"Ma!" She yelled out, quite annoyed. "I was nice. I just don't want to date him!"

They'd be arguing for the past half hour on Sunday night after the gathering.

"Don't be so quick to judge," Angela argued, trying to take the upper hand in the conversation.

"That's such bull! You always bitch to me about relatives, and half the time you haven't known them very long either."

"I do not!" They both knew it was true, but in the heat of the moment she was definitely not going to admit it. "And I do not appreciate that kind of language." She pursed her lips.

"What?" She said with a smart-arse tone. "Bull?" She scoffed. "Are animal names not permitted in this house?" She figured if her mother could be petty, so could she.

"I already talked to Uncle Matthew, and you are going out with Tim," she said sternly. Relaxing into a more persuasive and less threatening tone, she said, "It'll be a chance for you to get to know him."

"You set us up on a date?" She said outraged. "I'm not going!"

"Yes you are, young lady. You will not disrespect your family," she said getting angrier again.

"Not disrespect family? What about your respect for me?" Jane was pissed to say the least. She'd always hated that her mother had double standards for everyone and everything. "I'm not going," she said bluntly. "And you can call Matthew and tell him. You caused all this."

Angela was visibly hurt, but Jane paid no regard. She was not interested in anything her mother might have been feeling as a result of this self-inflicted situation. What was she thinking anyway?

"I'm going to bed," she said, still quite mad but with no desire to be a part of it. She walked away without another word.

The next morning, she awoke at her usually early hour and left for school as the rest of her family began to rise. She didn't exactly feel like talking to any of them that morning, so she went to school to study.

By the time she got to school it was just before 7:30am. In the library, she sat at a table near a window and pulled out a couple of her books to study.

Jane was still pretty mad from the previous night and was finding it difficult to focus. She found herself spending a lot of time staring out the window contemplating the events of the night before. It lead on to thoughts of family, expectations, and even stretched to that of the societal expectations and standards set. Every thought she had, the one that always followed was that she wished she was exempt from all that. Free from judgement, or loyalties to things which she didn't agree. It made her brought to edge of despair as she then went on to the revelation that such a thing was not possible and that she would always have the input of others whether she wanted it or not. When do I get to be the person I expect me to be? The person I want to be… She sighed.

Trying to refocus, she looked around the large open space of the library, and to her surprise saw someone other than the librarian. Miss Isles was standing at the borrowing counter reserving what looked to be history DVDs.

When she caught sight of her, she smiled at the young girl, politely greeting her.

So many thoughts rushed through Jane's head at that moment. She let out a small, hurting smile in response. She wasn't sure if it showed though.
After watching Miss Isles return to speaking with the librarian, she too turned back to her books. A small part of her hoped that Miss Isles might have seen the pain she was feeling as she fought with her mind. She began to tap the back end of her pen against her workbook, thinking about the whole situation a little more. What was she thinking? In what world is that a reasonable thing to do?! As Jane found herself stuck at some unanswerable questions, she once again looked around the library only to find that Miss Isles had gone and the librarian, too. What'd you think was going to happen? She'd come save you?
Jane was frustrated and angry, and unfortunately it was to no avail.

•••

When Frost and Korsak got to school, Jane's day improved and she was thankful for it. But the final bell though, she realised she was stuck with a decision again. Did she want to go home right away? She toyed with the idea of not going home at all, but that put her at no advantage, nor did she think her parents would respond well. She decided to do her homework in the library and then go home at about 4:30, or whenever she was done. She was certainly not in any rush though.

"Crap," she mumbled as she read a sign on the library door noting that it would be closed that afternoon after school.
She slowly began to dawdle back through the corridors, realising that the next option would be to go home.

"Jane," Miss Isles said from one of the rooms she had passed.

A startled she spun quickly to face her. "Oh, hey," she said, relaxing as she realised who it was.

"You're still at school," she stated professionally.

"Oh, yeah… I was going to go the library to study, but it's closed." She said as she tucked her hands into her pockets.

"If you'd like, you can study in here," she said politely. Realising that this was an unusual offer she continued, "I will be here for another hour or two anyway." She watched Jane trying to gauge her reaction.

"Oh no, look it's fine," she smiled appreciatively. "Thanks though," she said genuinely.

"Really, it's no trouble," she went on to explain. "I won't pester you or anything," she said lightly.

Jane hesitated before responding. It wasn't exactly ideal circumstances, but it was certainly better than going home, she contemplated. "Only if you're absolutely sure," she said a little unsurely. "I don't want to bug you while you're doing your work or anything."

Maura just smiled before saying, "You will not 'bug' me. Please," she said gesturing toward the many tables in the classroom.

Jane just nodded politely and began to set herself up at one of the tables.

For a while, they each worked quietly. It was probably about 45 minutes before either of them actually spoke again. Plenty of time for Jane to get some work done and begin to feel a little guilty. "Thanks," she paused, "for letting me use the room, I mean."

"You're welcome, Jane," she said with a kind smile.

"And, I guess I never really thanked you for the tutoring either." She rubbed the back of her neck.

"I am always here for my students," she said honestly and quite humbly. She looked back down at the work in front of her as if to be carrying on with it.

Jane actually found it quite odd that she seemed shy about such a kind action be. She should be proud, she thought. It's a good thing. The fact that she was so modest about it confused Jane, but she felt rude (and a little bit silly) asking why… No matter how much she wanted to know what made her that way. She couldn't help but think that all the people in her family were usually the complete opposite. In fact, most people were the opposite. In that moment, Jane's impulses took over.
"Hey look," she paused nervously. "I know it's been a while, but would you mind helping with my studying again?" The second she said it she felt so stupid.

Miss Isles looked perplexed. "I certainly do not mind," she said frankly. Not entirely sure what had motivated her to ask, she said, "You are aware that it does not have to be a regular session? If you would like, I can simply be of assistance as needed. That way, if you don't feel like you require any help, you can spend your time doing more productive things. It also means less expectation." Her words were kind, and unusually (for anyone else) informative.

Altogether, that entire thing put her at ease, but that last sentence was like she read Jane's mind. With that, she almost wanted it to be regular. An expectation free zone… She thought contently. Jane smiled in acknowledgement and tried to gesture a thank you towards her.

Miss Isles simply smiled a small smile and returned to her work.

Thank you so very much for reading. It's a lovely thing to see that so many people have read it, and it's even more remarkable to get likes or follows. So thank you, thank you all. I mean that with the utmost sincerity.

I'm very much looking forward to writing more you.

Please don't hesitate to leave any comments or feedback to let me know if you're enjoying the story or would like to see something happen.

Thank you again.

PS: I intend to continue this story on after high school and into the real world. Any ideas for a title?