Page 12 of Cupcakes and Kisses in Micklewick Bay

‘Hello, Miss Ingilby,’ Mrs Butterfield said.

‘Hello there,’ said Mrs Hebbelthwaite.

‘Hi.’ Jasmine forced her mouth into a smile.

Despite the myriad feelings currently running riot inside her, Jasmine noted the neatness of the room – the row of filing cabinets on one wall, the bookcase on another, potted plants and watercolours blurring the hard edges of the space. Her eyes settled briefly on the desk where a notebook and pen were set out along with a couple of framed photographs and a pot of pens.

‘Please take a seat,’ Mrs Armistead said, indicating to the brace of chairs in front of the desk as she herself slipped round to the other side where she settled herself in a large leather chair.

Jasmine sat down and glanced between the three women, her heart hammering.

‘So, Mrs Butterfield tells me you’d made an appointment to see her before Charlotte contacted you earlier today,’ the headteacher said.

‘That’s right, yes.’ Jasmine nodded, her breathing short.

‘Okay. In that case, I think it would be best if we start with the reason you wanted to speak to Mrs Butterfield, and we can take things from there.’ Mrs Armistead placed her elbows on the table. She threaded her fingers together before resting her chin on them. It was an easy posture, with no hint of defensiveness, that told Jasmine the headteacher was ready to listen, was open to hear what she had to say. So different from Mr Trousdale – or Troutface Trousdale as he was known by the pupils – who’d been headteacher in her day. He’d been strict, had zero personality and had run the school with a rod of iron. He never smiled and his face was permanently set in a sour expression. Even the teachers had jumped to attention whenever he walked into the classroom. On the day he retired, it was as if the old school building had breathed a sigh of relief. Being approachable and the owner of a positive outlook meant that Julie Armistead was everything Richard Trousdale was not.

Jasmine was thankful she was dealing with her and not the former head today.

Inhaling a calming breath through her mouth, Jasmine reminded herself once more to keep her emotions in check – she wanted to be sure her concerns were taken seriously, that she didn’t give the impression she was an overly protective, hysterical mother who thought her children were perfect and could do no wrong. She went on to explain how Chloe had become quiet and withdrawn over the last couple of weeks, and how she’d been reluctant to go to school on a morning. ‘It’s not like her at all, she usually loves school. I’ve never had any trouble getting her here.’ Jasmine then told them what Zak had shared with her. The three women listened intently throughout,expressions of concern occasionally flashing in their eyes, though no one passed comment.

‘I’m sorry to hear Chloe’s been feeling unhappy about coming to school, that’s not what we want at all,’ said Mrs Armistead, leaning back in her seat when Jasmine had finished speaking. ‘We want our children to feel happy and safe here.’ She turned to Chloe’s teacher. ‘Mrs Butterfield, have you noticed any recent changes in Chloe?’

Fay Butterfield cleared her throat. ‘Yes, I have, actually. I was going to contact you myself, Miss Ingilby, but you beat me to it. Both Miss Unthank – I’m sure you’ll know she’s one of our teaching assistants – and myself have picked up on it. Chloe’s a popular, well-liked pupil, with a sunny, cheerful nature. And though she’s one of our quieter students, she always throws herself wholeheartedly into whatever she’s been tasked with, which is why it’s been so easy to spot the recent change in her.’

‘Right,’ said Jasmine, a spike of concern shooting through her. ‘And what do you think has been responsible for these changes you’ve noticed?’

‘Well…’ Mrs Butterfield’s eyes flicked briefly to the headteacher. ‘There have been a few occasions where we’ve had to address a situation – the damage to Chloe and Sophie’s beach collage you mentioned being an example. Nina Scragg had been caught spoiling it by other pupils. And there was an occasion when paint had been thrown over a model Chloe was making as part of our seaside project. It transpired Nina was responsible for that, too.’ Mrs Butterfield paused, as if choosing her words with care. ‘And then there’s also the element of verbal unkindness, which, from what you’ve just said, you’re evidently already aware of, and which we have spoken to Nina about. We’ve made it very clear that it’s not at all acceptable.’

‘I can assure you, Miss Ingilby, we stress to all of our pupils that unkindness is not tolerated at our school,’ Mrs Armistead interjected, her expression now grave.

Jasmine felt her heart rate gather speed. ‘What’s the…’ She took a moment as she searched for the right word. ‘What’s the subject of this verbal unkindness?’ She pressed her lips together in order to stop her anger from spilling over, simultaneously bracing herself for what she was about to hear.

Mrs Butterfield shuffled awkwardly in her seat and cleared her throat again. ‘Unfortunately, it’s about Chloe’s father, or rather that… that he… um… passed away.’

Pain seared through Jasmine and her eyes burnt with unexpected tears – it was rare for her to show that she was hurt, even rarer for her to cry.Poor little Chloe.She blinked quickly, clenching her jaw in order to keep her rampaging emotions in check. Though Zak had hinted at this, having it confirmed by Chloe’s teacher somehow made it infinitely worse. She swallowed down the lump that was now clogging her throat. ‘That’s worse than unkind, it’s cruel. What sort of child uses the loss of a parent against another?’ She swept her gaze between the sympathetic faces looking back at her.

‘We can fully appreciate why this will have caused Chloe – and yourself – distress, which is why we’ll be speaking to Nina Scragg’s parents. Not that I want to diminish the levity of what Nina said – it truly is terrible – but I honestly think she won’t have fully understood the impact of her words,’ said Mrs Armistead.

Oh, if she’s anything like her toxic father she’ll have understood and meant every nasty little word of it.‘So what happens now?’ Jasmine asked, keeping her thoughts to herself and choosing not to comment on the headteacher’s observation.

‘Well, that leads us on to why we wanted to speak to you about Zak,’ said Liz Hebbelthwaite. Zak’s teacher went on toexplain how over the lunchtime break, Zak and Bruce Scragg had got into a physical fight and had to be separated by the playground monitors.

Jasmine listened, her mouth falling open as she took in the details. ‘But that doesn’t sound like Zak at all – I know that’s what all parents say, but, honestly, he’s never done anything like that before. He must’ve been provoked.’ She willed them with all her might to believe her.

Mrs Hebbelthwaite nodded. ‘We’re very aware that’s out of character for Zak. He usually adopts the role of peacekeeper, uses his humour to help diffuse arguments and disagreements amongst his peers. Which is why we were so surprised to find him involved in something like this.’

That his teachers appeared to know him well had a calming effect on Jasmine. ‘He mentioned to me over the weekend that he’d been having trouble with the Scragg boy. Said he’d been making fun of him not having a dad.’ Her eyes swept over the three faces, hoping to read their expressions, her heart aching for her son. She was relieved to see compassion reflected back at her. ‘Zak told me it didn’t bother him, but I could see it did, though not to the extent that things would become physical between them. Do you know who started the fight?’Please, please say it wasn’t Zak.

‘According to the pupils who witnessed it, Bruce pushed Zak a couple of times, knocking him over, which was when Zak retaliated but, luckily, the playground monitors got involved before things could escalate.’

Jasmine nodded, relief washing over her to hear that Zak hadn’t been the instigator. ‘So what happens now? Is Zak in trouble?’

‘Well, of course we don’t condone the fact he was involved in a fight, but that we’ve addressed the situation with you is enough to satisfy the procedures we have in place at school.’

Jasmine nodded. ‘And what about the Scragg boy, seeing as he was the one who started it? Surely he can’t be allowed to get away with what he said to Zak, nor what his sister’s said and done to Chloe.’ Jasmine could feel her indignation rising.

‘Miss Ingilby, you can rest assured that both Bruce and Nina Scragg will be dealt with accordingly,’ the headteacher said, holding eye contact with Jasmine. ‘It might simply be a matter that they’re taking time to settle in; after all, they haven’t been at the school for long. Going forward, we’ll be sure to monitor the situation closely.’

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