Breaking Point

Chapter 10

Sam *

I'm on morning playground duty this morning as well as lunch time duty.  I stand at the front of the school and watch as students arrive by bus, parents dropping them off and some walking.

"Good morning Mr Craft."

"Good morning Rebecca. How are you?"

"Good thank you. How are you?"

"Very well." I smile and she continues walking into school.

Nick walks up carrying two coffees. "Here you are Sam, thought you could use one."

"Thanks Nick." I take the cup from him and take a sip.

"Wow she doesn't look very good."

"mmmh."

Nick nods his head. "Tara."

Turning around I see Tara get out of a car, she says something to her mum before closing the door and turning towards the school. She looks very worn out today almost as if she is sleep walking. I watch her eyes scan around her, almost as if they are waiting for something to happen. I notice her hair doesn't have the usual shine others do, as well as her pale skin which makes the purple bags under her eyes stand out even more than they already do. The slight bump on her nose is also more noticeable today. And if it's even possible she's lost even more weight judging by the way her clothes seem to be about three sizes too big.
"Good morning Tara." I smile as she approaches.

She jumps before looking at me. "Good morning." Her voice is rasp.

Tara continues walking into the school as Nick and I stare after her. We watch as she sits down on a bench and stares at the ground as if in a trance.

Students continue walking through the gates. Nick and I smile and greet them, every now and then looking behind us to check on Tara who continues to look at the ground.

The bell rings and students head to their roll call rooms. Tara remains seated.

Nick and I head towards the staffroom. "Nick you keep going I'm going to..."

"Sounds good." Nick nods and continues walking.

"Tara?"

She looks lost as she looks around the quad. "Oh... I ..."

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay? Doesn't look like you have slept much."

Tara softly chuckles as she looks at her hands before looking me in the eyes, a tear forming. "No. I guess I haven't."

"Care to join me for a coffee in the staffroom." I offer.

I'm surprised when she nods yes. Together we stand and walk to the main staffroom that has a student cafe program running.

"What would you like to drink?"

"A cappuccino please."

I order our coffees and sit down.

"Isn't that your second coffee?" Tara questions.

I smile. "Nothing like two cups of coffee on a Monday morning."

Tara smiles.  We wait in silence for our coffees to arrive. 

"Thank you Mr Craft. I haven't had a good weekend." Tara says surprising me again.

"Your welcome Tara.  What happened on the weekend?" I push my luck.

"Not a lot of sleep." Tara looks up and smiles at her joke. "I... I have nightmares."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

The coffees are placed down in front of us. I can't help but notice the scars on Tara's hand as she reaches out for her cup.

"Mr Craft I... I just wanted to say thank you for.. the other day."

I smile. "It's no problem. We all need some space sometimes."

Tara smiles and nods her head. 

Jerry walks into the staffroom and glances over before doing a double take. He orders his coffee and stands to the side, his attention on us.

Tara stands. "Thank you Mr Craft."

"You're welcome Tara. I'm here if you need anything." I watch as she makes her way out of the staffroom.

"Everything alright?" Jerry says.

"Yeah I think I've made a little progress with Tara."

"That's good. I just talked to Nick and he said that she wasn't looking so good, and he mentioned that he saw you two walking here. Just wanted to see if everything is okay."

"She's just tired." I say keeping the knowledge of Tara's nightmares to myself.  The bell rings. "Excuse me I have class."  I head off to my class.

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