Chapter 36
Jen got up and looked over at the calendar. Today was the day when she had her meeting with the college offering her the new placement. They had told her as long as she could prove to them she was a good teacher the placement was hers for the taking. Jen knew she could do it, she had been preparing her lesson for weeks perfecting it to a level she was satisfied with. All she wanted to do was take her mind of it until she needed to go. Jen decided to see Tilly. She got ready and walked to The Shack making sure she wasn't being followed. From The Shack she text Tilly:
Come and see me, you know the place. J x
Tilly was already up and ready, she was supposed to be meeting up with the gang, she hadn't seen them since the dance and they were worried about her, having a broken leg and all. When she got Jen's text she knew that she couldn't blow off the gang but she couldn't stop herself from going to see Jen, a few minutes wouldn't hurt.
When Tilly got to The Shack Jen grabbed her and kissed her. It was like they hadn't seen each other in forever when in reality they were here only eleven hours ago. Jen began to kiss Tilly's neck. Tilly let out a moan before saying "I can't." in a breathless voice. "You can." replied Jen. "I have to go and meet the gang." Jen did one of her are you serious faces and Tilly nodded. "If I bale now they'll ask questions and it's not like I can tell them about us can I? Besides aren't you meant to be having a meeting with the new college about the new placement there offering you?" asked Tilly. "Yes I am, but that isn't till later." answered Jen, before continuing to kiss Tilly's neck. Tilly knew she was distracting Jen, not that Jen was going to admit it. "You're not going to leave me like this?" asked Jen. Tilly decided to run her hands down Jen's back and smack her bum. Jen let go of Tilly and had a shocked expression on her face. Tilly smiled and said "Yes." then left to meet the gang.
Jen went back to the flat to pick up the bits she needed for the meeting and to change her denim jacket for a blazer. Jen arrived early and sat in reception looking over her lesson plan and any other notes she thought would be helpful. A man in a suit walked into reception. He introduced himself. "Hello, you must be Miss Gilmore. I'm Stuart Nolan, the head of the sixth form college." The man was in his early forties and his hear was starting to turn grey. He wore an expensive suit with a skinny tie. "Yes, I'm Miss Gilmore. Nice to meet you, Mr Nolan." Stuart put out his hand and Jen shook it, then Stuart escorted her into a classroom. In the class room there were two people at the front either side of an empty chair which she presumed was for Stuart. In the next few rows of tables were what seemed to be the school governors. Jen entered the room calmly and introduced herself. She put her bag on the desk and took out a pile of paper, her lesson plan and her laptop. As well as being an art teacher she was required to take a class for social studies and cover any class at short notice. Jen had prepared a social studies lesson on power and control, similar to the debate she had held at the Hollyoaks Sixth Form. She had written out a small speech on tuition fees as it seemed like a relevant topic to students. Then she handed out a resource sheet on Michel Foucault. The lesson seemed to be going very well, Mr Nolan seemed to be happy enough with Jen's teaching style and methods.
When Jen had finished her lesson she took questions from the selection panel and the school governors. Many of the questions were easy enough to answer. Until one of the governors asked Jen "Where do you see yourself in five years?" All Jen could think about was Tilly and whether she would be in her life in five years. Jen managed to compose herself and say "As a qualified teacher. Teaching full time at a sixth form." The governor seemed happy with the answer, just not with the delay it took to give the answer. Not that Jen noticed, she was ecstatic the lesson went precisely according to plan. Mr Nolan thanked her for coming and showed her out. He told her he was impressed with her teaching style and that she had a lot of potential.
Tilly had met up with Neil, Esther, Maddie, Sinead and George. They were sat in the coffee shop. Sinead was talking about how much quieter it was with Jen out of the house. "When Jen was livin' with us, she'd get up early to watch the sunrise. Then she'd stay up to watch the sunset. Who does that? Now I understand why she doesn't have a girlfriend." said Sinead. Tilly smiled to herself, she thought it was cute that Jen stayed up to watch the sunset and get up early to watch it rise. "So Miss Gilmore's gay?" asked Neil. "I caught her getting off with some girl outside of the club." answered Sinead. Maddie looked at Tilly to reassure her everything was going to be okay. Neil looked at Tilly and said "Tilly looks like it's your lucky day." Tilly scowled and said "No Neil." Neil looked confused "But she's gay?" Maddie interrupted "Neil, she's Tilly's old teacher. Stop being a perv Neil." Neil looked at Maddie and didn't say anything. Tilly knew that Neil was only joking but she was with Jen and hiding it made her feel like she was ashamed to tell her friends. Esther decided to leave while, Neil, George and Sinead went to go and get more drinks. "Thanks Maddie." Said Tilly. "No problem Tils." replied Maddie. After they finished their coffee's they decided to go to the folly only to find Jen there.
Tilly avoided making eye contact with Jen. Sinead whispered to George "What is that gobby cow doing here?" Jen explained that it was a nice place to sketch and walked along the path away from the group. The gang decided it was best to go before Sinead got any worse. Tilly's phone rang off and they said they'd catch up with her later. Tilly walked up the path Jen had just gone up and found her back in The Shack. Jen was telling Tilly how well the meeting went when her phone rang. It was the people offering the placement. Jen answered the phone. She said how well she had thought it went before she was told she hadn't got the placement with the reason being she wasn't what they were looking for. It was written on Jen's face that it didn't go to well on the phone. Tilly took Jen's hand and told her it would be okay and that there were more placements and jobs out there. Jen wasn't so convinced and wondered why she had even bothered coming back from travelling.
Then she realised if she hadn't she wouldn't be sat with the girl she was in love with.