Chapter Eighteen
‘Two more days to go. The boys have already packed their bags.’ Annie passed Gemma a mug.
‘Oh, thanks.’ Gemma slipped her large canvas bag onto the table closest to the door in her classroom before taking the mug and lifting it to her lips. Swirling the hot, bitter coffee around her mouth, she hoped the caffeine hit would be quicker.
‘You look shattered. Didn’t you get some rest yesterday?’ Annie perched on the table opposite.
‘I did.’ And she had. She’d plonked herself in front of the TV after her and Alfie’s evening walk, she just hadn’t been able to shut her brain off or get to sleep when she’d tried, but she couldn’t tell Annie the real reason, she’d be asking too many questions. She took another sip before lowering her mug. ‘Alfie just kept me awake.’
Annie nodded. ‘Does that mean he kept Mr Higgs awake too?’
Gemma shook her head. ‘I hope not.’
‘That’s something then. It must be strange having him as a neighbour. I couldn’t imagine living in such close proximity to anyone I worked with, let alone the big boss.’ Standing up, Annierolled her shoulders back. ‘Anyway, I’m focusing on my weekend away. Plus, practising for our class assembly next week.’
‘Ah, yes. How’s that going?’ Gemma smiled, relieved to be back onto a safer topic. Placing her mug down on the table, she pulled out her laptop and connected it to the interactive whiteboard.
‘Oh, you know. It looks as though it’s going to be a complete disaster at the moment, but they always pull it off, don’t they? And if they don’t, their parents still think it’s the best thing they’ve ever seen.’ Annie grinned. ‘I’ve got to admit I do love class assemblies. I know a lot of teachers dread it, but just seeing how much the kids enjoy showing off their hard work to their parents and carers just makes it all worth it.’
Gemma nodded. Hers was looming next month, and she had to admit she wasn’t particularly looking forward to the task. As her laptop blinked to life, she straightened her back. ‘I should start thinking about mine.’
‘You should.’ Annie pointed towards Gemma’s laptop. ‘Any new emails? Anything we need to know, such as more visitors from the trust or anything?’
‘I’ll check.’ Gemma clicked through to her emails. Huh, there was one from Jonathan, addressed to all staff members by the looks of it, too. She opened it and quickly skimmed over the text before looking back towards Annie. ‘We’ve a whole staff meeting after school today.’
‘Seriously? How many staff meetings have we had since Mr Higgs took over?’ Walking over to Gemma, she leaned down and read the email. ‘An emergency meeting. And it’s for everyone who can make it. TAs included.’
Walking away, Gemma picked up her mug again, hoping Annie wouldn’t see how much her hands were shaking. In all the years she’d been working here, she could hardly remember a staff meeting that included both TAs and teachers. This hadto be it. He had to be planning on revealing why he had been appointed headteacher. He was going to tell everyone that the school was in trouble. She gulped. She couldn’t work out whether she was relieved he’d taken her advice on board or terrified. She just hoped people would react the way she hoped they would.
‘What could that be about then? Do you think we’ll find out the real reason Diane left? Or do you think it might be some huge revelation? Urgh, I hope we’re not swapping to another academy trust or anything. It took enough time for us to get used to how this one works.’ Annie looked pointedly at Gemma. ‘What do you reckon it’ll be about?’
‘I... I don’t know.’ Gemma gulped her coffee and walked across to the windows looking out onto the playground. It was too early for any parents or children. Eager or not, the gates hadn’t been opened yet. Instead, a single ginger cat sat in the middle of the tarmac.
‘Umm, well, whatever it is, I hope it’s good news for a change.’ Annie walked towards the classroom door before glancing over her shoulder. ‘Ooh, perhaps we’re all being given a pay rise.’
Gemma squinted her eyes toward the shed. Something was different. She turned to Annie, relieved to change the subject of the looming meeting. ‘Have we got a new lock on the shed door?’
‘Oh yes.’ Walking towards her, Annie crossed her arms and grinned. ‘When I arrived this morning, Jonathan was out there himself changing the latch and the lock.’
‘He was?’
Annie nodded. ‘Yep.’
‘Huh.’ As soon as Annie had disappeared back into her own classroom, Gemma sank into one of the small beanbags circling the carpet area, put her mug down on the grubby carpet by herfeet and covered her eyes with her hands. He had taken her advice then. He was going to tell everyone.
Chapter Nineteen
‘Are you ready?’ Annie leaned her hands against the doorframe as she peered into Gemma’s classroom.
‘Yep, just coming.’ Placing the planning sheet she had been annotating back on her desk, Gemma picked up her notebook and pen. She could feel her stomach churning with nerves. She hadn’t been able to focus all day, what with the anticipation and worry of the news her colleagues were going to learn in this meeting, and because this would be the first time she’d be facing Jonathan since their talk yesterday. ‘Tania is meeting us there, she needed to go and check something with Joanne.’
‘Okay.’ Standing aside, she let Gemma pass before they walked along the corridor towards the hall. ‘What do you think this is going to be about then? Adam reckons it’s some exciting news, such as a royal visitor or dates for the remedial work on the building.’
‘We’ll find out soon enough, I guess.’ Piercing her pen through her messy bun, Gemma held her notebook against her chest. Adam was sure going to be disappointed. They all would be. Nothing like this had ever happened before in Woodland Primary, certainly not in her years of teaching here, anyway.They’d been new jobs being created, new staff members, not this. Not redundancies. People wouldn’t expect this. Jonathan’s news would be a complete bombshell to them. And she’d encouraged him to tell them.
‘We’re in the hall, remember.’ Lydia exited the staff room with a mug of steaming coffee in hand before pulling the door to the hall open and holding it open for them.
‘Thanks.’ Stepping through into the hall, Gemma paused. She wasn’t sure the last time she’d seen so many staff members in one room before. Their Christmas celebration meal, probably, but even then, there had been so many of them that the pub had had to split them across tables. Here, though, Jonathan had fashioned the chairs into a huge circle, of which most of them were already taken.
