Walking up through the front gates of Waterloo Road, Jasmine Taylor stared up at the golden lettering that hung proudly above the entrance to the school.
"Waterloo Road," she murmured to herself as she continued to trace each gold letter with her eyes.
"Jasmine," one of the year ten girls smiled to her as a group of Jasmine's friends rushed down the steps to greet their friend.
"We weren't expecting you back so soon," another girl said, hugging her tightly.
Jasmine nodded. "I wasn't going to come back yet but being at home is driving me crazy now."
"Even more crazier than this place?" another girl joked.
Jasmine nodded a second time.
"Come on," one girl smiled as she linked arms with Jasmine. "Let's go to the canteen and get some chocolate. You look like you need cheering up."
Putting on a false smile, Jasmine followed her friends up the stairs and into the school. As she walked through the corridors of Waterloo Road, she looked even more uncertain on if she was ready to be back yet. It had only been seven days since she had lost her brother. Every single inch of this place reminded her of him. It didn't help that she was returning back to the school on the day of the memorial all the staff and students were holding for him. A huge photo of Benjamin's face stood in the corner of the main entrance, surrounded by cards and flowers all dedicated to her brother.
With his arm wrapped tightly around Dylan, Danny kissed the top of her forehead as they stood talking to Kimmy and Muhammad - both of whom were grinning at the couple's publicly displayed affection.
"Stop it," Dylan laughed, gently hitting her new boyfriend off her as he began to shower her cheek with kisses. "You're so embarrassing."
"Have you guys done the science assignment yet?" Sean asked as he walked over to the group in the middle of the school car park, chomping away on a bacon sandwich from the canteen - his second one of the day.
Dylan nodded. So did Muhammad. So did Kimmy. Danny awkwardly shook his head.
"Danny, you said you were gonna do it this weekend," Dylan groaned. "I can't be with you if you're just gonna rely on me to do your homework."
"I'll do it at lunch. I promise."
Dylan rolled her eyes as he draped his arms over her shoulders and hugged her from behind. "Yeah, like I believe that."
"Do what I'm gonna do and say you were too stricken with grief by Benny's death to do the homework," Sean joked - the only issue with his joke was that nobody laughed.
"How long are you going to disrespect him for, Sean?" Muhammad raged. "We get you weren't his biggest fan, but it's getting boring now. He's dead. Can't you bury the hatred and just let it go?"
Looking defeated, Sean shrugged his shoulders as he took another bite of his sandwich. "Whatever."
"Don't forget that this week I'll be observing a few of your lessons," Dale Bushley announced as he flicked through the bundle of letters that had been placed in his pigeon hole in the staff room. "It will be unannounced so be prepared."
"Does that mean we have to do lesson plans?" Shirley asked, guzzling on her cup of tea.
Dale didn't respond; instead, he just turned to her and threw daggering eyes at her. That was when Shirley knew she had twenty minutes to prepare a weeks worth of lesson plans - something told her that this wasn't going to work out the way she hoped.
With the cold September air still surrounding the school and its fields, all the boys of Will Rogers' PE group jogged into the fog to be followed by all the girls dawdling with their arms stuck inside their jackets, complaining about how cold it was. The weather, however, didn't seem to phase the boys in the slightest - they found the girls' reactions pretty amusing.
"Come on, girls," Will laughed with encouragement as he ran onto the field to join his sixth year class for their lesson. "Get your arms out of your jackets and jog around the field. It'll get you moving and you'll warm up a lot quicker by doing that. Get going. Go on."
The boys set out without hesitation, racing one another as they did a lap of their school field. The girls, on the other hand, huddled around in a pack beside Will, pleading for him to cancel the lesson.
"A bit of exercise will set you up for a day of learning," Will smiled to the girls. "Go on. It'll get your blood pumping and warm you up."
"I can think of better ways to get my blood pumping, sir," Emma winked in a teasing and seductive tone.
As the majority of the girls giggled at Emma's comment towards their attractive teacher, Will looked at Emma, trying to conceal his laugh. "Go on, or I'll make it two laps."
"But sir.."
"Three laps?"
Reluctantly, the girls began to jog around the school field, groaning in defeat as they trudged on the frosted grass. The sun was shining in the sky above their heads, trying to burn the fog off, but it still didn't help the girls' motivation to participate in the lesson - they would have much rather stayed by Will Rogers and watched him carry out the lesson by himself.
On everyone's return, Will began instructing his class on what they were all going to do for the lesson. As soon as the students got into groups of four amongst themselves and began to work on football tackling, Emma removed herself from her group and walked over to Will as if she was on a mission - well, in a way, she was.
"Sir, I don't think I'll be able to do football now," she sighed, adding a limp to her walk as he looked up at her. "I must have twisted my ankle when we were jogging."
"Okay," Will said, knowing exactly what she was playing at. "I guess you can sit out for this lesson. You can help me set up the running track for my next lesson with the year eights."
"Okay, sir."
As Will picked up some cones and began to outline the faded white running track lines with them, Emma stayed a few steps behind him, admiring the view as he bent down slightly to put the cones down. Biting her lip, Emma felt quite accomplished with herself as she checked out Will Rogers' talent.
"Look at her," Dylan laughed as she stopped running for a few moments and nodded over to Emma, who was still perving on their PE teacher. "She's gagging for him."
"Are you gagging for Danny then, Dylan?" Sean teased.
Dylan looked over her shoulder at Sean. "Sean, I do really feel sorry for you. I mean, if you're not gloating about Benjamin's death, you're trying to make fun at somebody else. Do you get a thrill from making everyone around you unhappy or does it just come naturally to you?"
"Someone's getting tetchy about it," Sean laughed. "Are the rumours true though, Dylan? Are you still a virgin?"
Dylan looked away from Sean, completely ignoring him as she took the football from Danny and began to dribble it away from them.
"Dylan?" Sean paused. "You're still a virgin, aren't you?"
"Sean," Danny snapped. "Stop it."
"Oh my God, that's hilarious!"
"Sean, just leave it. Whether she is or isn't, it really doesn't affect you. Can't you just back out of everybody's business for once?" Danny asked. "You always get involved in things that don't involve you. Penny was right last week. Just stay out of it. Get your own lives instead of getting involved in everyone else's."
"But.."
"Sean, I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of virginity anyway," Muhammad smiled. "It's not like you've lost yours yet anyway."
Sean's face dropped as he looked at Muhammad in shock.
"You're still a virgin?" Danny questioned. "What happened to losing it when you were fourteen?"
"I.." Sean stuttered, trying to gather his words together so he didn't make the situation any more embarrassing. "I.. I did.. I don't know what Muhammad is on about."
"Liar."
"Oh, forget this," Sean groaned as he threw his football bib on the ground and stormed off towards the school building. "PE is such a waste anyway."
Jogging over to where Dylan had dribbled the football to, Danny tried to catch up with her as Muhammad stayed behind, making up for Emma's place with Penny, Susie and Kimmy.
"Is it true?" Penny laughed. "Hasn't Sean lost his v-card yet?"
Muhammad grinned to her with a smirk. "He makes out he has and sex is the big be all and end all, but he admitted to me over summer that he's still a virgin."
"Tragic," Penny gloated.
Kimmy, stood awkwardly, looked after her brother as he barged his way into the school through the doors to the PE changing rooms. Part of her wanted to go chase after him, but part of her also wanted him to just have some space by himself - she couldn't spend her entire life chasing after his little dramas.
At the other end of the field, Danny caught up with Dylan and watched as she kicked the ball gently with her foot as Will had taught them all last week.
"Ignore him," Danny paused, breaking the silence as Dylan continued to work on her footwork. "He's just getting involved in our lives because he doesn't have one for himself."
"I guess."
"Dylan," Danny took a breath as he took hold of her hand and pulled her towards him, making her look up at him. "It doesn't matter if you are a virgin, you know? It's not something to be embarrassed about. Actually, it's something to be proud of. With some of the girls in this school, it's rare."
Dylan broke a slight smile.
"I don't care if you are or aren't."
"I am."
"And that doesn't matter to me. It doesn't change the way I feel about you," Danny smiled, bringing his hand to her face as he softly caressed her cheek with his thumb as he looked into her eyes. "And I promise you. If, and when, we do, it'll be special. I promise."
Dylan nodded as she wrapped her arms around Danny, holding onto him as she burrowed her head into his chest.
Throwing his backpack over his shoulder as he walked out of the boys' changing rooms and down the steps to join the main corridor of the school, Muhammad glanced behind him and stopped in his tracks as he noticed Jasmine walking down the corridor in his direction.
"Jas," he smiled, unsure of how to talk to her. "Are you alright?"
"As alright as I can be I suppose," she replied, breaking a smile for his benefit. "Sorry I missed your birthday."
"Don't worry about it," Muhammad paused. "I'm so sorry about your brother. I would have texted you but I didn't know what to say."
"It's alright," Jasmine nodded as they walked down the corridor together, engaging in small talk in an attempt to hide the awkwardness that had invaded them.
"How are you coping?" he asked, looking at her in concern - even he could tell something had changed in her.
"I'm getting through it one day at a time. I just miss him so much," Jasmine paused. "The other night I actually forgot he had gone. I went into his room to ask for some hair spray and forgot he wasn't there anymore. I'd do anything to have him make fun of me again or throw a cushion at me as soon as I walk into a room. He annoyed me so much, but I miss it now he's gone."
"He's always gonna be with you, Jas," Muhammad said, trying to reassure her. "He didn't admit it to you, but I know he loved you so much and thought the world of you."
Jasmine broke a slight smile as she looked at Muhammad. "I've got to get to English now but ring me some time."
Muhammad nodded, leaning across and giving her a friendly hug. "Take care of yourself. I'm always here if you need someone to talk to."
As Jasmine continued to walk down the corridor in the direction of the English classrooms, Muhammad stood still in the middle of the crowded corridor, much to the annoyance of all the other students who were battling towards their next lessons. Watching her from afar, Muhammad had a look of emotionlessness across his face. A few moments passed by and he reluctantly turned around and began to head towards his next lesson.
Letting her long blonde hair fall from her ponytail once she had got changed out of her PE kit and into her school uniform, Emma shoved her PE kit into one of the empty lockers in the changing rooms. Turning around, she was slightly shocked to see the changing rooms empty apart from Will, who was stood in the doorway smiling at her.
"Sir, you almost gave me a heart attack," she laughed.
"Sorry," he apologised. "Thought everybody had left."
"It's okay. I was just about to leave."
"Well done today, Emma. With helping me set up the field," Will smiled. "How is your ankle now?"
"What? Oh.. yeah, my ankle. It's feeling a lot better, thank-you."
With an awkward silence filling the changing room, Emma picked up her schoolbag and slumped it over her shoulder, looking up at Will as she did so.
"Sir, I hope you don't mind me asking but do you think you could coach me for long-distance running?" Emma asked. "My gran died last year of cancer and I wanna run in the marathon next term in her memory."
"I don't see why not," Will smiled. "Come to my office after school and we'll arrange something."
"Okay," Emma nodded, smiling innocently to him. "Thank-you."
Giving him one last glance, Emma walked out of the girls' changing room, leaving a waft of perfume following along behind her as she disappeared into the corridor. Will, watching her leave, sighed as soon as the door closed behind her. Sitting down on the bench in the middle of the room, he put his head into his hands and let out a huge exhale of breath.
Ruffling a few pieces of paper about that had been scattered onto her desk as she hastily planned her lessons - something of which she never did, Shirley panicked as she looked up at the windows that lined her classroom wall and saw Dale parading down the corridor, stopping outside her door to speak with the students that were queued up, waiting for the lesson to begin.
"Thank-you for waiting so patiently," Shirley calmly said as she opened the door and greeted her year nine students. "Please come in, take a seat and get all your equipment out."
"Miss, I forgot my book," one of the students confessed.
"Darren, this is the second time this has happened and we've only been back in lessons for six school days," Shirley sighed, reacting in the way she knew Dale would want her to react. "Get some paper from the back of the room but I need to see your book in the next lesson otherwise you'll have to purchase another one from reception."
As the students filed into the classroom, surprisingly following her instructions, Shirley smiled at them. "Ah, Mr. Bushley," she said, pretending to only just notice him as the last student entered the classroom. "Will you be observing my lesson?"
"I will, Miss. Brand.
"Well, please come in."
Following Shirley into the classroom, Dale gave the French teacher a smirking grin as he could see right through her acting front. Dale knew exactly what Shirley was like - the unorganised, belittling teacher that all the students complained about. It looked like this lesson was going to be very entertaining on his behalf, and he was going to enjoy every moment of it.
As Danny sat down at a work table in the school library, Dylan picked out a few textbooks from the shelves before piling them up beside where Danny had sat down. Much to his reluctance, Danny picked up the top one, flicked through it and closed it back up, placing it onto the pile again within a matter of seconds.
"What are these for?" Danny asked.
"Studying," Dylan joked. "You know, that thing students are supposed to do."
"I know that, but why?"
"I said I'd help you do the science assignment," Dylan explained. "We have just under two hours to do it - plenty of time."
"Can't I just copy yours?" Danny groaned, not acting enthusiastic over Dylan's plan in the slightest. "It'll take ten minutes."
"No, Danny."
"Fine."
"Who can tell me what this word says?" Shirley asked her class as she wrote a French word on the whiteboard behind her.
Once receiving no offers of answers to her question, Shirley took it on herself to volunteer someone to do it. "Jess, how about you?" she smiled to a timid girl at the back of the room, who looked as if she was doing everything and anything to avoid having to say anything in the class. "Can you give it a go? Remember, it doesn't matter if you get it wrong - we can learn from our mistakes, so give it a go."
"Um.. I.. Ah.. Jay aye."
"Jay aye? Since when did French people speak like that.." Shirley paused as she noticed Dale's look of disapproval in the corner of the classroom. "It's j'ai."
Jess, looking a little embarrassed, sunk back into her chair and remained inclusive for the rest of the lesson as Shirley continued to make the same mistakes - belittling her students, making fun of their mistakes and lecturing them on how important pronunciation was when learning a language but failing to pronounce the majority of the words she said correctly.
By the end of the lesson, the majority of the students had become unruly, disrupting the minority of the students who actually wanted to learn, who had resulted in teaching themselves from the out of date textbooks that Shirley had handed out to them half way through the lesson when she gave up on following her last minute lesson plan.
As the students dismissed themselves and headed to their next lessons, Dale stood up from the seat he had been observing from and walked over to Shirley, who was sat at her desk.
"I know the students are a bit of a handful but they usually participate a bit better than this," Shirley explained. "I don't know what happened to them."
"They're not the problem," Dale paused. "Shirley, it's clear to see from this lesson that you really don't have what it takes to be a patience. You have no understanding. You lack enthusiasm for your subject and students. You belittle the students, making them not want to participate. You take fun of their inability to learn, something which is all down to your attitude towards the students and the teaching. After that observation, I have no choice but to report you to the teaching board, who will subsequently put you on probation."
"Probation? I'm not a student," Shirley laughed. "I know how to teach."
"Your classes' results for the last three consecutive years in GCSEs and A-Levels beg to differ," Dale argued. "Your teaching skills are non-existent and your attitude is abysmal."
"So what will happen on probation?" Shirley asked, not seeing the seriousness in the matter.
"You will be monitored for a month and if there are no improvements made, you will be fired."
As Dale left the room, leaving Shirley to come to terms with the result of her observation, she screwed up the pile of lesson plans up and threw them towards the waste paper bin that stood full in the corner of the room. The crumpled ball of paper fell onto the ground, missing the target by inches.
Sitting beside her boyfriend, Dylan showed Danny articles in the books she had picked out from the shelf as Danny took notes, arranging them into an essay.
"See this one?" Dylan asked. "This shows the importance of chemical reactions within everyday life. It didn't say it on the specification, but if you use it, it shows enhanced research and you'll be able to get more marks."
Danny stopped putting his pen to the paper and looked up at Dylan with a smile on his face. "You do realise this is probably the first time I've ever done homework on time."
"I know," Dylan grinned. "And you're gonna get an amazing grade for it."
"It's all down to you."
Dylan shook her head as she put the textbook down on the table and sat back into the chair to look at him. "It's down to you. You might not want to do and I might be helping you a bit, but I'm showing you what to do - you're the one doing it. You could easily say you don't want to do it."
Danny flashed a grin to Dylan before continuing to write the essay. Dylan watched as his pen flew across the page - the ink leaving words on the paper as Danny continued to look up at the book before writing even more words.
Wandering around the various tables in her science classroom, Amber Hussein looked down at her students as they eagerly made notes in their books. "According to the Law of Conservation of Energy, energy can be transformed. It cannot be created or destroyed. Reactions, for example, use the energy from its reactants to transform the energy to the new product from the reaction," she explained. "So, Macaulay, if I burn a candle, how do you think the energy is transformed in that reaction?"
Just as Macaulay was about to give his answer, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in," Amber called as she turned around to look at the door.
"Sorry to interrupt your lesson, Miss. Hussein, but an urgent message for you came," Taj smiled once he walked into the classroom with an envelope in his hand.
"Thank-you," she grinned, taking the envelope from him.
As she began to peel back the envelope and reached inside to get the message, Taj disappeared out of the classroom, closing the door behind him.
"Dinner tonight? 5pm in my classroom? Not very romantic but I'm behind on marking"
Grinning to herself, Amber slotted the piece of paper back into the envelope and put it down on her desk.
"Miss.."
"Yeah, sorry," Amber apologised, shaking herself back to reality as she focused on the class - just as she was supposed to. "Where were we?"
Within seconds of the school bell ringing, signally the start of lunch, the corridors of Waterloo Road became crammed full of all the students and staff members heading to their various places to eat lunch. With the majority of the students heading towards the canteen in one direction and the majority of the staff heading towards the staff room in the opposite direction, a blockage happened in the centre of the main corridor.
"Keep to the left!" Shirley growled as she barricaded her way through the students. "You will go to the cooler if I see you as so much step over the middle of the corridor!"
Inside the staff room, Will was stood in the kitchenette area, pinging his lunch in the microwave as Yvonne rummaged through the staff's communal fridge in search of her own lunch.
"So Will, how are you finding it here?" Yvonne asked as she finally laid her hands on her tortilla wrap and pulled it out the fridge, making sure she didn't cause an avalanche with everyone else's lunches.
"It's great," Will smiled. "What about you?"
"It's alright so far."
"Good."
"Do you reckon one night, if you're not busy that is, you'd fancy going for a drink?" Yvonne asked nervously. "I don't really know many people here so it'd be nice to get to know you and a few others."
"Sounds good," Will nodded. "In fact, my wife and I are going for a few drinks tonight with her work colleagues at Havelock High. You're welcome to join us."
At the mention of him having a wife, Yvonne's smile turned into a face of disappointment. Looking down at the kitchen counter in between where her and Will were stood, she nodded. "Yeah, I'll let you know for definite at the end of the day though?"
Will smiled. "Sounds good."
After watching the chemicals in various test tubes bubble up above the bunsen burner, Dylan began to make notes on the experiment.
"So what do you think?" Danny asked, leaning on the table next to her and watching the bubbles as well.
"I've arranged them in terms of reactivity, but I don't know," Dylan paused as she grabbed the tongs and picked up one of the substances. "This just seems like it's doing nothing."
"No, I meant about my text," Danny laughed.
Looking at Danny in confusion, Dylan picked up her phone from her bag that was beneath the workbench and read the text displayed on her phone.
"Everyone's off to the pub tonight so wanna stop at mine afterwards?"
Dylan reread the text a few times before looking up at Danny. "I don't know. We have school tomorrow and I need to start working on this French coursework," Dylan paused as she noticed Danny's disappointment.
"Stopping at mine doesn't mean we'll.. you know."
Dylan nodded. "I know. I didn't even think about that. I just don't know."
"My dad's at a meeting and my mum won't mind you stopping over," Danny smiled. "Come on. Please."
"Okay," Dylan reluctantly agreed.
"Good," Danny grinned, kissing her cheek.
"Danny and Dylan, the class appreciate that you have some chemistry going on between you two at the moment but it isn't the chemistry we're after in this lesson so could you please leave the kissing until after the lesson?" Amber teased, calling them both out in front of the entire class. "And Danny, get back to your own lab partner and stop stealing Alfie's."
As Danny hesitantly disappeared back to the back of the room to Kimmy, who had done the entire experiment by herself, Alfie slid closer to Dylan and watched her as she concentrated on the experiment.
"Don't let him make you do things you don't want to, Dylan," Alfie whispered as he passed her the universal indicator solution. "You don't need people like that."
"He's not," Dylan smiled as she looked up to her lab partner. "I know I don't need people like that, but honestly, he's not like that."
"Okay," Alfie replied, completely unconvinced.
"What you doing tonight?"
"Nothing really."
"Well, why don't you come to pub? Everyone's going to be there apparently. It'll be a nice little send off for Benjamin after the memorial," Dylan suggested.
"Are you sure Danny won't mind me tagging along?"
"It's not up to Danny who I hang around with," Dylan laughed. "Come on, it'll be fun."
"Okay."
With the final bell of the day ringing out through the corridors, the usual buzz that would erupt through the school's building was nowhere to be seen. The atmosphere was tense and could have easily been cut like a knife as all the students piled out into the school grounds. Whilst the rest of the years disappeared out the school gates as fast as they could, all the sixth year students congregated onto the school field along with a few year ten students, including Jasmine Taylor.
Once everyone had settled down as they stood in a circle around the corner of the football pitch, Shauna took a step forward. "Benjamin Taylor was a much-loved student and a valued member of our Waterloo Road family. He was known and loved by so many students and pupils," she began as she looked around at the many faces that surrounded her in the middle of the school's field. "He was known for his ability of making people laugh regardless of what mood they were in and he was known for his equal love of football."
Wrapping his arm around her, Muhammad began to comfort Jasmine as she began to cry at the lovely words being spoken about her beloved brother.
"Benjamin sadly died last week but he will forever be remembered by Waterloo Road as that bright, intelligent and positive student who brought so much to this school," Shauna continued. "Benjamin's best friend, Jack, wants to say a few words so Jack, whenever you're ready.."
As Shauna took a step backwards to join the rest of the staff, Jack Morris looked down at the grassy ground before taking a quick look at his classmates.
"Not many people knew Benjamin like I knew him. And that's a shame because he was one of the most funniest, kindest, loyalest people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing," Jack paused as he took a deep breath, composing his words so they made sense. "I don't think anybody will be able to replace him. He was always there to cheer me up when I was down - whether it was about trivial little things like girls or losing a football match to life-changing things like family deaths. Nothing was too challenging for Benjamin. He was always determined to do his very best."
Clinging onto Muhammad, Jasmine sobbed even more.
"He's gonna be greatly missed by everyone who knew him and I don't think our lives are ever gonna be the same again, not without Benjamin here."
Silence took over the school field as Jack and Benjamin's other friend, Mark, planted a tree a few metres away from the pitch's corner.
"This tree is gonna be watching over every football match that happens at Waterloo Road for many years to come, just as Benjamin would have done if he was still alive. I just hope this tree doesn't hurl abuse at people when they do a tackle wrong or let the opposing team score abuse," Jack joked, making a little light-heartedness of the situation.
With people beginning to filter off, back towards the school building or onto the streets to make their own ways home, Jasmine knelt beside the tree and looked up at the branches. A little golden plaque was displayed on the floor in front of the tree.
'In loving memory of Benjamin Taylor - a loving student, a keen footballer and an amazing brother'
Sniffling as she traced the words with her finger, Jasmine couldn't help but wish her brother was here to comfort her. Instead of being comforted by her brother, Muhammad bent down and put his arm around her shoulder.
"He's so proud of you, Jas," Muhammad whispered. "Never forget that."
On the other end of the school field, Shauna stepped off the grass and began making her way into the school building. After saying 'goodbye' to a few students as they left the building, Shauna walked into the lobby and froze in shock as to what she saw. Scrawled all over the wall of cards and messages people had been leaving in memory of Benjamin were the words 'traitor'. To make matters worse, the portrait of Benjamin that stood in the corner of the lobby had been decorated with doodles that it didn't even resemble Benjamin anymore.
"Sean White!" Shauna bellowed as she spotted the tearaway at the end of the corridor, armed with a permanent marker. "Get to my office now!"
Just as Shauna was about to warn the students who had followed her into the building, it was too late. Jasmine had already caught sight of the defacing of her brother's memorial.
"Jasmine, I am so sorry about this. Don't worry, Sean is gonna pay for this and he will be getting punished for it," Shauna apologised.
"It's okay."
As Shauna rushed down the corridor, chasing Sean to her office, Jasmine looked at the graffiti with a blank look across her face.
"He doesn't mean it, Jas. He's just grieving," Muhammad paused.
"There's somethings that you don't know about my brother," Jasmine sighed. "Don't presume you know what my brother was like because you don't. I loved him and he was amazing to me but there's things people never knew about him and what he could be like."
Inside her office, Shauna looked at the troubled teen as he slumped in the chair opposite her desk in disbelief. Never had she met somebody who could be so heartless.
"What the hell are you playing at, Sean?" Shauna shouted. "I get that you didn't like Benjamin but you need to think about the consequences of your actions to poor Jasmine. She's dealing with the loss of her brother - her only brother. You can't be doing things like that."
"So?" Sean bluntly replied.
"I have no choice but to suspend you for a week until I can think of how we're gonna deal with you," Shauna paused. "I don't even know if I can have a student like you in this school. It's too much of a risk to the other students. You're trouble."
"Whatever," Sean slurred as he got up from the chair and barged past Shauna, disappearing out of her office.
Knocking on the art room's door, Amber looked down both ends of the corridor, making sure nobody was watching her as she waited for somebody to answer the classroom door. As the door opened, Amber was greeted by Taj, who was dressed smartly in a pristine suit and tie - the complete opposite to his usual shirt and jeans combo that he wore for work.
"Well, this is a pleasant surprise," she grinned, admiring his attire as she walked into his classroom that was decorated with the year eight's masks and the year ten's pop art attempts.
Spritzing aftershave all over himself, Alfie checked his reflection in the mirror before straightening out his collar. Eventually satisfied with the way he looked, he grabbed his phone from the docking station that was stood on his bedside table and left his room, shutting the door behind him. As he made his way down the stairs, he could hear his mother and her one of many boyfriend's in the lounge. The thought of seeing them together almost brought sick to his mouth so he rushed across the hallway and out the door.
"Alfie?" his mother called as she walked to the doorway, peeping around the doorframe just in time for the front door to close behind him.
As he made his way down the street, in the direction of the high street, he felt as if someone was following him. Glancing over his shoulder a few times, Alfie couldn't spot anything or anyone. Putting it down to paranoia, he picked up his phone from his pocket and began to dial a number.
"Hey, yeah, it's me."
"Nope, I've just set off now but I'll be there in about ten minutes," Alfie replied, pausing for a few moments. "Yeah. See you in a bit. Bye."
Just as he was about to shove his phone back into his pocket, a hand grabbed hold of his arm and shoved him against the side wall of a row of shops just a few doors from his own house. The area was known to be rough but Alfie had never had any issues before.
"Stay away from her."
"Danny?" Alfie asked in confusion as a beam of light from a nearby streetlight struck the stranger's face.
"Yeah. Do you understand me though?" Danny snarled as he pinned Alfie up against the wall. "I really like her and I don't need people like you messing it up for me. Leave Dylan alone."
"We're just friends," Alfie argued, pushing his classmate from him.
"I'm serious," Danny retaliated. "Leave her alone."
"Or what?" Alfie laughed. "You'll beat me up?"
"Just leave her alone and you won't have anything to worry about."
Passing his date a strawberry, Taj continued listening to Amber's story of her childhood.
"I wasn't really an outgoing girl but I got my work done and got the grades," Amber smiled. "I guess I was just determined to get a better life for myself and family."
"Better life?" Taj questioned.
"We lived in Pakistan and my dad's brother sort of bullied him into working for him so we didn't have much freedom. Everything we wanted to do had to be approved by him. Everything we wanted to buy had to be approved by him and then checked by him once we had bought it. If he didn't approve of it, we had to get rid of it or give it to him," Amber explained. "He was a professional manipulator."
"What happened when you moved to England?" Taj asked.
"He died in the end," Amber smiled, putting the strawberry to her mouth. "Heart attack apparently."
"I hate to say it but it sounds like he deserved it."
Chomping on the strawberry, Amber nodded. "Definitely. He was a retched old man."
Inside the pub, Emma attempted to convince the barman that she had left her ID at home but she was definitely eighteen years old - even though she was seventeen. After five minutes of pleading with him, she finally gave up and retreated back to the table that she was sharing with all her friends.
"Dylan, please go get me a drink," Emma begged as she grabbed hold of her best friend's hand and gave her 'puppy eyes'. "I'll give you the money."
"Get me one too," Penny asked, handing a crisp ten pound note over to Dylan.
"I'll get them," Susie laughed, noticing how much Dylan didn't want to go to the bar. "What do you all want?"
"Anything with vodka," Emma replied.
"Do they do cocktails?" Penny asked, lifting herself up slightly to look over at the drinks menu that was hung at the side of the bar.
"It's a pub," Dylan laughed. "I hardly think they will."
"Dylan, do you want anything?" Susie questioned.
"Um, yeah, okay. Thanks."
"Just get different drinks and we can all share them," Penny smiled to Susie.
As soon as Susie went over to the bar, Alfie walked into the pub, looking a little windswept. Seeing Alfie walk over to them, Dylan stood up and shuffled her way past her friends to give Alfie a hug. Reluctantly, Alfie hugged Dylan back.
"Come on," Dylan smiled, taking Alfie's hand and dragged him against his will past her friends. "Sit with us."
Sitting beside Dylan, Alfie couldn't help but replay Danny's words in his head. He wasn't scared of anybody, especially Danny Walsbrook, but he didn't want things to get stupidly out of hand, especially since he wanted to get into university this year and any bad record with fights or feuds could compromise his place at the University of Edinburgh.
"I like your hair like that," Dylan said as she admired Alfie's brown hair that he'd gelled up into a quiff. "It makes you look so much older."
"I guess being not in the school uniform helps too," Alfie joked.
"Alfie, how old are you?" Emma asked.
"Eighteen, why?"
"Great," Emma grinned. "You can buy our drinks for us next."
"Um, okay?" Alfie laughed.
"I hope to God that Sean has the common sense to stay away tonight," Penny groaned. "I still can't believe what he did at Benjamin's memorial. I know they didn't get out, but I didn't realise Sean would stoop that low just to get one up on him. He's dead. I don't get why he can't just move on."
"I know it sounds stupid but maybe it's his way of dealing with the grief," Emma paused.
"What?" Penny questioned, looking at Emma with a expression of disgust.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not condoning his behaviour, but maybe he is grieving and the only way he can deal with it is pretending that he doesn't care that Benjamin's actually gone?" Emma suggested. "They were best friends for so long before they came to Waterloo Road apparently."
Penny shrugged her shoulders as she took a sip from the drink that Susie handed her. "He needs to stop being so heartless though. Maybe then people will like him."
Just as the group of friends went to silence, drinking from the various drinks that Susie had brought back to the table with her, the door to the pub opened and in walked Danny.
"Here comes lover boy," Emma teased, gently nudging Dylan with her elbow.
"Shut up," Dylan blushed. "It's been a week. We're hardly in love."
"Hardly in what?" Danny asked, smiling to Dylan as he approached the table.
"Squeeze up, guys," Penny said, squishing towards Susie as she made room for Danny to sit down.
"I wanna sit with my girl," Danny paused.
Reshuffling around the table, Penny squeezed up beside Susie as Emma budged up against Alfie. In the end, Dylan ended up standing up to let Danny sit where she was before clambering onto his lap.
"Don't you dare make me spill my drink," Dylan warned as she cautiously lifted her drink up from the table and slowly moved it towards her lips.
As she took a drink, Danny grinned and began to bounce his knees up and down, causing Dylan's drink to splash over the sides of the glass and fall onto her top.
"Danny," she groaned.
Walking out to their cars that were still parked in the school grounds, Amber and Taj continued to get to know one another. Amber had learnt all about Taj's family and how Taj took on the role of Muhammad's guardian once their mum had fallen sick a few years ago but only just recently recovered. Likewise with Taj learning about Amber's upbringing in Pakistan. They both came from completely different backgrounds but they got on amazingly well. It wasn't until they both reached their cars that they learned how well they did get on.
"I'll see you tomorrow then," Amber smiled as she unlocked her car and dumped her bags and folders into the car.
Taj nodded.
As he watched Amber as she was about to climb into her car, Taj took a deep breath and took hold of her arm. "I can't let you go without this." Placing his lips onto Amber's, they both embraced one another as they kissed in the moonlit school car park.
"Night, Taj," Amber grinned as she eventually climbed into her car.
"Night," Taj beamed, watching her as she got into her car and drove off out of the school grounds, looking pretty content with himself.
"We'd better be off," Danny sighed as he pretended to yawn.
"Yeah," Dylan smiled, downing the rest of her drink before accidentally slamming the glass down on the table.
As Dylan and Danny got ready to head back to Danny's for the night, Alfie watched from his seat without saying a word. Once Dylan had put her jacket back on, she found her shoulder being draped with Danny's arm once again. Smiling up to him, she said night to all her friends and then the couple made their way over to the door before disappearing into the night.
"I guess I'd better be getting home too," Emma smiled, putting her coat on. "Alfie, do you fancy walking me home?"
"Ur.. sure," Alfie reluctantly agreed - his mind still with Dylan.
"Are you two alright here by yourselves?" Emma asked, looking at Susie and Penny who had hardly spoken all night. "We can stay if you want a bit of company."
"It's fine," Penny smiled. "You two get home. We'll see you at school tomorrow anymore."
"Oh, the joys," Emma laughed. "Right, come on then, Alfie."
The second Alfie and Emma also disappeared into the night, Susie shuffled across the seat they were all squashed up on just a few moments previously and sighed.
"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" Penny asked as she looked at a nervous Susie who was now sat opposite her.
"Nothing," Susie shrugged. "I should probably get home too. I didn't tell my mum where I was going so she'll probably be getting worried about me now."
"You're eighteen," Penny laughed. "You can do whatever you want.. You can do whoever you want, Susie. You don't have to pretend with me. I know your secret."
"What secret?"
"You know.. the fact you're gay."
Susie looked at Penny in confusion. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said as she picked up her coat from the back of the seat and draped it over her arm, standing up as quickly as she possibly could.
"You know exactly what I'm on about, Susie. I've known for ages. You can't deny it."
"I can deny it because it's not true," Susie snarled. "Night."
Sitting at the pub table by herself, Penny looked across the pub as Susie made her way to the door. Just as Susie was about to make her exit, she looked back to Penny. Their eyes connected from each side of the room. Penny knew she was right. And Susie knew Penny was right. She just didn't want her to be right anymore.
Leading Dylan up to his bedroom, Danny continued to glance back at her, giving her little smiles as she looked around at his house in astonishment. She never imagined his house to be anything like this. She expected something similar to her own house - a relatively decent sized three-bedroomed semi-detached house. Instead, Danny's house was something like she saw in the movies - the really rich houses she saw in the movies. The house was massive and decorated in the most beautiful decor she had ever seen before.
"What is it your parents do?" Dylan asked as she followed Danny into his room.
"My mum's a lawyer and my dad's the headteacher at Havelock," Danny confessed.
"Whoa."
Danny nodded his head as he grabbed a box of matches from his bedside table and lit a candle that was stood beside his bed. Once the flame was flickering, creating a cosy glow in his bedroom, Danny looked over his shoulder at Dylan. Nervously looking around the room, Dylan put her bag down on a chair that was in the corner of the room.
"Are you okay?" Danny questioned, looking at her with concern.
"Yeah. I just.. I just wanna get this over and done with."
Danny looked at her in confusion. "No. I didn't mean that. I just like falling asleep with a candle on," Danny smiled.
"I want to do it."
Danny studied her for a moment. "I don't want you to if you're not ready. I'll wait for you."
Dylan shook her head as she took hold of Danny's hand as he remained seated on his bed. "I'm ready."