Felicity was in the middle of a math lesson when she was interrupted by a knock at her classroom door. She glanced over and saw Oliver waving at her through the window set into it. Puzzled, she crossed the room to the door and yanked it open.
"Oliver, I'm in the middle of a math lesson," she said in a low voice that wouldn't carry, mindful of disrupting the other classes that were going on.
"That's fortunate," Oliver replied. "Because that's what I came to talk about."
"My math lesson?" Felicity asked, frowning. He wasn't making any sense.
"No, not yours," Oliver said with just the slightest of smiles. "Mine." It was then that Felicity noticed the green five subject notebook he was carrying, presumably what he had his lesson plan written down in.
"I hope you're not leaving your students unsupervised to come and talk to me," she said. Oliver shook his head.
"I'm not," he said. "They're in music class. But math is supposed to be next, so I really don't have a lot of time…" He trailed, leaving the rest of his sentence unspoken, as if hoping that Felicity would get the hint. Fortunately for him, she did.
"Come on then," she said, opening the door wide to admit him entry. "Let's get to it."
"So what's up?" she asked once they'd reached her desk in the corner across from the door. She kept an eye on her class while she talked, but so far, aside from being a little fidgety, they seemed fine.
"I don't know how to teach this," Oliver said, sounding sheepish, pointing to the spot in his lesson plan where he had noted when his math lesson.
"What do you mean?" Felicity asked. "You don't know how to teach math?"
"No, I mean I don't know how to teach it to kids this age," Oliver explained, shaking his head. "I understand the basic principle of how, but in practice…" He trailed off, seeming to lose the thread of the conversation for a moment, before he picked it back up again and continued, "With preschool, you teach kids the basics, you know, what the numbers are, and I'm not sure exactly how to present the concept of manipulating them mathematically, even on a basic level. Especially not in way that they'll understand. I'm completely lost." Felicity mulled that over for a while, chewing thoughtfully on her bottom lip. The whole time she'd been teaching, she had never had to consider or thought to consider such a question before.
"Okay," she said at last, alighting on an answer, "let me ask you this- do you have any younger siblings?"
"One," Oliver replied, though there was a crease between his eyebrows that suggested that he was confused as to the relevance of this particular line of question. "A sister. Thea."
"Okay," Felicity said. "And did you ever help Thea with her homework when she was this age?" She gestured toward her students to indicate the age she meant. There was a long pause while Oliver apparently dredged up the answer from the depths of his memory, then he nodded.
"Okay then, pretend that that's what your doing when you teach your class," Felicity advised. "Think about how you helped your sister understand concepts that were new to her or concepts she was struggling with when she was this age, and present your lesson to your students the same way." There was a pause while Oliver considered the suggestion.
"Thank you," he said. "That's very helpful."
"You're welcome," Felicity replied, offering him a smile. Checking his watch, Oliver said, "I should go."
"Yeah," Felicity replied teasingly. "You should." Without another word, Oliver gathered up his materials and headed for the door.
"Good luck!" Felicity called after him, and as her math lesson resumed, she couldn't help but wonder how his would go. She hoped it would end up going well, but she really couldn't sure how effective her advice would turn out to be once it was put into practice.
Later on, when the school day and Felicity's work day had come to an end, she had gathered up her belongings and was heading for the door when suddenly Oliver's voice said, "Hey" in her ear. She shrieked in surprise and all but leaped sideways.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," Oliver said with an awkward laugh.
"I'd have to seriously question what kind of person you are if you'd meant to," Felicity replied. She noticed that Oliver was walking in pace with her now as she continued on toward the door.
"So what's up?" it occurred to her to ask.
"I was wondering if you'd let me buy you a coffee," Oliver replied, without preamble or further explanation. By this time, they were out the double doors at the front entrance of the school, and Felicity stopped short as they swung shut behind them.
"Are you… are you asking me out?" she stammered, stunned. It wasn't that she was opposed to the idea of going on a date with Oliver, but it seemed rather sudden, if he was asking, to be asking her now, seeing as they'd only just met the day before and the conversations they'd had today were the most interaction they'd had since then.
"No, no," Oliver said hastily, as he seemed to realize that he'd made her uncomfortable. "This would be as a… a thank you. Your advice was really helpful, and I wanted to show my appreciation somehow."
"And you figured the best way to do that would be with coffee?" Felicity asked, finding herself thrown for a loop.
"Well, I mean, you keep a coffeemaker on your desk," Oliver replied, smiling in a way that was more an awkward grimace than an actual smile. "So I just assumed…" He trailed off, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
"Sure," Felicity said after a moment, responding at last to the original question. "That sounds great. Thank you."
"No, thank you," Oliver said. "Again. I really can't even begin to tell you how much your advice helped me."
"Though not for lack of trying," Felicity pointed out with a smile.
"True," Oliver replied with a smile of his own. "And here I am, still trying." With that said, they made the arrangements for where and when they would meet for their coffee and went their separate ways until then, and Felicity found herself wondering what, if anything, else was going to come out of their meeting.
