Chloe Hadjimatheou

But he's too young to play the game. He just doesn't get where she's going with all this. So Miss Bowen gives him clues.

But he's too young to play the game. He just doesn't get where she's going with all this. So Miss Bowen gives him clues.

But he's really embarrassed.

But he's really embarrassed.

The other member of staff, her friend, Miss MacIsaac, sitting right there.

The other member of staff, her friend, Miss MacIsaac, sitting right there.

Years later, when she's asked to corroborate this event, Heather MacIsaac will say she doesn't remember anything about what happened on the bus that day or the inappropriate things Gareth remembers Miss Bowen saying to him. At the time, Gareth was confused. He didn't know a teacher could be like that. She had crossed a boundary at that moment.

Years later, when she's asked to corroborate this event, Heather MacIsaac will say she doesn't remember anything about what happened on the bus that day or the inappropriate things Gareth remembers Miss Bowen saying to him. At the time, Gareth was confused. He didn't know a teacher could be like that. She had crossed a boundary at that moment.

But that was the first.

But that was the first.

Memory is an elusive thing. When I look back on my years as a teenager, the images are hazy. Time's sort of taken the sharpness out of it all. But Gareth says specific moments are extremely vivid for him. Events that affected him so much that they're imprinted on his mind indelibly. Everything else, he admits, has faded away. So what he doesn't know is what happened around those key moments.

Memory is an elusive thing. When I look back on my years as a teenager, the images are hazy. Time's sort of taken the sharpness out of it all. But Gareth says specific moments are extremely vivid for him. Events that affected him so much that they're imprinted on his mind indelibly. Everything else, he admits, has faded away. So what he doesn't know is what happened around those key moments.

the cafe instance. Yeah, we're coming to that. But that's a little over a year after that first interaction with Miss Bowen. So let's jump forward to 1988. Now Gareth's 14. He's in his fourth year at school. That's year 10 in the UK these days or ninth grade in the US. And he's doing pretty well.

the cafe instance. Yeah, we're coming to that. But that's a little over a year after that first interaction with Miss Bowen. So let's jump forward to 1988. Now Gareth's 14. He's in his fourth year at school. That's year 10 in the UK these days or ninth grade in the US. And he's doing pretty well.

At some point that spring term, Miss Bowen starts taking the same bus as Gareth to and from school.

At some point that spring term, Miss Bowen starts taking the same bus as Gareth to and from school.

And soon the conversation moves on to the bus. They're sitting next to each other, Gareth and Miss Bowen. Do you think you'd have been walking to Golders Green Station in the morning or waiting at the bus stop in the evening after school and thinking, I hope she's there?

And soon the conversation moves on to the bus. They're sitting next to each other, Gareth and Miss Bowen. Do you think you'd have been walking to Golders Green Station in the morning or waiting at the bus stop in the evening after school and thinking, I hope she's there?

They talk about all sorts of stuff, like what they got up to on the weekend. He asks her about the other teachers at Christ College. Who out of the men does she fancy? And she tells him. He doesn't remember whether Miss Bowen asked him if he had a girlfriend. He didn't and hadn't ever. At this point, he's briefly kissed a girl once, outside her place on an estate in Hendon, but that's it.

They talk about all sorts of stuff, like what they got up to on the weekend. He asks her about the other teachers at Christ College. Who out of the men does she fancy? And she tells him. He doesn't remember whether Miss Bowen asked him if he had a girlfriend. He didn't and hadn't ever. At this point, he's briefly kissed a girl once, outside her place on an estate in Hendon, but that's it.