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two
warnings: rudeness I guess.
★
Stiles
"Just a friendly reminder," said Mr. Harris, walking around the classroom like a supervillain explaining his evil plan to the chained up hero. "Parent/teacher conferences are tonight. Students below a C average are required to attend. I won't name you, because the shame and self-disgust should be more than enough punishment."
I ignored him, looking down at my book, stress-highlighting.
"Has anyone seen Scott McCall?"
I noticed that Mr. Harris' voice was much closer to me now than before. I slowly looked up from my book, and soon discovered why. Mr. Harris was now standing just by my desk leaning down towards me. I realized that despite the phrasing, I was the one he had asked. Before I could take out the highlighter-lid out of my mouth and answer the question, however, the classroom door opened and Jackson walked in.
Once Jackson had sitten down, Mr. Harris walked over to his desk and leaned down.
"Hey, Jackson. If you need to leave early for any reason, you let me know," he said. Jackson nodded, but it didn't look like he wanted to do anything of the sort.
"Yes, Miss Thomas," Mr. Harris said. I looked behind me just in time to see Valerie put down her raised hand.
"Do both parents have to attend?" she asked.
"No. One is enough."
Valerie nodded, but it wasn't a Valerie kind of nod. This was a shy 'I'm sorry for bothering you' nod. I hadn't seen her look like that since, well, since before that incident in 5th grade a few months after she moved here.
"What are you looking at, Stupid?!"
It wasn't until Valerie's sudden aggressive question that I realized I'd zoned out staring at her. Her expression was now back to her usual fiery glare.
"I- uh, nothing," I said smoothly. She glared at me even harder, so I quickly looked down and began highlighting again.
"Everyone, start reading chapter nine," said Harris. "Mr. Stilinski."
I looked up from the book.
"Try putting the highlighter down between paragraphs." I looked down at the book again and saw that every single sentence was highlighted. "It's Chemistry, not a coloring book."
I put away the highlighter as I could hear sniggers from behind me.
★
3rd person
"Academically, everything's great," said Miss Ramsey, looking down at the folder in her hands. "She seems to have a natural ability for learning, which is extra impressive considering she's been diagnosed with dyslexia. My concern isn't for her academic ability, though."
Jonathan Thomas sighed.
"I know exactly what you're talking about," he said.
Miss Ramsey furrowed her eyebrows.
"You do?"
"Of course. It's socially, right? The scary clothes she wears, the large amount of makeup, the way she's always frowning. She's pushing all potential friends away. I've tried telling her that if she just wiped her face and smiled more she wouldn't have such a hard time making friends."
Miss Ramsey clenched her jaw. This was the worst part of being a teacher. The bad parents.
"That wasn't what I was talking about. Valerie seems pretty happy with the way she's expressing herself. My concern, is that despite her good grades, she doesn't really seem motivated."
Mr. Thomas looked confused.
"Let me explain further. She's taking lots of extra AP classes that she doesn't really need, and she seems like she doesn't even want to be there."
"Well, it's school, right?" Mr. Thomas chuckled. "Which teenager has ever wanted to go to school?"
Miss Ramsey tried her best to smile.
"Perhaps you're right. But do you know why she's taking these classes? Does she have any career goals?"
"She's going to be a doctor," he said, matter of factly.
"Has Valerie ever said that she wants to be a doctor?"
"Of course. Valerie wants to be a doctor."
She didn't really believe him, but let it pass. Nothing good was going to come out of her accusing him.
"Does she have any other interests?" she asked instead.
Mr. Thomas furrowed his eyebrows in thought.
"Well, she reads occasionally, but other than that, no."
"Well, then it might be good for her to pick up a hobby. Hobbies are quite important. It's good to have something to be deeply interested in, something fun to do during our leisure time and affords us the opportunity to learn new skills."
"I appreciate your advice, Miss Ramsey, but I believe hobbies are only a distraction from achieving success."
