The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,33

the desks behind followed, this time a little louder and more brazen.

Sadie shook her head slightly. ‘What?’

‘A condition, Miss. I can’t control it. When I’ve got to go I’ve got to go, you know? Otherwise…’ He began an elaborate mime that Sadie really didn’t want or need to see.

‘Yes, yes…’ she snapped. She just wanted to get the lesson started. In all honesty, it would have been far easier and more painless to let them all mess around for the next hour, but she would have to evaluate this session later with her mentor and she could hardly do that if she hadn’t actually taught anything. Besides, she wouldn’t have put it past one of them to tell the proper teacher about it on her return, which wouldn’t go down well. Then there was the added disadvantage that if Sadie ever had to take this class alone again they really wouldn’t take her seriously. Not that they were doing anything of the sort now.

‘If it’s really that urgent,’ she continued, biting back a reply that also expressed extreme doubt about any ‘condition’ because then she’d be leaving herself wide open to accusations of bullying and discrimination, ‘then you’d better go, but be quick about it.’

The boy slid from his seat and slouched out with a look that Sadie just knew meant she’d been played. But what could she do about it? If she’d lost this one little battle maybe it was better to let it go and focus her energy on winning the war. Or, at least, a few minor skirmishes, which was probably the best she could hope for with class 3G.

Once the door had slammed behind him, she turned to the rest of the class. ‘Right,’ she said, ‘page eighty-five.’

‘Aren’t we going to wait for him, Miss?’ the same girl who’d began the book-cupboard debacle asked. Sadie was beginning to think little-Miss-goody-two-shoes ought to shut her mouth for once.

‘I’m sure he’ll catch up quickly enough once he’s back.’

Another voice piped up. ‘Bobby’s gone home, Miss.’

Sadie looked sharply at her. ‘What?’

‘He hasn’t gone to the toilet. He’s gone home – he said he was going to because he didn’t want to read about Hitler.’

‘He didn’t take his bag.’

‘Didn’t bring a bag either,’ the girl said.

Sadie hesitated. ‘He won’t be able to get off the grounds without being seen,’ she said in a tone full of confidence that she didn’t feel. ‘Someone will spot him and he’ll be marched straight back here with a detention for his trouble.’

At least I hope so, she thought, but either way she was now in the shit too for letting it happen on her watch. The only saving grace in this situation was that things would be a lot worse if Bobby did manage to escape the school grounds, so she had to hope that she was right about his chances.

‘He’s done it before,’ the girl said. ‘Nobody sees him go. He does it all the time.’

There was a murmur of agreement.

‘What?’ Sadie stared at the class. ‘Just asks for the toilet and goes off expecting nobody to go looking for him?’

‘Oh, no, it’s only you he’s used the toilet excuse on. Usually he just sneaks out.’

Sadie slammed her own copy of the history textbook closed and slapped it onto the desk. She bolted out of the room and into the corridor. It was deserted, though she’d hardly expected anything else, because the rest of the school were in lessons, where they ought to be. She marched towards the boys’ toilets. She hardly expected to find the missing Bobby in there either, given what she’d been told, but she didn’t know what else to do. After a brief hesitation, she knocked on the door.

‘Bobby!’ she called, as loudly as she dared. She needed him to hear her if by some miracle he was in there, but she didn’t want to alert the whole school to the situation. ‘Bobby… are you in there? Come back to class right now!’

When she was greeted by depressing but fully expected silence, she turned to go back to class, and saw that almost every member of 3G had now gathered round the open door watching her with some amusement. She had to admit ruefully this was probably the best entertainment they were going to get this week – maybe even this year.

‘Want me to go in, Miss?’ a boy asked.

Sadie was silent for a moment. She didn’t want to lose another but if he was only going into the