Second chances

*side note: Mrs McCain's name is based on a character from youtube influencer Graystillplays

There was a young girl known as Ellie Bull in the year 3 class of Sir Penelope's school in 1999. She was a small built girl with dark blonde hair and green eyes.

Other students said she had a Napoleon complex, and often tried to assert whatever independence she could gain. She had a cocktail of non or ill diagnosed mental health conditions. And struggled to maintain friendships. 

There was a teacher who stood out to her, Mrs Florence McCain. Who had a sharp tongue at times, but Ellie always thought it was normal. Some opinionated students called her 'Mrs Cocaine' as they declared that was what her name sounded like.

Ellie had been having a tough day in late June and had several young girls called her a freak and stupid. She had traits that made her struggle, but to call her stupid, was harsh.

She was taught that words couldn't hurt her, but she felt as if she was in the middle of a large black space trying to duck the toxic darts of the harsh words she had received in the past and currently.

When she got home, she went to her room to play.

 She pictured that she was a dancer wearing a black and red dress while several dancers were in green and shooting paintballs at her as she spun gracefully to avoid the bullets. But unfortunately, there were so many green patches on her dress that she ended the dance with the splits. 

Ellie smiled as she found solace in her creativity. But even her theatrical shield struggled to save her from the events that soon unfolded shortly after this time.

She remembered being in the car with her grandparents and was amazed that in a few hours, that they would be entering a new millennium. She questioned in her head how long her grandparents would live. She also was both anxious and excited for the future, she hoped it would be all she imagined in her head. 

In late 2020, Ellie Bull was a married woman now known as Eliza Prichett. She has gone through a lot in her life. Her two children were proof of that. She had dropped out of most of her creative activities for year's and was a stay at home mum. She was hoping to make a comeback.

She had recently taken up pet portraiture and had a small but decent revenue and audience. She was dealing with the loss of a family pet named Archie, a 14-year-old miniature pinscher crossed with a Jack Russel. Her family had ideas on getting a border terrier named Blue. 

Eliza was selling her work in between dropping her son off school then picking him up. Because of the viral pandemic, she didn't get a chance to meet Harveys teachers often. 

One afternoon Harvey was telling his mother about school. She listened to him interested in what he had achieved that day. "Very good my darling, the teachers must have been proud," she said in a softer Yorkshire tone. Although they mostly had resided in South-East England, Eliza's family had a Northern English heritage.

Harvey smiled, "Oh yes Mrs McCain said I was good although I messed up the 'y' in my name as she said," he said innocently. His mothers face looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Mrs cocai...erm...McCain?! I'm surprised she hasn't had the sack! She made my school life a misery. Bad enough I was struggling outside the classroom too, I'm not sure I want you in her class" Eliza sighed as she felt a rush of unpleasant memories linked to her teenhood. She had to catch her breath to avoid hyperventilating. Harvey disagreed, "no mummy, she's been nice and helping me do better in my spelling," he said to her. Eliza still wasn't sure but after a few minutes of ranting about her. She was curious to give her another chance. But she had to know for sure if her ex-teacher had changed. 

She thought about it while waiting for her husband to come home from work. She had put the kids to bed and had a couple of cans of drink ready for them both. She opened a can of Strongbow and sipped it just as Rick walked through the door. He walked over and kissed her. "Hello my love, how was your day?" He asked warmly, Eliza smiled. "The kids were super today, they enjoyed their time out in the park and I got them an ice cream from the ice cream van," she replied. Rick smiled, "well that sounded like fun," he cuddled his wife. 

They sat down after he plated up a serving of the pasta dish Eliza made. "Looks good my sweet," he smiled. His wife still had Mrs McCain in her head. She looked at her husband, "I know I'm being biased here, most likely down to my issues in my childhood. But I found out that Mrs McCain has been filling in for Harvey's class," she sighed "she is sometimes known as Mrs Cocaine, but I remember the way she almost destroyed my self-confidence. Over my dead body would I allow her to do that to our son!" She wrinkled her nose. Rick looked concerned. "She didn't sound good back then," he sighed, Eliza was still figuring things out.

"Harvey did say that she seemed fair towards him, he said that she told him that he should work on his handwriting and further practice his spelling," she said. "If that's the case, maybe she has changed but I don't want to gamble with our son's wellbeing," Eliza said, feeling her chest tighten a little. Rick noticed and made sure she took long deep breaths to avoid another panic-related condition striking.

After she got past the panic attack, she saw that Rick was comforting her. "Well who knows, I sometimes go to the school to patrol the area. I could check in on her and our boy to make sure she's behaving herself," he offered. She agreed and Rick decided to deal with a day shift first thing in the morning. 

When it was the end of the first lesson the following day, Rick was patrolling the corridors. He overheard Mrs McCain talking to her class and waving them off.

He decided to stand close to the door as several children left. She asked Harvey to stay so she could have a word.

Eric listened in, he heard her commending the boys work. "Well, this goes to show that you took my advice. But can I ask you something? Your mummy looked familiar. What is her name?" She asked. Harvey smiled, "her name is Eliza but dad calls her Ellie sometimes," he said. It suddenly clicked with Mrs McCain who he was talking about. "Oh, Ellie Bull, I used to teach her. And unfortunately, I don't think I did a good job. And if I ever see your mum I want to apologise. But I'll be lucky if she forgives me," she sighed. Harvey nodded "she did panic when I mentioned you, but I told her you are nice," he replied.

Rick smiled as he had heard the conversation. He texted Eliza about what he overheard. She sent a text back saying that Mrs McCain deserved a second chance.