"Okay class, today we will be making cards for Mother's Day!"
At these brightly chirped words, courtesy of his Government and Politics teacher, Alex groaned. The rest of his class did not.
Mrs. Dealy smiled widely at the loud cheers and claps that accompanied her words, and let out a laugh.
"Now, don't go thinking that today will be a free day! At the end of class, we will be taking the last 30 minutes to go over homework and finish taking notes over the Judicial branch!"
Unsurprisingly, students did not hear her- they were already off and chattering away to their friends, clearing off their desks in giant sweeps.
All, that is, except for Alex.
He sat quietly in his seat, frowning down at his hands, lips pressed together.
He did not want to make a Mother's Day card.
Who would he write it to? Mrs. Pleasure? Not likely. Though he was certainly thankful for her taking him in, and most definitely respected her, he did not consider her a parental figure. It would be odd to make a card for her, even if he would never give it to her…
In the past, he had always made a card for his elderly neighbor, Mrs. Glendale, delivering it to her in the afternoon, as she was having dinner.
But that was back in England… He was in America now, more than 3,000 miles away.
His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of Mrs. Dealy.
"Alex honey?" The young teacher said as she stopped by his desk, holding a thick stack of coloured construction paper in her arms. "What colour do you want for your card?"
Mrs. Dealy smiled kindly at him, sky eyes twinkling.
"Blue would be nice."
Chelsea blue… He missed his favourite football team…
He accepted the paper from her with a polite nod of thanks, and laid it on his desk.
He stared down at the blank sheet of paper.
…It remained blank…
Alex sighed and glanced around him, taking in the rest of the class. They were all talking and laughing happily, cutting and gluing and colouring as he watched. Desks had been scooted together, and everyone was in groups of twos, threes, and fours.
Everyone except for, once again, Alex.
The blond boy sighed for a second time and shifted his attention back to the sheet of paper in front of him.
It stared back, taunting him with its emptiness.
"To hell with it," Alex muttered, and purposefully folded the paper in half. He reached over and stealthily snagged a marker from the desk closest to his.
He uncapped it and began to draw.
By the end of the class period, the room was nothing short of a mess. Paper scraps were scattered all over the floor, the desks were in a disarray, and markers had rolled everywhere.
Mrs. Dealy was handling it all quite well.
"Class!" She shouted, slamming a hand down onto her table. "Guys! Quiet down- NOW!"
The racket rapidly subsided, and everyone turned to stare at the young teacher.
"Good. Now guys, we've got to clean up! I want all of the markers, coloured pencils, scissors, and glue sticks back in their proper places, every piece of trash picked up from the floor, and all the desks moved back to their rows!"
One of the boys, Carson, Alex vaguely remembered, snapped off a God-awful salute and tossed Mrs. Dealy a charming grin. "Yes Madame, you've got it! Clean up time!"
Alex snorted at his enthusiasm- but it was effective.
The rest of the teens hopped up, and the cleaning process began.
As soon as everything was back where it belonged, all scraps had been swept up, and all were seated, the real work began.
They took notes from a PowerPoint presentation, talked over their homework, and even had time to start reading on the next section of the chapter.
Alex preferred it this way.
By the time the lunch bell rang, Alex's mood had been bolstered, and the only thing still tying him to his feelings of melancholy was the neat little card lying in the corner of his desk.
He stood along with the rush of the rest of his classmates, and allowed himself to be swept along into the hallway.
It was only as Mrs. Dealy was packing up to leave at the end of the day that she noticed the card nestled among the spread of papers laid out on her desk.
She picked it up, curious.
On the front was a simple sketch of a daisy, drawn in black, and when she opened the card, she was greeted by the cleanly written words: Happy Mother's Day.
It was nothing special; just a paper folded in half with three words and an awkwardly sketched flower- but Mrs. Dealy went home that day happier than she had in a long long while…
And miles away, a blond teenager fell onto his bed with a self-satisfied smile on his face.
Just a short fic for Mother's Day! It did not end at all how I had planned for it to (sad, angsty, and tearful), but I rather like this version! :) Plus, I'm trying out a new format of writing! Huzzah! :D