“Do I understand that by ‘met’, there is an implication that a deeper relationship has developed?”
“Yes sir,” Simon said.
“By coming here together, and having read about your unpleasant experiences in the United States, I assume you are cohabiting?” he asked me.
I winced at the word cohabiting, it sounded smutty, but then I think he meant it to.
“Simon is staying with me. We are engaged to be married. But I want to finish my A levels, and do things properly. So, yes, we are cohabiting, sleeping together, and happen to love each other very much,” I said, finishing up rather sharply.
Mr Goodson smiled.
“Sandi, you are right, you have this knack of stretching the bounds of what I hope to expect from my pupils.”
“I know this is rather unusual, but we don’t want to cause undue embarrassment, nor bring adverse publicity onto the school. I am willing to leave, if necessary.” I said.
“No honey, I’ll just not take up the post.” Simon said.
“Listen you two. No one leaves, and I can’t afford to allow you not to take up your post. You’re seventeen Sandi, and I have no power over your private life. I have one rule, and one rule alone. While in school, you both behave with the utmost decorum, and if not, then we will review the situation.”
We stared at him.
“Do you have a problem with that?” he asked us.
We didn’t.
“And Sandi, please, don’t wear that ring to school. If you lose it, I will not have the school bear that level of responsibility. And by the way, our levels of applications have doubled because of your exploits in the modelling field, so well done.”
We walked out very much happier than when we walked in.
Mr Goodson showed Simon round the school, and I followed along. I was actually looking forward to school, which was strange in itself. We spent a lot of the time in the art room, and Simon seemed happy with the layout.
I felt like a wife, and just enjoyed not being the centre of attention for once.
We went into town for lunch, and I was recognised in the Pizzahut. I had a mad few minutes of signing autographs, and then someone must have called the local paper, for as we were leaving a photographer turned up. I posed for a couple of shots, and Simon disappeared into WH Smiths, on my instructions.
We then went home and I made us spaghetti bolognaise for supper.
We sat together in the dining room and ate it, and he smiled.
“Why do I feel like we are married already?”
“I don’t know, but I feel the same.” I said.
“Any second thoughts?”
“None.”
“I love you so much.” he said, and took my hand.
“That’s just as well.” I said, and he laughed.
“You make me feel so good.”
“I’ll remind you of that when I am nagging you about bringing mud across my clean carpets.”
“Why don’t we get married sooner?”
“Because I want to wait. At least one year, okay?”
“Why a year?”
“I want to finish school, and make sure we are right for each other. I’m not going to be rushed into this, Simon. I intend to only get married once, and it will be right.”
“Okay. You are right, but I want to be your husband.”
“Sweetie, I am your wife, but not yet.”
We finished our meal and washed up. Then we sat and watched TV, snuggled together on the sofa.
I was just coming to the end of my period, so we had a cuddly night again.
14.
We gave Jenny a lift to school on the Monday morning. We were a little early as Simon did not want to be late on his first day. He drove the Jag, and parked it next to the art room, which was set apart from the main school buildings.
I decided to dress appropriately as a model, and wore a stunning gold and black dress from the Kysinski collection. Simon gave me a kiss and disappeared to the staff meeting, and Jenny and I walked into the sixth form block.
Heads turned, and I ignored them all, and we went and looked at the notice boards where our class timetables and other notices were on display.
“Shit, they’ve made you head girl, Sandi.”
I gasped, as I had not even considered that. We had a head boy and a head girl every year, and some responsibility went with it. Brian Goodson was going to make me pay for being a pain. I smiled, he was a crafty bastard, that one.
I copied down my class listings, and found that Fridays were clear. Mondays I had art, Tuesdays and Thursdays I had French, and Wednesdays was design. That meant I would be able to model on Fridays as well as the weekends.
The bell went for assembly, and we slowly made our way towards the big hall. The staff collected on the stage, and the sixth formers stayed at the back. But the head boy and head girl had to stand on the stage with the staff.
I felt very nervous as I went up onto the stage, and noticed that Errol McFadden, the head boy, was already there. He stared at me for a moment, confusion painted across his face. Then he realised who I was, and he went red. Most people remembered the androgynous child I had been, and few connected the new me with her/him.
I was in heels, and stood a shave under six foot. He was five nine, and although stocky, I was still a few inches taller than he.
The head entered and everyone stood up.
We sat to the left of the stage.
“Welcome back to another year. It gives me great pleasure to introduce to you your head boy and girl for this year. Errol and Sandi, please stand up.”
We stood, and were clapped. I wasn’t sure why, we hadn’t done anything, yet.
“I am sure it has come to most of your attention that Sandi has made quite an impact as an international model recently. It is to her credit that she is returning here to complete her A levels, and I am sure it will pay off in the long run. I know she wants to lead as much a normal life as possible, so please let her do so.
“We welcome two new members of staff. Mr Dewar replaces Mrs Hind in the Geography department. And Mr Haddow will be filling in whilst Mrs Simmonds has her baby. So a big welcome to the pair of you.
“For those of you who are new this term, this school prides itself at being progressive and moving with the times. But we have rules, and these rules will be maintained. Cross them and you will be sorry, as they are all there for good reason. Now, as you are all no doubt aware, this government is planning to reduce cannabis from being a class B drug to a class C drug. This means it is still illegal, and anyone caught with it will be suspended and probably expelled. I have a zero tolerance towards drugs, and I will insist that all pupils here are aware of the penalties of possession. I will call the police in, and you will get a criminal record.
“This year, as we are fortunate to have an expert American football coach on the staff, we will be running a football team for those who may be interested. Mr Haddow will run this on a Friday evening, so sign up as soon as you can. Mr Haddow played for his University in America, and declined pro-football as a career to become a teacher. So lets make use of him while he is here.”
“Lets make this term a good one, work hard, play hard and enjoy yourselves. Thank you.”
Assembly was over, and we had a prefects’ meeting before classes.
First Mr Goodson had Errol and I alone.
“Right, I am expecting great things from you. Lead by example, and you will be my lieutenants in running this school. The most important thing is that you two talk to each other. Regardless of what you know or think about each other, you are here to do a job, and you will do it well. You will do it better if you work as a team, so every week, on Monday mornings, I want you two to get together and talk through anything you have to do in the week to come.