Awkward Abroad (Awkward #2) Read online

  He shrugs as if he couldn’t care less. Almost as if he’s daring me to do it. I don’t rise, and I wave him back to his seat. Not a minute later, Joshua, a sweet little boy sitting on Wei’s left, gives a howl of anguish. Wei keeps his eyes fixed on his work as I rush across, only to find a red mark blossoming on Joshua’s ribs.

  “He did it!” Gabby, the curly-haired blonde points an accusatory finger in Wei’s face. Wei slaps it away, then kicks out at Gabby’s chair legs, sending her crashing to the floor. Gabby bursts into tears.

  “Wei!” I scold, lifting Gabby and her chair and setting them upright. “Outside, right now!”

  I settle Joshua and Gabby as quickly as I can and then stalk outside. I walk right past Wei, who is perched on top of a low wall, swinging his legs so hard that his sneakers ram the wall with every kick.

  “I’ll deal with you in a minute,” I tell him over my shoulder as I pass. He doesn’t even acknowledge that I’ve spoken, and I hurry down the hall, peering into every classroom along the way. I heave a sigh of relief as Kate’s familiar face comes into view.

  “Amber?” she asks when I open her classroom door. “Is everything okay?”

  I wait until I’m right beside her before I speak, so her students won’t overhear our conversation. “Could you keep an eye on my class for a few minutes? I need to take Wei to Bianca’s office.”

  “That didn’t take long.” She winces. “What did he do?”

  “He physically attacked two kids, after I’d warned him not to.”

  “Sounds like Wei. Sorry,” she adds, catching sight of my stricken expression, “it’s just that he generally does the opposite of what he’s told. Telling him not to do something is basically a guarantee that he will.”

  “Should he even be in this school? Why hasn’t he been expelled, if his behavior is so deviant?”

  “It’s a long story, but let’s just say his parents aren’t the kind of people you want on your bad side. Bianca tried to address Wei’s issues when he first started here, and they threatened to report her to the education board.”

  “For what?”

  “Racism, would you ever believe?” She shakes her head. “The woman is Chinese, for goodness sake, but Wei’s parents claimed she’s too westernized and doesn’t understand Wei’s culture. It got pretty ugly, and eventually, she had to let it go. You should still take him,” she says, sensing my determination wavering. “You have to report it.”

  “Okay.” I nod, feeling unsure and in way over my head.

  She claps her hands, and every child in her classroom sits up straight in their chair and waits for her instruction. “Follow me, children, we’re going to be visiting Miss Holland’s classroom. Single file, please, and no running in the corridor.” They do exactly as they’ve been told, shuffling past us in neat, orderly lines.

  “How do you do that?” I whisper.

  “Years of practice,” she whispers back.

  Bianca’s office door is closed, but the bright-eyed secretary outside it lets her know that we’re here to see her and promises she will only be a few minutes.

  “Miss Holland?” Bianca gives me a curious smile as soon as she opens her door, which falters as her eyes fall on Wei.

  “I’m so sorry to bother you. I know you said you had meetings today, but we had an incident in class.”

  “Well, in that case, you better come in. Wei, you wait here with Miss Candice, I’ll call for you when we’re ready.”

  Wei simply slouches deeper in his chair.

  Bianca’s office is a safe haven for parents. Every detail, from the pale cream upholstered sofa to the dozens of framed photographs of past students adorning the walls, makes you feel as if you could tell her anything.

  She gets straight to the point. “What happened?”

  I tell her, trying to narrate the incident from an objective point of view. When I’m done, Bianca presses her fingertips to her temples.

  “This isn’t the first time this has happened, I’m afraid. I feel bad that you’re the one having to deal with him, being so newly employed, but he was placed in that class at the beginning of the academic year and I didn’t want to move him. He doesn’t cope well with change.”

  “It’s fine, I can handle it,” I insist. “If you could just tell me how to handle it.”

  She smiles. “Wei is a very difficult case. His parents are, unfortunately, almost impossible to get hold of, and, when we do manage to get them here long enough to discuss anything, they simply deny that their child is the problem.” She gets to her feet and riffles through an orderly filing cabinet behind her desk. “Here,” she says, handing me a hefty Manila folder. “This is Wei’s file. You should read through it, so you know what you’re dealing with. It’s quite a tome,” she adds, apologetically, “it might take you a while. If, after a few weeks, you feel you can’t handle him, I’ll re-allocate him to a different teacher.” I can tell that she really, really doesn’t want to do that, and I suspect it’s because of how Wei’s parents would react. Silently, I vow that I won’t complain, no matter how bad things get. Bianca gave me a chance, despite my lack of experience. I’m not about to let her down, not if I can help it.

  “What do we do now, though?” I ask.

  “We call him in and explain again that there are rules to be followed. It’s about all we can do at this point. We’ll also have to let the parents of the other children involved know what happened – you’ll find their email addresses in your class register. You mentioned Gabby was one of the children who was hurt?”

  “Yes.”

  She grimaces. “Gabby’s mom isn’t exactly a walk in the park. Let me know how she responds. If need be, I’ll get hold of her myself.”

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” I say, my fake confidence improving in leaps and bounds.

  “Thank you,” Bianca says, and she sounds like she means it.

  “I bet you could use a stiff drink about now,” Mandy says when I catch up to her and Kate at the front gate after the final bell.

  “You have no idea,” I say, automatically. In truth, I could go home and sleep for days. “Are kids always this exhausting?”

  “Every. Single. Day.” Each word is a sentence on its own as she drives her point home.

  “Don’t scare her off,” Kate warns, “we can’t afford another Fenn.”

  “Who’s Fenn?” I ask as I fall into step between them.

  “She’s the teacher you replaced,” Mandy says. “She said she was going back to South Africa, but we’re pretty sure she had a nervous breakdown. Kate swears she saw her waiting tables in a pub downtown.”

  I look to Kate for confirmation, and she nods sagely in agreement.

  “I’m too young for a breakdown.” I grin. “I’ve got my whole life ahead of me.”

  “Miss Amber!” The sound of Denri’s horn almost sends all three of us off the sidewalk and into the bushes beyond.

  “Denri!” I squawk, my hand clapped to my chest. With everything that had happened today, I’d completely forgotten to let him know not to fetch me. I hurry to the car, idling beside us. “I’m so sorry, I forgot to text you. I’m going for a drink with my friends.” I gesture at Mandy and Kate and Denri waves enthusiastically.

  “You go drinky drinky?”

  “Yes,” I laugh, “we go drinky drinky.”

  “In, in. I give you lift!”

  I feel too bad to decline, given that he’s come out especially for me. We pile into the Volkswagen, Mandy grumbling that it’s only a minute away, and Denri whips away from the sidewalk, redlining the little engine in first gear.

  We take a left turn, hit second gear, and Mandy yells for him to stop.

  “We’re here,” she explains, pointing at a low-roofed building on our left and I burst out laughing.

  At first glance, I gather that what Mandy deems to be amazing, and what I deem to be amazing are two very different things. Calico’s is a grimy little pub with bad lighting and stale peanuts. Then I discover th
at cocktails are half-price on a Monday night, and I find the appeal. A teaching salary and an entertainment budget are not synonymous. I’d offered for Denri to join us, but he’d driven off quite happily, promising that he’d pick me up for work in the morning. He’d even gone as far as to say he’d collect me when I was done having ‘drinky drinkys’, but I’d told him I was perfectly capable of catching a bus. Or a taxi. It turns out Kate lives only a few streets down from me, so at least there’s no chance I’ll get lost.

  Armed with Mojitos and a bowl of salted peanuts, we navigate our way to an empty table. It takes about twenty minutes, as Mandy stops to say hi to almost every person in the pub.

  “You come here often?” I tease, as we finally take our seats.

  “What can I say, I’m a friendly girl.”

  “Mandy knows everyone,” Kate interjects. “You’ll get used to it.”

  “A toast,” Mandy announces, raising her glass, “To Amber’s first day.”

  “To Amber’s first day,” Kate echoes.

  “To you two,” I interject, “for helping me get through it.”

  “So, Amber,” Mandy says after downing half her Mojito in one impressive gulp. “What’s your story?”

  “My story?”

  “Yes, your story.” She rolls her eyes. “Amber Holland in thirty seconds or less. Why are you here, where have you been? Are you single, married, divorced? Straight, gay, bi? The possibilities are endless.”

  “Okay.” I’ve never been one to back down from a challenge. “It’s probably easier to tell you where I haven’t been – Australia springs to mind, actually.” I frown, ticking her questions off one by one. “Single. Definitely single. And straight – although there was this one time at college that I seriously considered the alternative. As to why I’m here, we’re going to need another drink, and a hell of a lot longer than thirty seconds.”

  Mandy grins and raises her hand to flag the nearest waiter. “Challenge accepted,” she says.

  It takes two cocktails and almost an hour before I’m done talking.

  “Holy shiiiiit,” Mandy drawls, after a long silence. “You really are a poor little rich girl.” I’m fast learning that one of Mandy’s many charms is the ability to turn an insult into an endearment.

  “I am,” I say, dropping my head.

  “Look, to be fair, it sounds as though you might’ve needed an intervention. Not that it doesn’t suck,” she adds graciously, “but it’ll probably do you the world of good.”

  “I can’t argue with that.”

  “You mean you wouldn’t dare,” Kate teases. Her eyes are sparkling, and her cheeks are flushed. Now that I think about it, I’m feeling quite tipsy myself. I order a sparkling water and, to my relief, neither of them passes comment.

  “Enough about me. I want to hear your stories.”

  Kate goes first.

  “I’m engaged.” She holds up her hand, and I notice for the first time the delicate diamond ring on her finger. “My fiancé, Tim, is flying out to visit the week after next.”

  “He’s still in England?”

  “Yeah. He’d just started a new job in banking, something he’s been wanting for ages, when I was offered this post.”

  “Kate has only white picket fences in her future, and she won’t admit it, but she’s already named all three of her children,” Mandy says, with absolutely no underlying judgment and a heavy trace of admiration in her voice.

  “Oh, shut it, you.”

  “How long have you and Tim been together?” I ask.

  She blushes. “Ten years, since I was fourteen.”

  “Childhood sweethearts,” Mandy says. “It’s so sweet it hurts my teeth.”

  “That is seriously impressive,” I say. “Do I get to meet him? When he comes over, I mean?”

  “Of course!”

  “Have you met him?” I ask Mandy.

  “No, but I’ve witnessed enough of their video calls to know that he’s perfect for our Kate.”

  “Isn’t it hard being apart?” I ask.

  Kate twists her engagement ring around her finger. “Very. Tim had been retrenched when we started the process to come over here, but then he got this other offer, which was too good to refuse, and plans changed. I’m going to stick it out for the year. I think it’s been good for us. We’ve never been apart, so I see it as a true test of our relationship.”

  I meet Mandy’s eyes, and she gives me a pointed look. “What did I tell you? Adorable.”

  “What about you?” I ask her. “Is there a handsome Aussie waiting for you back home?”

  She looks horror-struck. “Hell no! Treat ‘em mean, keep ‘em clean and all that. Besides, I’m far too indecisive to be stuck with one guy. No offense, Kate.”

  “None taken.”

  Mandy waves her hand in a lazy circle. “The world is too big, and men are far too interesting to commit to just one.”

  By the time our shared cab drops me outside my apartment building, I’m well and truly ready for bed, but I force myself to open Wei’s file. It’s exactly as I suspected – endless reports of anti-social behavior, rule-breaking, bullying. He’s bright though, well above his grade average. This kid is going to be a serious problem, is my last conscious thought before I collapse face first on my pillow.

  8

  Gabby Martin’s mother blows into my classroom the following morning like a hurricane intent on vengeance.

  “I want that boy expelled!” she roars, pointing a red-taloned finger at Wei. Her plump face is contorted in an ugly scowl, her flabby upper arm exposed and quivering as her shirt sleeve hitches up.

  “Mrs. Martin!” I exclaim, shocked to my core. “Can we speak outside, please? This is not the time, or the place to discuss this.”

  “You’re the new one?”

  “I am yes. I’m Gabby’s new teacher, Amber Holland.” I extend my hand, and she blatantly ignores it. Her icy blue eyes narrow beneath her platinum fringe as she takes me in.

  “Exactly how new? When did you graduate?”

  “I…” Caught off guard, it takes me a moment to find my words. “I don’t think that has anything to do with the issue at hand.”

  “When my daughter comes home covered in bruises after being in your care and all I get is an unsatisfactory email in explanation, I think I have the right to voice my concerns.”

  I’m hyper aware that every one of my students has frozen in their tracks, listening to every word. Wei has gone rigid, his entire body tensed. Even Gabby looks miserable, head hanging at her mother’s side.

  “That may well be, but I am not discussing this in front of the children.”

  She relents and follows me outside into the hall. Before I step out of the classroom, I give Wei an encouraging smile, and I’m astonished to find he’s close to tears.

  I don’t give Gabby’s mom the opportunity to build up any more steam.

  “Mrs. Martin, I understand that you’re upset, but I have the situation under control. Both myself and Principal Chen have spoken to Wei and I’m keeping a strict eye on him. I do think,” I add, knowing that this isn’t going to go down well, “that he has some issues at home, and I think we need to keep in mind that sometimes children lash out when they are under emotional strain.”

  “If he’s mentally unsound, that’s even more reason he shouldn’t be in a classroom with normal children.” This woman’s capacity for compassion is non-existent. I take a deep breath.

  “Mrs. Martin, before the incident where Gabby got hurt occurred, I witnessed her pinching Wei. It was earlier in the day, and she did it without any provocation.”

  Shonda Martin may be blonde, but she isn’t stupid. The second the full implication of my words hit home, her brows shoot up, and her shoulders go rigid.

  “Are you trying to imply that my child is responsible for what happened?”

  “I’m not implying anything, I’m simply giving you the bigger picture,” I say quickly. My brain is whirring, trying to find the right wo
rds to appease this woman without insulting her. I dig deep and channel every ounce of my father’s diplomacy. “I don’t think we should overreact just yet. I’m new to this classroom, and I don’t know the children well enough to have an informed opinion, but I can promise you that I won’t tolerate bullying, Gabby is in good hands.” I can’t believe how easily that came out of my mouth. Oh my God, I almost sounded like a real teacher. If only Kent and my dad could see me now, I think, beaming with pride.

  My moment of triumph lasts about two point seven seconds.

  “Do you find this amusing?”

  I snap back to reality to find Shonda Martin glaring at me.

  “No, of course I don’t.” Please just let it go, please just let it go

  “I want to speak to Principal Chen.”

  Shit.

  I gather myself and give her a brief nod of understanding. “I can arrange that.”

  “Don’t you dare! You’re not to leave my child unattended with that boy. I know where her office is, I’ll see myself over there.”

  “I hope you trip,” I growl under my breath as she clacks off in her high heels. Then I paste a smile on my face and head back into my classroom.

  Fortunately, nothing comes of Shonda’s visit. Bianca sends me a brief email to say that it’s all sorted and that I handled it perfectly. I reply with an apology that it had to be escalated to her, but that I am keeping a strict eye on Wei.

  By the second week of school, I’ve tentatively adjusted, and more or less found a routine. I wake up, go for a quick run to a coffee shop two blocks down, where I reward my efforts with a small vanilla latte. I take a far more leisurely walk back, shower, and slurp down a peanut butter and banana smoothie while I wait for Denri. I told him that I’m more than capable of finding my own way to work, but he insists that the school is on his way and he doesn’t mind at all. Well, at least that what I think he said. With Denri, it’s hard to be sure. He looks happy about it, though.

  Week two goes by with no incidents. Wei is sullen but keeping mostly to himself. I find it hard to believe that Gabby’s mom frightened him enough to curb his bad behavior, and in my more optimistic moods, I wonder if he feels bad that he got me into trouble. I’ve treated him with nothing but kindness and encouragement, and I’ve praised his work wherever possible. Still, he is a closed book. I try to talk to Kate and Mandy about it during our daily lunches, but Mandy shoots me down, and Kate has no words of wisdom to impart. Friday arrives faster than I anticipated, and despite it being an uneventful week, I’m exhausted.