Chapter 67 - Things aren't quite what they seem
Cesca was well into lesson 3, she had hear year 8’s they were a lovely bunch of students, enthusiastic, hardworking but also the group that could muck about and get away with murder, similarly to her mentor group there was a great sense of mutual trust and respect for one another they knew the boundaries and weren’t prepared to cross them. Cesca had set up a fairly normal lesson, they were focusing on family members including pets “Escuchar y repetir”, Cesca had asked them to listen to the new vocabulary and repeat after her. “Gato, perro, conejo, hamster, Tortuga...”. Cesca would point at the board the different animals, cat, dog, rabbit, hamster and tortoise. Nikki had taken a slight back seat so had Esme, they were new so it was understandable, they were feeling a bit shy Cesca got that so she set the class off on a task and walked around the classroom, “So Nikki did you do this at your last school?”, Nikki glared out the window, her hand grasping her necklace, it was her most treasured item the one thing she really cared anything about, “Nikki?”, “Huh?”, Nikki turned around to face Cesca, “Did you do animals at your last school?”, “Yeah, yes we did miss”, “Okay, well then this should be easy”, Cesca left Nikki to get on with it, she wasn’t quite sure what was running through her mind, something wasn’t write but Cesca wasn’t one to be nosey and start asking questions, she realised unlike some teachers that sometimes pupils personal lives should be left private, Cesca knew that Nikki had, had a hard time over the last few years but that didn’t mean they all needed to smother her, Cesca would have her eye on her, there was no doubt about that after all Spanish was meant to be her favourite subject if she wasn’t enjoying it or getting on with it then something must be wrong. Cesca carried on walking around the class room until she reached Esme she peered over her shoulder, Esme was writing but she was very reluctant, Cesca gave her a few encouraging words, “Muy bien Esme”, Esme looked up her cheeks went a little rosy, she knew the Spanish they were being taught but she just wasn’t feeling very confident.
Cesca loved teaching she had always had a passion to help others and being able to teach someone some of the most important tools in life really was very satisfying. She sat at her desk and asked the class to put their text books in a pile and hand their sheets in to her before returning to their seats, “Very good lessons guys, we will cover more on family members next lesson and might even use a game to help us, that’s if you get on as well as you did today, okay off you go to your next lessons”. The class stood up, grabbing their bags and coats before they left, “Nikki can you stay here a minute”, Cesca got up made sure that Nikki was sat down before she quickly caught Esme outside, she was with Lola, also one of Cesca’s mentees they seemed to be getting on well, “Esme can I just have a quick word”, “I’ll see you in class Esme”, Cesca smiled, “Your doing really well, don’t feel shy you know what were covering their a nice group just find your confidence, I know you want to”, “But miss I don’t want to be that show off kid”, “You won’t be showing off, your using what you know”, “Your right” “Go on get off to your next lesson, I’ll see you tomorrow morning for mentor”, “Okay thanks miss”, Cesca smiled as she watched Esme catch up with Lola, they were getting on so well. She then remembered she needed to talk to Nikki, something wasn’t right. She walked back into her room and shut the door, Nikki was once again staring into space grabbing her necklace, Cesca’s shoes were catching the floor creating a lot of noise but even that wasn’t enough to knock her from her day dream, “Right, Nikki I think we need to talk”, Cesca grabbed a chair and sat next to Nikki who hadn’t moved, “Nikki?”, “What? Huh?”, “She was in her own little world, “What’s going on? Is everything okay in your new foster placement? “, Nikki was back into her dream land “Look I know it’s hard to talk about and deal with but opening up is a good step to make”, Nikki wasn’t listening the way she was acting were as if she were death, simply unable to hear anything that Mrs Kirby was saying to her. “Nikki can I have your necklace please”, “Miss”, this seemed to have got Nikki’s attention, “It is clear that it is distracting you, this is your favourite subject and you didn’t even write a word down, I’m concerned, you’re a bright girl you can’t let things stop you from grasping your full potential”, “But miss you don’t understand this”, Nikki stopped midway through her sentence, “I don’t understand what Nikki?”, Cesca was seriously concerned Nikki’s whole attitude had transformed from mentor, she wasn’t that lovely, bubbly yet quiet girl she had been something was clearly on her mind. There was a knock at the door, “Cesca”, She looked up as her name was called, “Your needed in this meeting”, Eleanor said, she wasn’t exactly Cesca’s favourite person at the minute, especially after getting it on with Tom, poor Adanna, “Okay I just got to finish up here”, “It’s a really important meeting”, Eleanor stood at the door, Nikki was stunned, she carefully removed her necklace, her eyes fixed on Eleanor a lump in her throat, “Okay Nikki you can have it back at the end of the day, I’m here if you need to talk yeah?”, “Okay miss”, Nikki’s words were said to the air, Nikki was completely focused on something else entirely. Cesca went and grabbed her bag and headed out the door after Nikki, Cesca was still trying to piece it all together, “Didn’t anyone ever teach you some manners”, Eleanor snapped at Nikki just as Cesca was shutting the door, “Eleanor!” , “What is it with these kids”, “She is having a hard time at the minute, like a lot of these kids you can’t just snap at them”,” What happened to good bit of discipline in schools”, “What happened to understanding the pupils, respect works two ways”, Cesca was disgusted and with that she headed off down to her meeting.
The meeting ended in time for last lesson, Cesca had a free, which was great she wanted to try and figure out what exactly was going on, Nikki’s behaviour was strange and Cesca hadn’t really ever experienced it before despite having a school full of troubled teens. Cesca hoped that she had made it clear to Nikki that she really was there when she needed her, she was a member of staff she could trust, her mentor, she was their to help her through anything she was to experience or go through. Cesca walked into her classroom placed her bag down and took a deep breath in as she sat down at her desk, she began to take out a pen and mark through the work that was already starting to build up despite it being the first proper day back, but if she got on with it now it would mean spending more time with Jonah and the kids. Cesca had marked half of all the work but then she got to the point where her mind couldn’t focus on the work anymore; she tapped her pen against the table staring into space at the seat in the corner, Nikki’s seat. Cesca really couldn’t get last lesson out of her head, she felt bad, she had confiscated Nikki’s necklace something she had close attachment to, but she had only done it for her own good, she wasn’t concentrating, she hoped that it would have helped. She dropped her pen on the table piled all the sheets back up again before opening her draw and taking out Nikki’s necklace. She carefully pulled it out careful not to break it, not that anything Cesca was doing would be considered risky behaviour she placed it on her desk and simply pondered over it. What could be so special about this necklace, to Cesca it was a piece of metal jewellery a heart shape, all Cesca could think about was maybe it was valuable in some way, what other reason did Nikki have for liking it so much. The necklace was worn, clearly loved well even Cesca could see that by the amount of times she held or played with it. Cesca put her head in her hands breathing in a big sigh once more as she took her hands away from her eyes so that she could once again see she noticed that the heart was able to be opened, Cesca sat back in her chair. Questions swam around in her head, she didn’t know whether she should open the necklace or remain the teacher that al her pupils trusted, Cesca wasn’t so sure about mingling with peoples things, she knew how she would have felt if someone had dare even contemplated doing that to anything she treasured but then she was won over. Decision made, Cesca was going to open the locket it was the only way to get to the bottom of what was truly going on in that head of hers. Cesca carefully pulled open the two tiny hearts from each other. Once the hearts were pulled apart Cesca could see a photo, Cesca felt like she recognised the photo, but then again she wasn’t sure whether she was just hallucinating, she brang the locket closer to her so she was able to see it more clearly, Cesca definitely knew who was in the locket, but she didn’t know whether to be shocked or pleased that she had finally worked it all out, though Cesca wasn’t quite sure as to why this photo was in the locket, that was until she read the inscription on the other heart, Nikki, I will always love you, my little angel mummy x. Cesca practically fell off her seat, was she reading this correctly was she seeing things. There was a knock at the door, “Ces, can I have a word with you about Nikki”, “Sure”, Cesca’s eyes were looking down at the table as she placed the open locket back down on to her desk, “She seemed distracted in my lessons and she wouldn’t stop playing with her necklace”, Cesca sat up straight, “You mean this necklace”, Cesca said looking down at the necklace on her desk, “Cesca are you okay?”, “Tom you better have a look at this”.
Tom walked over, worried cause he had never seen Cesca like this before, “What is it Ces”, “Just look”, Tom picked up the necklace in his hand, not quite as gracefully as Cesca had managed to earlier, “Look I know this is going to be a shock Tom, it’s a lot to take in”, “Is that...Is that Eleanor”, “I think it is”, “You need to talk to her”, “What do I say?”, “You ask her, you ask her about children, you ask her about baby Nikki”. There was a tap at the door; Nikki had come to collect her necklace...
Cesca loved teaching she had always had a passion to help others and being able to teach someone some of the most important tools in life really was very satisfying. She sat at her desk and asked the class to put their text books in a pile and hand their sheets in to her before returning to their seats, “Very good lessons guys, we will cover more on family members next lesson and might even use a game to help us, that’s if you get on as well as you did today, okay off you go to your next lessons”. The class stood up, grabbing their bags and coats before they left, “Nikki can you stay here a minute”, Cesca got up made sure that Nikki was sat down before she quickly caught Esme outside, she was with Lola, also one of Cesca’s mentees they seemed to be getting on well, “Esme can I just have a quick word”, “I’ll see you in class Esme”, Cesca smiled, “Your doing really well, don’t feel shy you know what were covering their a nice group just find your confidence, I know you want to”, “But miss I don’t want to be that show off kid”, “You won’t be showing off, your using what you know”, “Your right” “Go on get off to your next lesson, I’ll see you tomorrow morning for mentor”, “Okay thanks miss”, Cesca smiled as she watched Esme catch up with Lola, they were getting on so well. She then remembered she needed to talk to Nikki, something wasn’t right. She walked back into her room and shut the door, Nikki was once again staring into space grabbing her necklace, Cesca’s shoes were catching the floor creating a lot of noise but even that wasn’t enough to knock her from her day dream, “Right, Nikki I think we need to talk”, Cesca grabbed a chair and sat next to Nikki who hadn’t moved, “Nikki?”, “What? Huh?”, “She was in her own little world, “What’s going on? Is everything okay in your new foster placement? “, Nikki was back into her dream land “Look I know it’s hard to talk about and deal with but opening up is a good step to make”, Nikki wasn’t listening the way she was acting were as if she were death, simply unable to hear anything that Mrs Kirby was saying to her. “Nikki can I have your necklace please”, “Miss”, this seemed to have got Nikki’s attention, “It is clear that it is distracting you, this is your favourite subject and you didn’t even write a word down, I’m concerned, you’re a bright girl you can’t let things stop you from grasping your full potential”, “But miss you don’t understand this”, Nikki stopped midway through her sentence, “I don’t understand what Nikki?”, Cesca was seriously concerned Nikki’s whole attitude had transformed from mentor, she wasn’t that lovely, bubbly yet quiet girl she had been something was clearly on her mind. There was a knock at the door, “Cesca”, She looked up as her name was called, “Your needed in this meeting”, Eleanor said, she wasn’t exactly Cesca’s favourite person at the minute, especially after getting it on with Tom, poor Adanna, “Okay I just got to finish up here”, “It’s a really important meeting”, Eleanor stood at the door, Nikki was stunned, she carefully removed her necklace, her eyes fixed on Eleanor a lump in her throat, “Okay Nikki you can have it back at the end of the day, I’m here if you need to talk yeah?”, “Okay miss”, Nikki’s words were said to the air, Nikki was completely focused on something else entirely. Cesca went and grabbed her bag and headed out the door after Nikki, Cesca was still trying to piece it all together, “Didn’t anyone ever teach you some manners”, Eleanor snapped at Nikki just as Cesca was shutting the door, “Eleanor!” , “What is it with these kids”, “She is having a hard time at the minute, like a lot of these kids you can’t just snap at them”,” What happened to good bit of discipline in schools”, “What happened to understanding the pupils, respect works two ways”, Cesca was disgusted and with that she headed off down to her meeting.
The meeting ended in time for last lesson, Cesca had a free, which was great she wanted to try and figure out what exactly was going on, Nikki’s behaviour was strange and Cesca hadn’t really ever experienced it before despite having a school full of troubled teens. Cesca hoped that she had made it clear to Nikki that she really was there when she needed her, she was a member of staff she could trust, her mentor, she was their to help her through anything she was to experience or go through. Cesca walked into her classroom placed her bag down and took a deep breath in as she sat down at her desk, she began to take out a pen and mark through the work that was already starting to build up despite it being the first proper day back, but if she got on with it now it would mean spending more time with Jonah and the kids. Cesca had marked half of all the work but then she got to the point where her mind couldn’t focus on the work anymore; she tapped her pen against the table staring into space at the seat in the corner, Nikki’s seat. Cesca really couldn’t get last lesson out of her head, she felt bad, she had confiscated Nikki’s necklace something she had close attachment to, but she had only done it for her own good, she wasn’t concentrating, she hoped that it would have helped. She dropped her pen on the table piled all the sheets back up again before opening her draw and taking out Nikki’s necklace. She carefully pulled it out careful not to break it, not that anything Cesca was doing would be considered risky behaviour she placed it on her desk and simply pondered over it. What could be so special about this necklace, to Cesca it was a piece of metal jewellery a heart shape, all Cesca could think about was maybe it was valuable in some way, what other reason did Nikki have for liking it so much. The necklace was worn, clearly loved well even Cesca could see that by the amount of times she held or played with it. Cesca put her head in her hands breathing in a big sigh once more as she took her hands away from her eyes so that she could once again see she noticed that the heart was able to be opened, Cesca sat back in her chair. Questions swam around in her head, she didn’t know whether she should open the necklace or remain the teacher that al her pupils trusted, Cesca wasn’t so sure about mingling with peoples things, she knew how she would have felt if someone had dare even contemplated doing that to anything she treasured but then she was won over. Decision made, Cesca was going to open the locket it was the only way to get to the bottom of what was truly going on in that head of hers. Cesca carefully pulled open the two tiny hearts from each other. Once the hearts were pulled apart Cesca could see a photo, Cesca felt like she recognised the photo, but then again she wasn’t sure whether she was just hallucinating, she brang the locket closer to her so she was able to see it more clearly, Cesca definitely knew who was in the locket, but she didn’t know whether to be shocked or pleased that she had finally worked it all out, though Cesca wasn’t quite sure as to why this photo was in the locket, that was until she read the inscription on the other heart, Nikki, I will always love you, my little angel mummy x. Cesca practically fell off her seat, was she reading this correctly was she seeing things. There was a knock at the door, “Ces, can I have a word with you about Nikki”, “Sure”, Cesca’s eyes were looking down at the table as she placed the open locket back down on to her desk, “She seemed distracted in my lessons and she wouldn’t stop playing with her necklace”, Cesca sat up straight, “You mean this necklace”, Cesca said looking down at the necklace on her desk, “Cesca are you okay?”, “Tom you better have a look at this”.
Tom walked over, worried cause he had never seen Cesca like this before, “What is it Ces”, “Just look”, Tom picked up the necklace in his hand, not quite as gracefully as Cesca had managed to earlier, “Look I know this is going to be a shock Tom, it’s a lot to take in”, “Is that...Is that Eleanor”, “I think it is”, “You need to talk to her”, “What do I say?”, “You ask her, you ask her about children, you ask her about baby Nikki”. There was a tap at the door; Nikki had come to collect her necklace...
