A/N: This is the final chapter of "An Awkward Education". I would like to thank everyone for the support on the series and it is good to know that there are still Bad Education fans out there. I will be taking the next week off in order to draft new stories and possibly a sequel to this story. It has been a pleasure to write. Thank You.
"You get use to someone—start to like them, even—and they leave. In the end, everyone leaves."
― Rachel Ward
A beep emanated from the computer that lit up the dark room. The screen flashed to life as an email notification popped up informing the sleeping person on top of the keyboard that something had come for them. A second beep came, as if the computer really wanted the recipient to wake up. This time they started to stir, squinting their eyes as their pupils were assaulted with bright, white light. " What the" The recently awoken person said, not ready to wake up yet. They opened the email to find an attachment and a single line of text that baffled the owner of the computer.
"You're Welcome."
Alfie Wickers.
Alfie Wickers was happy now. GCSEs were over. It was almost time for him and Chantelle to come out about their relationship. Just a bit of time to wait until the release of the results. Then they could be as happy in public as they were in private. It overjoyed Alfie as he realised that this would give him a chance to create a grand gesture for Chantelle, much like he used to be constantly doing for Rosie. He was sat in an empty classroom now. All the pupils had left for a blow out party after their final exam and, as a teacher, it would have been inappropriate for him to go. He was happy for them though, they had worked hard in recent times and they all deserved to have fun. He just hoped they were all safe. These massive parties could sometimes get out of hand.
Chantelle Parsons.
Chantelle Parsons was at peace. She was in a perfect, yet private, relationship with her now former teacher Alfie Wickers. She had the greatest friend in the form of Stephen Carmichael and she knew that it would be hard for her life to get any better. Her phone buzzed and a text from Alfie showed up.
Have fun tonight. Alfie. xxx.
Chantelle started to smile widely and laugh a bit at the thought of Alfie sitting at the desk waiting for her reply. So she didn't reply immediately and she would reply when she was on the way to the party in about an hour, just to keep him waiting and wanting. Stephen walked into her room and noticed her happy mood. "That Mr Perfect ?" Stephen asked, rolling their eyes at their relationship, he never could understand what had brought them together but it was clear that Alfie was making Chantelle happy so Stephen chose to leave it. Chantelle just nodded in reply and stared at her phone, looking at the message as she willed herself to wait while all her instincts begged her to reply. Then her phone buzzed once again and a different message showed up.
"I Know"
"Know what ?" Chantelle replied to the mystery texter, hoping to everything that she found holy that they didn't know what she was thinking. Her phone buzzed but this time a message did not show up but instead a link to an image showed up. She went onto the image and found a picture of her house. It seemed normal at first but then she looked a little closer and realised that it was the moment that Alfie had left her house in a mess after they had consummated their relationship. "Oh holy fuck" Chantelle said throwing her phone across the room, refusing to accept what she had just seen.
A loud noise obviously came from the phone's impact with the wall and Stephen came running in to find Chantelle lying on the floor on the verge of bursting into tears. "Hon what is it ?" Stephen asked, worried for the well being of his best friend. Chantelle could only point at her cracked phone. Stephen walked over to the phone and picked it up. Through the cracks he could make out a picture of her street. Like Chantelle he did not notice the important part until he had looked a little closer. Realisation dawned on him as he turned to Chantelle, scared for her, whoever was ending this clearly had knowledge of technology. They knew who Chantelle was and how to contact her.
His phone started to ring suddenly and an unknown number showed up on the screen. He pressed answer but he did not speak. He turned the speaker phone function on and sat next to Chantelle who was still silently sobbing. "10 minutes, Tring Kebab Shop, no money, just you and maybe the friend. Remember. I can see you". A knock on the door startled both of them. Chantelle plucked up the courage to open the door and found that there was no sign of anyone anywhere. Only a printed version of the image. Chantelle had been scribbled out of the picture and Alfie had been circled in red pen. Chantelle gulped as she realised what she was up against. She was going against another Alfie lover.
General.
The party passed without incident and the situation with the mystery stalker was not mentioned again. Chantelle and Stephen both agreed to keep the situation a secret from Alfie. He wasn't dealing with the loss of his class very well, he had bonded so much with all of them that it was becoming hard for him to let go. He knew he would still have Chantelle which meant he would still have Stephen as well but he didn't want to lose them. He wanted to be with them, in a friendly manner, for their entire education. He wanted to guide them through life. He wanted to be a part of their group. But he couldn't. So he stressed out. Lashed out at those he loved, thankfully Chantelle was not with him at the time. She was in bed thinking about the sweet man she knew so well. She couldn't think about him without thinking about the stalker that was harassing her and, she feared, would soon be making a move to try and steal Alfie away from her.
No one appeared at the kebab shop. They only received another text to Stephen's phone, claiming that the stalker had become too nervous to speak with them. So they left, hand in hand out of fear, not noticing the sound of a shutter behind them.
Alfie Wickers.
Alfie was always regretful about his actions during these times of stress. He could go from joyful to mournful in an instant. It was like he had never grown out of puberty and was still being plagued with emotional distress. It did help make him closer to Chantelle though, so at least there was some sort of benefit to his emotional strife and irrational behaviour. He raised his head when Rosie walked into his room unannounced and asked Alfie to meet her by the shed, teacher's smoking area, in 5 minutes. Alfie agreed and started stretching so that he didn't pull something on the way over.
Alfie arrived at the shed and asked Rosie what was happening. Rosie responded " Isn't it obvious Alfie ? We've been playing the long game with this but I think that it is time that we joined together and started our love that will last forever". "Are you done yet ?" Alfie responded, pretending to yawn in order to emphasis his lack of care at that moment. " Rosie I've found someone I love, someone I care for, and they're not you" Alfie told her trying to snap her out of whatever trance she was in. "Ooh Chantelle, yes because she's world famous for being able to hold a stable, long term relationship" Rosie responded in a mocking tone while showing him the picture of him leaving Chantelle's house. "H-How ?" Alfie choked upon seeing the picture as he felt happiness start to slip from his body. "Pickwell" Rosie said in response, "It was easy enough, she heavily dislikes you and I want you, our plan suited both of our aims. Don't you see Alfie, me and you are destined to go back and forth forever" Rosie was slowly moving towards Alfie as she explained her plan and Alfie was starting to feel the nerves really piling up on him. "She doesn't love you like I do anyway. You're just a stepping stone to her" Rosie said while pulling out the picture of Chantelle and Stephen holding hands. It was obvious that they were just friends but, with his emotions flying everywhere, Alfie assumed the worse.
So he froze and stared at the ground, feeling like shit.
General.
Sensing his moment of weakness Rosie lunged at him and planted a deep kiss onto his lips. At this point, Pickwell ushered Chantelle and Stephen into the shed and they saw the sight of Rosie and Alfie sharing passionate kiss, at least from Rosie. They had been very confused when Pickwell found them on the street and insisted that they come to the shed but now it all made sense.
Chantelle Parsons.
Alfie didn't love her. He still loved Rosie. She screamed and cried and ran. She ran anywhere, anywhere but the one place she wanted to be.
Alfie Wickers.
Alfie heard a scream and finally realised what was happening. He was in the middle of a kiss with Rosie. He looked to the side and noticed Chantelle running. The dots connected in his head and he released the kiss with Rosie, running as fast as he could after Chantelle. "Pig" he heard Stephen say beside him but he couldn't deal with that. He had to find Chantelle. He looked frantically around but the horrible truth slowly emerged. She was gone. Alfie collapsed to his knees and wept loudly.
Chantelle Parsons.
Chantelle was hiding around the corner listening to Alfie sob. She wanted nothing more than to go to his side and comfort him and start their relationship all over again. That couldn't happen though. It was just too much.
General.
Neither of them moved. Time had slowed down as Alfie stared at the floor and Chantelle was staring at him, hoping he would notice her and come. But he didn't.
She had to leave. He had to leave. Like everyone else in his life, she was leaving. Like everyone else in her life, he was leaving. Everyone was leaving.
They were alone together.