Homework help [Joshua]

[Lucy Clayton]

As it had turned around the classes in Hammel were quite a bit more advanced then her class in her old school had been. To help her, the school had asked Mr. Bernstein, a local and a relative of some sorts to one of the schools staff, if he would be willing to her mentor. Lucy wasn’t very happy about that, but if she failed her classes, she would have to repeat the year, and Lucy certainly didn’t want that. Lucy was walking towards the library, where she would meet Mr. Bernstein. She carried her old used bag over her shoulders, filled with pens, paper and at least a half dozen books. They certainly would have something to do this afternoon.

Lucy entered the library and looked around, there weren’t that many students there and searched for anyone who could be Mr. Bernstein.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Sean still wasn't quite ready to begin fostering again.

Josh didn't want to pressure his partner, not on such an important matter. However, he found that he missed helping Bailey with her homework. He missed asking her how her day was. He missed talking to her about her classes. Having Tomer around wasn't entirely the same. Tomer didn't need his help with homework, and in fact seemed to prefer not to have it. And Tomer knew that anything he told Josh would eventually make its way back to his mother.

So the attorney had signed up for a mentoring program. Many Hammel students were miles -- states -- even in some cases countries away from their families. The presence of an adult to guide and to help them was thus welcome. After all, although he knew first hand that the faculty of Hammel was full of passionate individuals dedicated to their job, sometimes students were more reluctant to go to a teacher or other faculty member. Sometimes being an outsider could be a boon.

He'd been assigned a student more quickly than he had expected. A young girl named Lucy. He'd taken a look at the scheduled meeting times, making sure to mark them all in the calender on his phone. He was grateful that he was known at Hammel, since the meetings took place at the library there. Of course, he still had to sign in at the front desk, but he had signed in at the front desk many times over the past couple of years. It was more a formality than anything else at this point.

He made his way to the library, giving smiles and waves to faculty he knew as he passed them in the hall. When he arrived in the library itself he glanced around to see if he could find his charge. He wore a nametag as per the guest rules, so at least she should be able to recognize him from that, since neither of them had met before.

[Lucy Clayton]

Lucy looked around and couldn’t see anyone who might be Mr. Bernstein. Except for the librarian, everyone was way too young. She checked the clock and noticed that she was a tad bit early. Certainly Mr. Bernstein would arrive soon. In the meantime she could make herself comfortable at one of the free tables. There was a free table a bit in the back, but still clearly visible from the entrance. Lucy turned around and headed over to it. She put her bag down on the table and sat down, facing the entrance for that she could see Mr. Bernstein arrive. She begun to unpack her bag: Her schoolbooks, pens and paper. She was barely finished when a guy entered the library.

Was that Mr. Bernstein? Probably? While Lucy couldn’t read the name on it from her current position, his nametag clearly showed that he was a visitor to Hammel, and he seemed to be looking for someone. After a moment of hesitation - she didn’t like approaching unknown people – she got up and approached him. As she came closer, she could read his nametag: Mr. Bernstein. She stopped a few meters away and politely said: “Mr. Bernstein? I’m Lucy Clayton!” She wasn’t sure if she should extend her hand or not and decided to wait and see what Mr. Bernstein would do.

[Joshua Bernstein]

She didn't extend her hand.

Josh wondered if that meant she was shy, one of those people who was reluctant to have others in their personal space even for socially acceptable reasons. Tomer was like that in some ways, which he found baffling; maybe they would grow out of it. Or maybe she simply needed a little time to get to know him. After all, she was a young girl and he was an adult man.

That could be a little intimidating.

So instead of a handshake he offered her a smile. "So you're Ms. Clayton! It's a pleasure to meet you. I hear that you needed a little help with some schoolwork, is there anything I can do for you?"

[Lucy Clayton]

Lucy always took a while to start feeling comfortable around people she had just met. It’s not that shy was actually shy, Lucy just was afraid of letting anyone close to her because parting with them – an part they would in Lucy’s experience – way harder. She didn’t think it would be different with Mr. Bernstein. He would tutor her for a while and then he would be gone from her life. Beside that she didn’t have much social experience and she had no idea how to proper behave around a guy Mr. Bernstein’s age.

Lucy simply nodded and politely replied: “It’s a pleasure to meet you too!” Lucy wondered if she was supposed to curtsy or something and then decided that that probably wasn’t necessary. Not that she would have known how to properly curtsy.
“Yes, in the school I was before we weren’t that advanced with the curriculum and I mainly need help with catching up”, she explained while turning around to walk back to the table.

[Joshua Bernstein]

Josh listened sympathetically. Not every school was created equal in terms of quality, even when comparing government run public schools. He wondered if her school had been financially disadvantaged. He had many opinions on the topic of school funding, but none of that was appropriate to delve into here. What was important in the present was that she was now at Hammel, which was really a rather good school despite his disapproval of some of their policies, and he was here to help her.

"What subjects did you want to take a look at today?"

[Lucy Clayton]

There were quite a few subjects that Lucy needed help with, but the most important ones were history and math. Lucy loved history and usually she was really good at it, but the teacher at her last school had been ill for weeks – with no replacement. And for math she just had problems to understand it. She leaned over her bag and pulled the related books out while she answered: “The most urgent subjects are math and history. “ After a moment of thinking she added: “Maybe we should start with math?” Lucy leaned back in her chair, moved some streaks of hair out of her face with her left hand and looked expectant at Mr. Bernstein.

[Joshua Bernstein]

"Math it is," Josh agreed, pulling up a chair. This endeavor would be more comfortable if he wasn't standing for the whole meeting. "What are you on? Algebra?"

That was the math subject he'd been on at her age, but he didn't know if that was standard. The state of education had changed so much since he had been in school, after all.