Miz No-E !

As they entered the lecture room, Debbi was immediately greeted by a wolf whistle from the back. "Settle down, you should be too mature now for that sort of thing" Ms Johnson shouted. Debbi was dressed immaculately in a business suit but for some reason which she was now regretting, she had selected a skirt option today rather than trousers. She hadn't worn this skirt for a while and it was a little shorter than she remembered, sitting just on top of her knee. She had on a pair of sheer navy blue tights. Ms Johnson briefly introduced Debbi and then left her to it.

The nine students comprised six girls and three boys, an even mix of black, Asian and white, reflecting the multi-ethnic makeup of the area. "I'll try to remember all your names as soon as I can over the coming weeks" Debbi said, studying the cardboard name plates on each desk. "But you can call me Debbi. I'm not your tutor and there's no need to be formal." She smiled but met a largely stony response. Ho hum, she thought, let's just plough on. "That's Debbi with no 'e' " she continued, writing on the white board 'Debbi - No E'. One of the white girls, Lynne, immediately piped up. "But there's an 'e' between the 'd' and the 'b' ?" she queried. "Well, yes" Debbi admitted, blushing. "But no 'e' at the end !" Lynne now applied her logic to this. "Then shouldn't it be 'Debbi - No E at the end' ?" Debbi kept blushing. "Er, of course, yes, you're right" and to giggles from the class she amended her note on the board.

"Look" said Jody, a powerful looking black girl who seemed to be the alpha of the group. "Why don't we just call you Miz No-E ? Sounds like a rapper ?" the class laughed and began to chant "Miz No-E, Miz No-E !" Debbi was already wrong footed. "Er, yeah, sure, fine if that's what you want." She didn't want to come across as bossy and aloof. "Yeah, right ! Miz No-E. I'll write a rap for you that you can do for us next week" Jody asserted. "Um, er, ok yeah, sure fine." Debbi bumbled. Jody grinned. A plan was already formulating in her mind. She got up confidently and strode to the board to scrawl 'Miz No E' !