Page 121 of Grin and Bear It

“Oh!” The man’s eyebrows shot up, then he smiled. “Nothing worse than food poisoning. Perhaps we should call your guardians in and get you home?”

“No, I should be fine. Just needed to throw up,” Maddox replied quickly. “But I’ll go to the front office if it gets worse.”

“Yes, well, we should be getting back to class then?” Jacobs suggested, an eyebrow rising.

“Yes, sir,” both boys said.

Jacobs preceded them and they followed behind thankfully. Anything to get the adult away from that drawing.

“Everyone’s turning on Miss…” Maddox swallowed as they walked back to class. “Ellie. But why? When Uncle Cole pulled up outside the school, people thought it was cool, then weird, but they didn’t make that much of a deal about it.”

“You get tagged in anything?” Knox asked his brother. Maddox pulled out his phone and scrolled quickly through his notifications, then shook his head. “We’ll work it out.”

Knox sounded a lot more confident than he felt, especially when they walked back into class. Ellie directed them back to their work, but it wasn’t the teacher that held their attention. It was the snorts of barely suppressed laughter, the sneers from the back row that had them forcing their feet forward, then taking a seat.

Something was wrong, very wrong, and the boys knew they had to be the ones to find out.

Chapter60

Working with teenagers was always a bit like herding cats. The younger they were, the moodier and more volatile. I could tell something was… off. Kids wouldn’t look me in the eye and there was a vibe… It was like being back at high school myself, as a student. People side-eyeing you, smirking, like they knew something that you didn’t, but the difference now was I was an adult. I didn’t let it bother me, or at least show that it did. Whatever you gave energy to in a classroom multiplied exponentially, so I ignored it. The kids worked on the task I’d set, but they took a lot longer than normal, so that just as we got to the group discussion stage, the bell went.

“Leave the worksheets on the tables,” I told them as they all jumped to their feet, “and head down to the gym. We’ve got a whole school assembly. Felicity?”

Whatever Spidey sense I had, it went into overdrive when the girl approached my desk reluctantly, her eyes flicking everywhere but at me.

“I marked your essay and I think you should submit it for the Simpson Prize this year.” It was a quite lucrative history prize open to high school students.

“OK.”

That’s all the reply I got, her friends hanging back, shooting wary looks my way before they turned and formed almost an honour guard around Felicity when she returned to the fold.

Something was definitely up.

I frowned slightly, writing myself a note to follow up with her other teachers, see if she was acting alright in other classes, but then I hustled down to the gym myself, moving on the stragglers before joining the entire student body.

And that’s when it all went to hell.

I’d felt like nothing could touch me after the last few days. Every day I woke up in a golden haze that even my many alarms couldn’t pierce, but that light seemed to shiver when I entered the hall. Kids turned to look at me. They often did that to teachers at the start of assembly, knowing we were going to move them away from their friendship groups and into lines soon, but there was something more. Boys stared with frank insolence, some snickering as they looked at their phones, then back at me and that’s when I drew closer. Nothing good came from being intimidated by them. Male students would sometimes posture, try to intimidate female staff, but they only persisted if it worked. I met their gaze squarely and made sure my tone was calm as I said, “Phones away, fellas and lets move into lines.”

“Nah…”

I didn’t have Steve Gilbert in my classes, but I’d heard his name often enough. Only a little guy, he was all mouth and attitude. Other teachers raged and lamented in the staffroom about his behaviour, but he’d largely ignored me, until now.

“Guys, I’m not going to argue with you,” I said in a long-suffering tone. “Put the phones away, or Miss Cleary will come along and take them.”

“Yeah?” I watched in disbelief as Steve got to his feet, and I wondered at the restless shift of his body language. And everyone near us watched him, too. Quiet fell over our side of the gym, as if every year 10 student had paused what they were doing to watch this situation unfold. “Maybe I’ve got something to show her on it.”

“OK,” I said, with a frown. “Well, she’s over there—” I was about to point her out, when Knox leapt to his feet.

“Siddown, Steve.”

“Thanks, Knox,” I said, with a calm I didn’t feel, “but I’ve got this. Sit down and—”

“Or what?” The situation was ridiculous. Steve barely made it up to Knox’s chest, yet the guy bristled with aggression. “You gonna stand up for your slut aunty?”

“What?”

The question was blurted out before I could even think, my ears ringing, my heart beating too loud. I’d heard some shit about me before this, but nothing on this level. I looked around wildly for backup, my head feeling like it was moving too slow, time dripping like treacle, not ticking by. But as I searched for another adult, one with more authority than me, I heard the words.

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