he’s such a live wire.’
‘You should probably tell Adele or Clara what you said to him. They’re taking notes on him. I’ll have to let them know what he did today.’
‘It’s ok. I’ll speak to them. I’m out of class most of the day, so I’ll have more time.’
‘Thanks. That’d be good. With the inspectors roaming about, I can do without all this.’
‘I hear you.’ Sam gave him a commiserative look. ‘Just a few more days to get through.’ He headed off down the corridor, dodging groups of students and making his way to the stairs. No time like the present. If he could catch Adele or Clara now, it would get this out of the way.
