TEACHER TEACHER! [re-uploaded due technical issues with first upload]

Chapter 24- Overwhelmed

WARNING:
EMOTIONAL CONTENT.
Includes mentions of anxiety, stress and panic attacks.

A brand new week had begun, which for most students, would be full of tedious lessons and piles of homework. For Rowan Sterling, though, this week was ten times more stressful. He was a member of the school's debate team, and the annual Debate Competition was being held at the school this year. The usual time slot for the debate was during one session of the weekly year group assemblies. Due to the nature of the event, the whole school was subjected to news about it. In the assembly hall, the debate team and whichever year group that was supposed to have an assembly that day, would gather around. The rest of the students would watch a livestream of the debate from their tutor group classrooms.

BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.

Rowan's alarm blared, making him wake up almost immediately. Over the last few days, he slept through his alarms, and he only woke up because his younger siblings would bang on his door.

He hurried out of his room, barrelling into his mother. He held his arms out to grab her, but she was already on the floor before his brain actually moved his arms.

"Mum! Are you ok?"

"Yes, yes I'm fine!", she exclaimed, reaching up for his hand. "Why are you in such a rush?"

"Sorry, Mum. I was just paranoid I'd be late because I've been sleeping through my alarms lately."

"Yes, I know", she frowned. "Are your teachers working you too hard?"

Rowan shook his head. "No, they're not. I guess it's just the final school year blues."

"I don't think that's a real thing, Rowan."

"This girl in my year—Eloise Bhasin, she coined the phrase and is convinced its true", explained Rowan.

"Ah. I see."

His mother's blunt response confused Rowan. She must've noticed this, because she let out a quiet sigh.

"I remember all the stories you told about her. How she disrupted classes, almost got you removed from the Religious Inclusion club–"

"No, Mum, I never said that. I told you about how she stood up for a classmate when the teacher was picking on them, and how she fought a guy in the RI club who was making anti-sem*tic remarks", he clarified.

His mother's face softened.

"I know that's the way you see it, but–"

"Mum, that's not just how I saw it. That's what happened."

"Rowan... life isn't as black and white as that. She means well, I know. I've spoken to her foster parents a few times and, well, for all that she's been through... it's remarkable that she's as strong as she is."

Rowan's mother paused. Rowan wasn't sure if it was for dramatic effect, or if she was thinking about the best way to word whatever she wasn't going to say. Either way, it made Rowan feel uneasy.

"I don't want you to get mixed up in her antics, Rowan. Not when you've worked so hard to achieve all that you have. I'm not saying I want you to avoid her, or treat her horribly—far from it. I just... be wary, Rowan."

Rowan understood what his mother meant. It was the same thing she always meant. Life wasn't easy for his parents, and they had to endure a lot of hate when they moved to Marleyport. One slip up, one bad day and they'd only just add to the overwhelming negativity surrounding Judaism at the time. People just wanted any old excuse to further their own prejudice views. Actually, not much had changed since those days.