Nothing’s changed in here. Rather comforting really. “Yes, Mrs. Wilkins. I am and we have an appointment with the headmaster.” And this time I’m not in trouble. What a change that is. Lena rested her hand on Kyle’s shoulder.
“Take a seat, Lena, and I’ll let him know you’re here. He’s on the phone but won’t be long.” She shuffled under the counter. “If you can fill this out while you’re waiting, I can log Kyle into the system.” She handed over a clip board with a sheet of paper attached and picked a pen from the old china cup on the counter.
“Thanks.” Lena and Kyle walked over the chairs lining the wall and sat down. She began to fill in the sheet while her son drummed his fingers on his knee.
“Kyle, man is that you for real?” A teen loped down the hallway with a bunch of friends in tow and stopped in front to them. “Mum said you were here and maybe coming to school.”
Her son stood up and slapped hands with the boy. “Great to see you, Mitch.”
“Mitchell. You’re all grown up. Last time I saw you, you were only so high.” I’ve been away for so long. Lena stood up and wrapped her arms around her best friend’s son, giving him a quick hug before he pulled away. His mates giggled and he scowled at them.
“This is my mum’s best friend Lena, and this is Kyle. Kyle, meet the guys, Jed, Will, and Flea.”
“Hi.” Kyle slapped hands with them in turn and then leaned against the wall doing his best to fit in. “So, once I get signed in I’ll come looking for you. What class are you in?”
Before Mitchell could answer, Mrs. Wilkins spoke. “You will be in Mitchells class, Kyle so don’t fret about getting lost or anything. Someone will come and get you if school’s already started. Mitchell could probably take you and show you your locker though, while you’re waiting for Mr. Bond-Jones.”
“Sure. Come on.”
“Back soon, Mum.” He dropped his back pack beside her chair and loped off down the hallway with his mates while Lena continued to fill in the paperwork. Sitting outside waiting for the headmaster brought back memories for her. Gail and Lena reporting to him for detention yet again. Those were the days. The afternoons she would have to explain to her mother why she was held in after class, and what she was going to do to improve her behavior, and how it wouldn’t happen again although they both knew it would. Gail and Lena were rebels at heart, even if what they got up to wasn’t that bad.
Truth be told, if she could go back and change anything, she probably wouldn’t. The memories sustained her on her bad days when things were tough. Making her way in the world with a baby on the way and when he arrived, learning to take care of him had its challenges but she’d managed it. Long conversations over the phone to Gail to compare notes and have a virtual shoulder to cry on had been her savior.
“Lena Hawkins. How wonderful to see you.” Mr. Bond-Jones stood smiling down at her. His handlebar mustache had turned from brown to almost white, but his bright check trousers were still held up with suspenders He’d aged since the last time they’d crossed paths and she’d been surprised and secretly pleased to hear he was still at the school. He was a fair headmaster and an all-round nice guy despite his effort to look tough. “It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?”
“Yes it has. It’s nice to see you again, Sir.” Why are my knees still shaking? I’m not in trouble today.
“Brad, please, Lena. You’re way past the age where you need to call me Mister anything. Come into my office and let’s see what we need to do to get your young man into class.” He stood back and let her proceed him into the room.
The old spice lingering heavily in the air and musty books lining the walls hadn’t changed over the years. The desk sat proudly in the middle of the room with a faded picture of Queen Elizabeth behind it exactly as had nearly twenty years ago. The chair she sat in was polished to a high sheen from the amount of people who had placed their butts in it over the years.
“Well now, it’s good to see you again. I’ve been following your progress, Lena. I have to say I’m very proud to call you one of our own great achievement stories. You made such a success of yourself as I knew you would do.”
Really? “Uh, that’s really nice of you to say. Sadly, it’s all gone and I’m back where I started.”
He brushed her comments aside with a wave of his hand. “Lena, if I may be candid with you. From an early age I knew you would do well because you have the determination many people only wished they had. Each time you got knocked back, leaving school early, becoming a young single parent, making your way in the world—you did all of these things with dogged determination and I know you’ll do the same again if that’s what you choose to do. I wish more of our students had your drive.”
Her throat closed off and she tried to swallow. Everyone seemed to have more faith in her than she had in herself. I don’t deserve this. “I don’t know what to say.”
“Well, we can talk about that later, but let’s get young Kyle enrolled and
