This one is a prompt of my own, and I suspect we've not seen the last of this guy because I've fallen in love with him!
*** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU *** L&OSVU **
Teacher
"The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book" - Author Unknown
and also;
"You've got that same stupid look on your face as you did when Mr Stevens taught you math in 7th grade. You're mid crush and there's no point denying it." - Serena Benson, 100 Mother and Daughter Moments, Chapter 2 - Intuition
Parent, teacher and student conference night. Greg Stevens scanned down his list of appointments. The evening was almost over, and he just had one left.
Liv. Liv Benson.
Teachers weren't meant to have favourites but had he been allowed, Liv would have been his. She was a smart cookie, but one who had shown no real aptitude for his subject in the past; the test scores in his predecessors files indicating little more than a mid range ability, but he'd gotten more out of her, and even more satisfyingly for him, ignited her passion for math.
His colleagues in the department had warned him of the dangers of getting too involved with her, and to a degree he could see where they were coming from. Teenage girls were notoriously tricky once hormones came into play, and he wasn't an unattractive man. Plus, his golden girl had grown up without a father, making her, if you believed the opinion of the staff room, a prime candidate for Lolita type behaviour. Not that Greg listened to the gossip. When he looked at Olivia he just saw a girl who was craving affection of any kind, and yeah, sure, she'd been wearing more and more make up since he'd been teaching her - something he always turned a blind eye to since she'd obviously gone to so much effort - but while it might have appeared to outsiders that she had a crush on him, he viewed her attachment as something far more harmless.
She just liked the fact that he made time for her.
Which was one of the reasons why he was so keen to meet her mother. There were rumours around the faculty about the family; the absent father, the mother's long working hours - she was apparently notoriously hard to contact and the feeling was that her daughter had to stand on her own feet a lot of the time. But she was also, by all accounts, a respected academic at a local university so no one felt it appropriate to rock the boat.
He though, was getting the impression from his dealings with Liv, that there was much more to it. She hadn't said much, that wasn't her way, but there was an obvious strain on her face sometimes, and just the week before she'd come close to breaking down during a one to one coaching session. She hadn't revealed why, and he'd not felt able to push her to open up, but she'd seemed so tired and distracted even before she got upset that he'd been convinced there was something going on.
And once he met Mrs Benson he knew precisely what that something was.
She stumbled into his classroom, her daughter in tow. Liv met his eyes before they'd even sat down, an apologetic look on her face and when he leaned towards her mother to shake her hand he discovered why, as the distinctive smell of alcohol assaulted his senses.
His professionalism didn't allow him to comment though, so instead he just invited them to take a seat, which they did, before Mrs Benson looked at him curiously, like he was an exhibit in a museum, "So you're the famous Mr Stevens." she said, slurring her words, which having been breathed on by her came as no surprise. There was an implication to her words, but again he let them slide, turning his attention to the real purpose of them being there.
"So," he said, glancing down at his mark book, "Liv's doing fantastically." he smiled at his student who beamed back at him. Her mother however was less genial.
"Since when is it customary for academic staff to refer to their students by nicknames?" She asked, coldly.
Liv's cheeks flushed red as she jabbed her mother in the ribs, and he cursed himself for making such an obvious error and causing her embarrassment. "We have two Olivia's in the class." he said, hoping the explanation would satisfy her and congratulating himself for thinking on his feet. Unfortunately, Mrs Benson remained unimpressed.
"Does the other Olivia dress like a tart too? And cover her face in muck?" was her crisp response, "Or is that why my daughter gets the over familiar name?"
"Mom… please…"
His heart went out to the girl. If this was indicative of her home life then it was little wonder she craved his attention, and would do anything for a kind word or some company. He turned to her mother, "Mrs Benson, your daughter is bright, committed, hard working and is achieving at a high level. Her work this year has been outstanding." he fought the temptation of add, "in spite of an apparent lack of maternal support" although he was sorely tempted. "So," he said instead, "if you have no further questions, I suggest we leave it there."
Mrs Benson nodded curtly, "Fine by me. You're obviously not looking further than her feminine charms anyway. This is the problem with young men teaching. Its inappropriate." she looked him up and down and tutted, "its no wonder my 13 year old has had her head turned. I have pairs of shoes older than you." she got to her feet, clicking her fingers, "Come on Olivia."
"Can I have a word before you go Liv?" The words were out of his mouth before he could question the wisdom of them, prompted purely by how crestfallen his student looked. "I want to discuss the assignment you handed in today." he added, wanting to give some sense of legitimacy to his request, although, actually, when it came down to it, her mother didn't object anyway.
"Fine. I'll wait in the car." she said, before adding bitterly, "I'm obviously not needed here." and then she was gone.
He looked at Liv, reaching into his pocket and handing her a handkerchief, just as a tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away furiously, clearly embarrassed, so he didn't mention it instead turning his attention to another point of concern,
"The car? Tell me she's not driving…"
Liv shook her head, "No. We have a driver."
Well that was something, because they clearly needed one. He glanced towards the door of the room, and seeing no one approaching reached for her hand, "She's drunk. Does that happen a lot?"
She shook her head again, "No. She had a luncheon at work today. That's all." The words tripped off of her tongue but too easily, so he didn't believe them, not for a second.
"If she drinks Liv," he said gently, there are things we can do. Help we can get you." he remembered the look on her face as her mother called her a tart, "You don't have to put up with this."
"I do." she wouldn't look at him as she said it, but he could make out tears forming in her eyes again, "She's my mom, and she's had a hard time." she lifted her eyes then, using them to plead with him, "Don't make a fuss. Please. I'm fine."
He was torn. On one hand he wanted to get straight on the phone to Children's Services and get her the assistance she so obviously needed, but at the same time he didn't want to stir up more difficulties for her. The last thing she needed was to end up in the care system.
He got up from his desk and moved around it, giving her a hug and breaking every rule in the book as he did so. It didn't matter though, not really. He was only giving her what she needed. What every little girl needed and he suspected she'd never had.
"Ok Liv. I'll keep this between us." he reassured her, "But only if you promise that you'll talk to me. I'm your teacher yeah, but if you need a friend too, I'm it."
She smiled, the same smile that she gave him every time he afforded her any attention. "Thank you." she pulled out of his embrace, "I should go. I'll see you tomorrow Sir."
He squeezed her hand, already worrying about what she was going home to, "Absolutely."
She got to the door, stopped and then turned back, "You said I was outstanding." she said hesitantly, "Did you mean that?"
He nodded, "Of course."
And he meant it. On that evening's evidence, Liv Benson, was one of the most outstanding young women he'd ever met.