Thirty-three

I spoke to Miss Price today. I wanted to ask her about Maya’s mum. And what I should do. I went to school early so that I could get a chance to see her when it was quiet.
I knocked on the staff room door and Miss Price opened it. She had make-up on one eye, but not the other and she was holding an eyeliner. I guess she can be as rushed as I am some mornings!
‘Hello, Kirsty,’ she said. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘I sort of need some advice,’ I said.
She looked serious for a second, then said ‘then you’d best come in. I hope you don’t mind me doing my other eye while we chat. My alarm didn’t go off!’
She sat on the squidgy sofa and did her make-up while I chatted. It was weird, but it made it easier somehow, it felt like talking to Mum. I think if she had been staring at me and nodding in a teacherly way then I would have felt scared.
I told her about what Maya had said, about her Mum being worse. And then, I said, ‘I don’t know what to do. I can’t make her Mum better, and I don’t know how to make Maya feel better.’
Miss Price smiled. ‘Yes, you do. You just carry on doing what you’re doing. Talk to her, listen to her, eat ice creams and do the gardening. She needs someone to treat her like a friend. That’s all. You can do that, can’t you?’
I nodded. Then, when Miss Price had finished doing her eyeliner, I asked, ‘Will Maya’s Mum be OK?’
Miss Price pressed her lips together. ‘I don’t know the answer to that. She’ll probably be fine, they caught it early. But there’s a chance she might not recover. Maya will need you then.’
It made me feel cold inside.