Yvette, Marie - Friday afternoon

[x-penance.livejournal.com]

As school lets out, Marie is there to check on Yvette. The resulting conversation is difficult as Yvette proves unusually stubborn.



Marie waited patiently as students filed out of the classroom, until a familiar red face exited. She waved to the younger girl and gestured for her to come over, making sure to smile so Yvette wouldn't worry. "Hey hun, heard you might be having a rough day," she said as she held out an apple for Yvette. "Was wondering if maybe you wanted to talk about it."

Yvette took the apple with a slightly stiff smile, always an indication of her frame of mind. Her hair hadn't spiked, however, so she could be considered as 'coping'. "It has been a very, how you say? Strange times? So many people are angry." She looked up at the RA, eyes glowing softly. "I think I would like the talk, yes. I was getting the letter from Mr. Logan, and he was telling me to talk to you or Mr. Kane if was needing to."

"You know Ah'm always here for you and Mr. Kane would be to," she said, trying to look reassuring. "How 'bout we head back to my suite?" At the girl's nod, she started walking down the hall. "You probably miss Mr. Logan too, huh?"

The small red girl nodded, tucking the apple away in her bag as she followed Marie. "Thank you for the apple," she said, belatedly realising she had forgotten her manners. Such an American thing to do! "And yes, I do miss Mr. Logan. He was always very kind to me, even if he was very... sad, sometimes. No, that is not the right word. Not... comfortable? He does not know where his place is?"

"No, he doesn't," Marie said. "You are a very smart young lady. Ah just want to make sure you know he cares about you. And he will come back." For a moment, Marie didn't know who she was trying to convince. "But Ah actually came to find ya because Ah heard that Ms. Dane and Shiro arguing scared you a bit."

"I am making the carving, to send to Mr. Logan as the present. So he knows that I am caring too." At the mention of Lorna's name, Yvette sighed a little. "It did, so I was going into the woods, where it is quiet. I do not like the fighting." She glanced up at Marie, a little anxious. "I am sorry if I made the worry."

Marie swallowed hard at the mention of a carving for Logan - it was the little things like that which would help pull him back from the edge. "It's ok, you needed to feel safe. So long as you stay on the grounds and made sure you were warm enough, you go where you need to in order to stay calm and relaxed." Opening the door to her suite, she ushered the girl in and then made her way to sit on one of the couches. "No one likes fighting."

Yvette took a careful perch on the other end of the couch, making sure she didn't have any inadvertant skin exposed - it was a nice couch. "It was loud. And they were so angry." She hesitated, and then added. "I made the change of the classes, with Mr. Haller. To have Miss Dani, instead of Miss Dane."

"Have you talked with Ms. Dane yet?" Marie asked, careful to keep her expression and tone neutral.

Yvette's eyes widened, flashing brightly for a moment. "Talk to the crazy teacher?" she blurted. "Who is fighting with people in the halls?" She shook her head almost violently. "No, and I do not want to. I try to be the good girl and respect the teachers, but that..." She bit her lip. "Teachers should not be that way."

"Yvette, teachers are humans. They have feelings and emotions, just like you. And sometimes they get upset...and sometimes they don't handle that the best way possible," she paused, and reached out a hand to gently pat Yvette's shoulder. "It would be different if Ms. Dane had hurt someone or been yelling at a student, but she wasn't."

"When I get angry, I do not break things. I do not scream and use the bad words and maybe even push the people." There was something uncompromising in Yvette's tone. "Because if I do, I can be hurting someone by accident. Miss Dane... I do not think she is the very safe person to be around. I am only fifteen, and I know how to control my upset, or to go somewhere safe when I cannot. Miss Dane does not care for the safety, only for making the fight." Yvette looked Marie in the face, eyes blank as always. "If Miss Dane was your student, Miss Marie, what would you be doing?"

"Ah would speak to her and find out what had made her so upset," Marie said. "Ah would let her know that if she needed someone to talk to, Ah'm there for her. Ah would encourage her to think before she acts next time." Marie sighed, wishing she had a better way to explain things to Yvette. "She didn't hurt anyone Yvette - and like most of your teachers here, and most of your fellow students, she did have that capability. So she did restrain herself. Sometimes keeping everything in isn't the right way to do it. Ah'm not saying Ah think Ms. Dane made all the right choices. Ah just wish you knew that all of us aren't perfect. Mr. Logan made a mistake and you forgave him. And trust me, Ah've made my fair share of them too."

"Mr. Logan was not allowed to be the teacher any more, yes?" Yvette looked away. "I am sorry, that I am being not-so-reasonable. I do not want Miss Dane to be teaching me any more, and I have made the arrangements with Mr. Haller. This I am doing for to stay calm and relaxed, like you are saying I need to be."

"His interaction was with a student, which made it a little different," Marie said. "And Ah'm not gonna tell you to switch back into her class. But Ah don't want you thinking that your teachers are perfect."

"I do not think that. You are all just the people, the same as the students. But I am expecting them to be the grownups. The most of all when they are telling me how to be making the control, and having the ethics." There was something almost prim about Yvette's slightly-clipped words and very carefully-poised position. "May I to be leaving, please?"

"Ah would never force you to stay and talk when you don't want to," Marie said. "But Ah would be sad if you left now, on this note." Marie reached up to twirl a piece of hair around her finger. "Ah wasn't meaning to push you on this Yvette and Ah'm sorry if that's how it came across. Ah really just did want to make sure you were ok."

"I am. Or I am to be, if I do not have to talk to Miss Dane." Yvette's long fingers twitched slightly as they lay folded in her lap. "Mr. Logan was fired for the thing with the student, yes? Well, this is me, to be 'firing' Miss Dane as my teacher for making the fight with the college person." Her eyes flared briefly. "This is the very strange school, so why not are the students to be having this, yes?" The blue settled into a slightly more muted than usual glow. "I am not angry with you, Miss Marie. You are my friend, and I know you are trying to be the friend to Miss Dane. But I do not like what she is doing, and I do not feel... comfort? with her. And I can not listen when she is telling me how to be acting, to be the in control grown up person. Not when she cannot do this herself."

"Ok," Marie said. "But maybe check in with yourself in a week or two and think about whether you'd at least be willing to hear from Ms. Dane, her side of things? That's all Ah'll ask of ya."

"I will try." Yvette sounded doubtful, however. "Miss Marie... if Miss Dane is your friend, and you are being worried for her... maybe she needs the help too?"

"Maybe she does," Marie said, suddenly mentally chastising herself for not having yet checked on Lorna. "Ah'll be checking on her too, ok?"

Yvette nodded. "Okay."