BBC Ghosts: Teatime Club

Conversations

This was a problem.

Pat stared at his ugly reflection in the mirror. A dark circle marred his right cheek. The bruise was sore and swollen and worst of all, obvious.

"Great." Pat muttered to himself, standing on his tiptoes to get a closer look in the mirror. He didn't really want everyone to know about his little injury because it was embarrassing, if anything, as it brought attention to himself. It was a symbol of his weakness. It would raise too many questions.

If he could just make it through the day with his head down then nobody would notice it.

The short teenager pushed the toilet door open and walked into the corridor. It was dead at this time in the morning as it was at least an hour before school even started, so he had a lot of time to kill. He sighed and made his way to his tutor room, hoping it was open. He walked another three laps around the school. As he was walking through the humanities passageway for a third time, he heard a strange noise that he couldn't place. He stopped and looked around, finding the hallways empty. He listened intently and came to recognize the sound.

It was... crying.

Now concerned, Pat followed the source of the noise and ended up down a smaller corridor leading to a rogue English classroom. On reaching the classroom, he peered through the door window.

Inside was Mary.

She was slumped over one of the tables with her head buried in her arms, crying her eyes out. Pat's first instinct was to see how she was but he didn't want to scare her. He gently tapped on the door but she didn't move.

"Mary?" he spoke softly.

Her crying seemed to cease for a moment and she lifted her head. Her eyes were puffy and red as she wiped away her tears with her sleeve. Pat entered the room and cautiously approached her.

"Oh darling, are you okay?"

His kind expression set off a fresh wave of tears and she threw her hands up to her face, cupping her eyes as she wept. She shook her head. Pat knelt beside her and handed her a tissue from the desk behind him. She nodded gratefully and dabbed her eyes, scrunching up the tissue to then blow her nose. Pat waited patiently until she was ready to talk.

"S-Sorry about this." she stuttered, "My emotions just boiled over and I-I couldn't control them."

"Everyone needs a little cry now and again. There's no shame in that, Mary." he replied kindly.

Mary gave him a small smile. "T-Thanks Pat."

"Do you feel better now?"

"A little bit, yes." she sniffed. "It's just that... my parents are splitting up. They're going through the processes of a divorce and it didn't really hit me until I saw them talking it through with their legal people. It's real. So real. My family is breaking apart and I can't do anything to stop it." she started sobbing again.

Pat gently patted her back as she let out her tears, not knowing what else to say. He was terrible at social cues, especially when dealing with people in a heightened emotional state. He'd never been tasked with comforting anybody like this before. He hadn't needed to. "I-I'm sure everything will turn out okay, Mary. You'll learn to adjust to the changes. It may be extremely difficult at times, but that's okay. You're allowed to be upset over this. Have you told your parents how you feel?"

She wiped her eyes and shook her head, "I don't want to get involved. It'll make things difficult for them."

"But it's hurting you! Your feelings matter, Mary! They are valid! You are valid! I really think you should tell them, honestly. It might make you feel better."