Tender Teachings

Chapter One - Wrong Situation

When everyone was complaining about how much of an ass Mr Henti was, I was always in his defence. People would rant about he couldn't teach to save his life, and all he did was hand out worksheets, but I always thought he was decent; most teachers now didn't care much about their students futures, but Henti did. He changed his curriculum based on the words of graduated students, and the topics help them in college, and the ones that didn't matter. Students would also always talk about how he would never help them when they got behind in class. Maybe it's because he was one of those seemingly unapproachable teachers, but I'd come for help many times, and he caught me up quickly.

But now I was pissed off, and I was starting to see the other side of the argument, because he just fucked my grade over. Here's some background, I am a straight A student. Always have been, plan on it in the future. Mr Henti teaches my senior sociology class, an easily passable class. We've just hit the 6 week grading mark, and I've had a 95 the entire time. I've never had issues with his weekly quizzes, or any of the reading. The thing about his class, is if you're gone on a quiz day, you can't make it up. It goes in as a zero, and stays that way until you take your final, then that grade is applied. 

Sounds fair enough, until you miss three quizzes because of mandatory volleyball games, and your grade goes from your lovely 95 to a 78%. Now here I am, being dragged by parents to conferences (to which I haven't attended in 4 years) because they think my life is falling apart. I tried explaining the situation, and that once I take the final, come Christmas, my grade will be fine. They simply won't have it.

As the family before us walks out of Mr Henti's room, I can see the disappointment in the parent's eyes, and the annoyance in the student's. Great, this should be a fun night.

My parents and I walk in, and Henti instantly stands up to shake their hands.

"Ah, Mr. and Mrs. May, nice of you to stop by." He stood smiling as he addressed the both of them. 

"Nice to meet you Mr Henti," My father stated as he and my mother sit down. Of course there were only two chairs, so I simply stand behind them. Mr Henti shoots me a quick confused look, almost as if he was confused why they were here. It's an unspoken rule at my school where unless you're failing, conferences are a waste of time. 

"Well I have Marry's report here, and honestly, I don't see anything that is much of an issue. She's a great student, always participating in class discussions." His voice flowed as he spoke the words with ease. Damn right I participate. 

"Then, what is this C?" My dad asks sternly. "She's never gotten a B in her life, then out of the blue this pops up."

Mr. Henti leans back in his chair as if trying to figure out how to phrase his thoughts. "The problem lays not in Marry's work or effort, simply her attendance. I have weekly quizzes over readings, and if a student is absent, the grade goes in as a zero."

"Can't she just make them up?" My mom asks, making her first vocal appearance. 

"Unfortunately no." he sighs resting both his elbows on the desk, interlocking his hands. "To keep the testing system fair, and enforce attendance, the scores will remain zeros until the semester final. What ever Marry gets on the final will be applied to all of her missing quizzes."

"To keep the system fair?" My dad asks.

"Well if she came in to take the test the day after everyone else, she could just ask what part of the reading was on the test. Unfair advantage."

"So there's nothing she can do?" My dad's voice remains stern as ever.

"For the time being no." Mr Henti says with a slight shrug. "If you don't mind me asking, what's the cause of these absences?" His full attention turns to me. I feel suddenly tense.

"Volleyball games." I say simply.

He nods at me slowly as he begins to fidget with his fingers. He holds my eyes for a moment before looking down at my grade report. "I'll tell you what, if you tell me in advance when you'll be gone for volleyball, I'll put any future quiz scores in as an 85. Until the final, when your final grade will be put in." He glances back up, and my whole body relaxes. That would save my grade. I feel a grin on my face peek through as my dad speaks again.

"And the ones that are already missing?" He confronts.

"Unfortunately, the grading period has ended, and it would be wrong for me to go back and change them. They will need to stay as missing, until the end of semester."

My dad nods, looks at my mom, and then stands up. "Thank you for clearing all of this up." He reaches out his hand, to which Mr Henti instantly shakes. 

"Thank you for being concerned about your daughter's education." He says smiling at all of us.

"Well someone's gotta do it," My dad says half sarcastically at me.

I smile slightly, pushing the comment away. I turn back to Mr Henti as he stands to shake my hand as well. I simply give him a thankful smile, to which he returns an indeterminable grin. I've seen smile after smile, and this one seemed completely new to me.

"Thanks," I say before I follow my parents out of the room. My dad instantly begins talking about something work related, now that my crisis is over with. From one problem to the other, that's how my dad's mind worked. I was surprised how easy I felt at ease with whole thing. 20 minutes ago I was raging about what a dick Mr Henti was for dropping my grade for something I couldn't control. Now I was more at ease than ever. There was another thought running through my mind, that I coulnd't identify. It was as if I'd just noticed something, or just recognized something, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I end up spending the whole car ride home in silence, unaware of what my mind was doing.