i will cut strings off you [joshua]

[alys]

I will cut strings off you,
until you walk by yourself.

[/b] she muttered to herself sarcastically, before she turned around and picked up her bag from the couch where she'd placed it. She pulled her hairbrush from it and began to brush her hair, using her free hand to fill up one of the mugs with milk, coffee and sugar as the kettle simmered away. Dropping the brush back into her bag she leaned against the counter of the kitchen area, which was directly opposite the door, as it opened and someone else came in. [/ul][/size][/color]

[joshua]

A quick glance at the clock on the wall told Josh that it was nearly time to wrap up the lesson. His students, who had been watching the clock tick from the moment they set foot in the classroom had already packed away their things, knowing by now the routine which Josh set. He was consistent, meaning that despite term having only started three days ago, the kids already knew how things worked and that was how he liked it. That was partly due to it being his second year at the school - the older students had already been taught by him and most knew what to expect. The younger students were picking things up rather quickly though. He’d found that many students thrived on routine in the classroom. They knew exactly where they stood with things and that was a great help to some. “Right, remember your paper on a major volcanic eruption is due in on Friday. I want it on my desk at the start of the lesson. Anyone who doesn’t hand it in, and doesn’t have a valid reason for not doing so can expect to complete a detention with me Friday lunchtime to finish it off. Or start it, as the case may be.” With that, the bell rang and the class rose to their feet, all heading towards the door. It was the end of the day and everyone was eager to get home, Josh included. He couldn’t go yet though as he had stuff to finish up and he’d get it done quicker at school, where there were fewer distractions.

The main thing he needed to do was marking. A never ending pile on his desk, it just seemed to get bigger with every passing day. Right on top of the pile was the quiz that he’d set his new freshmen students, just to see what level of knowledge they were at. Skim reading the one on top, it occurred to Josh that he’d need some caffeine to get through the whole pile. There were sure to be some frustrating answers, from students who had clearly never concentrated in their geography lessons. Picking up the papers, he put them in his bag and headed out, locking the door behind him.

It didn’t take him long to get to the staff room, given that it was fairly near his classroom. He pushed open the door and found himself looking at a face he didn’t recognise. Instantly he presumed this must be one of the new teachers that had only started three days ago. Josh had thought he’d met all the new staff, but clearly he hadn’t. As he walked past her towards the sofas, he smiled at her, dumping his bag on a chair. It would of course be rude to just ignore her, so Josh headed back towards the kitchen area. Holding out a hand for her to shake, he spoke. “Hi, I’m Josh. I don’t think we’ve met.” He noticed the kettle boiling and presumed that this new teacher must have had the same idea as him - caffeine to get them through the rest of the evening.

[alys]

I will cut strings off you,
until you walk by yourself.

[/b] she replied, she'd definitely seen him around since she started a few days ago, but they hadn't spoken. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Alys," she informed him. She let go of his hand slowly and gestured at the kettle with a small nod of her head. "Oh, er, I'm just making myself a coffee; can I get you anything?" she asked, realising this was probably the polite thing to do considering it was quite apparent they were both there for the same reason - marking. It wasn't something Alys enjoyed doing, it became tedious after the first three papers, but she had to apply herself to it and make sure she was fair and accurate. For this, she would need caffeine - a lot of it.[/ul][/size][/color]