Saving Nicole

1.5 - the conference

So apparently teachers go to conferences and lectures for fun?
Sage, the schools psychologist that I'd met in the staff room a few days ago had invited me to a teaching conference up in the city, and then we were going to get lunch somewhere. 

I decided to straighten my hair, just for a change from the curliness of it. I was sticking my tongue out in concentration as I tried to neatly flick out the electric blue eyeliner as my phone buzzed. I wear those big glasses, you know, the hipster-y ones with the black frames, because I'm as blind as a bat, and bright coloured eyeliners looks really good with glasses.
I picked up my phone; Sage had just texted me her address with a little smiley face. I grinned, and sent back Thanks, I'll be there in twenty with a little smiley too.

I juggled the banana that I had grabbed for breakfast, my bag, a pair of sunglasses, and a bottle of water as I tried to slip on my black ankle boots. After a few seconds I gave up, and dumped everything on the table in the hall before sitting on the floor to put on my boots. As I was zipping the second boot up, I let my eyes wander around, and they landed on the painting that we'd had in the entrance hall for as long as I can remember.
The painting that Sean did.

I glared at it for a second, and then glanced at my watch. I'd be late if I didn't hurry but...
I snatched the painting off the wall, the blues and greens in it a blur before my eyes. I rammed it against the wall, the painting facing the wall so I couldn't see it, to deal with when I got home.

"Ooh, Grace! Don't you look cute!" Sage exclaimed as I got out of my car at her place. "And your hair's straight! Is this natural, or are the curls natural?"

"Thanks, Sage!" I said with a grin. "The curls are my natural hair."

Sage nodded. "Cool. Have you met Elise yet? She's a sport teacher at Sandarra Heights. And my older sister. She can be fun - sometimes." Sage grinned, and Elise jokingly slapped her arm.

"Hello Grace! It's nice to finally meet you. And I can be very fun, so don't listen to my sister." I laughed, and we shook hands.

We all got into Sage's car, and started the half hour drive up to Melbourne where the conference was. Elise drove, and Sage and I sat in the back. They explained to me a bit about the conference. "It's not like a job requirement or anything like that," Sage said, "but the conferences are actually quite often a laugh."

"And you meet lots of people," Elise threw in.

"True! And it's a good excuse to go to the city for lunch," Sage said with a shrug.

The conference was in a old, large building. Melbourne has two types of buildings: old buildings full of history, and super modern looking ones beside them. It's like a patchwork of old and new. I've always loved it. Sean thought it looked a bit weird. He thought all the old buildings should of been torn down and rebuilt. I wonder if he's in the city right now?
Stop thinking about Sean.

It was set out like a theatre, with rows and rows of seat on two different levels angled at a stage with a podium. It was only just starting to fill as we arrived, and we had no trouble finding three seats next to each other on the bottom level. 

The first speaker was alright, I found him a little monotone and boring, and from the looks that Sage and Elise were giving me, they thought the same. 

It was the second speaker that changed everything.

His name was Harry Walker, and he was a teacher at one of Melbourne's elite grammar schools. "Two years ago, I had this student, Jack, in year ten. Jack isn't his real name, of course, but we'll just call hime Jack for the purposes of the story." He paused, and took a sip from his water bottle. It seemed like everyone here was drinking out of Voss water bottles, I wonder if they're a sponsor or something? "Anyway," he continued, "Jack was an incredibly smart boy. However, he just didn't try. Or care. Maybe both, I don't really know. But it seemed to me and every other teacher that he went out of his way to disrupt his own and other students education. He would talk back, not do his work in class or complete homework, and bully and torment other students."
Jack is Nicole. Nicole is Jack. They are one.
"I had just about had it with him, when my wife, who is the school's psychologist, came home one night gushing about how wonderful Jack was. At first I was sure we weren't talking about the same student, but after a bit it turned out it was indeed the same Jack that made my life harder. I asked her why, and she began to tell me about the conservation she had with him that day. She couldn't tell me much of it because of confidentiality and all that, however I really saw Jack in a different light. Basically, Jack mum was a single mother and had to constantly work to pay for Jack's schooling, and to support his five brothers and sisters. In the last year or so, she'd become very sick and had to stop working. Jack became the breadwinner for his family, and had to juggle three jobs along with his schoolwork. He was his mum's carer, constantly looking after her and taking her back and forwards from the hospital. School was the one place where Jack didn't have to be in charge, where he didn't have to be a grown up and in charge. He had to grow up too quickly when his mum got sick and the only place where it didn't take effect was school. Jack's mum passed away a few months after I had that conservation with my wife, and it was a few weeks later that Jack was found dead. He'd committed suicide." The collective gasp around the lecture hall was loud. "Sometimes, the problem students aren't just trying to make our lives hard, sometimes it can be a cry for help. If there's a certain student that any of you are thinking of right now I encourage you to ask if they're alright, and really listen to their answer. It might save a life."