The scribbling of twenty something pencils and the black clock on the wall ticking away second after second acted like white noise which Giselle seemed to find relaxing enough to pass the time without needing to entertain herself in another manner. The kids were a little more than halfway through the allotted time for their assignment, each of them busy pouring their thoughts onto paper in reference to their assigned book of the quarter, [i]Number the Stars[/i]. And staying true to character, there in the back of the classroom, Kyle sat crouched on his seat looking at either his phone or some sort of video game device. The young woman sighed, clearing her throat. A few heads looked up expecting to be told something before seeing there was no eye contact between her and them. But Kyle knew this warning a little too well, and he scrambled to put the device away in his pant pocket. She made a mental reminder to switch him to the front of the classroom sometime this week. She was somewhat peculiar with her seating charts, but there was always room for improvement.

Anna raised her hand halfway up while offering a smile and turning her paper over. Giselle got up, met once again by a number of eyes which lingered for only a few moments. Her footsteps echoed softly in the otherwise mostly quiet classroom until she reached the girl's desk, hunching forward as to not disturb the remaining students. Prior to the start of the assignment, they had all been advised to turn their paper over and get a head start on the next book when they were finished, though Anna obviously needed something else.

"What is it, Anna?" Giselle asked in her usual, friendly tone. The blonde, blue-eyed girl dressed in the school uniform that was a white blouse and gray plaid skirt leaned in close, communicating what she needed in a whisper.

[i]"Miss Hunt, may I go see the nurse? I think I may have gotten my—"[/i]

"Oh, of course! Go go go. You finished it, right?" she picked up the paper to take it to her desk.

[i]"Mhmm,"[/i] Anna responded with a nod.

"Go, it's okay."

Giselle was used to these types of scenarios since she taught fifth grade. Walking back to her desk, she looked over her students for a moment. A couple more had finished, their hands holding the next assigned book as they looked it over, flipping through its pages trying to get an idea as to whether they would somewhat enjoy their next read. Judging by their expressions alone, the outcome wasn't very promising. At least Kyle held a pencil in his hand now, though he wasn't doing much writing per se as was evident by his worried stare into a paper that might as well have had the instructions written in a foreign language. Giselle had talked to his mother a few times in the past, but some kids needed that extra push.

The clocked continued to tick, and she decided to start reading Anna's paper. She was maybe a quarter of the way in when she noticed some movement out of her peripheral. Giselle placed the paper face down out of habit to look at the young boy approaching her desk.

"What is it, Kyle?" she asked with some concern on her face. The boy look slightly distraught.

[i]"Um, Miss Hunt, I don't know what to write, I—I didn't finish reading the book."[/i] The confession came in a low whisper without his eyes meeting hers, and he looked like he was about to cry.

Giselle sighed in return, but not out of disappointment.

"Kyle," Giselle added in a low whisper as well, "I want to help you. How about you stay behind after class for a little while, does that sound okay?" The suggestion was only brought up because she didn't have another class after this one. Instead, it was her grading block.

Finally a brief smile, that which was accompanied by a soft nod.

"Okay, what's your next class?"

[i]"Gym."[/i]

"With Mr. Petersen?"

Another nod.

"Okay. I'll go talk to him. You go back to your desk and work on finishing that book, got it?"

[i]"Okay, thank you."[/i]

Giselle pushed back her chair to stand as Kyle began to make his way to his desk. This hadn't been the first time her student missed an assignment. In fact, He'd had an issue two other times. Her plan now was simple: push back his deadline, rush his next book a little more, and hope he gets an overall passing grade otherwise he'll be repeating the year and not graduating like the rest of his classmates. Giselle wasn't a fan of the latter option, but it was better than letting him go into middle school unprepared.