Read A Stitch in Time for Free Online

the bell for first lesson sounded. Why she couldn’t work on one of those nice new compact sites instead of this sprawling 1950s’ job, she didn’t know. The history block was detached from the main school across two playgrounds and when the weather was bad she got soaked, along with her books.
    Thankfully, it was quite a bright day today but very breezy, and the wind picked that moment to catch her light cotton skirt and reveal her knickers to the world. ‘
Aaaargh
 … bloody wind!’ she yelled, dropping her bag and textbooks to the floor as she struggled to cover her modesty.
    ‘HAHAHAHA! Oooh, Miss, red lace knickers. You hoping to get lucky tonight?’
    With a face as red as her knickers, she looked for the owner of the voice. Little knots of kids making their way to lessons laughed discreetly behind hands, but to her left, Danny Jake’s gang stood blatantly howling and pointing. Danny swaggered over. He was tall, well built for his age and had his black hair spiked within an inch of its life with bomb-proof hair gel. ‘Want some help picking up your books, Miss?’ he said, an angelic look on his face.
    ‘Was that you making disgusting remarks just then, Danny?’ Sarah hissed, scrabbling to gather the spilled contents of her bag.
    Danny stood up, his arms full of textbooks. ‘Now, would I do a thing like that, Miss?’ His eyes twinkled gleefully and he winked across at his gang.
    The gang collapsed into more sycophantic laughter and Sarah decided to just leave it. She was really late for the lesson, completely thrown by the letter from John and, of course, now flustered and embarrassed by this hideous knicker incident. ‘Just bring the books, Danny; we are late for lesson,’ she snapped, marching to her classroom.
    Behind the desk in her classroom, Sarah logged on to get the register up. She hid her hot face behind the computer screen, and tried to rescue some dignity and calm from the depths of despair she was drowning in. She should never have worn those knickers. Who was she kidding? Those knickers were reserved for sexy vibrant young women, not plain Jane, past their sell-by dates like her.
Deep breaths, only an hour to get through, then you have a free period.
    ‘OK, you lot! Try to keep the noise down to a dull roar whilst I get the register up. Sit down, books out, and be quiet!’ she barked, trying to remember what the hell she was supposed to be teaching them. Her mind had gone blank. Her brain just showed acres of desert, where facts, fun teaching activities, and interesting anecdotes should have been.
    ‘Miss, we’re not doing about Jews and the Hollowcoast again are we? It’s sad, and I’ve had enough of it, to be honest.’
    Sarah peeped around the side of her screen to see who’d spoken. Oh, Kelly Anderson, the best-behaved kid in 9CM. If she was in a mood, then God help her, the rest would be unimaginable.
    Sarah stood up and walked to the front of the class. ‘No, Kelly, we aren’t looking at the Holocaust today. And yes, of course that part of history is extremely sad, but we must learn the lessons—’
    ‘So what
are
we doing then?’ Danny Jakes interrupted, flicking the ear of the girl sitting in front of him.
    ‘Danny, stop that!’ Sarah said, taking a marker and turning to write the title of the lesson on the whiteboard. She hoped by the time the pen connected to the board she would remember what the hell she was supposed to do.
Look in your planner, you silly cow. Get a grip, Sarah, before you just completely fall apart!
But the planner seemed to have disappeared from the desk, and the noise of restless students was growing – along with her panic.
    ‘
What are we doing, Miss? My mum said that I need to write the title, lesson objectives and date, neatly every lesson. Mum says that it helps me concentrate on what’s to come next. If you don’t say what we are doing, I can’t concentrate and everything will get messed up,’ Kelly whined, tapping her pen on her