Work Text:
Tao knocks on the doorframe with its peeling paint.
“You wanted to see me, Mr Ajayi?”
“Come in, come in, Tao. This will only take a minute.” Mr Ajayi motions for Tao to come forward as the teacher arranges a pile of large pieces of A1 sugar paper in front of him, a myriad of colours. Tao recognises that Mr Ajayi is organising the sheets into a rainbow pattern, the reds into oranges into yellows, then greens, blues, and purples.
Tao fiddles with the strap on his cross-body bag. “Oh, do you have art homework you want me to hand back to Elle? Or isn’t it about the fish drawing coursework? I know they probably are not the greatest drawings ever, but they are the best pictures I could find on the internet. I probably shouldn’t have done them in biro either…”
Mr Ajayi puts the yellow paper he is holding back on the desk and raises his hands, signalling Tao to calm down.
“Tao, please don't worry; it's nothing to be concerned about.” There is a pause, and Mr Ajayi speaks more slowly, clearly selecting his words with care. “Something has come up, and I thought of you.”
“Well, I may not be the best person for you to call on for artistic abilities. Do you need me to pass something on to Elle?”
Mr Ajayi smiles. “Not exactly. A new boy is joining your year after the Christmas break. I met him when he came for a school tour last week. He’s transferring from another school; he doesn’t know anyone here, and I’ve seen how supportive you are with Elle…”
Tao knew he could be oblivious; his friends joked that he was always the last person to realise what was happening, but even he could see where this was going. Elle was moving to Higgs in January, so…
“You want me to make friends with him, Sir?” Tao blurts out.
“Look, I know I can't, nor should I, force you to be friends with another student. But as I said, I’ve seen how you are so supportive of Elle.”
“I’m still unsure why Sir, Isaac and I are borderline outcasts.”
“I have a suspicion you’ll get on.” Mr Ajayi gives him a soft smile. “He mentioned when he was here, he was interested in music, and when I spent some time with him one-on-one while his parents were talking to Mr Barnes, I think he must have spotted my Pride pin because he started talking about how much he enjoyed watching ‘Moonlight’ and ‘God’s Own Country’ last week.”
“Sir?”
“Really.”
Tao smiles to himself. Maybe Mr. Ajayi wasn’t entirely off the mark on this one.
“Is that all, Sir?”
“Yes, please, feel free to go, but do you have any questions?”
“No, Sir.”
Tao starts to walk across the classroom, realises something, and turns to face the teacher, who is back sorting his papers.
“By the way, you didn’t tell me his name, Sir.”
“Oh, it’s Charlie Spring.”