Learning to Dance Again Read Free

with.
    He decided to skip his visit to the staff room and excused himself from his impromptu welcome party and made his way up to the relative privacy of his classroom.
    He switched on his laptop to allow the ancient beast enough time to warm up before the first lesson, and then turned on the electronic white-board. He took out his timetable and checked, for the hundredth time, which class he had first. Fourth year advanced; one of his favourites.
    When the bell sounded to signal the start of the class, a gaggle of twenty teenagers, casually dressed in the de-facto uniform of jeans and casual tops wandered into the room. Duncan was one of the few teachers that favoured the lack of formal uniform. He loved the individuality it inspired, although sometimes it seemed to produce its own peculiar sense of conformity. The boys all wore jeans and football shirts. The girls however, were a little more interesting in their appearance, although he could never voice his opinion on this without sounding like a pervert.
    ‘Hey Mr Robertson! You’re back – that’s so cool!’ Shona said, as she floated into the classroom in a waft of expensive perfume. She was one of the fashion icons in her year, and today she was wearing the skinniest of jeans, a pair of glittery ballet pumps and what appeared to be a mini-dress over the top. It was a strange combination in Duncan’s opinion, but Shona seemed to carry it off, and as he watched the other girls take their seats he noticed that wearing dresses over the top of jeans had somehow become the norm.
    ‘ Can we celebrate you being back at school with a homework-free week?’ Shona said, giggling as she took her seat at the back of the class.
    ‘No chance! In fact, I might even set you a bit of a test later this week; just so I can catch up with how you’re all doing. Don’t forget you have your exams soon.’
    There was a collective groan, amid the clattering of books and bags being dumped on desks, and pencil cases being unzipped.
    He gave them a moment to settle down.
    ‘OK guys. As you can see, I’m back. Thanks for all your cards and good wishes while I was away. I really appreciated it. And there’s no doubt all the support I received helped me to knock the cancer on the head.’
    There was a spontaneous r ound of applause, and when two girls stood up in the front row, the rest of the class quickly followed.
    ‘Well,’ Duncan said, as the applause died away and everyone sat down again, ‘that’s the first time I’ve ever had a standing ovation in a maths class. In fact that’s probably the first time in history any maths teacher has had a standing ovation. Thanks!’
    He felt touched by their welcome, and took a deep breath before speaking again, noticing a slight discomfort in his chest as he did so. He ignored it and continued to speak.
    ‘OK then, shall we talk about what you’ve all being doing in my absence – and let’s just keep this to what you’ve learned in maths, I don’t need all the gossip thanks!’
    Within fifteen minutes he felt like he’d never been away.
     
    When it was time for lunch Duncan opened the door to the staffroom and discovered to his surprise it was almost empty, and the only person in the room was someone he didn’t know.
    He said hello and walked over to the kitchen area and made himself a coffee and opened up his lunchbox. Inside was a healthy salad, some fruit and a yoghurt. He missed the good old days of sandwiches, crisps and a bar of chocolate. He frowned as he picked at the chicken salad. He was hungry, but the food seemed unappetising, although he wasn’t really sure what he fancied.
    He drank the coffee whilst flicking through a newspaper he found abandoned on a table. He ate half his banana but threw the rest away. He had a fierce craving for chocolate so he wandered off to the cafeteria, safe in the knowledge Julia wouldn’t get to hear about it; she had become such a nag about his diet.
    ‘Hey Duncan; how’s it