Thank you for the reviews.
And the title of this chapter is very apt. Because it is the beginning to the end of this fic. (See you Saturday for more).
The Beginning of the End
The bad feeling that Rachel had spoken about had filled Eddie and he had been trying to shake that feeling off for two weeks. It didn't help that he had been given a tip-off by a friend at the council that they had investigated into the information that he had handed over. Eddie thought that he was doing the right thing at the time. Now he wasn't so sure.
But with the end of term, Eddie knew that he had to relax. It had been a busy month with the start of the exam season and he felt like that had managed to distract himself and Rachel for long enough. Which is why the last day of term was an exciting one as well. With no exams planned, the students could let a little bit of steam off with the spelling bee and football match (and there was one Eddie was more for than the other).
So there was an hour or so that the bad feeling had been pushed down and Eddie could only cheer with everyone else as Matt rang the bell to say that Karla had spelt the last word right, meaning that Waterloo Road had won.
The pure joy that was on Rachel's face made him smile more and Eddie felt like everything was going well. The school had changed under Rachel's leadership and Eddie hoped that he had played a role in that change as well. Because they did work well as a team.
So seeing Rachel, up there on the stage, beaming at the students while trying to get them to calm down, made him wonder why he ever thought that he was the man for the job. Maybe he would never be up for the job as headteacher. Not when he was completely happy to be the deputy of one Miss Rachel Mason.
Eddie watched as Rachel went through her list of thank yous and saying about the football match, which caused another eruption of noise from the students.
"Now, as you know, this has been my first year at Waterloo Road." Rachel said. "Well, it has been our first year. I know they hate me mentioning it but I had a lot of resistance when I announced that I took this job without asking the opinion of two of the most important people in my life. And I was told that I had made the worst decision ever at the time.
"But I think that we can safely say now that we are happy to be here. And it has just been wonderful just getting to know the school and working with the brilliant staff and finding out who the troublemakers are and the ones I don't have to worry about."
"What about them finding out about you?"
Eddie's head turned so fast that it took him a moment to register that Stuart was there. And there was no chance that Eddie was going to stop him from saying his next sentence.
"Isn't that right, Amanda?" Stuart said. "You see, Amanda Fenshaw was her name. When she used to make a living on her back. As your Miss Mason used to be a prostitute."
That was already too much information for Eddie to stomach but as he stormed towards Stuart, it was clear that he hadn't finished.
"And she didn't tell you. Did she, Lawson?" Stuart said before Eddie managed to push him. "How much did she charge you for that night? Half price because it was your birthday? Or was it for free because she felt sorry for you?"
"That's enough," Eddie said as he tried to get a hold of Stuart to get him to leave.
"Because Tess is right. You are the father of her twins. And I suppose how they are reacting, they already know as well."
If Eddie wasn't in a hall full of students, he was sure that he would have already put his fist through Stuart's face. Maybe that could happen once it was the pair of them in the corridor or outside but Eddie was very aware that he didn't want Jamie to get involved.
It seemed like Stuart had said all that he wanted to say as he left and Eddie turned back to the stage, noting that Amelia was one of the students that was standing up, looking up at Rachel, who was frozen to the stage. Jamie had left his seat and was standing in the aisle between the two sets of squares of chairs, looking between where Eddie was and where Rachel was.
Someone needed to take control and he hated that everything was happening. Rachel had been telling him for so long that this wasn't over and he didn't believe her. The worst part was he was starting to believe that it wasn't over even now.
He told the students to get back into their seats as he passed, trying to give Amelia and Jamie a look of 'it will be alright' before he jogged up the stairs to the stage. It could have been all over if it hadn't been from him.
"Come on, let's get out of here." He whispered to Rachel.
He didn't quite know what them getting out of there was going to do in the long run but he hoped that if he had the chance to talk to her about what he had done and what had happened to spark this reaction, then he might be able to win her back.
She shook her head before she looked up at him, still too close to the microphone for it to be a private conversation between them.
"No, I can't lie to the people who have trusted me. They deserve better than that." She said.
Eddie didn't quite know what Rachel was going to say as he stepped to one side to allow her to say what she was going to say. If there was one thing that he felt like she maybe should have added was the little bit about them and how he knew. Maybe that was harder to explain than how she was a prostitute.
He wanted to run after her as Rachel walked off the stage and out of the hall. It was hard for him to keep his position but he knew that he had to take charge. He was her second in command after all and the one that had caused this mess.
All he did know was that he had a lot of making up to do.
Amelia wanted to be with her mum. Amelia wanted her dad to tell her that everything would be okay. Amelia wanted bad things to stop happening. Amelia didn't want to be in the real world.
With them all being sent to their classrooms, Amelia hoped that she could duck out to sort herself out before she went to find her mum and calm her down. They didn't need to move again. She needed to make sure that her mum wasn't going to make a rash decision.
So she was trying to allow the comments to wash over her but with Maxine knowing her mum a little better, Amelia didn't quite expect the comment to come out of her mouth.
"And the cheeky cow told me off last week for having my skirt too short. I mean what's wrong with it?" Maxine said.
"Hey, button it. You're seriously walking on thin ice, girl!" Koreshi said, much to Amelia's relief.
"Is he right? Did you know your mum was a hooker?" Maxine said as she stopped Amelia from walking.
"Does it matter if I knew or not?" Amelia said, trying to hold her head up high.
"I'll take that as yes then."
Amelia was aware that they were in the middle of the stairs and near her mum's office but she couldn't take it and she knew she had to say something to someone that she thought had her back.
"You don't know her story. You don't know her at all. Nor you or you or you." Amelia shouted as she pointed at random people that had stopped to hear the conversation. "None of you know her. Whatever she did, she is still my mum and Stuart fucking Hordley is right about everything. My mum was a prostitute because she needed the money. My dad is Eddie Lawson and him and my mum had one night together. He didn't know and she didn't know how to tell him.
"And she knew exactly how you were feeling when the baby was found in the field. Because she didn't want to be pregnant with me and Jamie at 19 but that is what happened. Everything she has done since is so that we don't have to make the same decisions that she did. We were her way out.
"You have no idea of the life she led before and what she was forced to do. How she was the only one bringing in money because my grandfather couldn't care less. Or how my grandmother died when Mum was 12 and how she had to raise my auntie. Most people would use that life as an excuse. To believe that the world owed them more. Mum doesn't. Mum used it all to make herself stronger. You don't know why she did what she did. So stop with the comments. Because she has spent the last 18 years trying to build a better life for herself and us and this could ruin it all."
Amelia looked at all the faces that were staring at her and she knew that she had said too much. She didn't care who she was pushing out of the way but she knew that she had to find somewhere to calm herself down, organise her thoughts and to draw on her arms. This was the day from hell and Amelia wondered how her mum was doing.
"So was she just a prozzie?"
James was trying very hard to ignore the comments that were flying around him. He had hoped that if he concentrated on moving the pen between his fingers that he could drown them out with his own thoughts, as he had his headphones taken away from him. He didn't think that Miss Dockety realised that he was living his worst nightmare.
"Just I don't want to be watching porn and suddenly Mason is there. Although if she looked like Amelia did when she was younger, that might be some wank material."
That was where James drew the line, shooting out of his seat to the guy that had said that and lifting him out of his seat by the lapels of his blazer.
"Say that again to my face." James sneered.
"If your mum looked like your sister when she was younger, that might be some wank material."
Before Miss Dockety could tell them to stop it, James let go of Ben and punched him around the face, causing Ben to crash into his friend next to him.
"Does anyone else want to say anything about my mother or sister?" James shouted.
"Out!" Miss Dockety said.
"And what a lot of fucking good you are." He said as he left the classroom, not even bothering to collect his things.
He was searching for an empty classroom at that point as he was struggling to keep it together. He should have intervened with Stuart. He should have punched him like he had just punched that guy. He should have been able to help his mum protect her secret.
Once again, he had let her down.
He was fairly certain that he was screaming when Mika found him, attacking a piece of wall between two windows. He just wanted this to stop. He placed his head against the wall as she stopped next to him.
"So you did know? Is that what you were trying to tell me?" Mika asked.
"I wasn't going to fucking advertise it."
"I'm not saying that."
"Then what are you saying?"
"You're really upset by it."
"I have been moved from school to fucking school since I was 10. So many fucking times I have wanted to stay and Mum has moved us. And the one fucking times she had a fucking reason to stay, she is going to be forced to move." James turned to her, bashing his finger into his chest. "I was meant to look after her. I said I would fucking look after her and Amelia at the age of seven. And I keep fucking failing."
"Is that why you are so angry?"
"He is just another fucking bastard that has used Mum and fucking ruined her life." James could feel himself slipping down the wall and didn't stop himself until he hit the floor. He didn't even try and stop the tears as they started to make their way down his cheeks. "And he had to fucking say something about Dad."
"I thought you didn't know your dad."
"Weren't you listening then?"
"I don't think I heard much after the guy asked Lawson how much she charged him for a night. Did you know that they knew each other?"
"He is my dad. Eddie Lawson is my father after he gave my mum a night of normal. A night where he just saw a girl with a bad story and he wanted her to forget it for a night."
"How long have you known?" Mika said as she sat down next to him.
"Just before Christmas. I… I didn't want to know. I think Amelia wanted to know because she has always thought that me and Mum were closer. I've hated him for so long. I made him into a monster just because I couldn't believe that… Mum could have fallen in love with him. But it did just take a night with the right guy. And he fucking cares and." James placed his head in his hands. "And I've been a fucking prick."
James could have stayed there forever. All he wanted to do is to curl up and forget everything that was happening. Yet his knuckles hurt from where he attacked the wall and there was no way that he could act like nothing had happened.
"Chlo is with Amelia," Mika said softly.
"I need to stop her from doing something stupid," James said as he stood up.
"Come on. I'll walk you there." She said as she joined James in a standing position, placing a hand on his arm.
"I don't need babysitting." He said, pulling his arm out of her grip.
"Maybe if you are with someone, no one will bother you.
"I just wonder how my mum is going to get me out of exclusion after I punched someone."
"I think your mum has other things to worry about."
James was sure that Mika was right but it didn't mean that everything was better. Because his mum would end up being madder at him than Stuart at some point.
"What are you doing?"
Amelia looked up at Chlo before she looked down at the flowers she had drawn on her right arm. She didn't know whether it was helping or not but it had distracted her from what had happened that morning and maybe she was feeling a little better. At least she didn't feel like she wanted to throw herself over one of the bannisters to the stairs.
"Apparently it is a technique to help," Amelia said.
She didn't think that Chlo understood what it helped with or maybe she didn't want to think about it that way.
"It looks cool," Chlo said as she sat on the desk opposite her.
"Are they all still talking about it?"
"Amelia, they are going to be talking about it until the next disaster happens."
Amelia felt sick with that thought and she tried to swallow that feeling down. She didn't want to think about what her mum was feeling and she was sure that they were going to have to move again. Maybe to somewhere that hadn't heard the news. Maybe there was a school at the top of Scotland that was off the grid that wouldn't find out about it. At least they might get away from Auntie Melissa that way.
But Amelia found herself not wanting to do that. Especially when she had just made friends.
"Do you think I went too far earlier? With Maxine?" Amelia asked.
"No. Personally, I thought you were going to slap her."
"I wouldn't do that." Amelia paused before she stood up. "Crap, I should find Jamie before he knocks someone out."
"Slightly too late," James said.
Amelia looked up and she knew that her brother had a breakdown. It was very rare that James would totally break down but Amelia knew that it was possible. It was why she ran into his arms to hug him tightly. She had to let him know that this wasn't his fault and she felt him turn his head into her neck. She rested her cheek against the top of his head and as they pulled back, she placed a kiss on his cheek, something she realised that they hadn't done for a while. They always used to show their affection for each other. When had they grown so apart?
She was about to ask that question when he grabbed her arm and turned it towards himself.
"What the hell?" James said.
"Dad told me about it. To stop me… you know."
"Can he stop doing the right fucking thing?"
"Why? Jamie, if he keeps doing the right thing, do you not think he might be right for us?"
"Maybe. Just… he is going the right fucking way about things."
"Jamie, just let him in."
"Do you think he is with Mum?"
Amelia wanted to curl up against James' chest. She wanted him to try to tell her that everything was going to be okay. But she saw their dad come into the room and she knew that they had a lot more to discuss.
"I think he is here with us," Amelia said.
James turned towards the door and both Chlo and Mika took it as their cue to leave them to it. If anything it was the most nervous she had ever seen their dad and they probably wanted to hear what he had to say as much as he wanted to say it.
"I think you need to hear this from me before you hear it from anyone else. Honestly, I wanted to make sure that Stuart was gone and I thought that the information I had would help stop Tess as well." Their dad said.
"Oh for fucks sake," James said.
"Have you seen Mum?" Amelia asked.
"She is packing. Saying that she can't stay here." Their dad said.
"Just when I thought we had found a place to fit in and that she might fucking settle down," James said.
"Could you talk her round?"
"She needs to calm down first," Amelia said.
"Will she?" James said.
Their dad sighed. "How are you two?"
James held up his hands and Amelia noticed his knuckles. "Punched Ben Lucas and a wall."
Amelia knew that she had to show her arm. "And I had a go at Maxine, saying that she didn't know where Mum has come from therefore she couldn't comment on the subject."
"I am going to try and fix this." Their dad said.
"How the fuck are you going to do that?" James asked.
"I don't know just yet. Just trust me."
Amelia did trust her dad. She just didn't know whether James or her mum would. And, maybe, more importantly, she didn't trust that it was the end with Stuart and Tess.
