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Reclining back into her grey, plastic chair, Natalia whispered herself a few words of encouragement, pressed a kiss against the banana peel she held in her hands, then tossed it across the classroom. It landed in the bin with a satisfying thud. She turned proudly to face Jake.
"What did I tell you? I'm a pro." She held out a hand. "Now 'fess up."
"Beginner's luck," Jake mumbled, reluctantly giving the girl a tenner.
It was period one on a Friday morning. Only a few minutes had passed since the clock had ticked to 8 o'clock and Natalia was yet to fully erase the desire to return to bed from her mind. The autumnal sunlight was pouring through the open blinds of the first-floor Biology classroom and it was giving the Hamill girl a headache already. She had asked around for paracetamol, but nobody had been able to fulfil her request. Not even stoner Effy (although Natalia supposed if she had ever had any paracetamol, she would have snorted it already).
Despite dreading the school week's final day, Natalia did have to admit that at least it was some peace compared to the previous Thursday night. Never in her life had she expected one babysitting job to be so eventful. For some reason, Sue and Pete had still paid her (and quite handsomely). It seemed they had dumped all of the blame on Jake.
Sue had known instantly who Benji belonged to and had quickly returned him to his grateful owners and she had dismissed the paint-covered kitchen, saying their house often looked worse and she would rectify it in the morning. Natalia hadn't been planning on sticking around, but Mrs Brockman had invited the girl into the kitchen for a chat and a cup of tea, since Ben and Karen had been put to bed, while Pete would 'have a word' with Jake.
Natalia apologised for everything that had happened, but Sue shook her head and absolved her of any culpability.
"No, no, it's not your fault at all, my love. I should have known Ben and Karen were too much for one person to handle and Jake should have done more to help."
This made her feel particularly guilty, as Jake had done more than enough to help.
Aside from this, Natalia had to admit that it was lovely having a girl talk with the Brockman matriarch. Knowing that Sue (and Pete) didn't blame her whatsoever made her much more relieved and she enjoyed chatting with Mrs Brockman about her and her husband's evening, while she in return asked about her school life. The conversation might have been more enjoyable, however, if Natalia couldn't hear Jake receiving a bollocking from Pete in the living room the whole time.
Natalia did notice Sue looking curiously at what she was wearing a couple of times, but either she didn't realise the clothes belonged to her son or she was too polite to say.
Now, the next day, Jake and Natalia found themselves in their Biology class, where they had been paired as sex education partners in the lesson prior. They were supposed to be discussing what their project was going to be, but had spent most of the lesson so far talking about the previous night and taking part in childish bets (such as, could Natalia throw a banana peel into a bin across the room? Answer, as it turned out: yes). The two were supposed to have been practising putting condoms on the fruit, but tossing the bananas about the room was much better entertainment.
