The end of the school day had come around and Charlotte was doing some homework in the sixth form common room waiting for her Mum to finish work.
Charlotte had finished her exams so was now near Manchester with the rest of the family. She was going to Waterloo Road now, as none of the other schools had been willing to take her in the middle of her A levels. Luckily Waterloo Road had agreed to.
Rachel was ready to leave work so went to the common room to find Charlotte.
"You ready to go love?"
"Yep" Charlotte said before packing away her stuff
"How was your day?"
"Yeah it was good, I've been invited to a party on Saturday"
Rachel was glad that Charlotte had settled in so well, she always had been a popular girl so it wasn't surprising really.
"Come on then, let's go and get Poppy. Let's hope she'd had a better day today"
"Hopefully, it's horrible how she hates going to school I've always loved school"
"I know"
Rachel went to pick up Poppy from the after school athletics club. They were there a bit early, however when they arrived Poppy wasn't joining in with the rest and was sat on the bank of the school field.
Rachel and Charlotte went over to her. As soon as she saw them she instantly stood up and tried to get them to leave as soon as possible.
"Come on Mummy let's go"
"Okay okay, what's the rush? How come you aren't joining in with everyone else?"
"I didn't want to"
"I want to go now" Poppy said taking hold of Rachel's hand and trying to drag her away
"Well hang on, I can't go without telling Mrs Queen you've left"
"Be quick"
Rachel went over and told the teacher who ran the athletics club and then the three of them left.
Poppy started to feel really scared when she suddenly noticed her teacher coming towards them.
Rachel smiled at Miss Jones, however she didn't have a very happy look on her face.
"Hi Rachel, do you have time for a chat now?"
"Yeah sure, what about?"
"Do you want to come into my classroom"
"I want to go home Mummy" Poppy said
"I told you we needed a chat before you went home with your Mum didn't I Poppy?"
Poppy ran off so Rachel went after her.
Rachel caught up with Poppy and wrapped her arms around Poppy.
"Hey don't cry darling, Miss Jones just wants a little word with me I'm sure it's nothing to worry about. Are you going to come with me now to speak to her and then we can go home?"
"No I don't want to"
"Come on love, it won't be long"
"No you can't make me" Poppy said starting to cry more
"Okay okay, how about you go and sit in the car with Charlotte and I'll go and quickly speak to Miss Jones and then we'll go home"
"No I don't want you to"
"Well she wants to speak to me, so I can't just leave. What is it she wants to speak to me about?"
"I don't know"
"I think you do, but if you don't to tell me that's fine"
Rachel then called Charlotte over and got her to take Poppy to the car before going into speak with Miss Jones.
"Has Poppy got into some trouble again today?" Rachel asked "she seems ever so upset"
"I'm afraid so, she bit and hit another boy in the class today"
"Right, well that really doesn't sound like Poppy. Of course I'll have a chat with her about it tonight, but surely he must have done something to provoke her?"
"They were arguing a bit, but that really isn't an excuse for that sort of behaviour, it's not something we can tolerate at school"
"I understand that, and it really is completely out of character for Poppy"
"She's also been incredibly rude to her TA again today"
"I'm really sorry, I'll talk to her tonight and hopefully she'll be better tomorrow"
Rachel didn't think Miss Jones had finished talking with her but she didn't care, as she didn't want to be there for a second longer.
Rachel quickly left the classroom and went back to the car.
They'd had a lot of issues since Poppy had started at the school and none of the teachers had taken a liking to Poppy. Poppy had struggled at her old school too, but the teachers were a lot more understanding than the teachers at the new school.
When Rachel got back to the car Rachel could tell Poppy was really worried so didn't mention anything about it.
"When we get home Poppy, I was thinking we could pop out again because we need to get a few more bits for Bella. Do you want to come with me?"
"Yes please"
They were picking the dog up at the weekend and everyone was really excited about it.
Rachel drove and got Emily and Thomas from the bus stop before driving home.
She made sure they were all okay before leaving to go out with Poppy. She'd explained to her other three children that she needed a bit of time with Poppy on her own and they all understood.
Rachel drove to Pets At Home and they picked up some dog food and some food and water bowls.
Poppy seemed like a completely girl to the one she'd picked up from school. She was back to her usual happy self.
"Shall we pop to Costa then before we head home?"
"Yes can I have a blueberry muffin Mummy? Because I really like those don't i?"
"I reckon you could"
Rachel got a coffee for herself and a muffin and drink for Poppy.
Rachel didn't really want to bring up the incident at school but knew she did need to.
"Poppy I spoke with Miss Jones earlier and I'm not going to tell you off because what she told me you did doesn't sound like you at all. But can you tell me why you hit the boy in your class love?"
"He was being horrible to me"
"How was he being horrible to you?"
"He was calling me names like he does every day and saying I was a baby and he said I was stupid because I'm not very good at maths and have to have someone to help me" Poppy said with tears forming in her eyes
"That's really not very nice of him, did you tell your teacher that's why you did it?"
"I tried but she wouldn't listen"
"The thing is though love, even though he made you feel upset and angry you can't go around hitting or biting people. So next time he does something, walk away and tell a teacher okay?"
"Okay Mummy"
"I'm going to speak to your teacher tomorrow because the things he was saying to you aren't acceptable. You might struggle a bit at school with learning sometimes, but that doesn't for one second mean that you are stupid sweetheart. Everyone is good at different things and enjoys different things so take no notice of him"
"Okay"
"We won't say anything more about it now, but please don't hit or bite anyone again because it is a naughty thing to do"
"Okay"
Rachel wondered if she should have told Poppy off more for what she had done, but she really didn't think it was her fault. Poppy was such a lovely girl when she was around her family and Rachel didn't understand how she was so different at school.
Once they'd finished they left Costa to head home.
"Mummy I need a wee"
"Can you wait until we get home, or do you need to go before we get in the car?"
"I can wait until we get home"
"Are you sure?"
"Actually can I go before we get in the car?"
"Yes of course, come on let's nip back to Costa"
Once Poppy had been to the loo they drove home.
When they got home Poppy sat at the table and did some colouring whilst Rachel started making tea.
After tea the kids put a film on however Poppy was really tired so Rachel took her up for an early night.
Rachel sat with her daughter until she fell asleep. She was glad she'd fallen asleep looking peaceful and not worried.
She was about to go back downstairs when she heard Charlotte shouting to her, so went into her daughter's bedroom.
"How come you're not watching the film anymore?"
"I am, I just came up to go to the loo"
"Oh right, what was it you wanted?"
"Is Poppy okay? What happened at school?"
"She got into trouble again, this time she hit and bit a boy in her class"
"No way would Poppy do something like that"
"Well according to her teacher, she did. That school is making her so unhappy and I hate sending her in everyday"
"It must be horrible for her"
"It is and I just don't know what to do to help her"
"At least she's still happy at home"
"Yeah I wish she was as happy at school as she is at home"
"Why don't you home school her?"
"I don't think that's a good idea, she struggles with socialising anyway with kids her own age so I hardly think that's going to help"
"I guess not"
The two of them chatted for a bit longer before going back down to watch the film. Rachel did a bit of marking before relaxing for the evening.
"I'm going to go up for a bath. Not too much longer and you need to go to bed Em"
"Okay Mum"
Rachel really enjoyed a nice long soak in the bath after a stressful day.
When she went back downstairs the three kids had Love Island on.
"Emily, Thomas what have I told you about watching this?"
Emily and Thomas looked at her looking sheepish.
"You let Charlotte watch it though"
"Charlotte is five years older than you, I'd still rather she didn't watch it though. The programme is really not appropriate for someone your age. Up to bed now, the pair of you"
"Fine" Emily said before going upstairs, Thomas did too
"I bet she'll just go up and watch it in bed Mum" Charlotte said
"It really isn't something I want her watching, it will set such a bad example for her"
Rachel ended up watching it most nights as Charlotte loved it.
"I'm sure she'd be fine, it's hardly going to make her want to go and sleep around is it?"
"I should certainly hope not at age 12, but I mean when she gets a bit older I don't want her thinking that it's normal to behave the way the girls all do on Love Island"
After about ten minutes Rachel went up to check on Emily.
She knocked on Emily's bedroom door.
"Yeah"
Rachel went in and Emily was in bed.
"You forgot to give me the letter to sign about your school trip love, do you want to get it for me now?"
"I can't get out of bed"
"Why not?"
"I haven't got any pyjama bottoms on"
"It's only me in here, it's nothing I haven't seen before" Rachel said laughing
"Fine"
Emily went and got the letter for Rachel.
"That will be a nice end of year trip won't it?" Rachel said reading the letter about going to a water park
"Yeah I can't wait, as long as the weather is good"
"Hopefully it will be"
Rachel signed the letter and Emily put it in her bed.
"Night love, hope you sleep well"
"Night Mum, love you lots"
"Love you too"
Rachel gave Emily a kiss before leaving her to go to sleep.
Emily left it a few minutes before grabbing her laptop and putting Love Island on as quietly as she could.
Rachel went and said goodnight to Thomas before going back down to join Charlotte.
They were both tired so went up to bed once Love Island had finished.
Once Rachel got into bed though, she just couldn't seem to sleep. She couldn't wait for her husband to get home from work. They really needed to sort something out for Poppy.
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