First Impression I

Chapter Thirteen- The First Meeting

Chapter Thirteen- The First Meeting

“Good afternoon, everyone,” Mademoiselle Clementine greeted us. It was the day after Election Day and all five of us were all seated in the office of the Middle Student Council.

“Good afternoon, Mademoiselle,” we chorused.

“I will be your teacher advisor for the student council. Feel free to approach me for any queries,” she said. So, on top of counselling and etiquette lessons, I would be seeing her during student council meetings too? That was, er, nice. No, don’t get me wrong. I liked Mademoiselle. She was nice. But regular exposure to her sharp wit and satire would not sit well with me or do my self-esteem any good.

“The Winter Ball is approaching in less than two weeks time. You would not need to prepare for it since the former Head Student Council is organising the event. However, you will be leading the second dance,” Mademoiselle informed us.

What? Leading the second dance? I thought all my problems would be resolved once I joined the student council but no, another problem just had to crop up. It wasn’t a very big problem, but an embarrassing one nonetheless.

“Mademoiselle,” I said hesitantly, raising my hand. The rest of the room turned to look at me. This was going to be awkward.

“I can’t dance,” I stated bluntly.

I couldn’t say that I didn’t expect the resulting reaction. Emma looked surprised but didn’t say anything. And Secger coughed, trying unsuccessfully to check his laugh. Now, that wasn’t very polite of him. Edmund smiled civilly. Adrian smirked which was something he did all the time.

Mademoiselle just looked at me coolly. “Oh yes, we have not covered that topic yet,” she said. “Perhaps, we should have a few practices. The waltz is not that difficult to master.” Oh, I know that tone. It probably meant that the dance lessons would be disastrous because I would pick up the waltz so very quickly. Note to self: go read some books on the waltz before the practices.

“Next Monday, the etiquette classroom, four o’clock?” Mademoiselle suggested. We nodded obediently.

“So problem solved. There is something I wish to stress. I am your teacher-advisor but according to Article 18 Section 4 of the school handbook, a teacher is not allowed to directly interfere with the decisions of the student council in under any circumstance without the consent of the council. Hence, my duty is to solely offer you advice and my opinion. The decision has to be made by you. I hope this is clear?”

We nodded again. Thornwell had the reputation of being the school with the least teacher supervision. Students here were given better educational opportunities and thus, were expected to make responsible decisions on their own.

“I think you should start discussing all your individual plans as soon as possible and carry them out as a group. The sooner you implement them, the more results you have to show for next year’s elections,” Mademoiselle was saying.

“Furthermore, there are a few matters that you need to see to immediately. There have been some complaints of bullying lodged by a group of seventh graders. The fengshui club insists on redecorating the cafeteria. The drama club wants to promote the school musical to the public…” she read on and on from her clipboard. The list seemed to go on forever.