بخش 09

maybe we take a pencil

and you can draw on there—

Do you want to try it?

Show me how you do it.

Look, Con.

That’s his hair.

And this is his eyebrow.

There’s the eyes.

Oh, look, there’s his mouth.

There’s his mouth, he’s very angry.

Can you see?

Look at that!

And then we start to make a face.

And then—

There’s our monster.

There’s the monster.

Look at the monster.

Very slowly.

That’s it.

It’s a thirty-minute exam this morning,

and this is all the stuff we’ve been doing for the last two weeks.

So, if you’ve done your revision, there won’t be any surprises.

In a moment I’m going to ask you to turn your pages over

and there will be no talking for the next thirty minutes.

I want total silence in here,

because you’re going to be using your brains, not your mouths.

So, thirty minutes, starting now.

Good luck.

I think I’ve finally figured you out.

After all this time.

All that you are looking for is someone to kick your head in.

But you know what? I’m not that guy anymore.

Goodbye, O’Malley.

I no longer see you.

Now you are invisible to me too.

I hope your mum gets better.

What took you so long?

It is time for the third tale.

There was once an invisible man,

who had grown tired of being unseen.

It was not that he was actually invisible.

It was just that people had become used to not seeing him.

One day, the invisible man couldn’t stand it anymore.

He kept wondering:

If no one sees you,

are you really there at all?

What did the invisible man do?

He called for a monster.

I don’t even know what to say to you, O’Malley.

You sent him to hospital!

His parents are threatening to sue.

It wasn’t me.

What was that?

It wasn’t me.

I’m not invisible! I’m not invisible!

If you want to be seen, this is not the best way.

I’m not invisible!

Did you hear me? I’m not invisible!

School rules dictate immediate exclusion.

But how could I do that

and consider myself any kind of teacher?

Go back to class.

We will talk about this one day, but not today.

You’re not punishing me?

What could possibly be the point?

Let me give you an example of emotional wellness.

You know how difficult it is sometimes to say no, right?

How good it feels when you finally find the courage to say it.