Page 8 of Grin and Bear It

“Their parents are poly…” I stopped myself. “Were in a polyamorous relationship. There was Mum and four dads.”

“Right, right…” Michelle tapped that out as well.

“The boys got access to a… well…revealing photo of Ellie,” June continued, with a pinched expression on her face.

“Revealing?” Michelle’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of thing are we talking about here? Is this some kind of revenge porn thing? Because that’s a crime now and—”

“No.” I put a hand on Michelle’s arm and the she halted her offensive. I sighed. “They came across a holiday snap of me in a bikini.” My union rep’s eyes got very hard at that detail, and the full force of her fiery gaze was directed entirely at June.

“A bikini? Really, June?” Michelle settled back in her chair. “That’s what this is all about?”

“Yes, well, when young male students have access to pictures—” June spluttered.

“Have access?!” Michelle’s glare had June losing her air of condescension and authority, as much as her outraged tone cut through the AP’s blethering. She drew herself up in her chair beside me and pinned June with a steely look, one I was familiar with. From when I had first started at the school, Michelle always seemed effortlessly intimidating, towards staff as well as students, and I had learned quickly not to get her ‘dickhead’ look (the one she gave you when she thought you were acting like a fool). But to see it being directed at someone else, and on my behalf? Well, I admit I was nursing a tiny little girl crush on her. She looked down her nose at June and raised an eyebrow before commencing a barrage of questions. “Were the photos found on the school server?”

“Well, no—”

“Were they disseminated in class?”

“No, but—”

“Sent via text, email or any other transmission service that can be traced back to El here?”

“Err… no,” June finally admitted and with that she deflated a little. “When I spoke with them, the boys said they had got access to the photos, and made clear that Ellie didn’t send them to her students, but…” In what seemed like an attempt to gather some of her lost power back under her, she fixed her gaze back on me. “How did they access them in the first place? I know we all like using social media but—”

“For the love of god, you better not be trying to dictate to a contract teacher about what she can and can’t put on social media, beyond the official department guidelines, Juney,” Michelle snapped. “Or so help me—”

“It was all on my private Instagram account,” I said, hurriedly, putting my unlocked phone on the desk to show them. “I have only, like, fifty friends on my profile, all people I went to uni or school with. No students, no staff, no connection to the school whatsoever.” My voice was blessedly firm now. “I have no idea how the boys got access to my private photos. But… can we focus on the real issue here?”

As I glanced between the two women, they fell quiet, waiting for me to continue.

“I was doing a morning share at the start of first lesson, as we’ve all been encouraged to do.” We’d had a professional development day on working to develop stronger relationships with students and that had been put forward as an effective strategy to implement. “But during that, the boys made an… inappropriate comment about me and then showed the photo to the class. I directed them to go outside while I got everyone working on a simple task, and I was trying to find out what the hell had happened when you walked down the hall, June.”

I should have derived some pleasure from seeing June squirm before me, the tables turned, but I didn’t feel it. This was a mess, a big fat hairy mess, and I needed to sort it out, because I had to walk right back into my classroom and fix the damage that had been done.

“Sounds to me like the perfect way to deal with a difficult issue in a low stakes way,” Michelle said, leaning forward and putting her elbows on the edge of the desk. “Wouldn’t you say so, June?”

“Of course.” The AP’s whole upper body was so stiff it appeared to hurt her physically to bend it as she nodded at me. “I apologise for barging in as you were dealing with the issue, but I hope you can understand that I was obviously concerned.”

“Of course,” I replied, smiling even though I didn’t feel like it. “I would be too if some students told me that one of my colleagues was sharing revealing photos with them.”

“Right, well, now that’s sorted out—”

“But it's not, is it?” Michelle said, laying out everything I was thinking and more. “Those boys pulled a shitty prank, making El feel unsafe in the classroom, right El?”

“Um… yeah?” If there was ever a time I felt like a child amongst the adults, it was here when I wasn’t quite sure where Michelle was heading.

“So what do we need to do to move beyond this?” June said, shaking her head with a sigh. “I suppose I’ll have to ask the twins’ guardians to come in for a meeting.”

“Why don’t I just call them?” I suggested, running with the idea I’d had for weeks, then blinked, wondering if I should back-pedal. “I mean to say—”

“Seems like the best course of action,” Michelle said. “The twins are obviously acting out, and for some reason they’re doing so around El. She needs to take back ownership of the situation and reinstate her authority over the class.”

After June had taken it away, was what was implied but unspoken. Despite that being very clear to all of us, the AP’s eyes narrowed as she looked at me.

“You need to remember that you’ll be representing the school during that phone call, and I don’t think I need to point out that the situation is a fragile one.” As she said just that.

“I’m very aware of that,” I replied. “I’ll be professional at all times and report back on how it goes, but…” I looked at my watch. “It’ll have to be after school. I’ve got yard duty right now and then another class.”

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