When Bolton had told me about Paul Langley, I didn't really believe him at first. The kid appeared out of nowhere, asking for fighting lessons. So when he took me to the kid, Paul asked me to give him my best shot. I tried to refuse but he kept persisting before I threw a sucker punch to his face. He ended up with a black eye and a swollen nose. I ended up with a week's detention after Mr Lawson noticed and I admitted to it. I felt bad for the kid because he was lanky. Like, just skin and bones.
I had agreed to help Bolton in aiding Paul to fight. Paul told me all about his Uncle Dermot and I told him if it got too bad and he was in a bad spot, he should ring me and I could offer him a spot at mine. My Aunt Clara loved guests, male or female. Just as long as the males didn't sleep in my room with me there.
And that is how I found myself standing in the crowd of people, watching Bolton and Paul fight. Bolton was dodging the attacks while Paul was trying his hardest. And then he managed to sock him in the jaw. I clapped happily at how much progress Paul had made in two weeks.
The cry of 'teacher!' immediately sent me into acting normal. This meant grabbing my bag, standing around to wait for Bolton and Paul to grab theirs and we walked away, chucking greetings at Mr Lawson before laughing at how good the fight was.
I don't know why I had been dragged into the boys toilets, but this always happened after every fight. I'd stand there and watch, we'd chat about how good Paul's hits were, and I'd get pulled into the boys toilets to watch the boys mess about. It was like a routine thing. I didn't mind too much.
"Who's a pretty boy then?" Max teased Bolton.
"Shut up, yeah?" Bolton snapped before advancing on Paul. "You got in a couple of good digs. So you really gonna do it then, yeah?"
"Yeah." Paul nodded after looking around nervously. "Yeah."
"Mate, I don't think that you could." Bolton laughed meanly.
"Bolton..." I warned, touching his arm. He didn't shrug me off.
"Come on!" Paul yelled, making me jump. I grabbed tightly onto Bolton's arm.
I had only seen this side of Paul once and that was after he had a row with his Uncle Dermot and he came out with us and he looked pissed. I had asked him if he was alright and he blew up at me. I didn't react violently to him. I just let him calm down, since I didn't want to make it worse by punching him.
"Just come at me!" Paul continued. "I can take it. I can take anything."
"You can take anything?" Bolton mocked, making the others laugh. I was still latched onto his arm. Paul usually calmed down after about 30 seconds but he looked to be getting worse after he grabbed a chair and held it in front of him.
"Come at me with a chair!" Paul's voice echoed around the now silent toilets.
Bolton sucked his teeth before pulling the chair out of Paul's grip.
"Come on!" Paul urged and Bolton jumped forward, making me let go of his arm. Bolton grappled Paul's jacket and threw him into the wall.
"Shut up!" Bolton commanded before dragging him over to the wall that covered the showers. The boys started cheering Bolton on but I stood there, not being able to tell him to stop. Bolton crossed the line by throwing Paul onto the floor of the showers.
As the boys went to leave, Bolton tried to grab my arm but I moved it out of his reach. I glared at him before moving through to the showers and over to Paul, lying on the floor. I kneeled beside him and gently pushed his hair out of his face.
"Come on, Paul." I said gently. "Get up. Walk it off."
"I can't do it, Eve." Paul muttered. "I can't face him."
"You can." I soothed him, softly rubbing his arm. "You're strong."
"Thanks." Paul smiled at me before he pulled himself up off the floor and I stood up with him.
"Come on." I gestured to the doors and we walked to registration together.
"Eve Acker?" Miss Koreshi called out as I coloured in a part of the table.
"Here, Miss." I said absentmindely.
"Paul Langley?" Miss Koreshi said. I kicked his chair and he looked at me before I pointed towards Miss Koreshi. "Paul?"
"Here." Paul said weakly before looking back towards his magazine. I kept my eyes on the table, focused on the one particular spot that I missed.
"Karla Bentham?" Miss Koreshi said.
"Yes." Karla said.
"Aleesha Dillon?" Miss Koreshi said.
"Here, Miss." Aleesha responded enthusiastically.
"And... Chelsea Woods?" Miss Koreshi finished.
"She's away today." Danielle spoke up.
"Thanks, Danielle." Miss Koreshi said gratefully. "Right. The one annoucement for today is that Mr Wilding would like me to remind you about the auditions for the school musical at lunchtime. Apparently, it's not too late to put your name down."
I noticed Miss Koreshi was looking at Paul as he ignored her to read his magazine. I slapped him on the back of the head and he weakly glared at me before Miss Koreshi called on him to return his magazine. I shrugged as he got up to hand it to her.
"I bet it's a porn mag." Danielle laughed.
"Gross." Aleesha sniggered.
"Is it, Miss?" Danielle called. "Is it pornography?"
The class laughed along with her except Paul and I.
"Danielle, don't." I slapped her shoulder.
"What?" Danielle furrowed her eyebrows.
"Just don't." I said.
"Bolton, why am I in here?" I sighed as he once again pulled me into the boys toilets except it was the smaller ones this time.
"Because you're one of us." Bolton shrugged.
"I'm not pissing in the boys toilets." I grimaced. "I'll do that in the ladies."
"That's not what I meant." Bolton sighed.
"Paul, what you doing in here?" I asked as I noticed him.
"I want the both of you to give me your best shots." Paul said.
"No, Paul." I shook my head. "I thought we agreed I wasn't going to hit you again."
"I can take it." Paul insisted. "Just do it. Give me your best shot."
"Give it a rest, Paul." Bolton snapped, bouncing a football against the wall.
"I can take it." Paul reasoned.
"No, mate." Bolton said.
"Come on!" Paul growled, smacking Bolton in the shoulder.
"Do him again." Bill said as he stood in one of the stalls.
Bolton swung his arm back and nailed Paul in the stomach, knocking the wind out of the poor boy. Paul groaned, keeled forwards and dropped to his knees.
"You said to give you my best shot." Bolton said.
I crouched beside Paul and rubbed his back comfortingly.
"You'll be okay, Paul." I said calmly.
"Just give me a minute." Paul strained.
"There'll be no time-outs tonight." Bolton snapped.
"I'll be okay." Paul tried to convince us but it wasn't working.
"Nah mate, you're gonna get your arse kicked." Bolton said. What a boost of confidence that must have given Paul. "You need a plan B." Bolton then left the toilets.
"Come on, Paul." I grabbed his arm and helped him up and out of the toilets.
"Acker, what are you doing in the boys toilets with Langley?" Mr Lawson accused before seeing Paul's state. "Are you alright, Langley?"
I had only been in English for around ten minutes before Mr Lawson came to the door and asked to see me. I followed him all the way to a classroom where Bolton and his goons were stood. I furrowed my eyebrows and took a place next to Bolton.
"What's going on?" I whispered.
"No clue, man." Bolton said.
"You lot have been in the wars, haven't you?" Mr Lawson announced as he looked at all of us. "Paxton's eye, Barker's chin, you with them sore knuckles, Smilie. How'd you do that then?" Bolton just shrugged. "Don't shrug at me, son. I know you're behind all of this."
"Why am I here, sir?" I asked.
"Don't interrupt me, Acker." Mr Lawson snapped before turning back to Bolton. "The longer you keep quiet about it, the worse I'm gonna make it for ya. I will not tolerate intimidation or bullying in this school."
After all of us had kept quiet for a few more seconds, Mr Lawson pulled out his phone. "Fine. We'll let the police handle this, then." As Mr Lawson held the phone up to his ear, I elbowed Bolton in his side and gestured for him to tell Sir what was going on.
"He asked for it." Bolton said vaguely.
"Who?" Mr Lawson asked. "Paul?"
"Yeah." Bolton nodded.
"You're the one that hit him?" Mr Lawson continued.
"Like I said, he asked for it." Bolton said innocently.
"What's that even supposed to mean?" Mr Lawson scoffed then put the phone back to his ear after Bolton went quiet again.
"I was only helping him out, innit?" Bolton confessed as Mr Lawson put down the phone a second time.
"What?" Mr Lawson said. "By smacking him around?"
"No." Bolton sneered. "By showing how to stop getting smacked around."
"What about you, Acker?" Mr Lawson asked. "What's your part in all this?"
"I'm there to make sure things don't get too out of hand. I got that week's detention because I gave him that black eye after punching him. He wanted me to hit him. He just didn't know how much it would hurt." I explained.
"You two, with me." Mr Lawson pointed to Bolton and I to follow him out of the classroom.
"He asked me to teach him how to fight." Bolton said as we walked down the corridor.
"Why?" Mr Lawson asked.
"We promised." Bolton sighed before pulling his famous sneer. "Do what you like. I ain't telling you anything."
"Well, maybe you'll tell someone else." Mr Lawson said.
"Do you think Mr Rimmer frightens me?" Bolton mocked.
Mr Lawson just smirked before walking further down the corridor. Bolton grabbed my wrist and tugged me along beside him.
"The police?" Candice Smilie, Bolton's mother, gritted out as we stood in the kitchen. I was actually quite scared of her now that I'd seen this threatening side of her.
"I promised to keep my gob shut, didn't I?" Bolton rolled his eyes.
"You promised me you were done with court appearances and ASBOs." Candice snapped. "I told you- I warned you what would happen if you started with this crap again."
"I know, Mum." Bolton excused. "But I can't..."
"I see." Candice nodded. "So your mates are more important, are they?"
"It's not like that." Bolton shook his head.
"It's alright, I get it." Candice teared up and turned away from us.
"It's alright, Candice." Lewis Seddon, one of the helper cooks, came over to comfort Bolton's mum. "Kids today, right ungrateful little sods."
"Oi!" I growled. "Who are you calling ungrateful?"
"Leave it, Eve." Bolton whispered, placing his hand on my shoulder to calm me down and then turned to Mr Lawson. "Alright, man. Paul needed to know how to fight because of his Uncle Dermot."
"He's been smacking him around." I added. "The boys were toughening him up. I was there to stop things if they went too far."
"He wasn't as tough as he thought he was." Bolton continued and then turned to his mum who began to cry again. "It's true! Paul's uncle is a right- well, you know..."
"He wasn't just smacking him 'round, either." I supplied. "He was really cruel to him. Locked him up in cupboards and that."
"I swear it's the truth!" Bolton pleaded as his mum cried even more.
"Alright, Bolton." Mr Lawson cut in. "That's enough."
"Mum... don't cry, man." Bolton said sadly.
"I see. That's what it takes, eh?" Candice turned around and hit him with a dishcloth. "I have to be in tears."
"Can you send me to the cooler now?" Bolton requested. "Please?"
"Go on." Mr Lawson nodded his head and Bolton left. "As for you, Acker, you're getting off lightly since you already served a week's detention for hurting Paul. Go on." I left too.
I hadn't even made it to the lunchroom before I saw Paul, who was sneaking out and sliding something shiny into his backpack. My eyes widened. It had to be a knife or something. No way he'd be suspicious about a fork or spoon.
I watched him walk down the corridor before I decided to follow him quietly. He didn't seem to notice me trailing behind him as he left the school grounds. I quickly ran to catch up with him and when he turned around multiple times, I always found a car to hide behind.
When he entered a house, I deduced that it was his own. After a few minutes of staying behind a car, I darted forwards and knocked on the door.
"Do you have time to talk about our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ?" I said in a fake accent, hoping he wouldn't notice that it was me. When he didn't answer the door, I pushed it open effortlessly. "Paul?" I went into the closest room and saw Paul sat on a chair, a huge kitchen knife in his hand.
"You shouldn't be here, Eve." Paul growled. "I don't want you to get hurt."
"Why are you doing this, Paul?" I asked from the doorway.
"I'm sick and tired of getting beaten up." Paul shook his head. "I wanted to get my own back."
"Paul, if you kill your uncle, you'll get thrown in prison." I pleaded. "He'll be free and you won't."
"I don't care." Paul snapped.
"Please, Paul." I advanced towards him and he held up the knife. "I won't take it from you. I'll stay with you." He seemed to think it over before lowering the knife a little and I climbed onto his lap. "I'm gonna be right here." I placed a hand on his cheek and smiled reassuringly.
"How does a bloody great big knife go missing?" Jack Rimmer questioned Lewis Seddon as they stood in his office.
"Well, it's been nicked, obviously." Lewis quipped. "Kids today... if it's not glued down-"
"Yeah, thanks, Lewis." Jack gestured to the door and the cook left. "Right, I want a full bag search. No child leaves the premises until that knife is back in the kitchen."
"Too late." Jasmine Koreshi interrupted. "Two people have already gone. Paul Langley and Eve Acker didn't turn up for registration this afternoon."
"Oh no." Eddie Lawson muttered.
"Something you wanna tell me?" Jack started.
"Um..." Eddie stuttered. "Paul and Eve were in a fight club with Bolton. Paul was getting training off them and Eve must have followed him somewhere. Bolton and Eve told me something about Paul's uncle smacking him around but Paul said he was lying."
"I'm calling the police." Jack said.
"There's no need for that." Eddie pleaded.
"I don't have a choice, Eddie." Jack snapped. "I'm calling them."
"We don't even know if Paul has the knife." Eddie shouted.
"Well, that's not a chance I'm willing to take." Jack said.
"Or if he's willing to use it on his uncle." Eddie exclaimed.
"He could have already used it on Eve by now." Jack suggested. "I'm calling the cops."
"Jack, think about it." Eddie stopped him. "Paul's the victim in all of this. If the police catch him with a knife, they have to arrest him. Zero tolerance."
"I know!" Jack sighed.
"Listen!" Eddie demanded. "Earlier today, I think he was on the verge of telling me what's been going on. But he doesn't trust me enough. If we set the police on him now, he'll never trust anyone ever again."
"He won't get the chance if he's lying in a pool of blood." Jack exaggerated.
"Lads like Paul and Bolton, they're in crisis!" Eddie continued. "And we write off their behaviour. We say it's just boys being boys. That's what I did to Paul. I told Jasmine their behaviour was just suspected, but I was wrong. I just think we've got a chance here, but not if Paul disappears into the criminal justice system and Eve is in the intensive care unit."
"Fine." Jack sighed. "Let's go."
Lying on Paul's lap with my head on his shoulder had made me a little sleepy. Since finding out about him being abused, I wasn't getting enough sleep. I spent night after night thinking of ways to help him without him getting beaten up but I could never come to a solution. Attacking the man with a knife definitely hadn't come to mind, not even once.
When Paul's hand moved away from my hair and he straightened up, I knew that his Uncle Dermot was home. I was wide awake now as I sat up on his lap.
"Paul, calm down." I whispered, placing my hand on the back of his neck. "Look at me. Paul, look at me." He turned his head to me. "He can't hurt you. Not while I'm here."
"Paul, I know you're here so you might as well come out." Dermot said calmly before his demeanour broke. "How many times, eh? How many times am I gonna have to drag you back to that school? I told you what would happen if you started this bunking off crap again. I mean, what did you think? That I didn't mean it?"
"Paul, please calm down." I pleaded as he began to get worked up. I ran my hand down the arm that held the knife. "Please."
"Well, I can tell you that I did." Dermot continued. "I haven't got all day to play hide and seek. You think you know what you're doing?! You know but you still act like a little shit! Sometimes, I wonder why I bother." I heard clattering from the other room and the man must have grabbed a weapon. "I talk and I talk, but not a word of it goes into that stupid head of yours."
"Paul." I moved my lips to his ear, speaking soothing words into it. "Don't listen to him. After today, he can't hurt you. Mr Lawson knows and even if he didn't, I would protect you. My aunt's a really good lawyer. If he laid a finger on me, he'd do time in prison and he'd do even longer once we proved he'd been hitting you."
"You were like this with your mother." Dermot snapped. "No wonder she topped herself."
I heard a loud thud and a groan. I furrowed my eyebrows and raised myself off Paul's lap before going to investigate. I bumped into a hard chest and looked up to see it was Mr Lawson.
"Acker, we've been looking for you." Mr Lawson said and Mr Rimmer left to go to Paul. "Mind telling me what you're doing here?"
"I followed Paul here after I saw him with a knife." I told him.
"And you didn't think to tell any of us?" Mr Lawson accused.
"You lot were only going to make it worse. He doesn't trust you. He trusts me. I've helped him through all of it. He even slept 'round at mine once because he suffered a really bad beating and I patched him up and let him sleep in my bed while I took the couch. That shows that we trust each other and the only way you'll get through to him is through me." I ranted.
Mr Rimmer shot through the doorway, holding his chest. It appeared as if he was having a panic attack. The knife and the murder from last year. It said in the papers he was the teacher who tried to save the victim. The poor man.
"It's okay, we know what's been going on." Mr Lawson said as he entered the room that Paul was in. I stood in the doorway, hidden behind the teacher. "It's alright. He can't hurt you. Not whilst we're here. Why don't you give me the knife?" I could just see Paul shake his head. "Look, Paul, you're not in trouble. Not if this stops right now. You're safe."
"I don't wanna end up like me mum." Paul said lowly. "I had to make it stop."
"You're not going to end up like her." I said as I stepped around Mr Lawson. Paul's composure seemed to falter slightly at the sight of me but he fixed it quickly, holding the knife even tighter.
"This isn't the way to make it stop." Mr Lawson continued. "It's not even your job to make it stop. It's ours. We're the grownups and we're here now. Hand it over."
Paul's arm lowered and he held out the knife. Mr Lawson took it and threw it onto the chair. I rushed over to Paul and threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around him in a hug. He hugged me back and I pressed my face into his chest. I may seem like some kind of strong girl, but on the inside, I was always terrified.
"Why didn't you tell someone what was going on?" Mr Lawson asked as we all sat against the wall. I had my hand in Paul's hair, relaxing him greatly as I trailed my fingers across his scalp.
"I did." Paul shrugged.
"Okay." Mr Lawson said. "Why didn't you tell anyone with more intelligence than Bolton Smilie or Eve Acker?"
"Hey!" I snapped jokingly, a small smile on my face.
"There's so much help for you out there, Paul." Mr Lawson said. "Doctors, Social Services-"
"They never helped Mum." Paul frowned.
"I bet they tried." Mr Lawson continued. "Look what nearly happened here today. What if Bolton or Eve hadn't told me what was going on? What if Lewis hadn't told me about the knife? Eve could have been lying in a pool of her own blood and you could have been in a prison cell."
"I'm sorry." Paul's voice cracked and I used my hand to pull his head onto my shoulder.
"It's okay, Paul." I rubbed my hand over his neck.
"How about you go pack some stuff, Paul?" Mr Lawson suggested. "Eve can help you."
"Come on, Paul." I stood up and took his hand, pulling him towards his room.
"Eve!" I heard someone shout as I walked down the school pathway. I was almost knocked off my feet as someone pulled me into a hug.
"Bolton?" I returned the hug.
"Man, when I heard about Paul and the knife, and then you weren't in registration... I was well worried." Bolton rushed out, letting go of me.
"I'm fine, Bolton." I placed my hand on his cheek. "Paul was going to confront his Uncle Dermot but I calmed him down then Mr Lawson managed to get the knife and now Dermot's being sent to a mental health institute and Paul's getting fostered."
"I am so glad you're okay." Bolton kissed my forehead lovingly. "Now, let's go home."
"Man, I have so much to tell my aunt." I grinned as Bolton joined his hand with mine and we began walking home together.
Yes, I did just write my favourite episode! Ugh it took so long! No, Eve does not fancy Paul! She's just being a sister-figure for him because she thinks he needs that in his life. I also cannot wait to write Series 5 Episode 2, even though that is a super long way away and something really surprising will happen will happen in Series 5! I hope you guys don't guess right away, because I'd love for it to actually be a surprise! Thank you to Blondiee Leah for the review, it made my day! Okay, the only thing I own in this story is Eve Acker and her Aunt Clara! Author's note over!