Work Text:
Gaty wasn’t failing any of her classes, per se, but she was doing worse than she would usually do for any other class in Mx. Two’s Home Economics class. She really did think she was good at baking and doing all the things you’d do in Home Ec., but her grade last marking period obviously showed that she wasn’t as proficient as she thought. Solution? Talk to Mx. Two about this whole mishap, and hope by some miracle they’d be able to help her. If they couldn’t do anything, then her loss; but she’d much rather not really think about that outcome just yet.
So, after the bell rang and the period ended, Gaty, instead of walking out the door like everyone else, stayed behind to have a one-on-one with Mx. Two. Putting her best persuasive face on, she just really hoped that she could convince them to give her a better grade. Walking up to them, Gaty cleared her throat.
“Hi, Mx. Two? Could I talk with you?”
Mx. Two smiled, not anticipating Gaty wanting to talk with them. Ushering her over to their desk, they sat down, waiting for her to speak.
“Hmm? What is it?”
“Well, the thing is, I was wondering if you’d be able to give me any extra credit or anything to boost my grade this marking period… Last one, I didn’t do so well, and it looks like it’s going the same this period, so I wanted to stay on top of my studies for Home Ec.” She smiled back. Even if she wasn’t doing great in their class, Mx. Two was a really nice teacher, and she had no problem showing her favoritism.
They looked dazed for a moment, before snapping back to reality. “Oh, yes, extra credit. Actually, I was going to make an assignment, due yesterday— but as you can see, I haven’t really gotten up to that,” they replied, looking at their clasped hands with a small frown.
“Is there anything wrong?” Gaty asked in a hushed tone, noticing immediately something was off with her favorite teacher. She was a people person, so maybe she had some expertise in cheering Mx. Two up.
“Can I be frank with you? There is actually something wrong.” Their frown deepened, unsure where to start. Eventually, Mx. Two found their composure and continued. “You know Mr. Four, right? Well, there’s no easy way to say this, but we’ve recently been having a bit of a squabble. Not recently, sorry, but he’s just been very irritated at me lately and it’s been driving me nuts thinking of how I could solve this. Was it something I did?”
“Sorry, I’m your teacher, I shouldn’t be telling you things about problems with other teachers you know too, but the thing is that he’s my cousin ; so it makes it a bit more personal rather than just being a work rivalry.” Mx. Two looked away, exasperated and a bit embarrassed.
“Wait, no, don’t be sorry at all! You’re having a problem, and I think I might know how you could fix it. No worries, seriously, Mx. Two.” she said sternly, fierce devotion to Mx. Two’s cause shining clearly. Gaty pulled up a chair, deciding to sit down in front of their desk. “I’ll be late for my next class, but you could write me a late pass.” They smiled, thoroughly surprised at Gaty’s kindness.
“Okay, to start, you could firstly give Mr. Four some space. Yeah, he’s angry at you, but you pushing him will most likely make it worse. Asking him outright too what you did wrong might not work either, because it just shows you can’t remember what it is that hurt him. So, I want you to think of your recent interactions with him right now, and see if any of them could provide me with some clues.”
“Hm. I suppose something that could’ve been hurtful was earlier in the month, when I indirectly stole his club members for my club on the same day. I couldn't help that my club was just more interesting, and the fact that it was on the same day was a coincidence.” They paused. “Saying it out loud kind of makes it sound really bad. Oh.”
“Yup. Maybe you could try apologizing after a bit, now that you know what to say.” Gaty put the chair back, getting up from her seat.
“Thank you a lot, Gaty, for the nice chat and advice. You really are a great student and a friend, no matter what your grades say. I’ll get that extra credit up for you in no time.” They both grinned, feeling a lot better.
“It’s no problem.” She then left the classroom with a late pass Mx. Two had given her, happy she could help out and give some advice. She also had an extra credit opportunity now, so she had achieved what she came here for. Nice.