Calum smiled as he examined the class as he spoke, though his gaze continuously went to Eleanor, despite how many times he tried not to look at her, tried not to stare, tried not to be completely caught up in her. Still, he nodded slightly. “Alright, guys, while I promise I don’t plan to have an actual lesson today unless it’s necessary, I do have a worksheet for everybody to do - you’re welcome to take it home to work on it, but it’s really just to see where everybody stands and what exactly we all need to work on,” he told the class as he moved to gather the stack of papers before he peered around. “Eleanor, do you mind passing these out for me?” A part of him really just wanted her near him, even if it would only last for a few moments, but he didn’t want to be too obvious about it, not wanting to cause the other students to be suspicious, and definitely not wanting to disturb Eleanor in any way. “And, guys, please don’t cheat on these, okay? I won’t be grading them, but I’d like to see how well you each do, and I’d love it if you all would show your work, the usual stuff. And, if any of you need help on this, don’t hesitate to ask - there’s absolutely no judgment here, I promise, because even Math teachers need help sometimes.”
Adrielle paused with mild surprise, finding herself staring at Mr. Irwin for a few long moments. Still, a small, amused grin formed on her features, unable to help it, because it was hard not to consider the possibility of a hidden meaning behind Mr. Irwin’s words. The grin fell as quickly as it had appeared, though, when he talked about the lesson and brushing up on their offences, and all the confidence she normally felt suddenly seeped out of her, causing her to slide down in her seat, trying to make herself appear as small as possible, and grateful she was in the back so that nobody was really paying attention. Chewing hard on her lip, she ducked her head, trying to ignore the way her heart ached with the thought that Mr. Irwin was going to see just how awful her grades were in this class. Still, she shifted, reaching to grab a pencil from her backpack, and she tried to focus on the poem that was left for them, wanting to at least make the effort, but she frowned when she didn’t understand anything in it.
December 28th, 2018 at 12:14am