Slowly Swapping: A Talk

Fortunately for Jon, the bell rang signifying the end of class. Once Mr Henderson had got the class settled for a moment, he began handing out this week’s homework assignment and once that was dealt with, he let the class go. But as Jon started to leave, Mr Henderson held him back. “Jon, a moment please.” They waited until the rest of the class had left before he began. “Now Jon, I know that you promised me that you would pay more attention in class, and for a while there, I actually believed you. You were paying attention, and actually contributing to the class when I asked you a question. Even on the ones that I thought that you would struggle.” Jon was hurt for a moment, but then, he wasn’t sure if Mr Henderson was referring to the old him or the new him. Probably the latter… “But then,” Mr Henderson continued, shaking his head. “You started to fall into old habits; staring out of the window, daydreaming about boys..” He trailed off, letting that last comment sink in. “Maybe, if you were to focus your attention on things other than boys, then you might be able to apply yourself, do well in school, get your grades up.” Jon nodded. “I’m sorry sir, really, I am. I was trying really hard, I just don’t know what happened to me back there…” Jon confessed. “Or the time before…” Mr Henderson muttered, implying that something like this had happened before. Jon looked at his teacher for a moment but decided to ignore it, not wanting to get into any more trouble. “I promise sir, next time, this won’t happen again.” Mr Henderson gave him the same look that he gave Jon at the beginning of class, but then he sighed and dismissed Jon.