BBC Ghosts: Teatime Club

Misfits

This was a bad idea.

Pat carefully regarded the band of misfits sitting at their desks before him with a wary glance, trying to judge their general mood. Some were crudely staring at him, looks of annoyance plastered on their faces, and some were just plainly ignoring the fact he was even there. So all in all, he was off to a good start.

He pulled at his shirt collar and idly twiddled his fingers, trying to keep his nerves at bay. Knowing that none of them wanted to be there made him feel even guiltier about the whole thing. It's not like he wanted to be there either. He was doing this for Mrs Cooper.

"Pat, can I have a quick word please?"

Pat looked up from his work and nodded sharply, heartbeat quickening at the curt address. He followed Mrs Cooper into the corridor and she pulled the classroom door shut to give them a little bit of privacy. He looked up at her nervously, hoping he wasn't in any trouble. "How can I help you, miss?"

Mrs Cooper smiled. Patrick was always so eager to please and it warmed her heart. She knew he'd be the perfect choice. "So Pat, I was wondering if you'd be interested in teaching some subject enhancement lessons for a few hours after school? Miss Button's not happy with the progress of some of our Year 9 students and thought an after-school club would be a good way of bringing them up to speed with lesson content. It would basically be a case of going through homework or particular lesson tasks with them but knowing you you'd make it much more fun than that! Sound any good?"

"A club? An after-school club?" Pat repeated. "Which students?"

"A mix of students from classes A to D. I thought it might make for some good work experience for you and a chance for you to make some new friends." she gave him an earnest smile, knowing the latter did not come easy to Pat. "So what do you think?"

"I think it would be fine thank you, miss!" he smiled back. If it delayed going back there a few hours, Pat would be willing to do anything - even if it meant trying to socialize with a bunch of strangers.

"That's great! I'll make the necessary arrangements and you can make a start next week!"

Next week had rolled around far too quickly for Pat's liking and he was beginning to regret accepting her offer. His enthusiasm had deflated somewhat on seeing which students he'd be mentoring. The only ones he really knew were Humphrey and Cap who were in his classes but he didn't speak to them. Some of the others he knew by reputation alone. First there was Fanny Button - an uptight girl known for her snappy nature and rudeness to others, as well as being a relation to the headmistress. Then there was Thomas Thorne, the self-proclaimed poet with an obvious crush on Mrs Cooper (which was actually a little bit creepy), also known as the 'weird emo kid' by the whole student cohort. But the worst of the bunch came in the form of Julian Fawcett. Son of a shady politician who was moved down a set for being disruptive in class and a general toxic influence to fellow classmates. He was loud, bossy and a bully. Yet strangely he was the lead student representative for his year group - although Pat had heard rumblings of bribery being the reason why.

Pat bit his tongue. He exhaled deeply and clapped his hands together. It was time to start. One of the girls unexpectedly copied his gesture and started giggling to herself. Pat cleared his throat, addressing the class. "Erm, right, okay. Uh, hello! Hello, and welcome to..." he paused, trying to think of a name on the spot, "-the Teatime Club!"

"But it's not teatime yet." Thomas muttered from the back of the classroom.

"We're having tea?" Robin grinned, looking around for the kettle.

"No, Robin." Fanny groaned. "He's referring to the fact it's the afternoon and almost dinner time. He's trying to be clever."

"I'm hungry." Julian muttered. "Anyone got any food with them? What about you, frosty?" he leant over Cap and nudged him. "Eh? Got any sweets?"