by Noël Cades
"I asked to see you before I spoke to your Headmaster," he said. "Are you alright?"
"I’m fine. Did they tell you what it was about?"
"Rather briefly and with odd phrasing over the telephone. I thought I would like to hear your side first," he said.
Somehow Richard made it easy for her to tell him. He was such a factual person. She explained about the dinner. "He’s not actually my teacher, he’s coaching cricket and he only joined this term. He’s a friend of Becky’s boyfriend." This was true but also a much more palatable way to put it, Alice thought.
"Is he rather older than you?"
Alice met his eyes directly. She didn’t want to lie to him. "Yes, he is," she admitted. "And he was very reluctant at first because of that. In fact he kept his distance as much as possible and it was me who kept trying to persuade him."
"I see. Is he the sort of man that your mother would find acceptable?"
This question threw Alice somewhat because she had never really considered it.
"Yes I think so. Not given his age, perhaps. But if she and you were to meet him socially, I think you would both like him."
"Then that should probably be arranged. But for now we’d better go and deal with your Headmaster."
Alice marvelled at Richard’s attitude. She had thought he would at least disapprove or show disappointment in her, but he seemed very neutral. Admittedly he’d never been angered with her or disciplined her as long as she could remember, though she had never really given him occasion to. The minor misdemeanours she got into around the house, such as leaving her laundry in the wrong place or staying out later than she had promised, were things her mother usually dealt with.
"You want me to come with you?" she asked.
"Yes. I don’t think there’s any point them seeing me separately. I have nothing to say on the subject that can’t be said before your ears, and I only know as much about it as you have told me."
He meant they should put on a united front even if he didn’t say it. Having dreaded her parents arriving, Alice now looked on Richard as some kind of champion.
* * *
A formal and awkward meeting was held in the Headmaster’s office, with both Mrs Paddington and Mr Francis present. Alice and Richard sat opposite them, Richard having drawn out a chair for Alice with his usual courtesy. Mr Francis would have expected her to stand but he could hardly ask her to do so now. It would look absurd after Richard’s gesture.
"I thought it would be useful for both Alice and I to attend this meeting and resolve this matter," Richard said. Alice had never seen Richard in a situation like this. He took a quiet command in a way that clearly disconcerted the two teachers opposite them.
"So the issue before us is that Alice was seen having dinner on Friday night with a member of your teaching staff?" Richard said.
"As you must be aware," Mr Francis said, desperate to regain ascendancy, "inappropriate relationships between pupils and teachers at Fairmount - at any school - are unacceptable."
"And it is your view that having dinner constitutes an inappropriate relationship?" Richard asked.
"Fraternising in private with a member of staff is absolutely inappropriate."
"I see. So with just four days of Alice’s time at Fairmount remaining, what course of action do you propose?"
Mrs Paddington glanced at Mr Francis. Alice could tell they were both furious but also uncomfortable. This was thanks to Richard.
"In the normal course of events Alice should face immediate expulsion," Mrs Paddington said.
"Which could not of course preclude her from completing her exams, even if other arrangements were required," Richard said. Alice wasn’t sure how he knew this. "How many classes do you have left, Alice?"
Having now missed the today’s session she had only one class left, an Economics revision class on Wednesday morning. The more she thought about it the more absurd this whole situation was, Alice thought. Why on earth didn’t they just overlook it and let it go?
"Arrangements can be made for teaching notes from that class to be sent on," Mr Francis said.
Richard frowned slightly. "Might it be reasonable to suggest that Alice’s exclusion from Fairmount might distract other pupils at a time when you would doubtless prefer their full attention to be focused on their studies?" he said.
"I’m not quite sure what you mean," Mr Francis said.
"And the publicity that so often results from these situations, always a considerable disruption throughout the school and wider community," Richard continued.
He had hit their weak point. Bad publicity was the last thing they wanted.
"Alice has, as I am sure you would agree, been an exemplary pupil at Fairmount as her future career plans demonstrate. Without wishing to employ the cliché of mountain and molehill, surely the most sensible course of action, given no actual illegal act has occurred, would be to allow her to finish her exams and farewell the school in due course."
Mr Francis shifted in his chair. He really was a weaselly little man, Alice thought. Mrs Paddington’s lips were set in a tight line.
"I think Mrs Paddington and I will discuss this between ourselves," he said. "If you would care to wait outside for a short while, we will inform you of our decision as quickly as possible."
Alice knew she and Richard had won. But Mr Francis wanted to present their victory as his idea and his judgement. They returned to the reading room.
"This should take all of five minutes," Richard said, looking at his watch. They sat there in companionable silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
Sure enough within ten minutes Mrs Paddington reappeared. "If you will come this way once again," she said.
Alice’s hopes were realised. Mr Francis uttered a stuttering, pompous little speech about exceptional circumstances and granting Alice the special privilege of being allowed to remain at Fairmount, with the condition that she was to have no contact with the male member of staff in question within or outside school until the school term was complete. Which, Alice calculated, was in about seventy-two hours time.
25. Scandal
Alice walked with Richard back to his car. She may as well have gone home now since there was only lunch and an unsupervised revision session that afternoon. And tennis, but most people skived off now with the excuse that they were revising. The games mistress had finally given up on them.
And it was a glorious day. The kind of day for not being in school, stuck in a classroom.
"Thank you so much for everything you did," she said. "I am very sorry, I really didn’t want to upset you and Mum."
Richard turned to her. "Naturally your mother is somewhat shocked and anxious, Alice. For my own part I was surprised but all things considered, I have every confidence in you. You have always been responsible and excelled throughout school, and there doesn’t appear to have been any disruption to your exams."
Alice felt both uplifted and slightly ashamed by this, as she hadn’t been upfront with them about a lot of things recently.
"I’d never jeopardise that."
"I am sure you wouldn’t." Richard stopped to talk to Alice before he opened his car door. "It’s an unusual time, the end of school. Legally you are of course all adults but remain constrained within the school environment. I’ve often wondered if a less structured approach would be more appropriate. Easier perhaps for both teaching staff and pupils to strike a balance between rules and freedom."
Alice agreed. "Last year wasn’t so bad. But this year it seems that we do a lot of things for the sake of doing them."
"I suppose the school needs to keep some form of order and routine. Don’t worry about your mother, I will assure her that everything’s fine."
He drove off leaving Alice feeling rather stranded. She didn’t really know what she should be doing. She didn’t really want to show up half way through the Economics revision class to a load of inquisitive eyes.
She was relieved that Richard had saved the day bu
t also strangely deflated. It was as though she had been offered a sudden glimpse of sheer freedom which was now snatched back. If they had expelled her she could have gone anywhere, done anything right now. As it was she had to go back to school and keep her head down.
Still, just a few more days and she would finally be free.
* * *
Jules and Becky cornered her at lunch, wanting to know what had happened. They were shocked when Alice told them.
"I wonder who can have seen you?" Becky asked.
"Someone prepared to sneak," Jules said. "Most likely a teacher I would think. I can’t imagine anyone else reporting it except for someone like Maddy."
Alice thought the same. "I don’t think it was Maddy though because she would have given me looks earlier today and she didn’t. I’m sure it was a member of staff. I suppose they had to report it if they saw us."
"What’s happened to him, has he been fired?" Becky asked.
Alice had been worrying about this. "I have no idea. I haven’t seen him all day."
"I bet he won’t be," Jules said. "After all, he’s not quite a teacher, is he? And they need him for the cricket, the First Eleven are doing amazingly. It would be such a scandal if they fired him. They couldn’t hush it up because parents would ask where the coach was."
It was true that Stewart Walker had transformed Fairmount’s cricketing fortunes. For a school that took pride in sport this made him very valuable.
Alice considered how awful it would be for him if the cricket team found out. He’d been annoyed enough when the Gloucester team were having a go. But if the boys he actually coached knew he was seeing one of their classmates it would be far worse.
"I shouldn’t worry. He’s pretty tough, he’ll just brush it off. Besides they wouldn’t dare make remarks like Graeme and the lads do," Jules said.
"I hope so." Alice was getting a better idea of why he had held off for so long. She hadn’t really considered the consequences seriously enough. Exposure for him was far worse than for her.
"I just can’t believe Richard came good for you like that," Jules said. "He always seems so detached."
"He notices more than you might realise," Alice said. She had only started realising this herself recently. Richard gave the impression of being removed from mundane things but he was still very observant and aware of what was going on.
"Anyway, I’m absolutely banned from going anywhere near him - Stewart - for the next few days. So I daren’t even find him to ask him if he’s ok."
"If you’re banned from seeing him then it’s all the more likely he hasn’t been sacked," Jules said.
Becky suggested that they could go and find him on Alice’s behalf.
"Better not, he’ll probably want to keep well away from us all for now," Jules said.
The conversation moved on to other things. There was a leaving party being held at Gas, a local nightclub, on the Friday night, not just for Fairmount but for school leavers from other schools too. Becky was keen for everyone to go as it would be the last time that many of their other school friends were all together. Jules had reluctantly agreed as Leafy apparently hadn’t made any arrangements with her for that night.
Alice was torn between going and seeing Stewart.
"Do both. Go to his place afterwards," Jules suggested.
"You can’t miss it," Becky said. "I know it’s only Gas but everyone will be there."
They were also planning what they would do with their time after next week. Alice would be working more shifts at the veterinary surgery throughout the summer to save more for her gap year trip. Becky’s father had got her a part time job in a nursing home. Jules was angling for a job in a bar but these were rare and hard to get at this time of year, since university students were returning home for the holidays and usually grabbed them all.
"So much freedom!" Jules said. "Literally no one telling me what to do any more."
"Except for your parents."
"They’ll ease off assuming I get all my A-levels."
"The results don’t come out until August," Becky said.
Alice wondered what the wait was going to be like. Once the euphoria of finishing the last exam and leaving school had died down, would it hang over their summer like a dark, oppressive cloud? They would have to find some way to forget about it. Focusing on a really solid Plan B might help.
But she didn’t really want to do anything except veterinary science. Plan B was repeating her exams and having a second shot, though that also mean saying farewell to her travel plans. And to visiting Australia.
* * *
Back home Alice braced herself for the worst. Her mother, as she had anticipated, was more worried than angry. And more angry with him than with Alice.
"What kind of a man can he be, Alice, to go after a girl your age?"
Alice tried to explain that Stewart was the one who had held off while she had pursued him, but her mother was unconvinced.
"He still had a choice. Divorced as well. Why can’t you find a nice boy your own age?"
The fact was that Alice hadn’t really been looking for anyone. What with A-levels and her summer plans, it was the worst time to meet anyone, least of all seriously. She tried to explain this to her mother.
"This just happened, and I didn’t know I was going to feel this way. But it doesn’t change anything. I’m not about to emigrate like Becky is," Alice said.
Her mother was not convinced. "Richard thinks we should meet him and I agree. You may be eighteen and free to do what you like, but while you live here we would like to be aware of who your friends are. We’ll have him over for dinner next week."
Alice really did not want this. She imagined it could only be hideously awkward but she didn’t have much choice.
"I’ll see if he’s free."
"I just hope this hasn’t affected your exams," her mother continued. "You know how important this term is. You’re far too young to be dating this man, especially at a time like this."
It was no point arguing the last point. "My exams are going fine, honestly," Alice said. "We revised exactly the right material for Biology and all the questions I was hoping for came up. And Chemistry was fine too."
Her mother looked at her. Her face showed her usual love but also concern. It made Alice feel guilty as she hated worrying her mother.
"I just don’t want you to be unhappy, darling. Something like this can’t end well."
"Why not?" Alice asked.
But her mother wouldn’t give a reason. "Let’s meet him first and we’ll talk about it later."
He rang her later that evening and fortunately Alice was the one who picked up the phone. It was in the hall which gave her some privacy.
"How are you? I wanted to see you earlier but I was worried it would get you into more trouble. What did the Head decide?" he asked.
She loved hearing his voice. His accent, his tone. After one of the worst days of her life she no longer felt alone. "I’m not expelled. Nearly, but Richard - my stepdad - saved the day. I’m completely forbidden from any contact with you though. At least until after Thursday."
He laughed. "I think I can possibly wait that long."
"What about you? They didn’t fire you?"
"No. A rap on the knuckles, though I offered to resign."
Alice asked if Mr Francis had told him who had seen them.
"He just said 'one of the staff'."
Exactly as Alice had thought. It would have been all round school if it had been another pupil, though probably would be by Thursday anyway. These things always got out. She wasn’t sure how she felt about everyone knowing, but so close to the end of term maybe it didn’t really matter.
"I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you," he said.
She told him it was fine. She was just happy that he had wanted to be there though she didn’t tell him. "Another thing, my parents want you to come over for dinner next week." It was a statement not an invitation as she was anxious he would r
efuse.
"Which day?"
Alice felt hugely relieved. She wasn’t sure how she had been expecting him to respond but he sounded as though he didn’t even see it as a problem. But she thought she should better warn him. "They want to check you out."
"Of course they do. I’m thankful it’s dinner and not a shotgun."
Once again she was relieved and impressed by how he just took things in his stride. Nothing seemed to faze him. "So do all the other staff know?" she asked him.
"Not that I know of. I’m sure word will get around," he said.
She felt bad. "I’m sorry." After all, she got to escape in a few days. He still had to face everyone.
"It’s not your fault. And in case you’re worried, I don’t regret a thing."
Something in his voice thrilled her but also scared her a little. It was the enormity of it all, what she had brought them both to. She wished she could be with him now so he could put his arms around her and make everything ok. She wanted to close her eyes and shut out the rest of the world. How she longed for this week to be over.
26. Dumped
The first Economics exam on Tuesday went reasonably well. So Alice was surprised when Jules wasn’t in school on Wednesday. It was their last Economics revision class before the final exam so where on earth was she?
No one at school seemed to know, and as Alice was trying to keep a low profile herself she didn’t like to ask any of the teachers.
So she went round to Jules’ house after school to discover Jules a tear-stained lump of misery in her bedroom, with all the curtains closed.
"What’s wrong? You weren’t on the sick register."
"I’m not sick, I’m broken," Jules said.
It was Leafy. Unbeknownst to Jules he had also been seeing another girl and had been quite blithe about it when Jules found out. "Apparently he thought I would have known. Free love or some such bullshit like that."