The Quixwood Diaries

Chapter 5 - The English Teacher

EMMA

Mr. Combes was late for my first English class.  It was the last period of the day and I was anxious to get home.  Alison and Lily had been following me around most of the day, always apologising after saying something they seemed to think was untoward.

At last when Mr. Combes finally arrived, the two girls burled round in their seats to face the front.

“Good afternoon, class.”

“Good afternoon, Mr Combes.”

“So where we last week?  Ah, Kipling.” He said checking his notes.  “Yes, ‘For the female of the species is more deadly than the male’.” He quoted looking directly at me.  “You’re Emma Quixwood.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Take these books and pass them down behind you.” He said, giving me a few copies of The Jungle Books.

“Have you ever read these books before?”

“No, I don’t think I have, sir.”

“Hey, call me Daniel.  Everyone else here does.” The class snickered.

I could help but feel comforted by his voice.  There was no denying it; that was an authentic London accent.

Daniel was smart and sexy, even if he was almost twice my age.  He dressed as if he were one of the students instead of a teacher with black jeans, trainers and his shirt half tucked in and half hung out.  He had wide jade green eyes that seemed to hold you still if you fell upon his gaze.  His lopsided grin took years of his face and his greying blonde hair just seemed to distinguish him instead of adding years on.

“Okay, class, carry on where you finished last and Emma start at the very beginning.  All we’re doing this period is reading whilst I grade your tests from last week.  Your homework assignment for the week is to read at least one chapter of The Jungle Books each night and right an essay on the character dynamics to be handed in next Monday.”

There wasn’t much to be said after that.  The class sat silently reading from the books as Daniel sat scribbling on the stack of test sheets.  I tried my best to keep up with the class, or with Lily, at the very least, who was already half way through the book.

When there was only a few minutes left of class, Daniel strode up and down the aisles handing the other students back their tests with the final results.  There were the sounds of defeated groans or elated gasps as the students turned their heads momentarily to their results.

“Okay, class,” Daniel called over the bell, “if you can manage to finish your homework assignment before Monday then we may move on to Shakespeare next week.  I know the girls have all been looking forward to this assignment.”

The boys groaned unabashedly.

“Miss Quixwood, could I have a word before you leave?” Daniel called me back.

“Oooh, new girl’s in trouble.” I heard one of my classmate jeer.

“Am I in trouble?” I asked.

“No, not at all.  I just wanted to talk to you.”

“Oh, what about?”

“I just want you to know if you need to talk to anyone, you can talk to me.  I know you’ve been going through a rough time lately.  By rights you should go to your councillor but I’ve recently been through a similar traumatic experience and I’ll be here to help you should you require it.”

“What happened to you?”

“My wife and son died in a house fire down in Battersea last year.”