Drifting Grace [An Alastor Fanfiction] [PROOFREADING]

Chapter 12 [PR]

Emma Lovett

I relaxed in my office during breaktime and heaved a loud sigh. Children may be fun to be with, but they sure are tiring. William, who is sat at the table next to mine, gave me one of his brilliant smiles. He hands me a cup of coffee and I gladly took it.

"I see the day has treated you well," He grins. I cringed at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"You know I love kids," I stated, taking a sip of the hot liquid. "I just get tired from time to time."

William nods, leaning back into his chair and sipping his own cup of joe. He seems to be thinking of something for a short while.

"I hear you took in Alvin Brooks?" He says simply, I choke on the coffee and cough. He watches me with a blank stare, obviously predicting what would've happened. I look at him with wide eyes.

"Yes! Yes I have," I squeaked. We start to gain attention. There was silence, never-ending silence.

Alvin didn't want to tell people he was living with me now. He says, and I quote; "The other kids wouldn't like me".

Although it did hurt, I understood his concern. He wasn't exactly the nicest of children. Alvin was quiet, reserved, and as I said, he usually never sent his homework. His classmates think he's too much of an arrogant boy to be friends with when really, he's just extremely introverted.

And having a teacher as a guardian/foster mother isn't exactly the type of attention anyone wants to get when trying to make friends.

He's too sweet to be arrogant, the boy wakes up mumbling a 'sorry' every morning.

The teachers eyed us both. William had his usual deadpan look on his face as he takes another long sip of his cup of joe. He turns to me and nods approvingly, giving me a thumbs up. His smile grew wider by the second, making my colleagues smile as well.

"That's an amazing thing you did, Emma. No one liked his parents one bit, not even me," William states. "And Alvin always seems to light up whenever you pass by, it's hard not to notice; it's the only thing that boy ever gets happy for."

My cheeks warmed at his statement but I composed myself, covering my smile with a sip from my cup. My eyes drooped slightly remembering Margaret's face. I can't seem to stop wishing I could punch her just one more time after the short visit at the hospital.

"And I also heard you slapped Margaret's face," William says lowly. "You've never intentionally hurt someone before. Why's that? The mother seemed nice enough."

I stare at him bewildered. "She called her son a bastard, told me she wanted to abort him right in front of Alvin," I started, glaring at the cup. "I wish I could've hurt her more, but despite everything, that woman is still his mother."

The office was silent and I knew why; the attitude was unusual.

I'm a happy teacher. The cheery one who loves her students to death. The one that still bows and apologizes to the student's parents even if the problem was minor. I had respect for their elders. Even if they blew me in the face, they were still my student's parents.

Seeing me all worked up and getting mad at their parents was not normal for me. I find it strange as well. Maybe it was because I never knew their hidden side, their awful side. The part that left the children scarred for life.

I should know right? I wonder why I never thought of it.

"Oh my," William snickers. "I've never seen you so worked up before!"

I shook my head and waved my hand. I didn't like talking about it. It seemed so easy with Alastor, the words just poured out of my mouth like honey on a hot day and I was comfortable with it.