Finally, Friday night had arrived and marked the end of a very busy two weeks for Maura.
After doing a little therapeutic shopping at her favourite online shoe store, she checked her school e-mail account and began wading back into reality.

Teacher, teacher, principal, newsletter, newsletter, teacher, stud- Jane.

She stopped reading down the least and, immediately, she clicked on the e-mail from Jane and read it. None of the teachers' were marked urgent, nor was the principal's, so she figured it was all run of the mill messages.

To: Maura Isles

Subject: Tutoring

Hi Miss,

I was just wondering, well checking, if it was still okay to study with you as usual next week?

And I hope you're having a nice week.

Jane – Year 12

She knew that she wasn't always the best at reading people in social situations, but as she read the e-mail she couldn't shake the thought that something wasn't quite right about it. There was something about it that gave her a general sense of hesitancy and/or nervousness on Jane's behalf. She wasn't really one to stutter her words or to dance around a topic, and yet in this e-mail she had rephrased things. There was also something that, to her, seemed almost shy, and that was certainly not like Jane. Re-reading it, she realised that it had been sent on Wednesday night (two days earlier). Before thinking things through entirely, she shot back an e-mail.

To: Jane Rizzoli

Subject: Re: Tutoring

Good evening Jane,

We are certainly able to return to studying as per usual upon my return next week.

If there is something more pressing, I will be at school on Monday from seven. So, if you wish to squeeze in some studying or if you would like to discuss anything, please don't hesitate to come find me. I will be in my office.

Have a good weekend,

Miss Isles

It just so happened that Jane was already on her laptop that night. She'd been on Tumblr, scrolling mindlessly through her dash whilst listening to music.

When she read the e-mail, she was so relieved to hear from her. She had something on her mind for nearly a couple of days now and, even if they didn't actually discuss it, studying with Miss Isles usually put her at ease.

Looking at the second line of the text, the word 'we' really got to her. When she had sent the original message to Miss Isles, she had initially typed "are we still okay to study…" but rethought it as she came to the conclusion, rightly or wrongly, that it made her sound presumptuous. That wasn't her exact description though. She actually thought it made her sound "dumb" like she "liked her or something", but you get the idea think, . That second wasn't even specifically of an intimate nature. She just thought, well society made her think, that it was odd for teachers and students to be friends, if that is what they were. All of this in mind though, it made her a little bit pleased to read that it was an activity that she found pleasant enough to use the word 'we', as opposed to two people who can't stand each other but are forced to work in close proximity. Jane knew, or highly suspected at least, that her teacher's use of the word probably had less connotations than her own, but she was contented all the same. It made her feel a little less like a burden and perhaps more like a friend.

•••

By the time Monday morning had rolled around, Jane had decided that Miss Isles probably had preparations and catching up to do since it was her first day back. Even though she really wanted to, her moral side took over and thought it too selfish to bother her.
Instead, she made peace with the fact that the first time on their own would be Tuesday afternoon after school. So that's exactly what she did.

In history on Monday though, it wouldn't really have mattered. Korsak, Frost and Jane were too busy passing notes about everything from Maths (which happened to be their class prior) to the origin of food, more specifically lunch meat. The class was a quiet one as Miss Isles tried to re-instate herself as the authority figure and also to make sure that work was still getting done despite having had substitutes for the past two weeks. She knew how easy it was for students to get lazy with their work when there was no one to stop them.

When the time finally arrived, Jane sat at the front of the classroom, working hard on her English speech. It wasn't due for another two weeks, but she wanted to get it done so any inevitable mishap that was to occur in the meantime wouldn't cause a problem.

As she sat with her head down, eyes following her pen move briskly back and forth between the sides of the page, her thoughts began to drift back to why she sent that e-mail. Like many free moments, her brain knew exactly how to get back to and amplify any stressful things that may have crossed her mind. Her eye brows began to furrow, and her writing slowed nearly to a stop.

Although Miss Isles didn't notice immediately, it was only a moment or two before she noticed that her student had stopped working. She considered that perhaps Jane was just thinking about her work, but the look on her face suggested distress more than curiosity or recall.

"Is everything alright, Jane?" She said very politely.

Jane's head snapped up at the question.
"What?" She paused, recomposing herself. "Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah," she repeated. She let out out this small sigh of despair at the end of her words, despite her efforts to refrain.

Miss Isles didn't believe her for a second. At this point though, she wasn't sure of at what point to stop pushing Jane for insight or information. Despite her better judgement, she decided that it was safe to push a little bit further as long as she tread carefully. "Would you like to try again?"

Jane's eyes shot up surprised at the slight sense of smugness in her voice. She would have even taken a bet that there was a tiny bit of sarcasm in that question too. She couldn't help but smile a little. Taking a moment to refocus her mind though, she relented, "Honestly, it's just kind of stupid." She smiled a half smile before looking back to her work and feigning that she had any intention of returning to it.

"Jane," she said gently but firmly. "There are very few things in this world that are 'stupid' as you would call them. And," she paused, "I would presume that more often than not you think that things in your life are… 'Stupid.'" She even found saying the word unpleasant.

"Heh," she forced out. She thought about defending herself but it too seemed rather stupid. "Nah, it's nothing, really," she said unbelievably. "Just family."

Miss Isles nearly let out a small laugh as she heard the words "just family." Family was many things but very few of those could be described as 'just'. Reassuringly, she smiled kindly. "You are terribly noble. Do you know that?"

Jane scoffed, "Pardon?"

"Noble," she repeated. "I understand that families can do many wonderful and equally awful things, and yet you choose to protect them. This, I find to be a noble act."

Jane looked perplexed. "It's family… I'm sure you'd do the same," She shrugged.

Miss Isles pursed her lips and clasped her hands in front of her quite sadly, if that were possible. She paused momentarily and took a deep breath before speaking. "No," she paused again. "I would not." She didn't like that this was the case, but it was and she felt a responsibility to the truth.

Jane saw a sadness in her teacher's eyes that she very rarely saw. "What d'you mean?" She asked carefully.

Quick to bounce back, Miss Isles said, "A question for a question. Within reason, of course. After all, I am your teacher." She raised an eye brow as she made this proposition.

She took a moment to process the idea before saying nearly happily, "deal." Although she wasn't fond of talking about herself, she was always excited about learning more about others. "But I get to go first," she said, practically excitedly.

Miss Isles pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes before saying, "Deal. What would you like to ask?" As she said the words, there was a clear feeling washing over her that reminded her this was undeniably a dangerous area to be walking into, figuratively speaking.

"Hm, what do you mean you wouldn't?" Jane said, intrigued.

Already, she was regretting this. All the same though, she felt it only fair to attempt an answer. It wasn't necessarily inappropriate, simply uncommonly spoken of in these sorts of circumstances. She had to think for a moment to figure out how best to word her response. When she finally came to an answer she was content with, she said, "My family and I are … somewhat separated from each other. We all lead very independent and often dissimilar lives."

Jane just stared with a blank look on her face. She used all the energy she had to fight a very strong desire to say childishly "AND?" She decided though that, for now at least, this may simply be something to add to the long list of things that she did not quite understand about the very puzzling human being before her. Still very much Jane though, she said with a smile, "I wouldn't have expected anything different."

"Really?" She questioned involuntarily. Jane's response had her a little scared that perhaps she does not present herself the way she intends to.

She raised an eye brow, "Are you sure that's what you want to waste your question on?"

Miss Isles furrowed her eye brows with confusion and frustration. "The question is not about you though," she argued.

Jane looked smugly at the woman at the front of the room. She enjoyed holding the power, even if it was just for a second. "Nah-uh, the deal said nothing about who the questions were about."

"Whom," she corrected. "I suppose," she relented, "you are correct though. So no, that is not what I would like to use as my question." She thought long and hard about what she wanted to ask, but kept being drawn back to the same question. "If you were feeling dejected, would you come to me?"

Jane looked a little confused. "Dejected?"

"Unhappy," she re-iterated confidently with a kind tone of voice.

"Ah," she paused, nodding in understanding. At that moment she feared where this conversation may have been heading. "I guess, I just…" She looked away before attempting to reclaim her ground. "Don't really 'talk about my feelings'."

Even by looking, you would know that Maura's mind was already hard at work. "What if, perhaps, I could offer you refuge?" She proposed. "For example, you could use my class room. That way you would be safe and, if you felt so inclined, you could have an environment where you were free to express yourself without fear of harm or judgement." The offer was genuine. Although she herself didn't quite understand it, it was an idea she thought had good foundations, and was one she hoped Jane would take her up on.

"I wouldn't hate it, I guess," she conceded. It certainly wasn't her usual thing to do, but Jane was thankful for the offer. Part of her even wanted to actually take her up on it, only if needed of course. "Wait, so that's it?"

"That is what?" Miss Isles said quite satisfied with herself.

"That's your question?" Jane was confused.

Without over thinking it, she said pleased, "Yes," and she smiled.

The smile was well-received and Jane was thankful for how at ease she always felt when with Miss Isles.

Thank you kindly for reading my story.
I would really love to hear any thoughts you have on this chapter and/or about the future of the story.

Hope that you are very happy and well.
You are wonderful.