Chapter 20
It was near the end of third period on a Friday morning and Katie and some of her friends were in French however since they had a substitute teacher none of them were doing much work and were instead just sat round chatting.
"Anyone fancy nipping out to the shop lunch, the supervisors don't get there till 5 minutes after the bell so we could easily just slip out" Katie suggested, it was a boiling hot day so she didn't really fancy just staying in school.
"Yeah sure I'm in" one if the girls said
All the others seemed to think it was a good idea too, even though they knew they weren't allowed to leave school at lunch they knew that teachers would normally just turn a blind eye if they saw a couple of them slip out as they knew they only went to the local shop so it wasn't really worth making a massive fuss over.
As soon as the bell went Katie and her friends dashed out however they were about half way along the corridor when Katie ran pretty much straight I to her aunt
"Watch it will you, what are you running for?" Rachel asked sounding a little suspicious
"We just wanted to get to the front of the lunch line quickly" Katie explained hoping her aunt wouldn't keep her for too long because if they were going to make it out before the supervisors got there they would have to get there pretty quickly
"Well the 5 of you are all heading in the wrong direction, last time I checked canteen is that way" Rachel said pointing in the opposite direction to the way the girls were all running
"Oh yeah" Katie said
Rachel was about to say something else but the 5 of them ran off before she had a chance to get a word in
"What are we going to do now"
"She's gone the other way now so just head back" Katie said calmly
The girls began to walk out of school and fortunately for them no one saw them as they were walking past
"Does anyone fancy coming round mine tonight? My mums out so it's only my dad and he let's us all get away with murder so it's almost like having a free house" Samantha said
The girls all loved it whenever sam suggested a sleepover round hers because it really was very relaxed there so the girls could more or less do what they wanted.
Eventually they got to the shop so picked up a load of sweets and went to pay before beginning the walk back to school
"Are we going to sneak through the front or just climb the gate at the back" someone asked
"Climb the gate it's too risky going the front way we're bound to be seen by someone"
So the girls all went through the back way and after a minute walk reached the gate
However when they got there they couldn't help but notice how high it actually was, they'd never been this way before normally when they snuck out they'd just come through the back gate however Rachel had soon caught wind of what the kids were doing so ordered that gate to be locked at lunch time
"Who wants to go over first" Louise said
"I'll go if someone gives me a leg up" Chloe said
Katie stepped forward and helped her friend over and hole actually made it look quite easy
A couple of the other went before Katie decided to go over
She was fine at first but then when she had her leg over the other side she suddenly lost her footing and fell right to the bottom
"Oh my god are you okay?" Chloe asked
Katie was trying to stop herself crying but really she was in agony her leg felt really weird
"Can you walk?"
Katie just shook her head knowing there was no way she'd be able to put any pressure on it
"Should we get help" one of them asked sounding nervous because if they got a teacher it would be obvious what they'd been doing
"Get my aunt" Katie said sounding as though she was in a great deal of pain
"But she's the head teacher she'd bollock us all"
"Just get her" Katie shouted
Chloe sighed before running over to the playground where Rachel was stood on duty
"Hi Chloe" Rachel said smiling at the girl running towards her "what's up"
"It's Katie she's had an accident"
"What do you mean what sort of accident" Rachel asked immediately starting to walk with Chloe feeling quite worried
"She fell and hurt her leg" Chloe explained
The two of them then started to run towards the back and it didn't take long for Rachel to find her niece
"Katie what happened? Are you okay?" Rachel asked feeling really worried
"We were climbing over the gate after the shop and I slipped I can't move my leg Rach" katie explained through tears
"Okay looks like it's going to be a trip to A&E then" Rachel said calmly "right you three I'm going to open the back gate for you and then I want you to run to the medical room and get someone in there to bring one if the wheel chairs"
Rachel then ran to the back gate and opened the gate and the girls then went off tom the medical room leaving Katie alone with her aunt
"We'll get you straight to hospital love" Rachel said
"I'm sorry for going out of school Rach" Katie sobbed
"Let's not worry too much about that at the moment Katie I think the important thing is we get you sorted"
A few minutes later some of the staff from the medical room and with Rachel's help for her into the car
"Right Katie I need you to stay in here a few minutes while I run up and let Chris sorry mr mead know what's going on okay?"
Katie just nodded her head as she was in too much pain to say anything else
Rachel quickly ran up and explained everything before getting back to the car
"Our nearest hospitals 20 miles away so it'll be a while before you actually get seen to so will you be okay until then"
"Yeah"
Rachel began driving as fast as she could to the hospital
They were about half way there when Rachel noticed how much Katie was crying
"Oh darling we'll be there soon I promise then we'll get it all sorted"
"Do you think it's broken?" Katie asked sounding really worried
"By the looks of it or if you're lucky pretty badly sprained" Rachel sighed "that'll teach you for breaking school rules won't it"
"I guess it would be me it happened to though wouldn't it, people climb over that fence all the time through lunch"
"Yeah well those gates are way too high to even attempt to climb over ... God I'm going to have to do something about you lot all sneaking out, we can try and keep you out at much as we like but the lot of you are way too sneaky for us lot and that just leads to accidents"
"It hurts so much"
Rachel finished the drive to the hospital and after quite a lot of effort got Katie inside
She sat Katie down immediately while she went to the front desk
After about half an hour wait they got seen to.
The two of them then went in together and sat down Katie explained what had gone on and after a quick examination of her leg the doctor decided it was best to send off for some x rays so Rachel and Katie went through to the waiting room again
A while later someone called Katie through, however Rachel had to wait outside while she got her x rays done.
Rachel decided to phone one of her friends to ask if she could look after Olivia and Jess for an hour or so as it didn't look as though she would be back from the hospital in time to pick them up, she didn't want to bother her mum as she knew with the chemotherapy she was having at the moment she was really unwell and probably wouldn't want her two young grands children running around.
A few minutes had past before Katie eventually came out
"Hey darling was that okay, it didn't hurt at all did it" Rachel asked sounding really concerned
"No it was fine" Katie said
The two of them then sat back down in the waiting room again
"Rach it's nearly 3 already whose going to pick Jess and Olivia up"
"I've called Joe she said she'd have them for a bit" Rachel explained "oh god how does you nipping out of school turn into this eh?"
"I won't be leaving school again in a hurry"
"Well like I said I'm going to have to do something about lunch times, you all skip out whether we give you permission or not and it's much safer if we know were you are"
"What so you're going to let us out?"
"Maybe I'll do parent permission slips, if they give permission for you to go out then you're allowed out"
"Would you give me one"
"Well we'll have to see how much I trust you won't we huh?"
"I guess"
They sat quietly for a while however it wasn't long before a doctor called them in
Katie had been out in a wheel chair as soon as she got in so it took a while to actually get through to see him
"Right Katie you have a small fracture on your ankle, it's a clean break but obviously you're going to need a cast on it"
He then filled out a form and told them where to go
After another long wait the orthopaedic surgeon eventually saw to Katie and got her Cast on before giving her some crutches and explaining how to use them
"I can't believe it's broken" Katie said once they were back in the car
"Oh love it must be awful, is it hurting you loads"
"Yep"
"Here have a look in my bag think I've got some ibuprofen in there" Rachel said throwing Katie her brown leather bag
"Thanks Rach"
Katie then started searching through her aunts bag and eventually found the ibuprofen amongst a load of other rubbish, she got the water out her bag to so swallowed them down straight away
"God liv and Jess are going to be in for a shock when you come in aren't they" Rachel said
"Have you not told them yet?" Katie asked
"Nope haven't had the chance, I called grandma quickly think she may pop round later or tomorrow she sounded really worried"
Rachel drive to joes house, she hoped the girls would be more or less ready to go as soon as she got there because after such a long day she really just wanted to get going
"Are you just going to wait in the car?" Rachel asked
"Yep I can't be bothered getting my crutches out yet"
Rachel locked the car and knocked in joes door
After a moment or so joe answered
"Hey Rach you okay? How's Katie"
"Broken ankle I'm afraid"
"Oh god the poor thing, you want to come in for a coffee" joe offered
Rachel was about to refuse but then decided it would be rude to, so finished up going in praying she wouldn't be in long
She sat down at her friends table while joe made two cups of coffee, and once they were made the pair of them sat together
"Have the girls been okay?"
"Yep there just playing upstairs with Chloe now, I haven't given them tea yet though, I hope you don't mind it's just i thought you'd all be eating together later""
"Of course I don't mind don't be daft, I'm just grateful you could have them"
"Jess has been ever so quiet though since she came in"
"Really, are you sure you've been with the same Jess I know" Rachel joked, quiet was one quality nobody would ever normally associate with her niece
"I thought there might be something wrong she did seem quite upset but I didn't want to interfere"
"Well I'll have a quiet chat with her later on check everything's okay"
The two woman sat chatting for another couple of minutes but then Rachel realised they really did have to go now so rounded Jess and Olivia up before saying goodbye and going out to the car
"Can I sign her pot mum" Olivia asked after Rachel had explained to them both what had happened
"Well that's up to her isn't it?"
"I'm sure she'll let me"
"What about you Jess are you going to ask to sign her pot"
Jess just shrugged her shoulders and stared down at the ground
Rachel looked at her funnily for a moment or so bit didn't say anything
"You were ages Rach" Katie moaned
"Sorry had a coffee before I collected them"
"Katie" Olivia said running up,and giving her cousin a big hug
"Hey careful you'll break my ribs if you squeeze me that tight" Katie joked smiling at Olivia
"I'm sorry are you okay does it hurt?"
"The pains gone a bit now"
Olivia then got in the back with Jess so Rachel started to drive off
"How did you do it" Olivia asked curiously
"I fell from a gate"
"Why were you in a gate"
Katie exchanged a glance with Rachel who just raised her eyebrows at her
"I had to get back into school"
"But why were you out of school" Olivia persisted
"Because the ball she was playing with in tennis went over and Katie had to go and get it" Rachel lied, she didn't really want Olivia knowing her cousin had been sneaking out as she was bound to tell everyone she knew and Rachel knew Katie wouldn't appreciate the lectures she'd get off her grandma and various other relatives
"Oh"
Rachel glanced in her mirror at Jess, she noticed how upset she looked and she hadn't even said anything to Katie
"Jess are you alright love?" Rachel asked, she knew not to make too much of a fuss especially in front of the other two but she couldn't help but feel really worried about her niece
It was so unlike Jess to just sit there quietly, and it was actually quite unusual for her ever to get upset about anything so Rachel knew there must be something up.
"Yeah"
Rachel decided to leave it there and have another chat with her niece when they got back home away from everyone else
"Jess was upset all day at school too, miss jones had to take her out she was that upset and they were going to call you to talk about something but I don't know what, but they couldn't get through"
hearing this made Rachel feel quite worried and confused
"Jess?" Rachel said wondering what this was all about
"Shut up Olivia it's not true ...honesty Rachel she's lying" Jess said tears in her eyes
"No it's not I know it's true because ..." Olivia began however Rachel quickly cut her off knowing Jess would just get all worked up
"Okay liv I get it" Rachel said
"But Rachel ..." Jess said not wanting her aunt finding out anything
Rachel could see she was getting worked up so wanted to end the conversation as quickly as possible as the last thing she wanted was her getting really upset over it
"Jess it's okay, we'll talk at home yeah?"
"There's nothing to talk about though because I haven't done anything" Jess cried
"Hey calm down darling" Rachel said
She then decided to just concentrate on driving for a while but she began to wonder what had happened with Jess to get her all upset
When they were stuck in a traffic jam Rachel got her mobile out of her pocket and saw she had quite a few missed calls, all of them off the school
"Mum you're not allowed your mobile out, you can get arrested" Olivia said sounding shocked
"Well your right it is a bit naughty of me but I was just glancing at if love and it's not like there's any police round here is there"
It didn't take too much longer for them to arrive back so Olivia and Jess went and stood at the door while Rachel helped Katie out, before un locking the door
All of them walked in, and Rachel went straight through to the kitchen to start making tea while the girls went up to there rooms to get changed thought for Katie this took considerably longer than normal
Rachel had been making the pasta for about 10 minutes when she heard Jess and Olivia come down, she decoded to try and have a little talk with Jess now while Olivia was watching tv so there would be No one else around
" Jess come and give me a hand with this love" Rachel shouted
Reluctantly Jess came through to the kitchen, she had a pretty good idea that her aunt was going to start asking about today but she didn't really want to explain it to her
When Jess got there she went and stood by Rachel
"Any chance you could do me a big favour and lay the table for me love?" Rachel asked
Jess nodded her head before going in the cupboard and getting a few sets of knives and forks out and sorting them in the table
"Thanks Jess" Rachel said "now could you grate some of the cheese for me too, remember I showed you how to do it"
"Yeah"
"Good girl but be careful not to catch your hand in it, I don't fancy another hospital trip today"
Jess started on the cheese making sure she was extra careful
They'd been in the kitchen a couple of minutes when Rachel decided to try and ask Jess about earlier
"I had a few missed calls from school earlier, do you know anything about them Jess?" Rachel asked to which Jess just shook her head
"Okay well do you want to tell me what Olivia was taking about earlier"
"She was lying Rachel"
Rachel sighed before quickly putting the pasta on to boil and turning so she was facing Jess
"Look if you got into trouble or something I won't pretend I'm going to be delighted but i would rather you just say"
"I'm not why do you always believe Olivia and not me" Jess sobbed before running off
"Jess" Rachel shouted however her niece had already gone
Rachel sighed she hated seeing Jess upset even if it was because she was in trouble or something had gone wrong, however she decided to give her some space for the time being and just see how she felt in a little while.
About 10 minutes later the pasta was ready so Rachel got it served up
"Girls come and get your tea" Rachel shouted
All three of them came running in pretty quickly obviously all hungry after a rather eventful day
Rachel could see Jess had been crying but decided to keep her mouth shut about it for the time being
"Jess why have you been crying" Olivia asked
"I haven't" Jess lied
"Yes you have, is it because you were upset at school?"
"Shut up" Jess muttered
"You can't say that it's mean"
"Well I want you to leave me alone, I don't know why you have to tell everyone about school I never ever tell Rachel when you've been in trouble because you make me promise not to" Jess shouted feeling quite angry
"But I was only saying"
"Okay pack it in you two" Rachel sighed really not in the mood for this"
"But you shouldn't say" Jess said ignoring Rachel all together "I could have said about that time last week when I saw you on the corridor when I was going to the toilet, because you'd been sent out of your classroom for talking, but I didn't because you said I wasn't allowed, or I could have said about that time when you were sent to miss Kelly's office for throwing things, or i could tell about when ..."
"Stop it Jess" Olivia screamed now in tears she couldn't believe Jess was telling her mum about all this stuff that she never wanted her to find out about
"No because you think it's okay to say things about me but when I do you get upset too"
"I hate you"
"Hey I said stop it the pair of you, I don't know what's happened today but telling tales isn't going to get either of you anywhere"
"So why don't you care about Olivia getting into trouble then"
"Look I mean it stop it I'm not having you two getting each other upset like this, there really is no need, I'm not completely naive enough to think you lot don't get into trouble from time to time but sometimes it's more trouble than it's worth to go round telling people about it, but Jess if something's happened to upset you than I want to know about it"
Both Olivia and Jess didn't say another word and ate the rest of there meal in silence
"Mum I'm really tired, can I please just go to bed" Olivia said
"It's only 7:30 liv" Rachel said
"I know but I don't feel too well"
"Okay then, we'll have to do you a bath in the morning instead, I'll just get these in the dishwasher then I'll come and say goodnight, but you nip upstairs to get ready now"
Olivia went up and Jess sloped off too
As soon as they'd gone Rachel sighed "god I don't know what are they like the pair of them" she said to Katie who was still sat at the table as she couldn't be bothered to go through the palaver of moving anywhere just yet
"Is Jess okay do you think?" Katie asked, she always did worry about her sister and like Rachel hated to see her down
"I hope so, I haven't really had the chance to chat to her yet, well not properly anyway"
"Would you be angry with her, if she was in trouble"
"No I don't think I would, not if she's getting this upset about it""
Rachel continued putting the plates away but then Katie Said "Rach I need a bath but how am I supposed to mange with my leg"
"You'll have to out it over the side and I'll wrap a plastic bag round it so it doesn't get wet"
"Okay, god it's going to be such a pain"
"How is the pain?"
"It's eased off loads now" Katie told her aunt
"Good"
After a few minutes the two of them went upstairs
Rachel started running Katie's bath before going into Olivia's room
When she got in there she saw Olivia sat crossed legged in her bed in her pyjama
"Have you brushed your teeth, been to the loo and everything?"
"Yep"
"Good girl come on then into bed, though it is still really early are you sure you don't want another half hour or so?"
"No I'm really tired" Olivia yawned as she pulled the covers over her "mum I'm sorry about before with Jess and everything I didn't mean to tell tales on her or upset her"
"I know darling I think she's just had a pretty bad day by the looks of things"
"I only told you because she was upset it wasn't to get her in trouble" Olivia explained which was true her and Jess had always got on well so she'd never want to deliberately get her into trouble
Rachel sat down on Olivia's bed before saying "I know you didn't liv honestly don't worry about it, you didn't get her in trouble anyway, and anyway I'm glad you did tell me"
"But earlier you said people shouldn't just tell other people whenever someone gets into trouble"
"No what I meant was when little things happen normally there's no need for me to know because it's just getting someone in trouble for the sake of it but if ever you think someone's upset then you should always come and tell me because I'd want to know so I can help"
Rachel thought for a moment before saying "love I'm going to sound like a bit of a hypocrite now after I've said about not telling tales but do you have any idea why Jess might have been in Trimble today .,. I'm not going to tell her off I just want to know that's all"
"No mum honest I just know she was really upset"
"Okay thanks liv, anyway night, night darling love you lots"
"Night love you"
Rachel then kissed Olivia in the forehead and left her room
"Katie are you okay in there" Rachel shouted as she passed her bathroom
"Yeah" Katie replied
She then turned to go downstairs but saw Jess sat appear the bottom of the stairs crying
Rachel walked down and sat beside her on the step as Jess continued to cry
"Oh dear bad as also that is it"
Jess just nodded before collapsing into her aunt, so Rachel put her arm around her
"Hey come on, surely it's not all that awful"
Rachel continued to comfort her for a little while and eventually the crying stopped
"Now before we do anything I think you need to go and dry your eyes don't you?"
Jess nodded so Rachel took her hand and led her to the kitchen where she found some tissues
"There, now no more crying okay? It makes me feel all upset too and that's not what your auntie needs on a Friday big is it huh"
Jess gave a little smile as Rachel dried up her tears
"Much better" Rachel said smiling "now are to going to tell me about whatever it is that's upset you"
Jess nodded so the two of them went into the back room and sat in the sofa
"Rachel I really don't want Olivia and Katie to know"
"Well then they won't, I'll make sure of that my love, but please tell me sweetheart because if you don't I'm going to be all worried about you"
"It's nothing really ..."
"Well why don't you tell me why I had some missed calls from school, were you in some sort of trouble"
Jess just shook her head
"Are you sure darling because you mustn't be too scared to tell me if you were" Rachel said
Jess started to cry again, starting to feel quite upset about everything again
"Oh love what on earths happened huh?" Rachel said gently "surely nothings so bad you can't tell your old auntie, I'm not that scary"
"I'm really sorry Rachel" Jess cried
Rachel sat Jess down on her knee before saying "for what Jess, what are you sorry for ?"
"Miss jones said she needed to speak to you, but she spoke to me first because I was getting worried but please don't be angry"
"Love I'm not going to be angry I promise"
"Well you know next year I'll be going into year 2" Jess said
"Yeah" Rachel replied sounding a little confused as she really couldn't understand where this was leading
"There not letting me" Jess sobbed
"What do you mean darling?" Rachel asked
"I can't be in the same class as everyone else anymore, the putting me in a special one, they say it's because I'm struggling too much"
"Oh sweetheart" Rachel sighed before pulling Jess into her chest "it's alright love"
"You're not cross" Jess asked sounding genuinely surprised
"No not one bit cross"
"But I thought I'd have disappointed you"
"How could you ever disappoint me Jess? All I ever ask of you girls is that you work hard and try your best and I know that's exactly what you do, do so of course you haven't, look I know you don't find things easy but I promise I'm going to give you all the help I can to get this marks up okay, and I know school will help loads too"
"I know I just wish I was like everyone else"
"Jess you are every bit as important as anyone else and please don't let anyone ever tell you different"
"Okay" Jess mumbled "thanks for not being cross"
"There's nothing for me to be cross about my love"
"Rachel I'm tired now, can I please go up to bed"
"Yeah sweetheart come on, I'll took you in"
Rachel led her youngest niece up to bed and got her comfy before saying goodnight.
Hope this was okay, really need everyone's help though basically becoming really stuck on this story now which you may have noticed because the story-lines are probably becoming a bit repetitive which was why I started a new fic, however really don't want to leave this story because I do enjoy writing it just have no new ideas so if anyone could suggest anything I would be so grateful xxxxxxx