By the time she reached the bus bay, she’d been stopped by two teachers wanting to talk to her about swapping around their lunch duty for the rest of the week and a Year Eleven student complaining about the mark she’d given him on his history assignment. She arrived just in time to see Callie’s bus pull away.

She stood still for a moment, glancing up at the gathering storm clouds as she watched the bus disappear over the hill and heard a low rumble of thunder. Ah well, there was always tomorrow, and it looked like she needed to get back inside before the sky cracked open.

Walking back to her classroom, she laughed to herself at the sheer audacity of Jayden Scott, the student who’d been complaining about his mark. He was a good foot taller than her and it was clear he thought he could intimidate her with his height as he stood over her, earnestly explaining that his mum had promised him a car for his birthday if he kept all his marks above eighty per cent. Senior students often made the mistake of underestimating her based on her size. She was quick to show them she was no pushover and Jayden was no exception. Besides, knowing Jayden, Andrea was pretty sure the mum had made the deal knowing that it was a safe bet. She wasn’t sure if that made it a genius move or terrible parenting.

Then again, should she be judging anyone’s parenting skills, not being a mother herself? She knew a lot about kids — spending six hours a day, five days a week with them — but did she know what it was like to make those tough parenting decisions?

As she walked, she tried to imagine what sort of a parent she would have been had she and Tony not made the decision to be child-free. Would she be the type to make a bet like that with her son? Would she have the same problems as Mimi was having with Callie, and have to ask someone else to help her reconnect with her teen daughter? Would she be a good mother?

Not if she modelled herself on the only mother she’d ever known growing up, she wouldn’t.

‘You look deep in thought.’

Andrea looked up to see Kelly Tao — a teacher from the maths department — smiling at her.

‘Not really,’ she lied. She liked Kelly, but didn’t know her well enough to start opening up about her difficult childhood. ‘Two weeks until the end of term,’ Andrea added to switch the subject. ‘Are your kids bouncing off the walls too?’

‘You bet,’ said Kelly, adjusting her thick bright turquoise glasses as they slid down her nose. ‘I’m counting the bloody hours until break. Oh, Christmas drinks this Friday — see you there?’

‘Ah, I think so,’ said Andrea, keeping her voice noncommittal.