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The room was dark and musty. Through a window on the far wall some murky sunlight shone in and illuminated dancing dust motes in the air. Below this window there was a battered chair, and a small desk. Sitting there was a girl, she was reasonably young, considering her occupation, but that didn't matter. Not at all. Her hair was long and tied into two plaits, and her eyes were blue and innocent.
         She looked up as the door to the small hall opened with a creak. Light flooded quickly in, drowning the floor around the tall silhouette in yellow.
        "Hello," said the girl, "Are you here for the classes...?"
        The silhouette did not move, "Well, that depends," he muttered, "They are free, right?"
        The girl opened her mouth to answer, but the boy cut her off.
       "'Cos I'm not payin' for no fancy schmancy readin' an' writin' lessons."
       "Reading and writing," corrected the young teacher instinctively.
       "What is it with you English teachers?" Snorted the boy, "You're all bloody obsessed with the letter 'G'."
         Pointing to the rickety wooden chair in front of her desk, the girl said, "Please. Sit down."
         Warily he walked over, but did not sit down, "So, you're teachin' people for free?"
        "Yes. " she said, "My name is Ffibi, what's yours?"
        But he wasn't to be put off, "Why you doin' that? Why you workin' for free? What's the catch...?"
       "There isn't one." She replied simply, before asking again, "What's your name?"
        "TeF." He said brusquely.
        "Right then," Leaning down, she picked up some sheets of handmade paper and a silver fountain pen from the floor, "Let's start with your name, shall we? Let me teach you how to write TeF," she pressed the nib of the pen to the bumpy surface of the paper and began to write, however TeF stopped her.
        "No!" he snatched the pen from her long fingers, "Don't teach me 'ow to write TeF, teach me 'ow to write something else. Teach me 'ow to write Tarquin Sant-Naismyth."
        Frowning, she said, "Why ever would you want to write that...?"
       "I'm more likely to 'ave to write that down at some point or another," shrugged TeF, "C'mon," he shoved the pen back towards her, "Just show me."
      Tentatively Ffibi took the pen, but she did not write with it. Instead she studied his face for a moment. She took in his pointed nose, his unusual eyes, his scruffy hair, and she bit her lip as the realisation hit her.
      "You're a conman, aren't you?" she said accusingly.
      "An' you're a teacher," he said, "We're both as bad as each other."
      "How can you say that?" Ffibi was quite offended, "I've never hurt anyone!"
        TeF's mouth remained a ruler straight slash, "Nor did I. I never 'urt nobody. But people still 'urt me.  An'... she never 'urt no one either, but they still killed 'er."
       Silence fell on the pair, freezing their bodies still. Outside noises from the Market Street filtered through the walls and into the hall.
       At last TeF melted, "The innocent always get 'urt. The guilty survive. That's 'ow life works."
      "Maybe you just haven't lived," murmured the girl, but her words were hollow.
      Suddenly TeF looked up, he'd recognised the tone in her voice, "You know what I'm talkin' about, don't you? Deep down, you know."
      Ffibi said nothing.
      Awkwardly TeF took her hand. The coarse material of his fingerless glove was rough against her soft skin, "Tell me. I won't tell no one else." He whispered.
     "Me and this boy... It's not important... Not really...." she sighed, "He kissed me. And I thought he loved me, only he didn't. But now I just feel so.... so.... Empty. I don't know. Just numb."
     Slowly TeF nodded, "Yeah. I know. I know what you mean." He paused, "She was so beautiful. An' I knew 'er for years. An' she could've been my girl whenever I wanted 'er to be... But I never let 'er. It were my fault. An' now she's dead, an' I never got a chance to tell 'er 'ow I loved it when she sang, and 'ow I always thought the little metal toys she made were amazin'... I crushed 'er dreams and 'opes with my words, but she achieved them all. She were amazin'... an' you know what? You know what?"
     "What...?" Breathed Ffibi.
     TeF closed his eyes, but it was too late, Ffibi has already seen how they now shone with tears, "They killed 'er for it," said the boy, "They killed 'er. She died in my arms... An' now she's never comin' back."
     "That's... terrible...." the girl closed her eyes too, "I just don't know what to say..."
     "Then don't say nothin'. It took a week to walk a fortnight," started TeF, "but once they had walked it all they found at the end was a soft golden numbness and soundless words...."
     "Which poet wrote that?" asked Ffibi.
     "Me," the answer was short and blunt.
     "Oh... it was very good then."
     TeF opened his eyes, they were dry now, and looked at the girl sat in front of him, "you remind me so much of her, you know Ffibi," then, without much more warning than that small sentence, he lent forward and kissed her.
     And she kissed him back. But the kiss was clumsy, and unreal, for both participants were dreaming of a different person. A different pair of lips, a different face as they drew slowly away.
    Shakily TeF rose to his feet, "I don't think I want to learn to write, I'm sorry."
    She shook her head, "Don't be. It's fine."
    The boy said nothing, instead he reached into his bag and dug around in it before pulling out a silver chain with a tiny red owl charm attached to it.
    "'Ere," He dropped it on the blank sheet of paper, "It was 'ers. But you 'ave it now. I 'ave no use for it."
     Carefully she picked it up, "I can't possibly take this..."
     "You 'ave to," he turned away, and started towards the doorway, before stopping and looking back over his shoulder, "Thanks, by the way, for listenin' to me."
      Only then he was gone before she could thank him likewise. Once more, the young teacher was left alone in the empty hall. Alone with the dust, the pen, the paper and the necklace. And the taste. The taste of a lingering kiss on her lips.