Check with the girls

Though you don’t believe the box belongs to either of your girls, if you remember rightly Ellie’s was a different brand and the box is at the back of the classroom nowhere near where Ellie or Kelly sit, you send a quick message checking.

Have either of you lost a box of (and then you mention the brand name)?

Ellie’s response shows she doesn’t recognise the brand name.

Kelly is quick to tell her it’s a contraceptive, and to ask why she’d bring contraceptives to school. Ellie’s response is that she only brought her contraceptives in to prove she was on thewm to you, and now she’s proved it to you there’s no way she’s bringing them back in, in case her bullies found them. Kelly’s quick to respond that if Ellie’s bullies were to make a big deal of her having contraceptives, she’s beat them up. It makes you proud that Kelly is quick to defend Ellie. That thought is almost good enough to quash your moral grumblings about fucking the two of them.

What it comes down to is that the box doesn’t belong to either girl, which means it must belong to someone else. But who?

Then Kelly sends a response. “I’ve heard, all hush hush, that you can get the pill cheap off Nurse Karlee.”

Interesting. You’re pretty certain Nurse Karlee shouldn’t be handing out the pill to any girls. You thank the girls for their input and leave the thread at that.

The thought, though, dominates your mind. As you’re leaving, you notice that the clinic is still open. You decide to investigate.

The reception is filled with pop music, emerging from the backrooms. Soon joined by the heart-shaped face and then the busty figure of Nurse Karlee.

“John, what can I do for you?”

“Hi, Karlee. I found this in my classroom just now.”

You place the box on the counter. Nurse Karlee’s eyes are quickly clouded, but you caught a momentary recognition in them. “I just wondered if you knew who they could belong to.”

“No. No. No idea. In your classroom, you say?”

“Yes. I assume you don’t…”

“What? Hand out contraceptives to the girls? No. Definitely not. We’re not a pharmacist. We have only basic drugs. And the very idea of handing out contraceptives to the girls would give Dr Stricture a heart attack.”

The latter statement you agree with. You’re not so certain about all the others. Karlee’s answer is forced. Her eyes don’t match the words. But you’re not going to call her out over it.

“That’s true. Well, I don’t know what to do with these now.”

“Leave that with me,” she tells you. “You can’t just flush drugs down the toilet, but I know how to dispose of drugs.”

So, you leave the packet with Nurse Karlee and head home.