Max sat in the class gazing at Clare Jones. He watched as she leaned over to her friend Julie and passed her a note. Her small school blouse and shorter-than-normal skirt defined her curvaceous body. Julie saw Max watching her friend. She giggled and motioned to Clare to look behind her. Clare turned and looked back at Max. Max was caught out. His elbow slipped on the desk and dislodged his small tin pencil box. It crashed to the floor making a loud noise. The entire class turned and laughed at Max. He felt the heat of a crimson blush as a rush of prickles ran up his back from embarrassment. He glanced back at Clare and Julie who were still looking at him, giggling. A quiet fury surged inside him. He hated it when people laughed at him. It was worse when Clare did though. She seemed to know he liked her. Humiliated, Max slumped in his chair. He lowered his gaze to his desk. Surely no more ridicule would eventuate if he lay low for the rest of the lesson. .
"Max Faulkner!" shouted the Legal Studies teacher, Mr. Finch. "Would you stop daydreaming and concentrate! I don't like your attitude young man. I"m trying to inform the class about the Queensland court system and all you can do is stare at your desk? Please pay attention. I"m sure if your attitude does not improve you"ll learn more about the courts first hand!" Max could hear muffled laughter around the classroom. The other students were careful not to exacerbate Mr. Finch's aggravation. "Sorry sir." The class erupted in laughter when Max's voice faltered. .
He had been keeping quiet in the last few weeks because he knew that he couldn't trust his changing voice. The class struggled to regain composure. Max sank back in his chair and looked straight ahead at the white board. Finch chuckled to himself seemingly pleased at the humiliation he caused Max. As the class settled down a little, Mr. Finch extracted a pile of papers from his briefcase. "I've marked your mid term research essays on the "Constitutional Rights of Australians" and I was generally pleased with the effort.