It was 8 'o'clock the next morning. Rachel got out of Eddie's car slowly and looked up at the school, for the first time feeling intimidating, daunting over her like a bad dream. A nightmare ready to unfold and erase all the positive things in her life. She shook her head and blinked repetitively, looking back up at the school building. A building, that's all it is, bricks and mortar. It's the people inside that counted, the bricks a skin for the lessons that took place inside, pulsing around the building like veins, veins being powered by the heart of the school, the staff and pupils. It was only bricks and mortar. Her heart sank as the LEA board conductors pulled into the car park. Eddie took her arm gently but she shook him off, walking into the school and up to her office, her mind distant, looking around it for the last time. Taking in every little detail that she always took for granted. The way there was always a coffee on her desk ready for her when she walked in, how her paperwork was organised into neat little piles for her to sort through, no unnecessary rummaging through stacks of abandoned sheets and an array of different forms. She'd miss that.
The knock she'd been anticipating came to her door around 8:30. The moment of truth had arrived, and she was unprepared. Unprepared for what the future may hold, whether she stays or goes. She didn't have the answers and in a way, she didn't want them. She knew she couldn't leave it all behind but didn't know if she could keep her tight grasp around it for much longer. Everything was slipping from beneath her fingers and she couldn't pull it back.
"Miss Mason, I believe there is an issue involving yourself and your, shall we say, previous career. There are a number of parents who have contacted us regarding this matter, and we all see it fit for you to have your contract with Waterloo Road Comprehensive terminated with immediate effect."
She stood with bated breath, not daring to allow oxygen through to her lungs with fear they may collapse in on her, the way her life had. She felt the salty tears brush the back of her eyes, using all the energy she could muster to stop them reaching the surface. Her legs shook as she rose from her chair, subconsciously as if she had no self-control. Her face had become paler than a ghost as she nodded silently and left the room, slowly floating up the stairs and back to her office, an eerie silence swallowing the sound of her gentle tapping heels. She sat down at her desk and sobbed, every thought, feeling and emotion she'd been holding in flowing out in a stream of tears. She couldn't fight any more.
Eddie rose from his seat and looked sternly at the LEA board who sat in front of him. He took in a deep, thoughtful breath and looked at each individual face. None of them showed any pity, remorse, sympathy. Just 10 dead, cold faces to match their frozen, bitter hearts.
"Not a single one of you are here day in day out. You don't understand the running of this school, the respect Miss Mason has gained in the last year alone. She's turned this school around; the pupils have more respect for her than any other member of staff. She took this school from nothing and turned it into somewhere the pupils want to come and learn. Her past has absolutely no relevance to her performance as a head teacher. In fact no, I think her past has everything to do with this school, from her own mistakes she's taught others to make something of themselves. The only thing her past has done to this school is improved it. Improved the teaching, improved the results, and improved the pupils. She's achieved here, and if you're so sick and twisted to make her leave over something that happened 20 years ago, then you should be ashamed."
He didn't give them long enough to respond before tearing the door open and leaving, the board looking at each other in unison.
The forms on Rachel's desk wrinkled under the heavy, wet tears that hit the page and seeped slowly through the pile. She couldn't bear crying at work, it wasn't private, and someone might see her. But that didn't matter now, nothing mattered. Her school had been taken from her, her role as head teacher stripped from her in a shameful attempt to spare the school. But the truth was already out, and soon the press would have their claws in, digging deeper and deeper until there was nothing left of her. She couldn't put the school through that. She gathered all the energy she could muster and began to pack her things, her hands shaking more than a leaf caught in a powerful wind.
The commotion from the board meeting had aroused attention. Bolton, who had been waiting outside Grantly's classroom, had heard the majority of it, particularly the fact that she'd just been removed as head teacher. His eyes flashed with fury as he flung the classroom door open, much to the annoyance of Mr Budgen.
"They've told Miss Mason to leave!"
Chaos unravelled around them, angry voices rising to the point of shouts. Something had to be done.
