Chapter 36:

Sitting outside the head masters office, Taliah could feel her head beginning to throb and it was gradually getting worse and worse as she was beginning to feel physically sick due to the amount of alcohol she had consumed. However, the combination of that with guilt most certainly wasn't helping matters.

Staring around the room, Taliah watched as Sonya typed away at her computer screen, viciously pressing the back button every time she made a typing error. She must have felt Taliah's gaze on her because before Taliah had the chance to look away, Sonya had spotted her. Taliah had never spoke to her before but she had heard many stories about her but she was fully aware that she was Lorraine's sister even though she had no idea how similar the pair actually are.

"Mr Byrne won't be long now I'm sure." Sonya explained with a grin on her face. Taliah could tell that she was only trying to be friendly but Taliah felt that any attempt at moving her mouth, no matter how small the movement was, that she would genuinely end up being sick. She felt so rubbish and the more that she sobered up, the worse this feeling got.

Suddenly, Mr Byrne's office door swung open and he appeared in the doorway after letting Mr Budgen out. She had a feeling that Mr Budgen had explained everything that had happened and that as soon as she walked through the office door there will be a severe telling off waiting for her.

"Come in Taliah," Mr Byrne said as she got up slowly, trying to keep her balance and to stop her head from spinning. As she passed Mr Budgen, she could feel his eyes piercing hers with both disappointment and worry. He was fully aware of her situation due to her temporarily living in the school house but he still didn't expect this behaviour from her.

Guiding her to her seat, Mr Byrne waited until Taliah was sat comfortably before making his way to his own seat as she was still rather wobbly on her feet.

"Right, do you care to explain what on Earth is going on?" Mr Byrne asked before reciting what Grantly had told him. "Mr Budgen informed me that you had been giving cheek to both himself and Mrs Mulgrew as well as making remarks regarding her past drinking habits."

Taliah could feel the powerfulness of Mr Byrnes gaze even though her eyes were staring at his office carpet. She couldn't bear to look at him in the face.

"And I've also been told that you have been drinking, and by the state you are in I believe that one to be true." Mr Byrne stated as he stared at Taliah wondering what on Earth he was going to do with her next. She was becoming more and more out of control.

"Well?" Mr Byrne asked as he was waiting for an explanation but no sound came from Taliah's mouth. She remained staring at the floor, tears silently falling down her face.

"How did you get the alcohol?" Michael asked as Taliah was well under the age to buy it herself. He watched as Taliah shuffled nervously in her seat before she looked up to look at Mr Byrne.

"I got one of the sixth formers to go and buy it for me. I drank it in the park down the road before coming back to school." Taliah explained trying to make it sound convincing. She didn't want him to know that she had stolen in and that she had been back to the school house otherwise she would get the blame for messing up Scout and Rhiannon's rooms.

"Taliah, why are you here? I thought Tom was taking you to the hospital?" Michael asked puzzlingly. Tom hadn't been to tell him that there had been a change of plan which Michael thought he would have done.

"I...I didn't want to go." She said quietly as she stared back at the floor. She felt so rubbish and guilty about everything that she had done and all she wanted was to go back to the school house and be left alone.

"So where is Mr Clarkson now?" Michael asked as he needed to speak with him about everything that had just happened.

"I don't know. We were talking about why I didn't want to go and I just got up and left him. I didn't feel like talking so I just ran off." Taliah said whilst staring into space. She was thinking of Finian laid in his bed all alone. She had no idea if he was still in surgery or whether it would be done by now. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw that she had a missed call from the hospital and instantly rang the number back despite Mr Byrne wanting to ask her more questions.

"Is Finian alright?" Taliah asked nervously as she didn't want to hear any more bad news. She waited patiently as Louise went to find out as he had just came out of theatre. Taliah glanced at Mr Byrne who was staring round the room whilst waiting for Taliah to finish on the phone.

"He's doing well. He'll be asleep for a while yet until the medication wears off but he there is no reason why he shouldn't make a full recovery." Louise said happily before explaining that she had to go as another patient had just been brought in.

"Everything alright?" Michael asked gently and Taliah explained that Finian was going to be alright. Just as Michael was going to ask her a question there was a loud knock on Michael's door and Tom burst in.

"Michael I err...there you are!" Tom exclaimed as he shut the door behind him and pulled up a chair next to Taliah. "I've been looking all around the school for you and Mr Budgen told me he had brought you here."

"Yes. Mr Budgen and Mrs Mulgrew found her worse for wear in the English corridor and she started mouthing off to them." Michael explained before carrying on with what he was going to say before Tom arrived.

"Right, I want you to go to the cooler and spend the remainder of the day there. I want you to write a letter of apology to Mrs Mulgrew and Mr Budgen before catching up on the work that you have missed. Is that clear?" Michael asked and he watched as Taliah nodded in response.

"Okay, can you wait outside a moment please." Michael asked and watched as Taliah delicately made her way to the door and closed it quietly behind her.

"Tom, can you go with her please and collect the relevant work off her teachers and just keep an eye on her. I don't want her wandering off again." Michael explained and Tom nodded in agreement.

"Did she say why she didn't want to go to the hospital?" Michael asked curiously as Tom made his way over to the door. It didn't make sense to Michael as he thought that she would have wanted to see them.

"Yeah, she said there is no point as they are all unconscious and unable to talk back to her." Tom said before Michael swiftly nodded his head to signal the end of the conversation before Tom left the office to follow Taliah to the cooler.