Frustration in need of Subsiding [Sean]

[Caden Cameron]

After the door to her classroom clicked with the affirmative locked signal, Caden jiggled the handle, just to make sure it was bolted shut. Considering how those kids acted in class, was could be sure that if she hadn't locked the doors, the next morning that she had come in, it would have been ransacked by wee ones. Alright, so maybe she was over-thinking this and finding them to be a lot worse than face value, but taking today's initial class in consideration, it was pretty horrible. You've got to prepare for the worst, especially since she was a student teacher, and not one with an actual degree to boss kids around yet. She was sure they'd do whatever they could to prevent her from making it through the semester, much to her displeasure.

Right now, she had a few choices. She couldn't technically leave just quite yet, that would seem unprofessional. Instead, she could a) chill out (and/or veg out) in the Teacher's Lounge, an idea that was quite tempting at this point, b) wander the grounds or spy on other teachers to try to copy their techniques, or c) vent to someone, somewhere. But this 'someone' really wasn't a vague figure to her whatsoever. She remembered just the man who could help her with all of these issues: Dr. Sean Neville.

Although Caden had been too much of a smarty pants who was far more focused on her studies while attending Hammel for college prep credit to come to get some help for the stressful issues in her life, she had heard quite a few kind words about how Dr. Neville could make people feel after a brief session, and that he'd actually listen to what they had to say. Despite the fact that only students had told her about this (no teachers were ever really on that list), Caden figured it was the most logical idea for her current predicament. She was half student, half teacher, if you looked at it literally. Maybe he could be of assistance now, just to listen to her vent for a few minutes, perhaps even offering some kind words of advice. That's what she needed more than anything right now.

That decided, she walked towards the end of the hallway with the floor directory near the entrance of the building. Skimming through the alphabetically ordered professors and employees at Hammel, she spotted the Doctor's name, and her eyes traced the dots toward his designated room number. She was still pretty familiar where every room was, thank goodness, or she'd get lost in a big place like this, much like she did when she was a wee one, just starting off at Hammel in her first year. From those unfortunate situations, she had learned quickly, the information lodge in a dark crevice of her mind that she was eagerly digging up to find his office number.

Up and down a few stairways, through a couple hallways and past a handful of classrooms, Caden found the designated sub-hallway for offices. She took a sharp turn down them, scanning the tops of the doorways for the room numbers. She slowed considerably when she found Dr. Neville's, and stood in front of it for a few minutes before she did anything. For some reason, a feeling of guilt and anxiety entered her mind. Would he listen to her after all this time? Blow her off? Surely not, she was just creating these impossible situations in her head, her mind feeding off of her negative energy. She really needed to stop doing that..

Exhaling briefly, she moved towards the door and instead of walking in, knocked three times on the wood panel above the doorknob. If he didn't answer, she'd just come back another time. At least she could say she tried, right?

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had done a decent job of rescheduling some of his appointments this week to be morning-heavy with the benefit of clearing his afternoons. At the beginning of the week, he had had some personal business to attend to in the later afternoons, and he had benefitted from having the free time in which to conduct it. There had been a few meetings and some research. By the end of the week, most of those tasks were finished but he still had the free time in the afternoons due to the rescheduling. Not that he would complain, considering the long hours he kept and the side projects which prevented him from sleeping well. Time to read the newspaper was appreciated, particularly since his morning ritual consisted of getting L.C. up for school and making sure she had done her homework and that she ate a decent breakfast before class.

Halfway through the New York Times Book Review, he heard apprehensive thoughts outside his door. He identified them as belonging to Caden, which was unexpected; he remembered her from her days as a student but she hadn’t been on his short list of people who needed his help back then. Particularly since she didn’t end up in his office for fighting or abusing her powers. And while he would usually assume it was a school matter when a faculty member came to his office, her thoughts indicated otherwise. Setting aside the newspaper when he heard the knock a moment later, he called out, “Please, come in.”