Bad Education / Skins – Cloudy Girl

Maybe it was time to be a real teacher

At first, Alfie thought, Hey! New school, new students, new people (new colleagues to crush on, attempt to date, actually date, be dumped by), what could possible go wrong with that? Although he was a teacher, he was clearly not quite adept at the task of learning the simplest of life lessons

Case in point.

Effy Stonem. The girl was simply stunning, the most beautiful girl he'd ever met, bar none. Were he a teenager, he would have thrown himself at her mercy the moment he first set eyes on her, but mercifully, he'd grown past that, so he just admired her wit and prettiness, and tried to ignored the sharpness of her tongue and the sadness of her eyes sometimes. He was the fun teacher (or the fuck–up, as his former students not exactly whispered all around him), he wasn't built to offer comfort and offer a shoulder to cry on.

Not that he thought Effy was the kind of girl who cried on people's shoulders, if she cried at all, even though all Alfie could see in her was a mysterious smile than kept people away, and an aloofness that regardless made people stare after her. That and the dark clouds over her fluffy haired head. God, he was used to them kids who raised hell but were kind hearted and just fussy, not gloomy and perhaps depressed, it was way out of his league.

The other teachers seemed oblivious about it, or unwilling to do anything about it the few times he tried to bring it up. They saw the façade, it seemed, the bright eyes, the enchanting face, the smarts, not everything else that made his stomach flip some days when he saw how tired the girl was, how over everything she seemed to be, and no one was doing anything about it.

So, for once, he tried to just be a teacher, not Alfie the fuck–up.

Her smile was her first defense against him, and it was just this side of annoyingly cultivated and perfected. He shot past it by treating her like the girl she was, not a woman in the making as he noticed the other teachers doing, and that made her smirk fall. Next came the flirting, the expert use of her husky voice, and boy, if only he were a teenager again... But despite what others thought, he was an adult, so again, it did not work on him. Finally came the real challenge – the wall, the coldness, the silence. He'd heard it said that she apparently spent much of her younger years not speaking at all, or very rarely, and he wondered how she communicated then, if not by speaking. Only through her empty smiles and attractive face?

Geez, but Effy made him feel old, old and serious and a fucking adult. Fuck his life.

He persisted, despite her starting to avoid him and his attempts at being a good teacher. She was quick to see he was persistent when he wanted to, and no matter how much she flirted with him (oh, Effy, he had the likes of Chantelle Parsons practically give him a lap dance for days on end, he could handle all kinds of teenage flirting), he did not relent or fall for it. Even when presented with silence, he chatted her ear off, putting an elbow on her shoulder and preventing her from leaving for several minutes at a time.

Smart girl that she was, Effy used her best friend Pandora (Panda for short, Alfie started calling her after hearing the brunette call her as such) and the others kids she collected over the year to run interference, but Alfie was not suck a dumbass, and the girl always seemed to find herself enduring his endless talks of how hard life was, how being a kid sucked but it got better, etc.

What? He didn't know how to handle a depressed kid! One that used alcohol, drugs and sex like party hats. She couldn't use those against Alfie, but all the other kids around her were not as fortunate to be immune to her charms, and the boys certainly seemed completely taken by her; the rest? He knew kids drank and did drugs, but Effy did them to escape, and that was just sad.

It took two months of hard work for her to finally speak to him like he was a person trying to reach her, and not someone to bow to her superior self. She turned to him with something akin to vulnerability, and Alfie steeled himself for what was to come, to be the responsible teacher she needed him to be.

"Everything's just fucked up" – she said softly, and adverted her eyes. He sighed and looked ahead as well.

"Eh, that's normal. What would life be without a little excitement?" – she pretended to smile (she was good at that).

"I fucked everything up"

"Now, Eff, I think you are much too young to have that much power. If you were the Prime Minister, however..." – that drew a quick and real grin from her. Score!

"I don't know what you're trying to do. With me"

"I guess you're the first student I've ever had who looked like they really needed help, and there was no one around to help"

"I have people"

"Do you really? 'Cause no one's noticed the shit I have, it don't look like it" – she blinked.

"It's not so bad"

"You kids are always amazing. You either don't care about anything, or you care too much" – he looked at her and frowned – "You jus' look like you care too much, Eff" – she looked at him, and fuck him, but her eyes looked so bloody sad.

"I don't care about anything, or anyone"

"You don't fool me, Effy Stonem" – she looked away again.

"My brother used to tell me that"

"Where is he?"

"Away, at University"

"Smart guy"

"You think a lot about yourself"

"Ow! What is it with you kids insulting me? I'll have you know I am really smart! I'm a teacher!" – she snorted.

"Certainly"

"Mean" – he paused – "I don't know how to help you, Effy"

"I don't need you to"

"I think you need someone to"

"I told you, I don't"

"Then what about all the shit you've fucked up, as you say? Trust me, I've fucked up a lot in my time"

"Because you're old" – she teased.

"Thank you, yes. But seriously. I know I look... Like this, and my reputation with the others kids is less than stellar"

"Putting it mildly"

"Mean. But I want to help you, Eff, so let me" – she looked long and hard at him, the usual aloofness almost gone but still lingering, mostly in her eyes. Alfie didn't think her eyes would ever stop being a little bit sad.

She opened her mouth and Alfie wondered if this was what Rosie felt with her students all the time. Fuck, he should start being a responsible adult more often, it felt bloody good!

Do I think Alfie could be this kind of a teacher? Eh. Do I think Effy would allow Alfie to be this teacher to her? Fuck no. But. Fanfiction, go with it.