Turn Back Time (The Night Shift)

Chapter Nine - Back to Normal?

Some time had passed. With Taylor having "officially" moved in with Rick and Drew, they had enrolled her in the local high school and surprise, surprise, it was the middle of the school year. Taylor hadn't been in school for a while due to her rough past and just not wanting to go into school; as a result, she was extremely behind which had resulted in the school, San Antonio High, putting Taylor in Specialist Measures. This meant that she had to have a behaviour mentor in her classes (especially since Drew and Rick had warned the school that she might walk out) to make sure that she actually completed her work, didn't get into any fights and didn't walk out of her classes. It was third period. Geography. She walked into the classroom and when she saw "Seattle and Tourism" on the powerpoint slide that had been projected onto the board, she froze. She turned around and went to walk out but the behaviour mentor, Liz, stopped her.

'Go and sit down please, Taylor.' Liz told her. Taylor sighed, turned back around and walked to her desk. She dropped her bag and slumped into her seat. A few minutes later, the bell rang and the teacher, Mr Lawson, walked in.

'As you know, our new unit is all about Tourism. So, we're going to start off by talking about Seattle.' Mr Lawson began. For the majority of the lesson, Taylor was completely zoned out. Liz watched closely, knowing that Taylor moved from Seattle to San Antonio not long ago. About half-way through the lesson, Taylor grabbed her bag, stood up and stormed out of the lesson. Everyone turned their attention to her as Liz went after her.

'Taylor!' She called. Taylor turned to face Liz. 'Come back to class.'

'No.' Taylor shook her head. Liz could tell that Taylor was on the verge of tears.

'What's wrong?' Liz questioned.

'Nothing.' Taylor shook her head once more.

'Taylor, you can talk to me about anything.' Liz said. Taylor was about to reply when the bell rang signalling the next lesson.

'I've got to get to English Lit.' Taylor stated. She spun around and walked off with Liz following close behind.

.

Taylor was sat in English Literature, they were talking about Angela Carter's short story collection, "The Bloody Chamber" and the representation of women within the short stories. Taylor was never a big fan of Literature, meaning that during this lesson, she didn't pay much attention until one guy, Luka, who sat behind her, started making sexist comments and started saying things that reminded her of the events that happened in Seattle.

'Why should Carter bother?' Luka questioned. 'Why should she bother to present women as strong and independent?'

'Carter wanted to prove the point that women can do whatever they want if they put their mind to it.' The teacher, Mrs Kingston responded. 'For example, the year the collection was published, Margaret Thatcher was elected the first female prime minister of the UK.'

'And didn't people disagree with her policy?' Luka raised his eyebrows.

'That's a matter of opinion.' Mrs Kingston stated.

'Look, women are meant to be in the kitchen.' Luka sat upright. 'Women are there to have children. Women don't deserve to have their own vote because they do it wrong all the time.'

'Misogyny, much?' Taylor muttered.

'Women are objects. Men should be able to do to women what they want when they want.' Luka continued. At this, Taylor spun around to face Luka.

'You better watch yourself.'

~~

Kinda short but it's better than nothing! I (Chloe) study The Bloody Chamber so I thought it would be easier to incorporate that in rather than trying to remember back to when I studied Shakespeare or whatever. Let us know what you think! Chloe (& Dharma) xx