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to him as he disappeared
round the door.
    ‘That’s us
for today people, thank you for your attention and contribution, I’ll see you
all next week when we’ll be talking more about the exam and remember…’ Sully
cocked his head waiting for the class to fulfil their part in his weekly
repertoire.
    ‘Knowledge
is power,’ the students completed, in a not very synchronised drone.
    Philosophy
was the one subject Lizzie elected that was not available at her old school.
She had been so excited when the information had come through from Queen’s
showing her a sample timetable and a list of subjects she could choose from.
The list was made up, in the main, of the usual subjects which were
transferable from her previous studies, but there was the addition of all sorts
of other classes she couldn’t believe were open to her. She understood that by
selecting one of these she was effectively starting from scratch, but a gap in
her timetable and the temptation of taking something completely different was
too much, and the box next to A level philosophy was ticked. The challenging
but interesting coursework, and the fact that she was one of only five students
in the class contributed to double philosophy being her favourite part of the
academic week. However it was her philosophy teacher that took centre stage as
the overriding factor in her newly found favourite subject.
    Dr Brian
Sullivan, or Sully as he insisted his students call him, was quite unlike any
teacher she had come across before. She would admit that it didn’t hurt that he
was relatively young, Lizzie guessed at thirty six or thirty seven, witty, and rather
handsome, but it was his air of knowledge and confidence, without being
patronising or unapproachable, that made him so intriguing.
    One of the
unique selling points of Queen’s Grove House was that, despite a smaller than
most compliment of teachers, they offered completely unrestricted access to the
curriculum. There was a startling array of subjects open to study, and since the
teachers at Queen’s were unqualified to teach many of the more obscure subjects
they relied on stipendiary lecturers to fill gaps. Dr Sullivan was a lecturer
of social sciences and at least half of his time was spent teaching at Oxford
University with the remainder of his time taken up with other teaching
positions and the continuance of his own studies and writing.
    Lizzie
could scarcely believe she was being taught by an Oxford professor. At every
opportunity she would bombard Sully with questions on the University.
    The few
remaining students left leaving Lizzie with Sully who was busy pushing desks
into their previous positions. Lizzie glanced at him, her eyebrows raised in
surprise and curiosity.
    ‘What was
that about?’ she took the other end of a desk and helped lift it back into
place.
    ‘You mean
with Robert? He’s a…,’ Sully paused searching for a tactful word ‘ special boy is Robert.’
    ‘Yeah, I
get that, but he’s always so placid, what got him so riled today? I mean you
guys can go at it pretty good sometimes but I’ve never seen him like that. And I
wish I understood what the hell you guys were going on about, seriously,
whoosh.’ Lizzie brushed a flat hand in the air to indicate it had all gone over
her head. ‘That’s not going to be in the exam is it?’
    ‘Nietzsche’s
Will to Power? No, don’t worry. Robert gets worked up sometimes when things
fall into grey areas, or where there are alternate, equally plausible,
arguments on the same point. He was especially vociferous today, I think
it’s how his brain works.’ Sully sat on one of the desks his eyes pointing up
in thought. ‘Give him a logical problem and he’ll solve it without effort, but
give him an abstract concept to consider and you can see instantly how
uncomfortable he becomes. He’s so used to having things come so easily to him
that when he’s faced with something his mind can’t process his frustration
manifests itself