Chapter Text
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?”
“Personal space!” Cap retorted back, giving Julian a shove. “Now shut up and listen to Patrick!”
“Erm, thank you, Cap.” Pat nodded appreciatively, “Um, so, as Cap’s just pointed out, and if you didn’t know already, my name is Patrick Butcher, but you can call me Pat.”
“Hello Pat!” Kitty chorused innocently, giving him a little wave.
“Hello, erm-“ he checked the classroom list he’d pinned to the back wall, “-Katherine.”
“You can just call me Kitty!” she giggled.
“What about KitKat?” Julian snarked, causing the others to glare at him.
“O-kay. Moving on! So basically I’m here as your mentor and together we’ll be going through a bunch of worksheets that Mrs Cooper has set me to give to you to complete. They’re basically going to be a continuation of subjects we’ve been learning about in classes to prepare us for our mock exams which are coming up. So, yes! Any questions?” he involuntarily clapped his hands together.
“Hang on a minute-“ Julian narrowed his eyes in remembrance, “-aren’t you the fatty they pushed into the septic tank around the back of the school last week?” Julian inputted rudely, throwing Pat off guard.
“Any relevant questions?” Pat repeated stiffly.
“Are we going to do all the lesson subjects at once, or a subject each day we meet up?” asked Humphrey.
At last, someone normal! “A very good question, Humphrey! We’ll be doing individual subjects per session so we can have a few hours dedicated to each one. Make sense?”
“Perfect, thank you.”
“So what’s the topic for today?” Mary asked meekly. “I can’t do English very well.”
“Then we’ll start with English!” Pat smiled, knowing it would be good to start with one of the core subjects. It was also one of his favourite lessons, although he’d never admit that to anyone. He opened the plastic folder that Mrs Cooper left him and pulled out the worksheets for English, handing them to Mary to pass around the class.
“Do we have to do this now?” Thomas moaned, “I actually excel in English, and my parents-“
“Shut up, Thomas.” Cap ordered, “The sooner we get started, the sooner we can go home.”
“And watch war documentaries.” Robin giggled. “Like an old man.”
“Very funny.”
“Do we have to do worksheets? We’re not in Year 7 any more!” Fanny exclaimed.
“She has a point. It’s kind of boring. Can’t we do something a little different instead?” Humphrey asked, “Maybe we could suggest what we’re struggling with instead of just working through these sheets. We’re not learning anything new!”
“Spoilsport.” Julian cut in, already having drawn multiple penises on his worksheet.
“So wait, what are we doing again? Just these sheets?” Mary questioned, causing Cap to facepalm.
“Haven’t you been listening?” he groaned. “We’ve been asked to complete these worksheets.”
“Ah. But what if I don’t want to?”
“That’s out of the question, Mary.”
“Well if Mary’s not doing them, I’m not either!” Robin ripped his sheet in half, throwing it at Thomas. Thomas gasped dramatically and attempted to throw them back but they missed the target and fell onto the floor.
At the steadily raising voices, Pat panicked and slammed his hand on the desk, making them all jump.
“What’s wrong with you?” Julian gasped angrily, covering his ears.
“L-Let’s just settle down. Please. I want to help you all but I can’t do it with everyone shouting!” his voice squeaked towards the end. Pat cleared his throat and tried again, rubbing his sore hand. “Okay, why don’t we have a vote on it?”
The class let out a collective groan.
“Not a vote! That’s bor-ing!” Julian called out.
“Oh, okay fair enough- oh no, wait a second... I’m the teacher!” he blinked in realization. He had been given the authority so they were inclined to respectfully go along with his decisions! “I’m the teacher! Great! So, yes, we will have a vote on it. It’s quick and easy enough! So, all those in favour of doing the worksheets set by Mrs Cooper, raise your hands now.”
Julian, Robin and Mary raised their hands.
“Okay. All those in favour of me making up my own content based on your suggestions, raise your hands now.”
Cap, Humphrey, Thomas and Fanny raised their hands.
“What about you, Kath- er, Kitty?” Pat asked, noticing she failed to give an opinion.
“I’m sorry, what was the question again?” she asked dreamily, obviously in a daze.
The class groaned. Pat’s smile dropped. He turned around and cupped his face with his hands, trying to recompose himself. He was so close to just running away. He was at breaking point. He thought he could handle this. He thought he could handle the responsibilities. But it was just so DIFFICULT. They were just so difficult. How was he meant to help them if he couldn’t even help himself?
Taking a deep breath, he slowly turned to face the class once again, forcing a smile onto his face. “Kitty, would you prefer to work from the worksheets, or learn from me?”
“You of course!” she gasped as if he’d said something offensive, “Of course I’d choose you, Pat! I’d rather learn from you than an inferior piece of paper!”
Pat felt a little flattered. “Then it’s settled! From now on then, if you guys have any ideas that you want me to cover in these sessions, you should let me know before our after-school club and I can prepare some notes for you all. Does that sound alright?”
“I suppose it wouldn’t hurt.” Thomas sniffed.
“It works for me.” Cap declared.
“Very well.” Fanny put in.
“If everyone else is okay with it then I am too.” Mary added.
“Cool.” Humphrey nodded.
“Fabulous!” chimed Kitty.
“I’d rather just work from the worksheet.” Julian huffed.
Robin laughed in response, “Only ‘cause you like drawing rude bits!”
This in turn caused Mary to giggle. Robin shot her a brief smile. Julian pouted.
“Great, then it’s settled!” Pat felt himself feeling optimistic now. “So, is there anything in English you guys would like for me to cover with you today?”
“Punctuation!” Mary cried out.
“Words!” Robin shouted unhelpfully.
“The tenses.” Humphrey admitted.
“I’ll go with any of the above.” Cap offered.
Pat nodded and turned to face the blackboard. He grabbed a piece of chalk and started to write out a few sentences, feeling the corners of his mouth turning up into a smile.
Maybe this could work after all?