Home time 2

Since when did teachers make home visits? Doctors made home visits, rent collectors made home visits, even the truant officers. But not teachers.

Joanna found herself saying 'please, please, please' under her breath as Miss McDuff looked up and down the road, trying to wish her to go to another house.

Perhaps she had a boyfriend living somewhere in Rectory Road, although Joanna couldn't think of any man eligible enough to be Miss McDuff's other half. She was easily pretty enough to be one of 'Pan's People' or a model or someone on television.

People said she looked like that Joan Collins, but Jo-Jo reckoned she was actually prettier. Whoever she looked like she was coming straight for No. 12…

Jo-Jo watched her teacher open the garden gate and start walking up the path to the front door. It suddenly occurred to her she might be able to hide and she dropped out of sight below the windowsill, squeezing in under her David Cassidy poster.

The doorbell rang and she heard her Mum go to the door . Pinning the card onto the back of Miss McDuff's jacket hadn't been easy. It had been hanging on the back of the Changing Room door when they were all getting showered and sorted out after hockey.

Jo-Jo had to get the card out of her bag and get it onto the jacket in the few seconds that Miss McDuff was looking the other way. Karen had created a diversion by shouting in the shower and throwing shampoo suds at Natalie Hopcroft.

She hadn't expected Miss McDuff to actually put her jacket on without seeing the card. Who fails to see a pale green card pinned to the back of a burgundy velvet jacket?

But she did. She put the jacket on and went to open the door, but paused at the sound of stifled giggling. “What is it?” she asked looking directly at Jo-Jo, who had been making a point of being completely engrossing in doing her ponytail.

“Miss?” She said as innocently as she could manage.

“I hear laughter…”

“We're just happy, miss. Honest,” said Jo-Jo, without a hint of cheek.

Miss McDuff stared at her for a long ten seconds and then turned and went out into the corridor. The card was placed just so, its arrow pointing right at the history teacher's rather pear-shaped behind.

Jo-Jo would have loved to have watched her teacher stride off along the corridor, but that would have been too risky. Instead, she enjoyed giggling along with her friends and agreeing with the general consensus that the stuck-up, humourless cow deserved to be taken down a peg or two.

To be continued, again... (because I can't figure out how to use page breaks)