By the time Monday morning rolled around, Jane's emotions had paled but were not forgotten. She wanted to reply to the e-mail from Miss Isles before she left for school. She decided that sending the e-mail was better than bumping into Miss Isles and being forced to have an awkward and potentially emotional conversation; she was certainly not interested in that. Having said that, a part of her really hoped it would happen, although she'd never admit that.
She still felt this inexplicable pull towards Miss Isles. Jane didn't know whether it was because she felt like Miss Isles was a safe person, or whether it was just an odd emotional response that had no grounds.

Despite being utterly confused by Miss Isles, Jane was still a pretty mature young girl and decided that even though she didn't want to, this was a conversation that should really be had in person.

To: Maura Isles

Subject: Re: History

Morning Miss,

Would it be alright if we talked about this tomorrow at studying?

Jane R – Year 12

She couldn't get herself to write more than that. Truthfully, she didn't really know what to say.

Regardless of all that was going on with Miss Isles, Jane was in a pretty good mood.

Their baseball game this weekend was great, her family hadn't done anything excessively insane, she got all her school work done, and she had time to chill out with Frost and Korsak.

The next couple of days at school were pretty normal. More importantly though, they were no cause for concern for any of her teachers.

On Tuesday afternoon as she entered Miss Isles' classroom, she said, "Hey Miss."

Miss Isles smiled a small smile and said, "Hello Jane, how are you today?"

"I'm fantastic," she said melodramatically. She smiled, "You?"

She let out a small giggle at the young girl's response. Honestly, she was happy to see Jane being her usual self. "I am quite well, thank you Jane."

Jane sat down at one of the tables in the front row and began pulling out her pencil case and books.

There was a short silence before Jane practically blurted, "Can we talk about the other day?"
It wasn't something she thought could wait until after she'd done her school work. Jane had decided before coming today that she was just going to try and be honest. After all, she very much wanted to be honest with Miss Isles, it simply wasn't something that was in her nature. She was so used to lying to protect herself, that it was an overwhelming concept. All the same, she wanted to try. She figured the truth had to be easier than all the energy it took to hide everything all the time.

"Yes," she said with and understanding nod. "We can." In truth, she'd hoped to have the conversation early on also.

"Good," she said with a nod. She didn't know exactly where to start.

Thankfully, Miss Isles jumped in before she had to decide. "I truly would like to apologise for putting you in a rather uncomfortable position."

"Mm," Jane said processing her words. "That's okay," she relented. She believed it, it just seemed like such it had taken so much effort to get this point. "I just don't get it," she said expressing her frustration.

Miss Isles looked perplexed, and simply sat awaiting Jane's explanation.

"First you say that you don't think it's 'appropriate' to talk about stuff, then you go and hold me back after class just to talk about stuff?" Jane was irritated and confused.

She took a deep breath as she tried to find an answer for the young girl. Although she would have perhaps worded it a little differently, Miss Isles couldn't deny what Jane was saying. "I'm sorry," she said honestly. "I truly apologise for being unclear." She paused again, looking for the words.

Jane just nodded a little sardonically, with every ounce of her being wanting to yell back 'why then were you?' She refrained though and waited for her to continue.

"I realise how confusing this may have been for you. The afternoon last week when you asked if we could exchange an answer for an answer I was hesitant because, as you have to understand, this could potentially lead to conversations that would not be appropriate for a teacher and a student."

"Then why'd you do it the first time?" She asked, still a little irritated.

Miss Isles once again took a deep breath before she spoke, almost like a sigh. "I have a duty of care for all of my students, and you were no different," she lied. Jane was very different and the level of care she was exhibiting was beyond what she would for most students. "So I agreed in the hopes that you might feel more comfortable opening up to me. I wanted you to know that I cared for you." She bit her lip as she as the last sentence escaped her lips.

It was however, successful in helping Jane become less mad at the whole situation. She allowed herself to believe Miss Isles' words because she so terribly wanted to believe them. "You cared for me?" Her words were soft.

Miss Isles shared a small smile to signify that yes, she did care.

There was a short moment of silence before Jane's annoyed tone was heard again. "What does that even mean?"

Miss Isles was taken back momentarily. Just before, she would have thought (hoped) that they were coming closing to reaching a resolution and so now she too was a little lost. She took a second to centre herself before saying in the most honest way she could, "Jane, I care for you. I have seen you in class, and you are so very bright. It hurts me to see a student so bright and with so much potential display signs of distress, which you have."

Jane picked up on the innocence of her words, but found herself still wanting to fight. Maybe she didn't want to believe that someone cared. Maybe she wasn't ready. Still, as calmly and in the most non-threatening way she could handle, she said, "How do you even know that?" She genuinely wanted to know. Partly how she noticed it in her and partly why she knew to look.

She sighed once again, but with sadness this time. She knew what it was like to feel like nobody understood. She smiled kindly in the hopes that Jane would see it. She wasn't sure whether it was ethical to open up to a student, but she very much wanted to prove her sincerity. Glancing down at her desk, she admitted, "When I was your age, I also experienced some things that I found to be … distressing." She wasn't really used to sharing her emotions, and that was about as open as she could manage right now.

"You?" Jane said now more confused than before, but for an entirely different reason. "You're like… perfect. You're smart, you're pretty, you're nice." She said as if it were obvious.

She couldn't help but smile at how simply Jane had put it. It quickly faded into an unwilling look of sadness.

Jane could see the sadness creeping up inside her and suddenly realised that the woman before her was telling the truth.
"Oh." She felt kind of selfish at this point.

Miss Isles smiled kindly to assure her that she'd done nothing wrong.
There was a moment of quiet as the each processed what had just happened.

Miss Isles was the one to break the silence as she said, "What if we agree that if there is something to be discussed regarding your life or your wellbeing, I will let you be the one to initiate the conversation."

Jane only had time for one nod before Miss Isles spoke again.

"But," she exclaimed, "That also means that you have to be willing to trust me a little bit too." She smiled with lips pressed together.
"I do not judge, and I will not disclose our discussions to anyone else…" She looked a little sad again. "You deserve to have someone to talk to whom you trust, and if I can be that person then I would really like to be."

Jane's initial response was fear and she had to take a few seconds to consider her options. As sad as this may seem, this was as close to a person, particularly a female, that Jane had ever felt. She decided that she didn't want to pass that up. "Deal."

Thank you so very much for continuing to read this story, and I really hope you're enjoying it!

Would love to hear any thoughts you might have. C:

Hope you're very happy and well.