by A. E. Radley
“Really?” Rosie asked, seeming doubtful.
“Really,” Alice confirmed. “Because bullies are the biggest cowards of them all. The only way they can make themselves feel good is to pull other people down. And it’s up to people like you to tell them that that isn’t a nice thing to do.”
“I don’t know if I want to,” Rosie confessed.
“What if I help you? What if I make sure that Colin apologises?”
Rosie mulled the thought over for a few moments before finally nodding her head.
“Good,” Alice said. “How does that feel?” She indicated the plaster on Rosie’s forehead.
“All better,” Rosie said.
Alice smiled. She wished all injuries could be healed by a measure of distraction and the feel of safety. Obviously, Rosie’s cut hadn’t vanished, but the youngster felt as if it had. That was enough.
Her thoughts turned to Colin Whittaker, how she would attempt to speak to him and get him to understand that his behaviour was wrong. It was usually a job for the headmaster, but Alice knew that she’d have to take it on. Much the same as the decorating. She wondered what other tasks outside of her remit she would end up taking on.
She looked at Rosie’s smiling face, though, and knew in that second that she’d do anything to keep her students safe and happy and looking at her in the way Rosie was doing right then.
14 STEVE THE BRICK
If Hannah hadn’t been so angry and frightened, she would have marvelled at her ability to race through so many emotions in such a short space of time. When she’d stepped through the dreaded school gates, she’d quickly encountered excitement, confusion, concern, fear, and, finally, fury.
Seeing Rosie on the school step, her hand in Miss Spencer’s, had been intriguing. Right up until she noticed the sticking plaster on her daughter’s forehead and the nervous look on Miss Spencer’s face.
She’d jogged across the playground, kneeling in front of Rosie and checking her over for any other injuries.
“What happened?” she demanded.
“There was a slight altercation in the playground this afternoon,” Miss Spencer explained calmly. “I assure you that Rosie is fine. I just wanted to explain it to you myself.”
“Altercation?” Hannah blinked. “You mean a fight.”
“No, not a fight,” Miss Spencer replied quickly.
“Colin pushed me, and I fell,” Rosie explained.
Hannah felt the breath leave her lungs. Colin. The little bastard. She reminded herself that it was wrong to murder children, and probably frowned upon to give them a solid kick in the shins.
“He… he pushed you?” She couldn’t understand why Colin would react that way. What could Rosie possibly have done to upset him?
Rosie nodded. Hannah glanced down and noticed a bruise on her daughter’s knee. She started checking her over more thoroughly for any other injuries.
“It’s okay, Miss Spencer made him apologise to me,” Rosie continued. “In front of the whole class.”
Hannah looked at Rosie’s face. She seemed okay. The public apology had obviously cheered her up, but Hannah was still fresh to the situation, reeling from the news that someone had pushed her baby girl down.
“Why did he push you? I don’t understand.”
“He said that you were a lesbian,” Rosie said.
Hannah bit her lip and looked down at the stone step Rosie stood on. She’d always been open and honest with Rosie about her sexuality. She wanted her daughter to grow up with an understanding and appreciation that all people were different, and that those differences were to be celebrated and not hidden. But children like Colin, and no doubt Colin’s parents whom she classified as children, didn’t feel that way.
Rosie being the victim of bullying was her worst nightmare. Her being the reason for that bullying was the icing on the nightmare cake.
“Kids can be cruel, especially about things they don’t understand,” Miss Spencer said softly. “But I had a long conversation with Colin this afternoon, and I can assure you that this won’t be repeated.”
Hannah stood shakily. Rosie looked fine. Kids bounced back a lot easier than adults most of the time. Meanwhile, she knew it would take some time for her to come to terms with the fact that her sexuality had caused her daughter problems at school.
“Mummy, I don’t want to go swimming tonight. My plaster might fall off.” Rosie gestured to her forehead with the hand that wasn’t tightly fastened to Miss Spencer’s.
“It’s a small graze, but I felt it best to keep it clean,” Miss Spencer added.
Hannah nodded distractedly. She wasn’t too concerned about Rosie’s injuries, she trusted Miss Spencer. If there was something more serious, then she would have noticed and informed her of it. It seemed to be a case of a graze, a bruise or two, and a shaken little girl. Her goal now was to soothe Rosie and make sure she had a nice evening to replace the memories of the upsetting afternoon.
Her daughter was still clutching Miss Spencer’s hand. Hannah hoped this meant that there was a small silver lining: they had finally had a breakthrough and Rosie was now more comfortable with her teacher.
An idea formed in her mind.
“Seems we have a free evening,” Hannah said. She looked at Miss Spencer and raised her eyebrow.
Miss Spencer looked at her for a moment before the penny seemed to drop.
“Oh, I’m free this evening, too.”
Hannah looked down at Rosie.
“Pumpkin, Miss Spencer spoke to me earlier about giving you some more tests and answering some questions to see just how big that big brain of yours is. What do you think? Would you like to do that?”
She already knew Rosie would love the idea. Tests and questions were like sugar to Rosie.
The girl looked from her teacher to her mother with excitement in her eyes. “Really?”
“Really,” Hannah confirmed.
“I’d love to ask you some questions if you feel up to it,” Miss Spencer asked. “I think you’re finding your schoolwork a little too easy. I need to find something that you’ll find a bit more challenging.”
“What do you think?” Hannah asked. “I can’t believe I’m asking a child of mine this, but do you want to spend a couple more hours in school?”
Rosie nodded so hard her head nearly fell off.
“Wonderful.” Miss Spencer smiled, and Hannah couldn’t help but smile back.
She watched as teacher and student turned and entered the building. She took a much-needed deep breath and a moment to gather her thoughts before following them.
* * *
Hannah was bored. Obviously, she wanted to support her daughter’s education, but she could only look interested in schoolwork for so long before her true feelings on the matter shone through.
They were back in the form room. Miss Spencer was sitting beside Rosie at her desk, guiding her through workbooks and exercise sheets in a soft tone. Hannah had taken a seat near them and tried to follow along, but it hadn’t been long before boredom set in.
She’d always half-heartedly wondered if she had some form of attention deficit disorder. Paying attention to anything was a struggle. Trying to remain focused on something she found dull was actually impossible.
While the subject matter was tedious, the person behind it was not. It was clear to see that Miss Spencer was brilliant with Rosie. She offered her encouragement and praise where necessary, giving her a slight clue or push at the right moments.
When Hannah became a mother, she had discovered something very interesting about the people around her. Some were naturally good at speaking to children, and some… were not. Most people had good intentions, but some were just not good with children at all. Some spoke down to Rosie, as if she were a baby even when she was old enough to tie her own shoes. Some asked her silly questions, and some tried to avoid talking to her altogether.
It wasn’t something she’d ever noticed before, but it became clear that some people had
a way with children and some people didn’t. Miss Spencer absolutely did. Not just because she was a teacher, it seemed ingrained in her. She seemed to be naturally good with people, able to read a room or a situation and respond to it well.
Rosie hung off her every word, soaking up any praise and nodding along as explanations were given.
While Miss Spencer was occupied with her student, Hannah took in her side profile. Her hair was tucked behind her ear, and her skin crinkled at her eye as she focused. Her smile and laugh were infectious.
Too infectious.
Hannah blinked a few times and looked away. Now was not the time to be having impure thoughts, or any thoughts, about her daughter’s teacher. Her eyes drifted towards the corner of the room that had recently been painted. A snigger left her lips without permission.
“Something amusing about my decorating skills?” Miss Spencer asked.
“Yes, they’re terrible,” Hannah replied honestly.
“It’s not my fault the walls haven’t seen any moisture for so long that they are soaking up all the paint.”
Hannah got up and walked over to the wall to inspect it more closely. She turned back to look at Miss Spencer, who was watching her with an amused smile.
“Terrible. I’m going to have to give you a one-star review on Google Maps,” Hannah said seriously.
“Only one? I did manage to get some paint on.”
Hannah tsked and shook her head. She looked down at the paint pots and brushes which had been left in the corner, hidden away from the children.
“May I?”
“Oh, no, that’s not necessary. Really,” Miss Spencer said. “I wouldn’t want you to ruin your clothes.”
“I’ll be careful. And I’d like to do something. I’m not much help with what you’re doing, and this will keep me occupied.”
“Mummy gets bored easily,” Rosie added without looking up from her work.
“Thanks, sweetie,” Hannah said with a shake of her head.
Miss Spencer looked amused. Her lips curled into yet another dazzling smile, and Hannah hurried to distract herself with the paint supplies.
Before long she had set up a dust sheet and was happily applying paint to the crumbling wall as she listened to the soft sounds of Rosie and Miss Spencer talking about verbs and multiplication. It was strangely nice. Hannah hadn’t thought she’d experience anything other than misery at Willows School, but now she found herself carefully applying paint to the wall of her old form room.
Below her calm exterior, fury still bubbled away that someone had assaulted her sweet, tiny daughter. Because of her. She knew there was nothing she could do. The moment had passed, it had been dealt with, and Rosie was on her way to forgetting about it. But the fact that it had happened at all, and the knowledge that it might happen again, ate at her.
She didn’t know why her sexuality was a topic of conversation for Fairlight. It wasn’t like she was dating anyone. Okay, she had dated before Rosie came along. And she’d had the most poorly thought out relationship ever while she was in the early stages of pregnancy. Pregnancy brain and the shock of impending motherhood had sent her to a lesbian bar in the nearest city with a friend. Abi had been drunk, but Hannah had been sober and should have known better. They’d dated for a month. It had been loud, messy, and very public.
“Is that brick in particular your favourite?”
Miss Spencer’s rich voice pulled her back to the present. She realised she’d been painting the same three square inches for some time.
“Yes. I call him Steve,” she replied.
“Oh, have you named all the bricks?”
“Of course, classes were long and dull, what else was I to do?” Hannah winked. She noticed that Rosie was nowhere in sight and realised that her little trip down memory lane had been a more absorbing than she’d thought.
“She’s popped to the bathroom. We’re all done,” Miss Spencer answered her questioning look.
“Dare I ask?” Hannah held her breath, awaiting the judgement on her daughter’s future education. She knew most parents would be besides themselves with joy to find out that their child had exceptional skills and tried to keep that in mind.
“She’s… gifted. Very gifted. I have a lot to review within the paperwork we’ve just completed. There are gaps in her knowledge, but they stem more from learning the correct processes rather than the base knowledge.”
“You’ve lost me,” Hannah confessed.
“When we attend school, we don’t just learn facts and figures, we learn how to reach conclusions and the manner in which to solve equations. Rosie can read very well, she can retain knowledge—I suspect a photographic memory is at play—and her math skills are incredible. But she struggles when presented with a problem that she doesn’t know how to solve because she’s never been taught the process.”
“That makes sense. So, what now?”
“I’ll develop a new lesson plan for her. It’s not as easy as saying she is at a certain point in the curriculum. I wouldn’t want her to skip ahead and miss out on key foundational things. It’s about identifying what she knows, what she needs to learn, and the best way to teach her. She’s way ahead of the rest of her class, and even if they were learning the same thing at the same time, she would catch on much faster.”
Hannah felt a sinking feeling. A different lesson plan, skipping ahead. Neither of these things were going to help Rosie make friends with her classmates.
Miss Spencer looked nervously towards the door and then back towards Hannah. She wrung her hands together and licked her lips.
“Um, I wanted to ask… Considering what, well, what was said. That is to say, what I know, even though it wasn’t directly said to me, but we can’t put the bolted horse back in the stable… I was wondering if you’d, well, if you’d like to go for a drink? I mean, with me. A drink with me. If you’d like. I mean, I don’t know if you’re seeing anyone. If you are, then I’m sorry, but—”
“I’m not seeing anyone,” Hannah said, cutting off the woman’s adorable, nervous rambling. “I don’t really get much time to go out for a drink, though.”
Miss Spencer’s face fell. “Of course, of course, that was a stupid thing to say. You’re a mother, of course you don’t exactly get a lot of time off. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
Hannah realised that her words sounded like a brush-off. A polite thanks, but no thanks. It was an opportunity to leave it there, to go no further, but her words hadn’t been a no. In fact, for a brief second, she’d actually considered the logistics of going out for a drink with the woman.
Dating was supposed to be very firmly off the table. But there was something about this woman that drew Hannah to her.
“How about dinner instead? You could come over to my place.” The words were out of Hannah’s mouth before she had a chance to stop herself.
Miss Spencer’s face morphed from embarrassment to delight in a split second. “That sounds wonderful, but I wouldn’t want to impose.”
“You won’t. We’d love to have you. You’re Rosie’s new favourite person.”
Her smile could guide ships to safety from the Fairlight cliffs, she thought.
“Miss Spencer, can I take one of the KS3 maths tests home?” Rosie asked as she practically skipped into the classroom.
“Absolutely, let’s get one from the cupboard.”
Hannah watched as they shuffled through paperwork. She wondered how she’d managed to get caught up in a date with her daughter’s teacher. Dating was supposed to be off limits until Rosie was much older. And dating someone who was so far out of her league could only lead to heartbreak.
It’ll be fine, she reminded herself before panic set in. It will be a date or two, and then it will fizzle out. Once she sees how we live and she realises how time-consuming it is to be a single parent, she’ll be gone.
15 DINNER ABOVE THE POST OFFICE
Alice looked at her reflection in her full-length bedroom mirror and tilted
her head to the side. The red dress was nice, but she wondered if it was too nice. It was Saturday night, and she was getting ready to go to the Halls’ apartment for dinner. A date. She still couldn’t believe she’d gained the courage to ask Hannah out on a date. The question had burst from her lips without her permission.
She also couldn’t believe she was stupid enough to ask the single mother of a five-year-old out for a drink. Thank goodness Hannah had recovered the conversation and offered her an olive branch in the shape of a dinner at her home.
She had been surprised when Hannah had offered the compromise, and from the look on Hannah’s face she’d been just as surprised as Alice had been.
She shook her head and stepped away from the mirror. The red dress was too nice, and it wasn’t practical. She reached back and tugged the zip down. She needed an outfit that was nice but casual. Something that she’d be able to move in, something that clearly gave the message to Hannah that this was a date, but also an outfit that wouldn’t scar Rosie for life.
She kicked off the dress and stood in front of her open wardrobe.
In her entire career, she’d never dated a parent of a student before. She knew teachers who had, and also knew that she’d have to advise Hardaker if things became serious. She wasn’t about to jeopardise her career or Rosie’s education due to any conflict of interest claims.
She considered a pair of smart black trousers. Elegant, could be dressed up or down. As she tugged them on, she remembered Hannah’s expression and the casual way she spoken about the dinner invitation.
It hadn’t been nerves, more a predetermined assessment that the date wouldn’t progress to much more. Something in Hannah’s tone and body language had screamed that she didn’t believe for a second that anything would come of the date. Alice got the impression that it was a dinner invite of politeness rather than genuine interest.
After some consideration, she’d decided that Hannah’s reaction had been the result of her ridiculous suggestion that they go out for a drink. Presumably that had given Hannah quite the wrong impression about her. Alice had just said the first thing that came into her mind, a drink. The classic way of suggesting that you’d like to see someone in a more relaxed setting.