ringing

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Since Mila worked full-time (and thought her son could do no wrong), Ben was frequently the parent who ended up trying to talk his son's teachers down from suspension. Which was difficult as he really believed Noah was guilty, but he just didn't think that his own sanity deserved for his son to be home all day while he tried to work. These walls were getting more familiar with every visit. Last time he was here was three months ago, which Noah had managed to sweet talk himself out of suspension for getting his class to call Mr. Peter Mr. Penis.. the brat. Ben forks his hand through his dark curly hair and finds himself staring at the door trying to resist the embarassment that he felt for his son. He sighs heaving and raps his fist against the green door.

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"Come in." Spring sunshine pours in from the windows of her classroom and Gracie draws strength from it, her moods heavily affected by the weather. Her nerves had been going haywire since she had been told it was Noah's father coming in, and then when a colleague had let slip that he was exceptionally young, she had only felt more hopeless. She had been wanting a woman-to-woman conversation with the boy's mother, hoping that she would understand just how Grace felt. What if his young dad thought it was funny? Or worse, gave his son a slap on the back? She tried to pull herself away from those hypotheticals as the door handle turned, brushing lint off her cream sweater. She was stood behind her desk and had pulled a couple of chairs to the other side, and immediately her eyes found Noah's as they opened the door, the boy seemingly unaffected by the prospect of his parent being called in. Bad sign. She finally drew her attention to the father, and as soon as she did, her heart stopped dead in her chest. "Ben? Ben Fox?" she said, disbelief evident in her voice.

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He wondered briefly what Noah had done for him to get called in during a pandemic. The school seemed picky with when they'd call a parent in, but maybe they'd just given up. He hears a voice call him in and pushes the metal handle, her shoulder presses the door open. Immediately his eyes find his son's. The blonde haired kid looks smug with his mask pulled so his nose is exposed. "Ay, mask," Ben points a finger up and frowns. The same voice that calls him in repeats his name and he glances at her. She's young, Noah must be killing her. "Hey, yeah," he's often met with this sort of disbelief, people expect him to be much older. For a moment he reaches to shake her hand, but slowly withdraws it once he's remembered it's against social distancing rules. "So," he pulls out a chair next to Noah and plops into it.

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Grace is thrown. On the one hand, Ben had been lovely to her at school, one of the few people willing to intervene when Mila was causing her grief. But on the other... she felt so stupid. Looking at Noah, he was so obviously Mila's son. She felt crushed by the fact that she hadn't been able to escape his mother, and almost amused that she had ever wished it was his mom coming in. Thank god fate had intervened. Behind her silk mask she fixes a smile, but realises he hasn't recognised her. For a second she blames the mask, but the truth is, she looks so different from how she once did that the mask is irrelevant. "Thank you for coming in," she says, clearing her throat and sitting opposite. "I know it's a big ask, especially now, and I wouldn't have insisted if it wasn't serious. Noah, have you mentioned anything about why you're here to your father?" It's an obvious no. She sighs slightly, her cheeks flushing crimson as she looks at the paper on her desk. "Mr. Fox. What I'm about to tell you may seem like oversharing, but I assure you it's relevant to why we're here today." This had all sounded better when she rehearsed it in her head. "For your reference, I was recently engaged to another member of staff here, Mr. Haynes. I'm not anymore." This was so embarrassing, she couldn't look at either of them. "Noah decided to set up a sweepstake, in which students would Venmo him $10 to submit a reason why the engagement ended. Then, and I have no idea how Noah hoped to discover this, whoever guessed right would win the sum."

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Noah sits there with a smirk on his face as Gracie speaks. It was a look he had nailed down since the age of three, when he took his young father's valued laptop and chucked it down the stairs. The look that Ben answers with is usually one of bewilderment. How could he have produced this? Ben was an empath. Noah seemed like a sociopath. The blonde haired teen shrugs when his father looks at him, then pulls his mask down to his chin to show off a grin. "You think you're a comedian then?" Ben raises his eyebrows, "put your mask on." He looks back at his teacher, who looks traumatized retelling the story. He feels sick. "Noah, you realize this isn't clogging a toilet, right? This is immoral." He's totally getting suspended. "I'm really sorry.. Ms.. I'm sorry. Whatever you guys think is necessary."

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She slid the papers across the desk to Ben. Screengrab after screengrab of group chats and Google sheets, listing reasons such as, 'Ms. Marlowe's a tranny', 'Mr Haynes fucked the janitor', 'Ms Marlowe's so frigid'. Seeing it all had taken her back to high school herself, that sting of public humiliation when all you wanted to do was get on with the task of education. She's immensely relieved that Ben doesn't laugh, far from. The teen's smirk makes it ever harder to avoid the urge to scream at him, or to burst into tears. "My suspicion is that this was a money making scheme, but some may read it at a targeted attack. That's fraud, or harassment of two teachers, or both. Mr Haynes wants you out for this Noah." She leans back in her chair with a small sigh. Her ex was a hardass and a long time adversary of Noah's, something she felt had made things worse for her too. "It's Marlowe, Grace Marlowe," she says, almost under her breath, moving swiftly on. "Noah, you are a bright kid. I don't know how many times I have to tell you that what seems like a fun idea now can have lasting consequences, not for me, not for Mr Haynes, but for you. What would you do if you were in my position right now?"

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Ben takes the papers, his dark eyes read over and his brow presses down as he takes it in. Truth was, he had no influence on Noah. He could ground him and he'd leave the house anyway. He could stop paying his phone bill, but Mila would enable him. Ben looks over at Noah, who is now looking less smug and staring down at his hands. "Read," he says and hands the papers over to him. Noah doesn't look at them, but instead rolls his eyes at his teacher. Ben had spoken to the other teacher, sometimes he'd get a call from him a couple of times a week. How are we going to solve this?, he would always say. Ben was dry for excuses and solutions. His eyes look up at hers when she speaks her name. There's a glimmer of familiarity that he can't quite figure out. It was such a big city and full of introductions, maybe he'd seen her on the subway. Noah pulls his mask down again and pops a piece of gum in his mouth, he shrugs. "Seriously?" Ben raises his eyebrows at him, "the fucking mask, dude." The teenager shrugs again, "I can't breathe." Ben's jaw tenses and he runs his hand through his hair, sighing as he leans back in his chair, "Sorry, Miss. Marlowe. Whatever you think is an appropriate consequence."

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Gracie watches Ben as he reads. Even behind the mask he was so familiar, a mess of dark curls and those serious, sweet eyes. But he looked tired. It was hard to imagine that Noah was his son, and all too easy to accept that he was Mila's. Her heart hurt for all of them. Maybe sixteen was too young to be a parent... she stopped herself, feeling judgmental and out of place. He was his mother's son, and she suspected he would have been just the same no matter how many years down the line.  Noah's lack of adequate response comes as no surprise to her. "As I say, if it were up to Ad-- Mr. Haynes, he would be out. The Principal was open to that," she says, focusing her attention on Ben for a moment to stress the seriousness of what she was saying. She looked back at Noah. "But I think that would be very bad for you. I think you'd put a brave face on it, and you'd act like you wanted that, and maybe you do want that. But when all your friends go off to college and you're struggling on minimum wage, you might think differently." She worked hard to maintain an even disposition. She wanted nothing more than to never have to see him again, but she didn't get into this line of work to serve her own needs. "I think you have too much potential. So, I've taken the liberty of enrolling you in Poetry Club. Mr Haynes is also making space for you in Chem Club, because it's important to be well rounded. You'll stay behind after those clubs to help us wrap up too, so that's Tuesday and Thursday evenings, every week until the end of term."

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They were really too fair on Noah for how much of a shithead he was. For the most part they had tried to level with him, to get down to the source of it. They'd thought that surely his home life was fucked. But once they'd met Ben who was fairly clean cut and responsible.. then Mila who had a great job and was full of charisma, they were a bit at a loss as to why Noah was such a shit. He watches for emotion in his son's face. It's blank as he pulls his mask back up and looks at his hands. That's resonated him on some sort of level. But once Gracie mentions poetry club, he squirms in protest and looks at his dad pleadingly. "Ah," Ben grins under his mask, his eyes crinkling, "poetry club." He squeezes his son's shoulder, "I was in it once. You'll love it." It's in the same moment of kindness that it hits him where he knows the name Grace Marlowe. He looks a little taken back and his eyes meet hers, "Gracie Marlowe."

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It's a decision she had agonized over. Letting him be suspended or even expelled felt like letting him down in the long run and letting him win in the short run, it was all wrong. But having him interrupt her sacred space, as well as that of other, more sensitive students, filled her with dread. It's a dread that's eased by knowledge of who his father is. Surely, somewhere deep down, there was a shred of Ben Fox in his wayward boy. A light of recognition goes on in Ben's eyes and she almost laughs. She's blushing deeply, relieved and embarrassed at the same time to be recognized. "The very same. Your dad was a great talent," she says to Noah, who looks aghast at this sudden familiarity. It was so strange to think that Ben had been his age when Mila was pregnant. "Still is. You know the school would love to have you come in and talk about your artistic process sometime, Mr. Fox. Maybe when things are more normal?" She feels immense relief that her resolution has been accepted, at least for now. "Noah, would you mind waiting outside for a moment? I just want to run over the finer details with your dad."

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He laughs under his mask, somewhat relieved and less embarrassed of his child now that it's Gracie.. but at the same time he's mortified that his kid has tormented someone he'd considered practically a saint. "Gracie was the president of the poetry club, I was vice president," he laughs again, Noah looks like he's been had. "Yeah, yeah, for sure." Noah kicks back his chair in frustration and gives his father a death stare, "I'm going to Chloe's." Ben nods curtly, there's no point in retorting against that. "Grace Marlowe," Ben repeats, "sorry about Noah. He's going through a thing. Bit of a long thing." He scratches the back of his head, "it's been a while. You look grown up. Jeez, I want to give you a hug."

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"It's true, dig out your parents' old year books," Gracie laughs, before immediately regretting what she'd said. Noah would have a field day with her class photos, her hair in an uneven bob, cheeks chubby and eyes obscured by those ridiculous glasses. As Noah leaves, she feels an immediate ease in tension, replaced with a slight sheepishness. Her schoolgirl crush on Ben had always been obvious and somehow she feels like he's about to confront her about it, as ridiculous as that is. "Can you make sure he doesn't find those year books, on second thought?" she says, laughing awkwardly. She beams as he speaks, nodding. "Me too. Can we lean back and take our masks off for just a second? I want to see just how much you've changed," she says, hoping it doesn't sound as creepy as she thinks it might. She sighs again, feeling sad for him. Noah caused her a lot of grief but he must cause Ben so much more. "He's a good kid," she insists, "he'll settle down if given the time and space to." She pauses, knowing she needs to ask and forcing as carefree a voice as she can, "how's Mila?"

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"Our yearbook? Yeah, set it on fire years ago," he kids. It was one of Mila's treasures. Her time machine to when she was Homecoming Queen. Ben nods and scoots his chair back. He pulls his mask off and scratches gently at his bearded face, "you've definitely aged better." He'd always thought Grace was pretty, but she'd fine tuned herself. She looked happier, more comfortable with herself. He grins and furrows his brows, "I don't know what sort of time and space that entails." Ben smiles at her, she's not really changed much - asking about Mila despite how cruel his wife had been to her in the past. "She's great, working hard. She's a lawyer." He fidgets with the elastic of his mask, "I'm sorry to hear about your engagement. I hope you've been alright?"

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She feels giddy, the excitement of seeing someone she knows after a year starved of socialisation mingling with the relief at having a difficult conversation mostly done with. "Ah, a beard! I thought so," she smiles, pushing her chair back and slipping her mask off to flash that smile. She nods as he speaks, so glad that he has no delusions about his son. She wonders if Mila's so realistic, but doubts it as he would have a better grasp of consequences if so. "Oh wow, a mom and a lawyer! That's seriously impressive," she says, her gut churning with inadequacy. His wedding band glints in the light, another of Mila's achievements that she could not lay claim to, as he now knew. She nods. "It was for the best. I ended things after he was rude to one too many waiters," she says, and it's half true. "Not sure who got that one on the sweepstake," she adds, forcing a smile. "Really though Ben, I had to beg to get the after school activities solution agreed. They wanted to suspend him at best, he's on such thin ice. I'm sure you will, but if you could try to make him show up it would be a huge help."

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He pulls at the hair on his chin, "it's more laziness than intentional at this point." Grace is slimmer than she was back when they were kids. The baby fat in her face had shed away to reveal the sharp cheekbones of a model. If it weren't for her eyes and how kind her voice was, he might have left without recognizing her. Ben laughs gently, "yeah, she's impressive alright." He decides not to tell her that he thinks the guy is a douchebag, though he very much is. "You're better off. I'll make him donate the money to a cause of your choice," he winks and smiles sheepishly. She wasn't telling him anything that was news. Noah was a smart kid, his grades said as much. If it weren't for his shit attitude he'd be a model student. "I'm just not sure what to do. Honestly. He's his mom's kid. A stubborn fucker."