Chapter Seven

School Begins

I awoke that first Monday morning eager and raring to begin my lessons on this new day at Ludlow's All Girls Boarding School. How excited I was! I dressed and ate my breakfast with an enthusiasm which several terms of school had seemed to have worn off on the other girls. Even my roommates cast glances of wonder at my fresh zeal which they did not seem to possess, and exchanged looks of surprise and perhaps puzzlement at my keenness to start the autumn term. I don't think even Hannah comprehended my devotion to studying and learning, not even as our friendship blossomed over the weeks, months and years that followed; however she grew to accept it, as did the others.

I recall that the first lesson of that day was Math, which produced a chorus of groans from the majority of the pupils but sent a thrill of delight through me. We had a lovely Math teacher; Mr Grimes was his name. He was tall and broad, had a loud, resonant voice, a bristly black beard and glasses. To look at, he was quite terrifying and foreboding, but his nature was kind, understanding and patient. He made learning fun, and stirred within me a deeper love and appreciation for facts and figures.

In fact, I relished most of my lessons and liked the majority of my teachers, and it should have been one of the happiest days of my life, but they do say all good things come to an end. And it ended when I entered the Physics classroom of Miss Stewart's, or the fire-breathing dragon as I called her!

Don't get me wrong, for the chief part I enjoyed my time at Ludlow's All Girls Boarding School, and the majority of the staff and teachers there were perfect and earned my love and respect, but not Miss Stewart! She was probably the worst teacher I have ever had the misfortune to have teach me.

She disliked me from the start. I don't know why, or what I did to cause the breach between us that was never removed during the time she was teacher at the school. All I know was that I was the constant subject of all her impatient temper, accusations and detentions. She could be snappy towards all of the girls in the class, but I was the one who felt her hot temper the most, and all the girls were aware of this, and would often offer me their sympathy in their simple ways: a compassionate smile directed at me and a scowl at Miss Stewart when her back was turned, little notes of condolences that were passed clandestinely to me in class or little treats such as chocolate or jelly sweets at break time.

On that very first lesson I had with her that Monday, it all began when I ran into the classroom, bubbly, full of life and buzzing with the previous lessons of Math, English, History and R.E. Most of the girls had settled into their seats, and I was hurrying in when Miss Stewart's harsh voice met my ears, "Don't run! I won't have running in my classroom! What's your name?"

I sat down meekly while my cheeks began to burn. "Julia," I said.

"Well, Julia, you will learn that there are some things I just will not tolerate in my class, and running around like a bull in a china shop is one of them!"

I was a very sensitive young girl, and especially at that age when my hormones were beginning to kick in, and it was all I could do to keep myself from crying at those harsh remarks and spoken so callously, too. It unnerved me somewhat, and I found myself staring at my hands rather than looking at the teacher, lest she saw me endeavouring to blink back the threatening tears.

"Julia!"

I looked up quickly as Miss Stewart's irritated voice.

"Will you pay attention? Stop daydreaming and listen! How do you expect to learn anything unless you give me your full attention?"

It was an unfair accusation. I had been listening, and quite attentively, and she hadn't been talking for long enough to cause me to daydream anyway. I had simply kept my eyes averted from her face so that she could not see that I was hurt by her previous remarks.

It was always like this in Miss Stewart's class from then on. Once, she caught my hand arresting a sheet of paper that another of the girls had just passed to me, after she had ticked me off for something so minor that I can't even recall what it was. The note read in large capital letters: MISS STEWART IS A NASTY OLD DRAGON! It had made me smirk and unfortunately for me it did not escape her attention, and of course I got the blame for it. I was accused of writing the note and given a detention. I was too meek to argue or protest, especially as I hated getting others into trouble, being the victim of that so many times before back with my relatives. Young Rosie Brown was too scared to admit that it was she who had written the note, and very guilty that I was the one who was punished for what was her wrongdoing, so she tried to make up for it with a sincere apology and gave me her whole packet of Starburst at lunch time. I readily forgave her of course; after all, she had apologised, which was more than any of my cousins did when I was blamed for something they had done.

"I don't know how you put up with it, I really don't!" exclaimed Tammy one evening, as all four of us were settling down for bed. I had been given another detention unfairly that day, if I remember correctly, which was the cause of Tammy's sudden outburst. "If I were you, Julia, I would have complained to the Headmistress months ago!"

"It's not that bad," I replied. "Believe me, I was accustomed to much worse treatment than that at my Aunt's, and Miss Stewart is the only teacher who treats me like this. I can't complain, really I can't. All the other teachers are great!"

Even though it was dark, I could hear the smile in Hannah's voice as she said, "You're a great person, Julia, you really are. You endure so much that we wouldn't ever put up with."

I beamed. "That's because I have such good friends to back me up!"

Thankfully, although her class was never pleasant, and though it seemed like an age, Miss Stewart eventually left the school a year later, and Mrs Carson took her place as Physics teacher. She turned out to be the nicest teacher I ever had; no, even more than that – she proved to be a valuable friend in time, too.