“Of course, let him in. We’re done here. Go on, guys, the bell’s about to ring.”
Carter pushes his glasses up his nose and waits for Skylar to storm past him, through the door. She rolls her eyes and heads out into the hallway, Carter at her heels. But as he’s turning the corner, he walks straight into Tyler.
“Hey, kid! Chin up and eyes front,” he says, jokingly, before striding comfortably into my office.
“Tyler Hayes,” I say, taking my glasses off and laying them on the desk. “What can I do for you?”
Niall
The car door slams forcefully, making me jump.
“I’m guessing it’s best not to ask you how it went?”
Skylar glares at me.
“Got it. Let’s go.”
I pull out of the school car park and head for the exit, stopping to let a boy cycle past, his hand raised towards us in greeting. I glance at my daughter, who raises her middle finger in response, then pull out onto the road. I’m torn between confusion and amusement. I know I should definitely not even be considering the latter, but I can’t help it. I’m still a dickhead, after all.
“So. What’s going on?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Skylar messaged me earlier to say that she had to stay an hour later at school for an assignment that the head teacher had given her. Not entirely trusting of her version of events, I called the school to confirm. Anya responded, telling me that the headmistress was too busy to come to the phone; but she confirmed what my daughter had told me. I have no idea if Jordan reallywasbusy, but I’ve chosen to believe it.
“So, what has the headmistress asked you to do?”
Skylar scoffs huffily. “I have to do extra lessons.”
“Lessons?”
“Maths, Science. Boring stuff.”
I couldn’t agree more, but I keep that particular opinion to myself.
“How come? Is it really going that badly? You’ve only just started – she could’ve waited a few weeks, couldn’t she?”
“It’s so that I can catch up with the year I missed. She doesn’t want me to waste any time.”
“Oh…of course. Well, I guess it’s a good thing, then?”
“She’s assigned a nerd to tutor me.”
“A nerd.”
“What would you call them?”
“I don’t know, it depends… What exactly are we talking about, here?”
“The top of our year. He’s in line for an academic scholarship at Trinity College – something about molecular Biology or something. Why the fuck should I know?” She raises her voice.
“If you knew that, you probably wouldn’t need him to tutor you.”
“Whose side are you on, Kerry?” she yells from the passenger seat.
“Yours, obviously.”
Not particularly mature from my part, but I have to win her trust, don’t I?
