Private Finished A Little Extra Help

"I think that perhaps you are being too hard on yourself," Celeste responded, not having found the girl unnerving, maybe on the quiet, somewhat withdrawn side, but certainly not anything to what she was alluding to.

"However, I know that how we perceive ourselves directly relates to how we feel," she told her gently easily understanding where she was coming from.

"I can help you in whatever you need. How about you become my assistant in class or after class? It will allow you to mingle with your peers a bit more, but you are sort of in control of the situation," Celeste explained.

"You are forced in a way to interact with others, but at the same time, you also get to choose just how much you want to interact." Celeste said as she smiled at Euphemia, wondering what the young girl thought about her idea.

"Being my assistant would not be overly difficult," Celeste said, glad Euphemia seemed open to the idea, "You'd be in charge of things like making sure the pantry was stocked, that students have their assignments, hand out recipes, ingredients, maybe run messages, little things like that," she told her.

"Great," Celeste said and smiled. She hadn't thought of getting an assistant before now. She knew other teachers had them, but she hadn't bothered. Although, if she were truthful, her workload was becoming increasingly heavier as she took on more responsibility both at work and at home.

"Can you start tomorrow?" she asked Euphemia, "We can start your tutoring and then you can help me with doing the monthly pantry inventory."

Celeste stood when Euphemia did. "I'm glad I could be of help," she said with a nod, noticing that she seemed somewhat less tense, more relaxed.

"If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask," Celeste told her as she walked her to the door. "And if you see any recipes that might be interesting to try out in class or have any ideas, feel free to submit them or discuss them with me," she told Euphemia. Celeste was always looking for new ideas to make class more interesting for all those involved.

"Oh, I did not know that," Celeste said when Euphemia told her that her sense of taste was off. It was a good thing to know. Especially when marking. Celeste liked to be fair where she could and somebody with no sense of taste had it harder than others who did.

"Well, then, maybe recipes that you think will be fun to do in class might be more appropriate." Celeste suggested. "Even preserves or jams, as well as drinks, candy,, casseroles... anything is possible within reason." she told the taller young woman.