The bell sounded out with the usual clatter of chairs and rustling of bags. “Bye Mrs. Grey!” “Byeeee!” “Goodbye Mrs. Grey.” It warmed her heart to have even a handful of her students offer farewells. She liked it even better when they weren’t so rambunctious or forgetful, but what could you do? “Who forgot their shoe?!” she called down the hall, a pair of feet running back to grab it, roughly putting it on before taking off without a word of thanks or apology.
Sitting down, there was one student left, having taken advantage of Jean’s means of lending an ear. Antonio sat in his tank top, head bowed. Jean took her seat and turned her chair, leaning slightly forward with her forearms on her legs and hands loosely clasped. In the silence she glanced at the drawer she kept her phone in, heart pulsing as fears and anxieties reared up, but she kept her cool and resisted the urge to check it.
“You said that if we tell you something bad we wanted to do we wouldn’t get in trouble?” Antonio finally spoke, his words weak.
A light sense of dread crept in. “I said that, and no one’s gotten in trouble for talking to me.”
Antonio was still uneasy, but after he was quiet for a minute or so he went to his backpack. He returned with a kitchen knife about eight inches long. Jean kept neutral. Easier done than said when she’d been lightly aware of it all day. “Is that from your kitchen?”
Fear spread on Antonio’s face. “Are you gonna tell my mom and dad?”
“If they don’t know you have it then you just need to put it back and there won’t be a problem. But that’s only if they don’t know.” Antonio normally tried to be tough in class, dismissing assignments and not putting any effort in. The scared boy in front of her was almost unrecognizable in a way. Reaching into her desk, she pulled out half a pack of Nutter Butters, her intended sugar break for the rest of her post-school work. He let out a low whine, taking them with shaking hands before devouring them as fast as he could. Halfway through the last one, he stopped to break down. It took all of Jean’s effort to hold back her own tears.
He spoke through his sobs. “M-May c-c-called me sk-skinny d-during PE yesterday a-and I was mad s-so I b-brought the knife t-t-to stab her.”
Taking a breath to steady herself, Jean reached out and put her hand on his knee. She wasn’t sure if it was for his sake or hers. “A-and I’m o-only sk-skinny because my p-parents don’t feed me!”
That was the cry of help Jean had been looking for. She’d known. How could she not? She didn’t give him a snack on a whim. But to randomly give him food usually would have been an odd look, and Jean didn’t want to be on the receiving end of suspicions she couldn’t easily dispel or invite unwanted claims of favoritism or 'getting to close'. Mind reading was something even she felt was off putting, more so than her mutanthood. But now, in this case, it was no longer a concern.
Jean’s stomach was mixed with relief at the weight starting to lift and anxiety at what was coming next, a scenario she’d spent more than a few bus rides grappling with. When Antonio started to calm just a little bit, Jean said, her voice wet, “We’re going to get you help. I’m going to get Mr. Grant and Mr. Satou, okay?” The former the most veteran teacher of the school, the latter the Vice-Principal. Even if Jean knew what to do, deferring to her seniors as a the most junior was the smart play. You can’t do everything yourself, Scott had told her some time ago when they were still figuring out their domestic situation. She’d been trying to take it to heart. You’re not in trouble.”
A quick call on the school lines had the two older men at her door in minutes. Jean stood back as they took over the situation. Sadly it wasn’t the first time either of them had dealt with abuse cases. Wouldn’t be the last for any of them either. Thanks offered to Jean, they took control of the situation and moved Antonio to a different office. Hopefully they had something a little more substantial to offer food wise. Jean was left at her desk, leaning back and taking a moment in the empty class to just...unpack everything a little. Some time later, there was a knock on the door with a soft voice following. “You okay in there?” Mrs. Herb was always the strictest and firmest with Jean, which was why this soft tone rendered her nearly unrecognizable.
Wiping at her eye and finding a bit of errant moisture, Jean insisted, “Yeah, I’m okay. Gimme five more minutes.” There were some footsteps as she took her up on that. Not sure if she’d return, Jean blew her nose before daring to check her phone, her source of anxiety for the past school day. She’d been seen this morning when she lifted the truck, and she’d spent the whole day waiting for her life to crash down around her. It was a risk she’d been prepared for, but at this point she thought it might be better for the other shoe to just drop, no matter what else came down with it.
To Jean’s surprise, Mrs. Herb did return, taking the seat Antonio had been using. “I just came here to check on you. You did the right thing, and Antonio’s going to get the help he needs. But are you all right? You look like you got a lot on your mind.”
Jean gave her an odd look, confused by the stressing of an unexpected word. She reflexively did that which she had so often never wanted to do as she peeked into the woman’s mind. She saw herself, standing on the side of the highway road talking to a police officer in passing, from the perspective of someone in a driver’s seat with a bag of school papers on the passenger side. A once overturned truck passed by next. Flashing back to reality, Jean’s jaw flapped open as she realized what she’d seen in Mrs. Herb’s memory.
Jean tried to play it cool. “O-oh! Oh. Uh. Mm.” She did not play it cool.
Mrs. Herb pursed her lips. “You weren’t even wearing a mask. Did you think no one was going to notice?” She hissed, as though someone might be just outside the door or window.
“I-I know, I just didn’t- I didn’t think it was going to play out like this!”
Herb took a palm and planted on the side of her face, shaking her head. “Hun, you are out of your mind.”
Jean massaged her temple, the scolding helping her snap back. “I’m doing this for a good reason! I just...don’t know what’s going to happen from here on out. I’m prepared, but...”
“Prepared to get fired? If the school district thinks you’re a liability then it won’t be pretty.”
“Then I might be able to sue for discrimination against mutants!” Herb dropped her hand, mouth gaping into a neat ‘o’ as she stared, dumbstruck. Jean looked to the side nervously. “M-maybe?”
“And if there’s trouble downtown, are you just going to fly out of class? What kind of example will that set?”
“I know I can’t do everything, but that doesn’t mean it’s fine for me to do nothing.”
“But it doesn’t have to be, you know, this!”
“You sound like my husband...”
“Well, I’m glad someone in that household has sense!” Jean have her the side eye. “Look, I know you’re not stupid. Honestly you’re too smart for your own good. I’m not going to say you’re doing the right thing, but I’m not going to say it’s wrong either. Just…” Herb grabbed a sticky note and jotted down her phone number. “Think before you go forward with this. I won’t like it, but I’ll cover your class if you need to. As long as it’s important!”
Jean took the note, studying it for a moment, before asking, “...You don’t think I’ll really get fired, do you?”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Grey-Summers.” Herb excused herself, leaving Jean to her lonesome. Her heart leapt when her phone suddenly started buzzing with notifications. Pulling it out of the drawer, she saw a message from Scott with a link to twitter, a number of people posting about the green and gold clad superhero spotted in the morning and asking about who she was. She felt excited and sick all at once. “There it is...”
Sitting down, there was one student left, having taken advantage of Jean’s means of lending an ear. Antonio sat in his tank top, head bowed. Jean took her seat and turned her chair, leaning slightly forward with her forearms on her legs and hands loosely clasped. In the silence she glanced at the drawer she kept her phone in, heart pulsing as fears and anxieties reared up, but she kept her cool and resisted the urge to check it.
“You said that if we tell you something bad we wanted to do we wouldn’t get in trouble?” Antonio finally spoke, his words weak.
A light sense of dread crept in. “I said that, and no one’s gotten in trouble for talking to me.”
Antonio was still uneasy, but after he was quiet for a minute or so he went to his backpack. He returned with a kitchen knife about eight inches long. Jean kept neutral. Easier done than said when she’d been lightly aware of it all day. “Is that from your kitchen?”
Fear spread on Antonio’s face. “Are you gonna tell my mom and dad?”
“If they don’t know you have it then you just need to put it back and there won’t be a problem. But that’s only if they don’t know.” Antonio normally tried to be tough in class, dismissing assignments and not putting any effort in. The scared boy in front of her was almost unrecognizable in a way. Reaching into her desk, she pulled out half a pack of Nutter Butters, her intended sugar break for the rest of her post-school work. He let out a low whine, taking them with shaking hands before devouring them as fast as he could. Halfway through the last one, he stopped to break down. It took all of Jean’s effort to hold back her own tears.
He spoke through his sobs. “M-May c-c-called me sk-skinny d-during PE yesterday a-and I was mad s-so I b-brought the knife t-t-to stab her.”
Taking a breath to steady herself, Jean reached out and put her hand on his knee. She wasn’t sure if it was for his sake or hers. “A-and I’m o-only sk-skinny because my p-parents don’t feed me!”
That was the cry of help Jean had been looking for. She’d known. How could she not? She didn’t give him a snack on a whim. But to randomly give him food usually would have been an odd look, and Jean didn’t want to be on the receiving end of suspicions she couldn’t easily dispel or invite unwanted claims of favoritism or 'getting to close'. Mind reading was something even she felt was off putting, more so than her mutanthood. But now, in this case, it was no longer a concern.
Jean’s stomach was mixed with relief at the weight starting to lift and anxiety at what was coming next, a scenario she’d spent more than a few bus rides grappling with. When Antonio started to calm just a little bit, Jean said, her voice wet, “We’re going to get you help. I’m going to get Mr. Grant and Mr. Satou, okay?” The former the most veteran teacher of the school, the latter the Vice-Principal. Even if Jean knew what to do, deferring to her seniors as a the most junior was the smart play. You can’t do everything yourself, Scott had told her some time ago when they were still figuring out their domestic situation. She’d been trying to take it to heart. You’re not in trouble.”
A quick call on the school lines had the two older men at her door in minutes. Jean stood back as they took over the situation. Sadly it wasn’t the first time either of them had dealt with abuse cases. Wouldn’t be the last for any of them either. Thanks offered to Jean, they took control of the situation and moved Antonio to a different office. Hopefully they had something a little more substantial to offer food wise. Jean was left at her desk, leaning back and taking a moment in the empty class to just...unpack everything a little. Some time later, there was a knock on the door with a soft voice following. “You okay in there?” Mrs. Herb was always the strictest and firmest with Jean, which was why this soft tone rendered her nearly unrecognizable.
Wiping at her eye and finding a bit of errant moisture, Jean insisted, “Yeah, I’m okay. Gimme five more minutes.” There were some footsteps as she took her up on that. Not sure if she’d return, Jean blew her nose before daring to check her phone, her source of anxiety for the past school day. She’d been seen this morning when she lifted the truck, and she’d spent the whole day waiting for her life to crash down around her. It was a risk she’d been prepared for, but at this point she thought it might be better for the other shoe to just drop, no matter what else came down with it.
To Jean’s surprise, Mrs. Herb did return, taking the seat Antonio had been using. “I just came here to check on you. You did the right thing, and Antonio’s going to get the help he needs. But are you all right? You look like you got a lot on your mind.”
Jean gave her an odd look, confused by the stressing of an unexpected word. She reflexively did that which she had so often never wanted to do as she peeked into the woman’s mind. She saw herself, standing on the side of the highway road talking to a police officer in passing, from the perspective of someone in a driver’s seat with a bag of school papers on the passenger side. A once overturned truck passed by next. Flashing back to reality, Jean’s jaw flapped open as she realized what she’d seen in Mrs. Herb’s memory.
Jean tried to play it cool. “O-oh! Oh. Uh. Mm.” She did not play it cool.
Mrs. Herb pursed her lips. “You weren’t even wearing a mask. Did you think no one was going to notice?” She hissed, as though someone might be just outside the door or window.
“I-I know, I just didn’t- I didn’t think it was going to play out like this!”
Herb took a palm and planted on the side of her face, shaking her head. “Hun, you are out of your mind.”
Jean massaged her temple, the scolding helping her snap back. “I’m doing this for a good reason! I just...don’t know what’s going to happen from here on out. I’m prepared, but...”
“Prepared to get fired? If the school district thinks you’re a liability then it won’t be pretty.”
“Then I might be able to sue for discrimination against mutants!” Herb dropped her hand, mouth gaping into a neat ‘o’ as she stared, dumbstruck. Jean looked to the side nervously. “M-maybe?”
“And if there’s trouble downtown, are you just going to fly out of class? What kind of example will that set?”
“I know I can’t do everything, but that doesn’t mean it’s fine for me to do nothing.”
“But it doesn’t have to be, you know, this!”
“You sound like my husband...”
“Well, I’m glad someone in that household has sense!” Jean have her the side eye. “Look, I know you’re not stupid. Honestly you’re too smart for your own good. I’m not going to say you’re doing the right thing, but I’m not going to say it’s wrong either. Just…” Herb grabbed a sticky note and jotted down her phone number. “Think before you go forward with this. I won’t like it, but I’ll cover your class if you need to. As long as it’s important!”
Jean took the note, studying it for a moment, before asking, “...You don’t think I’ll really get fired, do you?”
“I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Grey-Summers.” Herb excused herself, leaving Jean to her lonesome. Her heart leapt when her phone suddenly started buzzing with notifications. Pulling it out of the drawer, she saw a message from Scott with a link to twitter, a number of people posting about the green and gold clad superhero spotted in the morning and asking about who she was. She felt excited and sick all at once. “There it is...”