Page 91 of Thursdays at Orange Blossom House
So now that school is over for the term and holidays have started, she’s not on school grounds to relish the absence of students but to prepare for next term. She doesn’t use the same class plan each year with little or no variation. It’s more interesting for her if she can vary things, so in addition to the curriculum she adds some texts each year. Right now she’s considering whether to reintroduceThe Catcher in the Ryefor her Year Elevens. It’s been a couple of years since she’s taught it, and while she’s no fan of Holden Caulfield’s self-indulgence the book is a classic and she would be remiss if she didn’t teach it some of the time.
She picks it up and starts to read the first paragraph when a knock on her office door makes her jolt.
‘Sorry! Sorry.’ It’s Dennis, with a mortified expression on his face. ‘I should have made more noise when I walked up.’
He’s looking quite out of character since he’s wearing jeans and a long-sleeved top. He’d be almost staid if his hair and skin didn’t advertise the fact that he spends part of each day in the ocean.
‘What are you doing here?’ she says, her heart still beating quickly, although she’s not sure if it’s from the adrenaline of the shock or something else.
‘I check the equipment every holidays. Just to, y’know …’ He shrugs. ‘Make sure it’s in order. I heard a bit of noise when I was walking past. Thought I’d see who it was.’
‘Just little old me,’ she says, smiling guardedly.
Ever since he made it clear he’s still interested in her she’s been feeling slightly off kilter around him and doesn’t want him to know. Her solution, as always, is to keep her face in as neutral an expression as possible. Since he helped find her mother she’s chatted to him more than usual, but not enough to make him think she might change her mind about going out with him. Even if she’s been daydreaming about him – thinking about his face and his smile and his body. Thoughts she hasn’t had about anyone for a long time. Thoughts that can’t ever manifest in reality.
‘So why are you here?’ Dennis says, leaning against the door.
Patricia notices his long, lean torso and looks away.
She clears her throat. ‘Preparing for next term. I want to set an extra book but I haven’t decided which.’
Dennis gestures to the novel in her hands. ‘Salinger’s all right. And it’s short. Students usually like that.’
She looks at him questioningly.
‘What?’ he says.
‘I thought you didn’t like English.’
He smiles. ‘I liked it once I left school.’
‘What was wrong with it at school?’
Maybe she’s teaching the wrong way. For all she knows, there are Dennises in her class who will hate English until she’s not teaching it to them any more.
‘I dunno.’ He looks more guarded. ‘I just reckon … Books are meant to be enjoyed. Not pulled apart. It takes the fun out of them if you have to keep talking about them, trying to work out what the author meant.’
He surprises her again. She knows she shouldn’t judge him just because he’s the PE teacher. PE teachers read books too. But she’s never met one, before now, who talks about them.
‘So,’ she says, ‘maybe Salinger needs too much discussion. Would it be mean to setThe Lord of the Rings?’
He laughs. ‘Jeez – throw in a bit of Tolstoy while you’re at it. Just to make sure no one has time to ever read anything ever again.’
‘Don’t give me ideas,’ she says playfully.
He stands up straighter and folds then re-folds his arms.
‘I, uh … I have some news,’ he says, and she feels something grab at her solar plexus. Jealousy? She isn’t sure and doesn’t want to know.
‘Oh?’
‘Yeah.’ He tugs at his sleeves. ‘I’m leaving at the end of the year.’
Now it’s her throat that feels grabbed.
‘I’m going to India for a while,’ he continues.
‘India?’
