Strain of Love

Chapter Seven

I stared at the notebook on my desk. Or should I say, I was staring at the obnoxiously big unicorn that was looking back at me. The entire book twinkled in pink glitter. It was as if a glitter bomb just went and exploded everywhere. The pink stuff already on my jumper, and under my fingernails.

It was quite something.

"Mabel chose it," came Henry's voice, seeming that he felt the need to let me know.

My eyes moved away from the piece of art on my desk to his golden gaze, sliding lower to appreciate his outfit. Dark green thermal fleece again. Lucky me. "I love the textures of the fluffy unicorn mixed in with the glitter."

Henry chuckled for a beat or two. "It's a new notebook for your many lists. I was going to get you a run-of-the-mill flower power one, but Mabel insisted that you'd like this one better. I had my first choice in my hand until I thought that maybe you'd remember to write your jobs down if that's sitting next to your bed."

I just couldn't seem to pull my eyes from his face, smiling when he did. "You're so thoughtful. Thank you."

"Don't mention it," he said, stepping out the way of Mabel when she appeared at my desk, fingers gripping the edge as she peered up at me.

I flashed her a quick grin. "Good morning, Mabel."

Glancing at the notebook on my desk, she widened her eyes. "Isn't it the most beautiful thing you have ever seen?"

The pages were pink inside too as I flicked through them, seeing stickers hidden on the back page. "It's so special. Aren't you just lovely for picking it out for me?"

As a teacher, you learned to expect gifts. I was still sitting on the boxes of chocolate from the end of the term. But I could safely say this gift was the best I had ever received. It wasn't just about how cool it looked, but the thought that went into buying it.

Mabel's dimples popped in as she absorbed my words. "Daddy bought me one too, so we match! I got a matching pen. The unicorn lights up as you write."

I stood up from my seat to meet them on the other side of the desk, keeping a close eye on the children and the parents. "Even better. Can you put a worksheet on everyone's desk, please, sweetie?"

Doing as I asked, she took the worksheets from my hand to place on everyone's desk, giggling away when some children spoke to her, turning to me when she got to the back of the room. "Does that mean we're doing maths first?"

"Yes, it's division and subtraction today," I replied, noticing how Henry was pointing across the classroom.

My eyes followed his finger. Oh, Christ. A bunch of kids were standing around the fishbowl, which was never a good thing. "Jack, did I just see you put your pen in the fish tank?"

Jack took a long step back and crossed his arms. "No."

"The pen floating in the water wasn't there a minute ago. Remove it, please, and wash your hands. If I see you do it again, I'll send you to the head teacher's office."

Jack ducked his hand in the water and removed the pen, putting it into the bin before going over to the sink to wash his hands. It wasn't the first time that he'd misbehaved, often liking to push my boundaries. I didn't mind it so much, his trouble causing harmless, but recently he'd taken it to another level by including the other students into his antics. That's when it got hard to control, as they got carried away with things, hence the pen in the fish tank.

Henry gave me a wave, signalling towards the door. "I'll leave you to it."

I got another look at his dimple when he lifted his hand to salute me on a grin. It was like a mirror of Mabel. I raised my hand in retaliation, waving my fingers up and down. "Right everyone, settle down."