Waterloo Road Chapter 1: Episode One, a waterloo road fanfic

Students hoarded into the school ground discussing the happenings over the summer term and groaning over the start of a new one, completely oblivious to the newly appointed head teacher that was watching over them like a bird of prey from her office. As she sipped on the cup of cold coffee that she had brought in with her first thing this morning, she scoured across the grounds of her troubled school at her new students, who were equally as troubled. Truth be told, everyone thought she had thrown herself into the deep end - her first role as a head teacher at a school that was notorious in the local area for gangs, teenage pregnancies and failing exam results, but Shauna Teasdale thought, well, knew she could make a positive change to it all.

Her deep trail of thought was soon interrupted with the sound of knocking on her office door.

"Come in," she called out as she sat down at the desk and began organising the new term's paperwork that was piled sky high already.

"Shauna Teasdale, right?"

Shauna looked up to see a charming young man stood in her doorway, dressed in a pristine suit, holding yet another pile of paperwork presumably for her.

"Yes," Shauna replied.

"Welcome to Waterloo Road," the stranger smiled to her as he invited himself farther into the office. "I'm Daryl Stuarts. I'm the school's secretary - and yours for that matter. Can I get you anything? Tea? Coffee? Student records?"

"Lovely to meet you, Daryl. I'm good at the moment," Shauna thanked.

"Will you be taking the assembly today or shall I assign it to another senior member of staff whilst you settle in?" Daryl asked.

"I'll do it. I'll do it," Shauna insisted, standing up from her chair in a flash and straightening out the few creases in her black dress. "Um.. I don't suppose you know.."

"Down the corridor, left at the sports hall, past the science laboratories and on the right hand side," Daryl replied instantly with a sincere smile. "Don't worry about the kids. They can be scary at first but they're a lovely bunch deep down."

"Thank-you," Shauna smiled with a brief sigh of relief to have somebody on her side.

Clutching onto a paper timetable, Luke looked up at the school that was worlds apart from his previous school. His mother decided it would be a good change of scenery for him to start his final year of school at a completely different school on the other side of the country, much to Luke's liking.

"Alright."

A little taken back, Luke looked at the stranger who had approached him out of nowhere. Was he mistaken to his identity? Did he have a problem? What did he want from Luke?

"Hello?" Luke replied with confusion.

"Don't look so scared. I noticed you were looking a bit lost so I thought I'd come see if you needed directions or anything."

Luke's look of confusion didn't remove itself in a hurry. Instead, Luke continued to look bewildered as he studied the stranger stood in his way. Being brought up in private schools, Luke had developed the mentality that public schools was full of rough kids brought up on the estates in the low part of society - 'Jeremy Kyle rejects' as his friends used to label them. This was not something that Luke had expected in a million years. Someone in a public school was actually being nice to him? Maybe his perception had been all wrong? Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea? Maybe the change in setting would do him a world of good?

"Oh, I'm Luke.."

Just before Luke had chance to finish off introducing himself, a football came flying straight at him and slapped him around the head before flying off in the direction of a group of year eight girls, who all subsequently screamed at the football's appearance.

"Watch out," the unknown boy in front of him shouted to a group of lads in the direction the ball came from. "Are you alright?"

"Uh. Yeah," Luke replied, putting his hand on the back of his head.

"I'm Alfie Simpson by the way."

"Luke Bryant."

"Do you know where you've got your first lesson?" the boy, now identified as 'Alfie', asked.

Luke asked. "English."

"Same. Come with me if you want?" Alfie paused. "Unless you have plans with friends you already have here?"

Luke shook his head.

As the pair made their way up the steps, Alfie attempted to make small talk with Luke but it was evident to the both of them that they were completely different. Luke was into classical music - being able to play the piano and harp highlighted this, whereas Alfie was into indie music and rock so long as it wasn't too heavy. Luke had perfectly combed brown hair that lacked any sort of style apart from combed, whilst Alfie had his short brown hair styled with what seemed like an entire tub of gel into a fashionable side quiff. Luke expressed his enthusiasm to find out the school's curriculum. On the other hand, Alfie couldn't wait to find out which couples had broken up, which teacher had been sacked or which girl had got pregnant over summer, which was the usual at Waterloo Road.

Snaking her way through the crowds that were piling into the assembly hall, Dylan Fletcher attempted to locate her best friend but it was no use. Trying to fit all 600 students at the school into one assembly hall at last minute was impossible as it was, without having to deal with locating friends in the erupting mess. In the end, Dylan gave up and sat down on a spare seat at the end of a year eleven tutor group.

Within seconds of the students finding seats, a young man made his way onto the stage carrying a microphone, looking very dapper in a suit that looked as if it only had the labels cut off it a few moments ago.

"Can you all settle down please?" he announced sternly as he looked out onto the new batch of students that would be under his wing this year. "Quiet."

The hall slowly quietened down as all the students settled back into the school's ways.

"Thank-you," he paused. "Welcome back to a brand new year here at Waterloo Road. It's nice to see so many familiar faces and for those who do not know me, I'm Mr. Bushley and I'm the new deputy head."

"Go on, sir!" a voice echoed from the back of the room.

"Thank-you Sean White for your input but quieten down or you will go to the Cooler," Mr. Bushley - or Dale as he was known more informally - ordered. "I would like you all to give a warm welcome though to your new head teacher, Miss. Teasdale. She's joining us here from London."

"Thank-you, Mr. Bushley," Shauna smiled as she made her first appearance on the stage. "I just want to say a few things quickly before you all go to your first classes of the year and get ready to learn."

The inference of learning made a few of the students groan, causing Shauna to give them a disapproving look from her authoritative position in the middle of the stage.

"Firstly, I want you to all work hard this year and get the exam results that I know you are all capable of achieving. Your teachers are here to support your learning and enhance the time you spend here at Waterloo Road so please do not hesitate to ask them for help, regardless of what you need help with. Remember, there is no such thing as a silly question," Shauna began, reeling off the cliche sayings that she'd heard from previous head teachers at the other schools she had taught in, as well as things she had been told herself when she was a student all those many years ago. "Secondly, school isn't just about the learning. I want you to all enjoy the years you spend here and I want you to all leave this school with some of the best memories of your lives that you'll cherish for a long time to come. This school will be working closely with the community in the weeks to come and there will be plenty of extra-curricula activities for you all to participate in, so please take advantage of these opportunities."

Yvonne Smith was all prepared for her first class as an independent English teacher. She had spent the majority of the night before organising lesson plans, photocopying extracts from great works of literature and had managed to sweet talk the school caretaker into letting her into the school grounds at 6am so she could put up the classroom displays prior to her first class' arrival.

Glancing up at the clock, Yvonne realised she had three minutes until her first set of students of the year were due to arrive. Taking a moment to herself, Yvonne straightened up the pile of textbooks and took another deep breath before writing the date on the board. Walking to the back of the room, she looked up at the whiteboard and decided to write the date on the board as the students were settling down for the lesson so she didn't look too keen.

Reaching up to erase the date, the classroom door opened and her students piled in. Final year students weren't her ideal choice of class for the first class but she didn't have any choice in the matter so she had to grin and bear it.

"Welcome class," she smiled as she left the date on the board and stood watching the students as they found seats at the rows of tables that she had rearranged last minute. "Please take a seat, take a book from the end of the rows and write your details on the front."

A sigh of relief was all the Yvonne could do as she watched her students settle down and follow her instructions to the letter. Each one of them grabbed a book from the end of the rows in which they were seated at and each one of them began to write their personal details on their book. Maybe things weren't going to be that bad, Yvonne thought.

"Right, I'm not going to pussyfoot around like usual for the start of the year. I'm going to dive straight into the syllabus as you're in your final year at school so I gather you are able to handle the pressure of getting straight to the learning," Yvonne smiled.

"Miss. What's your name?" Dylan asked.

With all the nerves and worries that had been running through her head, Yvonne had forgotten the most vital thing she needed to do - introducing herself. "Sorry. Sorry, my name is Miss. Smith," she replied, slightly flustered.

After taking a few moments to compose herself, Yvonne turned back to the class and continued with the lesson. "Today we're going to be developing our debating skills in the hope that we can participate in a class debate by the end of the lesson on any topic of your choice."

"Debating? Like fighting?" Sean White asked, overly excited at the idea of being allowed to fight in class.

"No. Not fighting. Debating is much more than 'fighting'. Debating is essentially verbally fighting, I guess. However, debating allows you to 'fight' your opponent on a much more academic level. Intelligence fighting is much more powerful than physical fighting."

"That's no fun though," Sean groaned, losing interest in the lesson automatically.

"Shut up, Sean," another boy laughed in the corner.

"Why don't you shut up, Benny? Or do you want me to make you shut up? 'Cos I will," Sean grunted as he stood up from his seat and lunged towards the table in which the boy, Benjamin, was sat.

"Alright. Alright," Yvonne butted in, breaking up the tension between the boys. "Sean, sit down now, please."

Obeying the teacher's orders, Sean reluctantly sat down with a face like thunder as he continued to glare at Benjamin.

"When you debate, there are things you need to consider before you even put pen to paper or words to mouth. In pairs, I want you to quickly discuss what you need to think about before you debate," Yvonne instructed before allowing the class to talk.

Sitting down in her chair, Yvonne sighed a discreet sigh of relief as she watched the class engaging in the activity and discussing with the students around each other. Whilst most of the students were staying on task, Sean decided to distract a girl that was talking about the work to another girl sat beside her.

"So Penny, still a lesbo?" Sean asked, winking to the blonde girl, who was sat directly behind him.

"Yes, Sean," Penny groaned, rolling her eyes before ignoring him.

"That's probably because you haven't had chance with me yet, init," Sean laughed. "So how about you and me tonight? My mum's off to bingo and the sister's off to my auntie's so I got the house to myself."

"Lucky you," Penny replied. "However, I don't know if you believe it but I am a lesbian and lesbian's don't really find males attractive, and even if we did, we don't especially don't find males with brains the size of peas and genitals the size of chipotle sausages attractive."

"You don't know what you're missing," Sean snarled, trying to laugh off the embarrassment. "You're not even that pretty."

"My loss," Penny smiled.

Standing up from her chair, Yvonne looked over her class before taking some suggestions from other students.

"Sean, you have been participating a bit in the lesson so I want you to give us a topic that we will use as our debate," Yvonne asked.

Sean glanced back at Penny before responding to Yvonne's request. "Gays."

"Yeah. Homophobia is a very good suggestion and very relevant with all the going ons in the news recently with gay marriage," Yvonne smiled. "Who wants to give us a starting point? What's the first thing we need to consider?"

"No. I mean 'gays and lesbians'. It's not normal. I mean, you can't have two keys or two locks, you need a key and a lock," Sean argued.

Penny, in a rage, stood up. "You see, Miss. Sorry for this outburst but it's small minded people like Sean White that are causing all this uproar in the media. Being gay or being a lesbian or being bisexual hasn't got anything to do with anybody else apart from the person who is gay or lesbian or bisexual," Penny growled. "Some people feel as if it's their business to decide for themselves how somebody else chooses to live their life but it isn't. My decisions don't affect Sean and his decisions don't affect me. Just because he wants to get in my bed and can't."

As the class erupted with laughter and applause, Sean melted into a pile of humiliated embarrassment as Yvonne looked up at the clock - it was going to be a long day, a very long day.

Once Yvonne had dismissed her class, she sat down in her chair and began to contemplate her life choices. All the way through college and university she knew she wanted to be an English teacher and now her dreams had turned into a reality, she regretted it. Nobody said it was going to be an easy job, but at the same time, nobody warned her that it was going to be this hard. An hour had slowly crawled passed and she had already had to send Sean White to the Cooler, give a warning to Penny Spencer and break up a fight between two of the year sevens who passed her classroom during the lesson. She was exhausted and she still had six hours to go.

With the students spending their break in the playground, the majority of the teachers resided to the staff room for well-deserved tea and biscuits. Layla Walker, the school's health nurse, was sat on the sofas by the coffee tables with Shirley Brand, the school's French teacher, discussing her daughter's newborn baby, cooing over photos of him as she proudly showed off her first grandchild. Amber Hussein, the school's new science teacher, was being introduced to all of the staff who had congregated by the kitchen area by Linda Thomas, the school's maths teacher. Kevin Thomas, the school's history teacher and Linda's husband, had set up camp at the computer as he began to organise this year's school trip to Normandy, France.

"Sorry to interrupt but can I just say a few words?" Dale Bushley, the deputy head, asked as he walked into the room and attempted to get everyones' attention. "I won't be too long. I just wanted to announce a few changes to the school that will occur this year."

"That's Dale. He used to be the old science teacher but he got promoted to deputy when the last one left last term," Linda explained to Amber beneath her breath.

"Definitely let the power get to him," Taj Mahila, the art teacher, said as he overheard Linda and Amber's conversation.

"Taj, got something to share with us?" Dale asked in a tone that was more like he was telling a student off rather than a fellow teacher.

"Nope," Taj replied, sipping on his cup of tea as he took a seat at the sofa opposite to Layla and Shirley.

"As you know, we are aiming for at least 75% in the GCSE results this year - but anything higher will be good too," Dale paused, looking at Kevin in particular. "Especially since history has been falling behind in the last couple of years so it'll be nice to raise your average."

"Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Bushley, but could I just greet everyone?" Shauna asked as she made an entrance into the staff room.

Defeated, Dale sat down on the sofa and let the head teacher speak to her staff.

"I just wanted to say hello to you all. I've met a few of you already but I just want to say that I'm really looking forward to working with you all as a team and getting Waterloo Road back to the top," Shauna smiled.

As her introduction was met by an applause, she smiled another smile to the faces around the room. Conversation soon began to erupt in the staff room as Shauna stood down from her speaking role and disappeared through the door and down the corridor.

Nursing an empty cup, Amber looked nervously around the room. She had been a teacher before - only at a primary school. Going from primary school to this was a huge step for anybody, but especially for her. Whilst everybody else talked about their summers and their fears for the new term, Amber stared into the bottom of her cup.

"Can I get you a refill?"

Slightly thrown back, Amber looked up to see Taj looking right back at her with a friendly smile written across his face. "Um. I.. I'm okay for the time being. Thank-you all the same," she smiled.

"Maybe I can take you out for a proper drink sometime then?" Taj proposed.

"Maybe," Amber smiled just in time for the bell to ring.

After brushing her hair back into a neat bun, Emma Miller folded her school uniform up onto the bench in the PE changing rooms before turning to Dylan, her best friend.

"Dyl. Can't we just skip PE? I don't feel too good and could do with some shopping in town," Emma groaned as she slumped across the bench.

"Nope. If I miss anymore lessons, mum'll kill me. She still hasn't forgiven you for last term," Dylan laughed as she grabbed hold of her best friend's hands and pulled her up. "Come on. It'll be fun."

"Fine," Emma groaned after a few moments of hesitation. "But if it isn't fun, you have to come to town this weekend."

"Deal," Dylan smiled as the girls walked out of the changing rooms and onto the school field with their arms linked.

As everybody arranged themselves onto the field in a messy fashion, Sean and his 'gang', consisting of Muhammad Mahila and Danny Walsbrook, discussed this year's girls.

"Alright, if you had to choose between Emma Miller, Dylan Fletcher and Penny Spencer, which one would you choose?" Sean laughed.

"Emma. Without a doubt," Muhammad replied as his eyes remained attached to Emma as her and Dylan strutted across the field to meet with the other girls.

Danny, however, was reluctant to answer so quickly. He looked at all the girls before looking back at Dylan. "Dylan, I guess," he replied. "There's just something about her."

"Rumour has it she's a virgin," Sean chuckled. "Are you really sure about that, Dan?"

Danny nodded. "I can teach her a few things, right?" he joked as he ran his hand through his mousy brown spiked hair.

"I wouldn't turn any of those three down," Sean huffed as he looked at the three girls in turn before turning back to look at his mates. "Shame Penny's a lesbo."

"Right, gentlemen, line up on this line. Ladies, on this line," a tall, handsome man ordered as he jogged onto the field to join the students, pointing to two faded white lines which were only just visibly parallel to one another on the grass. "I want you all to do some stretches - holding each stretch for ten seconds, shaking it off and then repeating. Go!"

Wearily, the majority of the students following the instructions they had just been given. Emma and Dylan stood on the girls' line laughing as they both did mirrored stretches. Sean, Muhammad and Danny, on the other line, watched the girls closely - Sean watching Penny, Muhammad watching Emma and Danny watching Dylan.

"What is their problem?" Dylan questioned as she nodded her head to Emma in the boys' direction.

"Staring problems?" Emma laughed. "Just ignore them. They're all losers."

"What do you think of the new PE teacher then?" Dylan asked her best friend as they both lunged forward and held their stands for ten seconds, just like they were asked.

"Bit hot, isn't he?" Emma grinned. "What do you think?"

"He's alright," Dylan smiled as she glanced over to him. "I bet he's married though. The good teachers always are. Remember Mr. Hilton in year seven?"

"Remember? I dream about him every night," Emma giggled.

"Looking good, girls," the new PE teacher smiled as he walked down the lines, assessing the students' stretching. "Just push forward a bit more in that lunge for me."

"Fifty quid says I bed him by Christmas," Emma whispered as he got closer to them.

"Fifty?" Dylan questioned, sounding unsure about the whole arrangement. "Can't you get kicked out of the school for sleeping with the teachers?"

"Who cares? Christmas is half way through the year and then I'll only have three months left," Emma replied, continuing to hush her voice so her words were only for Dylan's benefit. "They're hardly gonna kick me out that close to our final exams."

"Fine," Dylan paused. "Still don't think you're gonna do it."

"Girls, is there a problem here?"

Emma and Dylan both shook their head in unison as they both looked up into the new PE teacher's dreamy chocolate eyes. It was as if the girls had got lost in his eyes and their legs turned to jelly as they grinned up at him.

"Definitely not, sir," Emma smiled.

"What's your name?" the new PE teacher asked.

"Emma. Emma Miller, sir. What's your name?" she replied.

"Mr. Rogers."

"Mister as in mister with a wife, mister with a girlfriend, mister with a husband, mister with a boyfriend..?" Emma paused, playfully grinning to the attractive teacher stood in front of her.

"Sir, are we gonna play football or are you just gonna check the girls out as they stretch?" Sean shouted from across the field.

"Sean White, I take it?" Will Rogers asked as he turned around.

"Yes. Who wants to know?"

"I've heard quite a bit about you already, Sean, and I've been in the school premises for three hours. I'd behave if I was you," Will suggested.

As Will jogged back up the field to stand in the middle of both the female line and the male line, Sean rolled his eyes and began to back chat to the rest of his friends, showing off like normal.

Stood at her locker, organising her folders on what needed to stay in school for the following day and what folders needed to go home with her, Dylan flicked her hair over her shoulder as she placed one folder into her school bag and took hold of another before locking the locker back up.

"Dylan, right?" Danny smiled to her as he leant against the lockers beside where she was stood.

"Uh, yeah," she replied, looking as if she was in a rush.

"I haven't seen you in ages."

Dylan looked at him with a puzzled expression across her face. "I don't want to come across as rude but do I know you?" she asked.

"I don't think we've talked, but we're in a few classes this year so I guess we should talk at sometime since we're gonna be spending a lot of time together," Danny answered.

"Right," Dylan nodded.

"My mate, Sean's having a party tonight. His parents are away so he's got the place to himself. I can get some alcohol and we've invited some other people from here to it so it should be a good night. What do you say?" Danny suggested.

Dylan looked at the folder in her clutch with a sigh. "I guess I can make an appearance for an hour or so," she smiled.

"Invite some friends too if you want," Danny grinned. "I'll see you later then."

"Yeah. See you later."

Sinking into the sofa in her office as the hustle and bustle of the school was replaced gradually with a soft sense of silence, Shauna Teasdale let out a huge sigh of relief. She did it. Her first day as head teacher had gone by relatively well. The school's premises were still standing and she had finished the day with the same amount of students as she had started the day with, which was always a good sign.

Just as Shauna was about to call it a day and head back to her empty house that she once used to share with her ex-husband, there was a gentle knock at the door.

"How was it then?" Daryl asked as he invited himself into the office with a bouquet of flowers. "These arrived earlier as a welcome present from all the staff."

"They're beautiful, thank-you," Shauna smiled, admiring the bouquet that was in the secretary's hands. "I don't suppose you could put them in a vase for me? I'm absolutely knackered."

"Certainly. You sit yourself down and relax," Daryl insisted as he walked over to the cabinet and retrieved a dusty vase from inside the filing shelves.

Shauna watched Daryl brush off the dust with the edge of his suit's sleeve as she sat back down on the sofa. Following Daryl with her eyes, she watched him as he filled the vase up with some water and then arranged the flowers into a pretty setting in the vase.

"Desk or table?" he then asked as he brought the vibrant vase back into the main part of Shauna's office.

"Table please," Shauna smiled. "Thank-you."

Walking up the steps to the front door, Danny was followed by Muhammad as he joked about the night that was about to unfold in front of them. "You two go in," Danny said as he moved to the side of the door, letting his friend go through. "I'll catch up with you in a sec. There's something I've got to do first."

Muhammad reluctantly entered the house, leaving Danny stood on the decking area outside the front door. As soon as the door shut, he pulled his phone out of his pocket, quickly dialed a number from memory and then placed the phone to his ear, waiting nervously for somebody to answer on the other end. "Oh, come on," Danny mumbled to himself, just as somebody picked up the phone. "I can't talk for too long. Well, I can't talk at all really - I just want you to know that I love you. I can't help but love you. I don't care what has gone on in the past and everything you did, I forgive you. I just want to see you. I just thought you deserved to know this."

As soon as the door opened, Danny pulled the phone away from his ear as fast as he could and shoved it back into the pocket of his jeans.

"Danny," Sean called as he walked out of the front door, looking at his best friend with a suspicious look.

"It's alright," Danny smiled. "I'm coming."

As a few people danced along to the sound of the heavy bass line thud from the music that was blasting through the stereo, Danny looked around the room from the doorway, guzzling his drink from the beer bottle. After a few more moments of scanning the room deep in thought, Sean crept up behind Danny and shouted "boo" in his ear, startling Danny as a result.

"God, you shouldn't do that!" Danny said before walking off in a mood towards the kitchen, which was also crammed full of people.

Sean looked at Danny in confusion before following him, snaking past all the people in the kitchen and out of the back door to the much quieter garden. By the time Sean had managed to catch up with Danny, he was already sat on the slight slope in the middle of the huge garden, facing the pond at the bottom of the garden, with his back to a concerned Sean - which very rarely happened. Looking at the person he had been best friends with since nursery, Sean put his empty beer bottle down on the patio table and made his way across the grass to where Danny was sat. Without saying a word, Sean sat down on the slope beside Danny and looked at the pond, waiting for him to say something to break the silence.

"She kicked off again. I guess I should have seen it coming but I guess part of me wanting it to be over and wanted it to be back to how it used to be, before it all happened," Danny sighed.

"It'll get better soon, mate," Sean paused. "Now, get your ass back inside, find a hot girl and let's have a good night. Didn't you invite Dylan and that lot?"

Danny nodded.

"Maybe you'll de-virgin her," Sean teased.

"Knew you being nice couldn't last too long," Danny groaned as Sean picked himself up off the grass and brushed himself off.

As Sean disappeared back into the house, Danny glanced down at his phone and sighed to himself for yet another time. Instead of putting his phone back into his pocket, he looked over at the fish pond that was glistening in the moonlight at the bottom of the garden and paused for a few moments. After a few more moments of thinking, Danny lobbed his phone in the direction of the pond. Splash!

"Work hard," Muhammad chanted as he drunkenly stumbled over to Danny and Sean as they sat joking about in the conservatory. "Party harder."

"You need to slow down," Danny laughed, taking the beer bottle from Muhammad's clutch and downing the beer himself. "Thanks."

"Isn't drinking against your religion?" Sean questioned.

Muhammad shook his head violently as he fell in between the two boys. "Well, it is. But my dad's the muslim. I'm not."

"Right," Sean paused, looking around at the people in the house - in his house, none of whom he recognised apart from the two friends sat on the sofa with him. "Who even are these people?"

"I invited them. Most of them are in year ten," Muhammad replied, seeming happy with himself.

"Year ten? So they're three to four years younger than us?" Sean asked, groaning. "You're hopeless with invites."

"I'm tempted to go home," Danny confessed.

"Are you serious?" Sean growled.

"No offence, mate, but it's so boring," Danny paused.

"If Danny goes, I go," Muhammad added.

Sean looked at both of his friends in a mix of disbelief and rage. "Alright, leave. See if I care. I'll just have to make some new friends with these year tens."

"Okay," Danny replied, losing even more interest in what Sean was planning to do by the minute.

Whilst Dylan got out of the car, Emma and Penny made their way towards the front door, still singing along to Nicki Minaj. As Emma went to knock on the door, the door opened and out walked Muhammad and Danny.

"Dylan," Danny smiled instantly. "You came."

Dylan nodded with a friendly smile to Danny. Emma and Penny both looked suspiciously at their friend as Muhammad stared at Emma, making her feel a little uncomfortable.

"You aren't going yet, are you?" Dylan asked.

"Came to get some fresh air," Danny smiled, holding the door open for the girls as the blaring music escaped into the street. "After you."

As Dylan, Emma and Penny disappeared into the house, Muhammad turned to look at Danny with a grin across his face. "I suppose we could stay for an hour or so, right?" he said, rushing back down the path and towards the front door, beginning a mission in quest of his fellow students.

"Right," Danny grinned, following Muhammad and the girls.

As they re-entered the house that was erupting with energy from the music, it seemed like they were walking into a completely different party - the music had been turned up even louder but the whole place was full of people jumping along to the beat. People were genuinely having a good time, unlike the party before.

"She got that good good, she Michael Jackson bad and I'm attracted to her for her attractive ass," Emma sang along to the music as she bounced to the beat of Young Money's 'Bedrock'. "And now we murderers because we kill time, I knock her lights out and she still shine."

With the school being illuminated by the soft glow of the night security lights from the grounds outside, Shauna had decided to attempt to tackle all the paperwork since Daryl had offered to keep her company with a bottle of wine and a helping hand with the paperwork.

"So you were originally from London, weren't you?" Daryl asked as he filed through a folder of scrap pieces of paper.

Shauna nodded. "Yes. I moved here with my husband two years ago but this is my first job being back in Scotland."

"Husband? I didn't know you were married?" Daryl questioned. "I just gathered with you being a 'Miss'."

"Oh, divorced," Shauna nodded as she took a drink from her glass of wine. "'Ms' has always been too old for me so I decided to return to my maiden name."

"Fair enough," Daryl smiled as he handed a file to Shauna for her to flick through.

"What about you?" Shauna asked. "Married?"

Daryl shook his head. "No, no. Definitely not. Marriage isn't for me."

"Why not?" Shauna asked. "Well, if that's not too inappropriate for me to ask."

"My parents divorced when I was young. My mother remarried and got divorced. My father remarried and got divorced. I guess I haven't really been brought up with successful marriages so I don't see the fuss," Daryl smiled. "What about you? Do you think you'll ever remarry?"

Shauna looked through the papers that were in her hand before placing them down on the coffee table and filling the empty clutch with her glass of wine. "I don't know. If I meet the right man, the man for me, I might be persuaded, but for now, definitely not."

As she studied Daryl's face as he scanned through the paperwork, sorting it out into neatly organised piles in front of him, Shauna couldn't help but notice how perfect his facial features were. His chiseled cheekbones. His beady eyes. His button nose. His soft lips. He couldn't have looked over the age of 30.

In a moment of madness, Shauna lunged towards her secretary and planted a kiss upon his lips. Within seconds, Daryl reacted by pulling away from her with a startled look across her face.

"Wha.. whoa.. what was that?" Daryl stuttered, lost in a moment of confusion. "Were you.. were you trying to come onto me?"

"I.. I.. I don't know. I guess I was.. Oh.. I shouldn't have done that," Shauna cringed. "I am so sorry. I don't know what came over me. Oh.."

"Look. Don't worry about it," Daryl said, still taken back about Shauna's advance but it was blatantly obvious that he was trying to remain professional about the ordeal. "It's been a long, stressful day. We can forget it happened. I love this job and don't want anything to come in-between it."

Stood by the drinks table, Dylan grabbed a Jägerbomb before downing it as quickly as she could. The burn as it rushed down her throat made her whole body spark with electricity as she grinned across at Danny, who was watching her every move.

"Wow," Danny laughed as he watched her down another shot, even quicker this time. "I've just never seen someone down a drink as quick as that."

"You try it," Dylan grinned, handing a shot to him before wiping the corners of her mouth with her finger.

Dylan continued to watch Danny as he attempted to do the shot. She couldn't help but burst out in laughter as he failed to take the shot down in one go.

"Did I do it okay?" he asked, putting the empty shot glass on the table.

"No. You do it like this. Look," Dylan said, taking the glass from the table and leaning over to grab the bottle of Jäger. As she filled the cup with Jäger and Red Bull, Danny stood watching her in amazement. "Right, you do this one," she continued as she handed a shot to him as his eyes were still attached to her. "Just tip it all down your throat in one go."

Dylan successfully downed the shot and then Danny copied.

"See," Dylan chuckled as she watched him down another one. "You've mastered it."

As Dylan looked around at the party, laughing to herself at all the intoxicated year tens, Danny studied her with his eyes - tracing the shape of her lips, admiring the glisten in her eyes. She was completely oblivious to Danny looking at her, but he didn't really care if she knew or not.

"Wow," Danny laughed as he watched her down another shot, even quicker this time. "I've just never seen someone down a drink as quick as that."

"You try it," Dylan grinned, handing a shot to him before wiping the corners of her mouth with her finger.

Dylan continued to watch Danny as he attempted to do the shot. She couldn't help but burst out in laughter as he failed to take the shot down in one go.

"Did I do it okay?" he asked, putting the empty shot glass on the table.

Dylan successfully downed the shot and then Danny copied.

"See," Dylan chuckled as she watched him down another one. "You've mastered it."

The local pub that was just down the road from Waterloo Road was soon filled with all the teachers having their back to school drink as they all conversed with one another about the goings on in their days. Shirley Brand was groaning about her new GCSE bunch who couldn't tell the difference between 'the French language and a French fry'. Kevin Thomas was enthusiastically discussing all his plans for the school trip to Normandy at the end of that term. Yvonne Smith was being introduced to Will Rogers by Linda Thomas, who had voluntarily taken on the role of showing the new members of staff about the school. Layla Walker was talking to Amber Hussein about her move to Waterloo Road, seeming eager to find out more about Amber's previous role as a primary teacher - probably some tactical way that Layla had thought of to bring her grandson into the conversation.

Everybody was too busy in their own private conversations to notice when Shauna Teasdale and Daryl Stuarts walked into the pub. Even after spending a bit of time trying to forget the whole 'kiss' drama, it was still obvious that there was tension between them both. Shauna ordered herself a drink, only to have Will offer to buy her one. Whereas Daryl went over and introduced himself to Yvonne.

"Amber," Taj gently whispered as he stood behind her, trying to pull her out of the way from the rest of the teachers. "Can I ask you something quickly?"

"Sure," Amber smiled, finishing the last of her glass of wine off.

"Do you.. maybe.. fancy going for dinner sometime? Just me and you? You don't have to. When I mentioned it earlier you seemed a little apprehensive about it, but I thought I might as well ask you again as it might have just been the nerves of settling into a new school earlier on that made you seem like that," Taj replied. "You don't have to and I completely understand if you don't want it. I just thought I'd ask."

"I'd love to," Amber nodded.

Both Taj and Amber broke out smiling at one another before being interrupted by Shirley.

"So what do you two think of that new head teacher then? Shauna, is it?" Shirley drunkenly slurred as she propped herself up by the bar.

"She seems lovely," Amber smiled, quickly looking over to the other end of the bar to where Shauna was stood talking to Will.

"Just what the school needs," Taj agreed.

"You're wrong," Shirley laughed. "This school does not need some jumped up poshy as a deputy head and it certainly does not need a first-timer headteacher to be seeing over it, especially when we're doing so bad."

"I think she is just what Waterloo Road needs," Taj reaffirmed, getting quite a hostile attitude towards Shirley.

"There's something about her. Something I don't like. I don't know what it is yet, but I can just sense it," Shirley alleged as she stood up from the bar stool and carried herself off to spread even more joy about the head teacher.

"Who's that?" Amber asked quietly to Taj as soon as Shirley was out of hearing distance.

Instead of answering straight away, Taj looked up at Shirley and paused. Shirley Brand was one of the first teachers to teach at Waterloo Road when it first opened ten years ago. But then, she was a 38 year old mother of two. Now, she was just a 48 year old widow whose children refused to speak to her. Her bleach blonde short hair resembled straw. Her face was caked in make-up to cover the ageing wrinkles and the sagging skin. Her nose was pointed like a witch and her teeth were all crooked to match the appearance, but that didn't stop her accentuating her lips with a bright red lipstick that was usually smudged across her lip line.

"She was beaten out of the post to head teacher last time. She went up for it again so I guess she's just resenting Shauna for the fact she got the post when she didn't, again," Taj explained. "She can be nice. But she's stuck up most of the time and does nothing but bitch about her classes. It's really no wonder why most of her students leave Waterloo Road with a D or below in GCSE French - she has no faith in them at all."

Amber nodded as she looked over at Shirley, who was joking about with Yvonne and Linda.

As Penny, Emma and Dylan joked about, making up synchronised dances to the music that was playing, Sean stood in the corner of the room, watching all three of them from afar but just as closely as if he was stood right beside them. The slight sips that he was taking from the beer bottle that was placed against his lips soon turned into gulps. Putting the empty bottle down on a shelf that was decorated with family photos of Sean's family, he headed over to the girls with a grin on his face.

Grabbing hold of Penny's waist, he began to guide her hips around in time to his. Penny was laughing along. Well, that was until she glanced over her shoulder to realise it was Sean.

"Get off me, you pig!"

Without any warning, Sean was flung across the floor and landed in a messy heap in the middle of the carpet. Even though the music was still pumping loud through the room, everyone's attention was on Sean.

Dusting himself off as he stood up, he looked at Penny in rage.

"Who do you think you are?" Sean growled. "You are so gonna pay for that, you lesbian!"

"Why can't you just get it into your head? I'm never going to be into you, and you're never going to get into me," Penny retaliated.

"Well, this party really died."

Everybody's attention was now to Benjamin as he stood in the doorway with a pack of six beers and a smirk tattooed across his face.

"Who invited you?" Sean snarled as he walked over to Benjamin. "Benny."

"Whatever, Sean," Benjamin laughed. "Are you really banishing me from your party? Not going to lie, it wouldn't be the worst thing to happen to me. This party looks crap anyway."

"Get out."

"Sean, just let him stay.." Emma paused.

"Yeah, he's not doing anything wrong," Danny agreed.

"Stop being you and just leave it alone," Muhammad added.

Sean looked back at him boys and Emma, and then at Benjamin. "No. He has to go."

Just as Sean was about to throw him out of the house, Benjamin stepped out of his way. "Don't worry. I'm off. Wouldn't wanna stay here anyway."

Stood in the corridor of the pub beside the gentlemen's toilets, Daryl looked at the door that led back to the main bar area. Glaring back at the closed gentlemen's toilets' door, he took a huge sigh. As he was about to walk into the toilets, the door of the bar opened and in walked Layla.

"Alright, Daryl?" she smiled as she walked past him. "What are you doing out here?"

"Waiting for my mum to call about the cat," he replied. "Went in for an operation this morning. I'm not too bothered about the cat - he is getting old, but he's the only thing my mum still has at home so I just want to make sure he's okay for her sake."

"You're such a lovely lad," Layla paused. "I hope my grandson grows up to be like you."

Daryl flashed a smile to her as she walked into the ladies' toilets. As soon as she disappeared in through the door, Daryl slipped into the gentlemen's toilets.

"I told you to stay away from me."

"I can't stay away from you," Daryl pleaded. "You're everything I can think of. I know the kiss was my fault but I also know you felt something too. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Daryl, nothing can happen. You're the school secretary. I'm the school's history teacher. My wife is the school's maths teacher. Don't you see how messy this is, let alone how messy it would get if people found out?"

Daryl looked at Kevin Thomas with a sincere look of worry on his face as Kevin leant over the washbasin to wash his hands "I think.. well, no. I don't think - I know. I'm falling for you."

"You can't."

Daryl took a step forward to stand behind Kevin. The pair looked into the mirror and at one another's reflection with emotionless looks across their faces.

"Nothing can happen. Nothing will happen. That kiss. It was a mistake," Kevin explained. "Just let it go. Please. For your sake and for mine. I love my wife. I love my children."

Just as Daryl was about to kiss him against his will, Kevin dodged the bullet and darted out of the gentlemen's toilets towards the fire exit at the other end of the corridor to the door that led into the bar area. The second that Kevin made his exit out of the door and disappeared into the rainy nighttime outside, Layla made an appearance out of the ladies' toilets, getting in Daryl's way.

"Heard anything? How's the cat?" she asked.

Giving her a distant look, Daryl looked at Layla like she was going insane. It was only until Daryl's brain returned back to Earth that he realised what she meant.

"Haven't heard yet," Daryl replied sharply before scurrying out of the fire exit door, leaving it wide open as he went in search for his forbidden lover.

Putting her drink down on the table, Dylan looked at the time on her phone before shoving her phone back into her bag. "I'd better get back. I told my parents I'd be home for eleven."

Emma looked at Dylan with a friendly smile. "Do you want me to ring a taxi for you?"

"Don't worry. I can walk you home," Danny offered. "That is if you want?"

"You don't have to," Dylan smiled. "I can get a taxi. And my house isn't too far so I can walk it alone."

"I don't mind," Danny insisted.

"Let him walk you home, Dyl," Emma grinned.

"Yeah, Dylan," Penny winked.

"Danny has some business to attend to," Sean teased, finishing his hint with a sly wink. "Don't you, Danny boy?"

"Shut up, Sean," Danny groaned. "You've caused enough trouble today with your mouth so keep it shut."

Taken back a little by his friend's remark, Sean walked into the kitchen to pour himself another drink.

"Okay," Dylan nodded. "Thank-you."

Hidden down a back alley at the rear end of the pub where all their fellow teachers were celebrating the start of term, Kevin and Daryl were stood beneath a smoking shelter in silence. As Kevin pulled the cigarette up to his lips, he took a drag before knocking off the ash cherry onto the floor. Watching the ash fall into a puddle in front of them, Daryl sighed to himself.

"Nobody said this was gonna be easy," he whispered.

"Easy?" Kevin spat. "Easy? What was gonna be easy?"

"Us."

"Us?" Kevin laughed. "There is no 'us'. There never was and there never will be. It was just one kiss. One drunken kiss. A mistake. A drunken mistake. Can't you understand that?"

Daryl nodded. "I can understand that, but I don't believe it."

"Oh, let me guess. You're gonna say that you can see the real me, something Linda doesn't see? Something only you can see? And then you're gonna say that you know what I want and that's you?"

Daryl stayed silent as he watched Kevin reject him.

"Daryl, this isn't some sort of teenage love story. You're nearly twenty years younger than me. We work together. I'm married. I have children. We're not in love. It was a mistake. Something I regret deeply and if there was anything I could do to change it, I would but I can't."

"You're just in denial," Daryl hushed.

"You're crazy," Kevin replied, slightly angered by Daryl's determination.

As the rain pattered down on the pair as they walked towards Dylan's house, Danny took his leather jacket off and draped it over Dylan's bare shoulders, flashing a warm smile to her as she smiled back to him.

"You didn't have to," Dylan laughed. "I was fine as I was."

"I offered to walk you home so you get back home safe. I don't want you to get hypothermia," Danny replied.

"Well, thank-you," Dylan smiled.

The pair went back to walking in silence. The only sound that could be heard was the gentle splashing of the rain as they walked in the puddles and the spray from the odd car that drove past them on the darkened suburban estate. Dylan kept glancing to Danny ever so often, hoping he would say something to break the awkward atmosphere that had appeared between them.

"This is me then," Dylan smiled as they arrived at a little cottage at the end of the main road.

Danny looked up at the cottage and then at Dylan. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school then?"

Dylan nodded. "Thank-you for walking me home. You didn't have to."

"It's nothing. Honestly," Danny smiled.

Both pondered at one another for a few more silent moments before Danny took the courage to kiss Dylan on her cheek. Once his soft lips left her cold cheek, she smiled at him.

"Night."

As Dylan made her way down the path and opened up the front door, Danny watched after her. He remained there for a few moments before heading back up the road in the direction of his house.

The sound of the rain coming down from the skies above couldn't be disguised by the sound of the zooming of the cars as they drove past the busy highway, splashing the grass verge with the water spray from the rain. Beams of light from the car's headlights invaded the long grass as the cars hurried along past, driving to their houses as midnight was fast approaching. But there in the hedgerow, beneath the bristles of the hedges, laid Benjamin Taylor's body.