Chapter 8

Donnie made a point of greeting Heather and her parents at Church that Sunday. Rob MacAuley introduced his wife, Isobel, who was an older version of Heather and just as bonny. The adults turned to talk with friends and neighbours, giving the teenagers a few minutes to themselves before they entered the church.

"I really enjoyed yesterday," Heather told him. "Loch Tay was stunning and the meal was fantastic. I've told mom and daddy about the restaurant. They've never eaten there, but I think they'll give it a try after my glowing recommendation."

"I'm glad you had a good time. I had fun too," Donnie smiled.

"Hey, I even found out that you can sing," Heather joked.

"So did you enjoy it enough to go out with me again sometime?" Donnie asked.

"You goof! Of course I did, now come on, you can sit beside me for the service and hopefully your singing can mask just how bad my voice is."

Monday at school brought a shock for Donnie when he heard his name being announced over the tannoy system along with the names of five other students.

... and Donald McGregor. Please report to the Headmaster's office immediately.

Donnie's maths lesson was just about to start, but the teacher gestured to him that he should answer the summons.

"What's this about? I'm not in any trouble as far as I know," Donnie thought as he made his way to Mr Ogilvie's office.

The maths faculty was on the other side of the school from the administrative office and the Headmaster's room, so Donnie found that he was the last to arrive. The Headmaster ushered him into his office and closed the door.

Donnie looked around the office and found that there was one vacant seat left in front of the Headmaster's desk. He sat down and took the opportunity of registering who else had been called.

Josephine McCallister was there. He knew her from two of his classes. She was a plain looking girl, with shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes. If Donnie remembered correctly, she did well academically.

Next to Josephine was Irene Lowson. Irene was an athletic girl and was on most of the girls' teams at the school. Anything from hockey, football through to tennis and athletics – Irene seemed to be above average at most of them.

Doug Pavillion and Johnny MacNab were sitting together and already whispering about something. Donnie didn't know either of them well, but again he was aware that they did well in their school results. There was a rumour that the boys were gay, but Donnie tended to avoid getting caught up in the school gossip machine and in any event couldn't care less about their sexual orientation.

The final student in the room was a surprise – it was Heather. She gestured to the chair Josephine was sitting in and seemed to be indicating that Donnie should swap with her. He got up and stepped over to the girl.

"Um, Jospehine? Would you mind swapping with me so that I can sit beside Heather?" he asked.

Josephine shrugged and vacated her chair. Donnie sat, but before he could speak to Heather, Mr Ogilvie called them to order.

"Okay ladies and gentlemen. I'm sure that you all know why you've been called here this afternoon so I just want to start by congratulating each of you on being elected by your fellow students."

Donnie and Heather shared a look of surprise. Donnie raised an eyebrow questioningly, but Heather just shook her head. He turned to the Headmaster.

"Sir, I think there must be some mistake here. My name wasn't even put forward for the elections. Are you sure you haven't got me mixed up with someone else?" he asked.

"I wasn't up for election either," Heather added, thus explaining why she looked as puzzled as Donnie.

"Mr McGregor and Ms MacAuley, I can assure you both that there has been no mistake. Both of your names were put forward in the proper manner and you received sufficient votes to be elected. In your case, Mr McGregor, you polled the highest number of votes of anyone,"

Donnie shook his head in disgust and turned to Heather.

"Christine and Ronnie! Wait 'til I get my hands on them," he muttered out of the side of his mouth.

Mr Ogilvie went on to outline the responsibilities each of them would have as members of the pupil or student council. He handed out a photocopied sheet that listed the duties and gave dates for various meetings that they would need to attend.

"And there is an office set aside exclusively for your use. So, you can hold meetings and things like that. You know, discuss what the important issues are that we should be looking at," Mr Ogilvie told them.

"I suggest you find your room and get better acquainted with each other – you are after all going to have to work together. You might also think about selecting a leader, but I would leave that for a few weeks yet until you know each other better.

"That's all for now except to say that your teachers have been advised that you will not be attending any classes for the rest of this afternoon. Use the time well!"

Donnie heard a familiar voice in his head.

"Needless to say that they will ask you to be their leader, Dòmhnall. It will be good experience for you, experience that will come in useful later."

The six students stood up and looked at each other hesitantly. Donnie sighed. He had not wanted this position, but he could see that his new colleagues on the student council were going to need some help settling in to their new roles.

"Come on then, let's do as the Headmaster suggests. I think I know the room he's talking about," said Donnie, opening the door to the office and leading the way out.

The room proved to be little more than a broom cupboard. It had no windows and Donnie suspected that the absence of any kind of artificial ventilation probably meant it would be illegal to assign it for people to work in. He decided to keep that to himself. Inside the room was a meeting table surrounded by eight chairs. There was a lockable cabinet that stood about three feet high and sitting on top of that was an electric kettle.

"All the comforts of home!" Donnie laughed.

The other students filed in and took seats at the table.

"I think you're right in your guess about who's behind this," Heather said to Donnie.

The others looked at Donnie and Heather.

Johnny MacNab spoke up first.

"Were you telling the truth about not having put your names forward? He asked.

Donnie looked at Heather and let her answer.

"We suspect two of the people we sometimes have lunch with put our names forward without telling us. I'm not sure how other people knew though; I mean they would need to know for them to have voted for us."

Josephine looked at Donnie before making her first contribution.

"Mr Ogilvie said that you had polled the highest number of votes, that means that you should be the one to lead us," she stated in a matter of fact way.

"Whoa! Hold on there. I don't think that's the case at all. The Headmaster suggested we wait a little while before selecting a leader. You hardly know me, why would you suggest I should be the leader?" Donnie replied.

"We all know that you've got the best academic record of anyone in this room," Irene Lowson remarked.

"And you did get the highest number of votes, in my book that gives you a mandate" Doug chipped in.

Heather laughed and slapped Donnie on the back.

"I think the very fact that you didn't want to be on this council in the first place and now you're so reluctant to take the position of chair are two very good reasons why you're a good choice," she said.

The others nodded in agreement.

"To make it formal we should take a vote," suggested Doug. "I propose Donnie McGregor as chair of the student council."

"I second the motion," Johnny pitched in.

"All those in favour?" Doug asked.

All five of the other students raised their hands and Donnie sighed, bowing to the inevitable. He walked over to the lockable cupboard and opened one of the doors. Finding some notepads, he turned and asked for a volunteer to become secretary to the council. Heather put her hand up and the others accepted her self-nomination.

"Okay, we need to minute our meetings. Perhaps we should start by recording the formal vote to select me as chair?" Donnie suggested, receiving nods of agreement from the others.

"Then we need to discuss these duties and meetings," suggested Johnny, holding up the sheet the Headmaster had given them.

"Can I ask a question first?" said Donnie.

The others looked at him, Heather with a little smile as if she had an idea of what was coming.

"Let's be absolutely honest with each other inside this room. Agreed?"

Donnie looked each of them in the eye in turn and they nodded.

"What difference has the student council made to this school? Can any of you give me one example of something that has changed for the better because of the intervention of the student council?" Donnie asked.

Heather, Doug, Josephine, Irene and Johnny looked at each other, but no one was able to think of an example.

"Take a few minutes to read the sheet Mr Ogilvie has given us. Think about the role that's described there. Consider the meetings we're expected to attend. As you're thinking about all of that, think also about how the role as described will allow you to be the first student council to make a difference."

Donnie let them read and think. He wondered how long it would take them to grasp the reality of the role of the student council. Irene was the first to break the silence.

"I don't get it. The duties kind of look – what's the word I'm looking for – superficial! Yeah, that's it, they look superficial. It's like we're token members of a few groups, but mainly it's about talking to students. I don't see where the opportunities are to represent the views of those students on any forum where it would count for anything."

Donnie said nothing, instead letting the others consider what Irene had said. They were scanning their sheets, reading them now with Irene's remarks very much in mind.

"Irene's spot on," Josephine remarked next. "It's no wonder we can't think of any examples, Donnie. The council is set up for show! It's almost as if the school doesn't want us involved in anything really important."

"What are we going to do about it?" Heather asked.

"Each of us needs to think about this carefully," Donnie interjected. "Do we really want to do anything about it?"

"What do you mean?" asked Doug.

"Don't you think the council is set up this way on purpose? What do you think the reaction will be if we try and change things so that we have more influence?" Donnie asked.

"But we need to do something about this!" said Johnny. "I didn't put my name forward for election just to find I can't actually do a thing to make things better!"

The others were quick to agree with that sentiment.

"So what are you planning to do?" Heather asked Donnie.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Don't tell me that you don't have a plan in mind?" she asked.

"This isn't about me," Donnie replied, quietly. "This is about our school, our fellow students and whether the management and the teaching staff are interested in listening to our views about how things can be improved."

"I still think you've got a plan," Heather replied.

"No, but I do have some ideas. I've got little doubt that all of you in this room have got ideas too," Donnie suggested.

That seemed to be the right approach. Instead of taking over, Donnie was stressing the need for each member of the council to be heard, to make a contribution. The others appreciated his style and responded positively to it.

"Okay, I can buy that, but what's your first idea?" Doug asked.

Donnie paused for a few seconds thus ensuring they were all waiting for his next contribution and were focused.

"Political parties develop a manifesto that they take to the electorate before an election takes place. The manifesto sets out their policies, what they see as their priorities and what they will do if elected. Now, we've already been elected, but it seems that we all think people voted for us because they thought we would make a difference. I suggest we do things a little back to front. I propose that we pull together a manifesto that we can all agree to.

"The manifesto will make sure that we are all working to the same ends and we can share it with our fellow students to hopefully win their backing and support."

His idea seemed to resonate with the others and the increase in energy levels in the room was almost tangible. Everybody wanted to talk at once, each of them with ideas to contribute.

"Right then, what are the things that need addressed? What do we think are the highest priority?" Heather asked.

Between them they began to draw up a list.

1. Incompetent teachers;

2. Aggressive teachers;

3. The use of temporary teachers and lack of continuity in lessons;

4. Addressing disruptive behaviour from some students;

5. Inconsistency in how things are taught;

6. Lack of student input into teaching methods;

7. Lack of pace in lessons, going too slow;

8. Less able students not supported;

9. Insufficient student 'voice' in decision making; and

10. Poor commitment to being an 'excellent' school.

"Wow!" said Donnie when they reviewed their list. "If we can do something to improve the situation on any of those, then I for one will be satisfied!"

"It's quite a list, isn't it?" said Irene, sounding proud at their work so far.

"Alright! This is what I signed up for!" enthused Doug, turning to give Johnny a high-five.

Heather and Josephine grinned at the enthusiasm of the others.

Donnie intervened now to try and organise how to take things forward.

"Okay, we need to write this up in a way that the students will understand what the priorities are and why we think something needs done about them. That needs to be written in a way that doesn't appear threatening to the school's management – we are not irresponsible revolutionaries. We also need to start working on exactly what we can do to make improvements in these areas. Has anyone ever seen a copy of the school's policies or a list of any groups that might have responsibility for dealing with these issues?"

Josephine put her hand up.

"My mom works in the office. I could probably get her to copy the policies and the structure of groups that Mr Ogilvie uses to look at key aspects of the school's performance."

Donnie sat back and smiled. He hadn't asked to be on the student council, but now that he was, it was good to feel the energy in the group – energy directed at making things better for everyone.

The next few months were largely goddess free for Donnie (and Rory!) apart from a few occasions when Beira 'spoke' to him in his head to underline the importance of something.

Josephine was true to her word and managed to get her mother to copy the main school policies and 'committee' structure. The student council members used these to draw up an action plan that they hoped would help them improve their school.

Donnie and Heather went out on a number of dates, dates that left the blonde somewhat frustrated. Donnie wasn't in any hurry to push the sexual side of their relationship, but every time they were together she ached for him to do more. They had progressed to the point where Donnie was touching and playing with her 34b breasts, but if anything that just made things worse. Heather was getting to the point where she was going to up the ante.

Schoolwork was hard but satisfying for Donnie and he maintained his study methods to good effect. After his experience in Pakistan, he found that he was more interested in geo-politics and that meant he watched far more of the news on TV. He became acutely aware of the various terrorist 'hot-spots' around the world and joined his father in growing increasingly concerned about the apparent growth in radical Islamism.