“You can stay an extra five minutes,” she said, and Denny didn’t argue. “Come on. You’ll be sitting with Miss Chen.”
“Take a seat,” Mei said, with as much as cheer as she could manage. Lily rolled her eyes when he threw himself into the chair closest to the door. He pulled out a textbook, and Lily shook her head.
“Actually, Denny, I have a research project for you.” Lily handed him a tablet. “I want you to look into the statistics around LGBTQIA+ youth and incidences of mental health issues and suicide. I want you to think about why they might be at an increased risk of both of those things. Think about what you, as a—presumably, but feel free to correct me—white heterosexual cisgender young man, may have done to contribute to those feelings. And what you can do better in future.”
Lily crossed over to Mei’s desk.
“Damn, woman. I see the scary side of you now.”
“Let me know if he’s any trouble. I’ll come back at the end. You want a coffee or anything?”
“Nah, I’m good.” Mei tapped the half-full mug sitting beside her laptop. “If I have another there’s no way I’ll sleep tonight.”
Lily returned to her own classroom to find the conversation had moved onto other topics.
“Perfect timing, Miss Cross. We’re talking about how we can give back to the community. We were thinking about having a bake sale to raise money for an LGBTQIA+ charity.”
“That’s a wonderful idea.” Lily knew many of the teachers, at least, would be more than happy to donate in exchange for sweet treats.
“But what charity would we choose?” Mark said.
“How about The Trevor Project?” Kelly suggested, and a few of the other kids nodded.
“Or GLSEN,” Sara said.
“There are a few local ones, too,” Lily said. They’d been on her radar for a while. “I know there’s one that offers mental health support to LGBTQIA+ kids, another one helping homeless youth. And a few others, too.”
Mark frowned. “How are we supposed to pick?”
“Who says you have to choose one?” Lily said. “You could split the money between a few. Or you could have a different charity each month and come up with different ways to fundraise for them. Maybe get some other students involved.”
“I like that.” Macie tapped a pencil against her lips. “We could do a sponsored walk or run. Or a rummage sale.” Excited at the prospect of having a new idea, they brainstormed among themselves, and Lily was only too happy to let them.
With a tentative date for the bake sale penciled in and ideas for another few other fundraisers, they left Lily’s room at 4 p.m. still chattering away.
“Thank you,” Jude said before he joined the others. “For earlier.”
“You don’t need to thank me, Jude. I did what anyone should have done. And I can assure you he’s down the hall being made to think about what he said.”
Jude nodded, and Lily followed him out, hoping Denny had behaved himself.
* * *
“He was quiet as a mouse,” Mei said, when Lily asked.
His head was still bent over the tablet, and Lily checked the time. “You can go now, Denny.” She hoped, as Denny got to his feet, that he’d learned his lesson.
“I-I’m sorry, Miss Cross,” Denny said, once he’d handed her back the tablet, his head bowed. It could be with insincerity, but Lily hoped it was contrition. “I didn’t realize.”
“A lot of people don’t. You never know what someone might be struggling with behind the scenes. What could push them over the edge. A little kindness goes a long way.”
“I’ll do better,” he said, and Lily hoped he meant it.
“Off you go. I don’t want to see you back here again.”
Denny nodded before scurrying away, and Lily let out a sigh. She knew it wasn’t entirely his fault. This behavior was learned, and it was her role, as an educator, to expose the kids she taught to different points of view.
It was one of the parts of the job she enjoyed the most—the fact she got to make a difference, no matter how small, in someone’s life. That she might leave an imprint, be remembered as a positive influence, somewhere later down the line.
