Isis Carter-Xavier
November 02, 2023 4:36 PM
Some parting words [Oz] by Isis Carter-Xavier
Without fully realizing it, Isis had been dreading this moment for a very long time.She had been at Sonora for almost twenty years now. She knew that students came and went. Eleven-year-old children walked in, and seventeen- or eighteen-year-old young adults walked out, ready - as they could be - to face their futures. Kids, plenty of whom had their own kids by now, had long-since forgotten what her voice sounded like, or what the Common Room password was for any of their years here. And that was fine. Isis was an educator, with a passion for helping elevate those who needed it. Except a lot of the students she saw here didn’t really need that of her. They came from backgrounds very different from hers, and their paths were less jagged. While she did love her job and love Sonora, her passion dimmed. The fires waned.
It was all standard, all routine… until Oz Spellman.
In a lot of ways, Isis saw herself in him. It was clear he had been through a lot in life, dealt an unfair hand to the point where he no longer felt worth the effort. Perhaps he even blamed himself for his lot in life. Isis had certainly been there.
Teachers were not supposed to have favorites, but all of them did, and Oz was hers. And now it was time to say goodbye.
She had asked him to meet her in her office this morning - not so early as to concern him or ruin his sleep, but early enough to give him time afterwards for whatever preparations he needed to make. After all, the Ball was tonight: the last hurrah for the seventh years before they would be on their way for the final time. There would be no more time than right now.
Isis generally left her office door open, and as she saw him approach, she smiled. It was sort of a sad smile, because the moment was finally here, but also happy and proud, because the moment was finally here. “Good morning, Oz,” she greeted, standing up from her desk to meet him in the center of the room. “Please close that door behind you.”
There was an envelope in her left hand, but first, she reached out her right, to shake his. She changed her mind mid-motion, though, and instead, if he seemed willing to allow it, gave into the urge to hug him. “I just wanted to tell you before you leave Sonora how very proud I am of you,” Isis said, releasing him. “I know it hasn’t been easy at times, but you made it.”
Now she offered him the envelope. “This is for you. I wrote a couple of letter of recommendations,” Isis explained. “One is framed for an employer, and one for a school, if you ever decide to go that route. And you’re always welcome to reach out to me if you’re ready for a more up-to-date version. Or maybe just a visit.”
A tear pricked her eye and slid onto her cheek. After motherhood, Oz, and no small amount of finally accepting help, she had learned to understand her own emotions. She was not afraid of them anymore. “I’m really going to miss you.”
Isis taught, but she was not a teacher until she knew this boy.
OOC: I tried to make it vague enough in narrative. Isis would very much like to hug him but won't if he seems uncomfortable/unwilling. If he prefers not to, she would adjust quickly without making a big deal of it.
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Isis Carter-Xavier
Some parting words [Oz]
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Oz Spellman
November 06, 2023 6:09 AM
No but why by Oz Spellman
After seven years with all the same people around, it was weird to think of leaving Sonora. Some of it was good change, like being able to see his mom a lot more easily. And even Henry more easily. For all that they’d been in the same school for seven years, they’d been assigned different parts of it where the other wasn’t even allowed to go. But after graduation, they’d be moving in together! Not quite as close as they had been at home—they would have separate bedrooms, and after seven years of sharing whether at home or at school, Oz was very ready to have his own space. And a whole big wide pool of new people to bring back to it…When he thought about those kinds of changes, it felt good-weird. But there were others where the thought of not seeing certain people every day hurt his heart. Like Professor Carter-Xavier. He had never thought he would miss a teacher, but once he left he was definitely going to miss her. And she was definitely still gonna be a teacher. So that was like… over. He was trying not to think about that too much, but then she went and called him into her office and it was the day of the ball, so it was pretty hard not to think of it as a goodbye.
Unless she was about to say he’d failed all his exams and couldn’t graduate.
Much as he would miss her, he really hoped that wasn’t the case.
But that wasn’t it. It was… a hug. He was a bit taken aback, but still managed to return it before she pulled away.
“Thanks,” he said, trying not to shrivel up as she told him she was proud of him. Even with seven years’ practice, he still wasn’t the best at taking genuine compliments, but he didn’t want to make a joke out of this. “Me too,” he admitted. A lot of people were so busy talking about what was next, like high school was just this stepping stone, or an inconvenience to brush through before you got onto real learning. But when Oz had entered the building as a scrappy little first year, he hadn’t believed he’d make it this far. “I finished high school.” He grinned at her, allowing all the pleasure and pride that he felt at that to bubble to the surface. He’d only really let it out for his brother so far, not trusting other people with how he was really feeling. He’d joined in all the loud whooping about RATS being over, but that was a slightly different vibe to having got as far as sitting them in the first place, and he was feeling both of those.
“Are you teaming up with Henry now?” he asked, smiling as she passed him two letters, one of them geared towards schools. His brother kept talking about trade school and community college and not ruling out any of his options. Oz appreciated the support, but goal number one was to get cash in the bank. Henry would be doing the proper student thing, and Oz needed to look after him. Sure, Henry had a scholarship, but he’d need a place to live and food to eat. Besides, after RATS, Oz wanted to spend some solid time not in a library of any kind. He planned on pursuing fitness and coaching, and there were a lot of different routes into that. It was kind of funny how all the people who’d nagged him his whole life to weigh up his decisions carefully seemed to be pushing him to commit instead of seeing how it played out.
And he wanted to stay there, joking about the letters, because the next thing she was trying to say was the feelings bit, and that sucked. Mostly because he could feel the feelings, and they hurt. But something she’d said caught him before he could fall all the way into doing Goodbye Forever.
“Visit you?” he asked. “Like… how?”
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Oz Spellman
No but why
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Isis Carter-Xavier
November 09, 2023 9:02 PM
It's time for you to move on by Isis Carter-Xavier
“Me too.”It was a simple statement. Just two little words. But it meant everything to Isis. Oz was proud of himself - and he should have been! He had worked hard and overcome obstacles that a lot of his Sonora classmates would never be able to imagine. He deserved to be proud.
Oz seemed surprised by the suggestion of a visit. Despite the tear still making its journey down her cheek, Isis felt herself smile. “Sonora is not like other schools,” she said, her voice kind. “We don’t just kick you out forever and say ‘good luck’. Sonora has been your home for seven years. In a way, it will always be home. Just send me a letter or a call on the floo network, and we can arrange something.” The school was usually agreeable about alumni popping up - Nevaeh had visited more than once - so as long as Isis gave a heads up, she didn’t anticipate any issues.
“Or we can meet in Tumbleweed, or wherever else,” she added. “I guess what I mean to say is, just… don’t lose touch.” She couldn’t imagine Oz would leave tomorrow and simply forget about her, but young adults tended to get busy, and they did not always reserve time for talking to their forty-something-year-old former teachers when they weren’t being graded on it.
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Isis Carter-Xavier
It's time for you to move on
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