(A/N): New chapter! Believe it or not, I cut a whole bunch out of this to try and streamline it a bit, and still ended up with over ten thousand words. I have this grand idea for the next chapter, but I think it needs tweaking, a lot, so I'm honestly not sure when it'll be uploaded. Hopefully soon, because I'll be working on it as soon as this has uploaded. Okay, this chapter does mention series 5 episode 2, where Amy accuses Bolton of rape, but I glossed over it as much as possible, so if that does concern you, you should be alright after about halfway through I think. But honestly, I do my best to gloss over it and go into absolutely no detail, its more Bolton's confrontation at the end than anything else. Still, the warning is there. Obviously, like always, read on, enjoy and let me know what you think, including if there's anything you want to see me include in this story or ideas for other stories you'd want me to attempt.
What the Heart Wants
Chapter 34
Of course that kind of camaraderie wouldn't last, with barely two weeks going by before everything had kicked off once again, though it seemed to escalate mainly due to the presence of one Max Tyler, who had taken an accusation from one of his girls as law and tried to bully Bolton into admitting he'd assaulted the year 10 in question. No one believed the boy, and when Rachel had tried to get in to get the truth out of him, Max had barred her, telling her she needed to see to Lindsay and Emily James instead. He wasn't wrong, not really, but she did wonder why seeing to the girls' needs had fallen on her shoulders and not Kim's, whose job it technically was as head of pastoral care. Still, somehow, the girls seemed to trust her more than any other adult there, including Max, and she couldn't get the image out of her head of Lindsay's desperate eyes begging her not to call home over her and the gratefulness when she hadn't. There was something in that, she knew, but she couldn't put her finger on what. Eddie had promised to fight in Bolton's corner whilst she escorted Lindsay and Emily to their father's funeral, but he had classes to teach all day so she wasn't sure just how much help he'd be despite believing the lad when he swore he hadn't done what he'd been accused of.
Bolton burst into the English classroom after absconding from the cooler where he'd pretty much been locked in by Max, desperate to assure Michaela he'd not done anything to the younger girl who'd trapped him in the toilets that morning. His face fell instantly as she told him she was finished with him, done. The jeers from the John Fosters crowd weren't helping either and he was running out of options. The teacher entering the classroom spurred him into action as he rounded the desks, snagging Alia's wrist on the way round and dragging her with him as he raced down the corridor, pulling her into a little alcove a few hundred feet from the door to the pastoral care office and turning to her with wild eyes. "Ali, you believe me, right?"
Alia stared at him for a long moment, seemingly scrutinising him, before nodding. "Yeah, I believe you. You're an idiot, but I don't think that's quite considered a crime." She held up her arm, where Bolton still had grip of her wrist. "Somehow though, I don't think kidnapping me is going to help your case."
"I need to confront the lying cow, but if I go in on my own, she can accuse me of a whole bunch more, yanno? I need someone in there that ain't a teacher but can still be a witness." Bolton glanced round the corner, spotting Max striding away from the office purposefully. Taking his chance, he raced down the corridor, still pulling Alia behind him, managing to bundle them both into the office and lock the door before Max noticed and started banging loudly on the door to be let in. Amy stared at them both in shock and more than a little bit of fear, sniffling a little from her place on the sofa.
All three turned to face the door as Kim tried futilely to get Bolton to listen to her, but Bolton was through with listening to teachers that only appeared to want to set him up for things he hadn't done, instead turning to Amy with a glare. "Tell the truth, fess up." He demanded roughly.
"Help!" She called out, turning tear filled eyes to Alia, who was stood awkwardly near the door, arms crossed. "You'd really have me in a room with him?"
"This isn't about me." Alia replied quietly. "This is about the both of you."
"Do you want me to get locked up for something I didn't even do? Tell them I'm not a rapist!" Bolton yelled out, ignoring the tear tracks on the younger girl's face and shrugging off Alia's hand on his arm to try and get him to calm at least a little. He paced over to the other side of the room, trying to walk off a little of his anger at the younger girl.
"I can't." Amy croaked out.
"This'll go to court, you know." Alia pointed out softly, both Bolton and Amy turning to her at the aspect of the allegation they hadn't thought of. "Both of you up in the witness stand, giving evidence in front of a boat load of people."
"Yeah, exactly." Bolton jumped on the same train of thought, shooting his friend a grateful smile that dropped as soon as he turned back to Amy. "You've got to say in front of all those people, hand on a bible, tell all these people, tell a judge, all these lies you made up about me. Do you really want that?" Bolton demanded, his face falling fractionally as she still didn't admit it, stubbornly shaking her head. That was it, all he could do, and he wasn't sure fighting it any further would help his cause. He turned to the other sixth former still stood near the door, letting his features show his defeat. "Ali, let Campbell in. I've had it."
"Bolton, are you sure?" Alia checked worriedly. "You know they'll arrest you."
"I know." Bolton tried to paste on a smile, failing miserably. "Hey, can't be worse than that prison Mason took us to the other year. Will you visit?"
"Bolton, you know I will. Not that I want it to come to that." Alia shook her head slightly, hating that she had to, but moving over to unlock the door as he'd requested. Kim burst in almost as soon as the key turned in the lock, rushing straight over to Amy's side without bothering to look round at whoever else was in the room.
"Amy, are you alright?" Kim only noticed Alia when she glanced up, as the girl had moved to stand with Bolton in solidarity across the room. "Alia, what're you doing in here?"
"Bolton dragged me along to be a witness, didn't want to be in another room alone with her. Can't say I blame him." Alia's arms were still crossed defensively over her chest as both sixteen year olds stared at the year 10 girl side by side, willing her to tell the truth with their eyes. They both saw the moment the younger girl's eyes flickered, showing the first hint of genuine remorse they'd seen in her since entering the room.
"I just wanted to get back at him, cos he didn't want to go out with me." Amy confessed in a tiny voice, staring down at her hands, not able to bring herself to meet anyone's eyes as she admitted to lying.
"So you accused him of raping you?" Kim checked incredulously, glancing between the upset year 10 and the stony faced sixth formers. She winced at the sixth formers' expressions, knowing that their guarded anger wasn't just aimed at the younger girl there, but also her to an extent. For someone that tried to be impartial in every situation, she'd somehow gotten this one completely wrong, and she honestly wasn't sure what to do to even attempt to fix it.
"I was angry. He called me a slag and I'm not a slag." Amy pouted almost petulantly.
"You're a vicious little liar though, innit." Bolton couldn't hold back any longer, despite the nudge to the ribs he received from Alia, or Kim's disbelieving cry of his name. "Well, ask her how she hurt her face, cos that wasn't me either."
"Well?" Kim asked.
"I hit it on the door when I was trying to stop him getting out of there." Amy admitted lowly.
Kim let out a long breath, standing and pacing as her anger went through the roof at how she'd been treating Bolton all day over something that had just been found to be nothing but one lie after another. She hadn't missed that Bolton had had the sense to drag someone else in with him for the confrontation with Amy either, feeling ashamed he felt he couldn't have asked a teacher in with him but instead another sixth former. She knew Max had been hard on him, as had Candice, the whole school seeming to turn against him in an instant. Except Paul and a handful of others, Alia included, apparently. And somehow, she was also going to have to explain to Rachel how her daughter had managed to unintentionally get herself involved. "Have you got any idea how serious this could've been for him?" She demanded harshly of the girl in the green uniform.
"Could've sent me to prison, man." Bolton added helpfully.
"Could've ruined his whole life." Alia inputted as well, both sixth formers moving to lean on the shelves on the opposite side of the room, relaxing a little now the truth had come out. They were still guarded though, neither especially trusting of anyone else currently in the room, though especially not the year 10 girl staring at them with wide eyes, the full impact of her accusation seeming to finally dawn on her.
"I never meant to do that."
Kim only felt her ire rise as she all but yelled at the girl sat on the sofa, trying to impart the seriousness of the situation to her. "Do you know what? It's because of a few stupid girls like you that lie that there's women and girls out there who do get raped and they don't get believed!"
"I'm sorry."
"Do you know what? It's not bloody good enough!"
"Miss, I think that's enough." Alia tried to get her to calm down, a few things Maxine had mentioned to her in passing about one of her ex boyfriends making much more sense now as she glanced at the art teacher. "Miss, she's not like Lewis."
Kim whirled round, staring at her for a moment with nearly wild eyes. "How did you-?"
"I put a few pieces together just now." Alia informed her softly. "Come on, she's just a kid."
"It's okay now, miss. There's no need to go ape, is there?" Bolton intervened, the combined assault of the sixth formers enough to calm her anger enough to see just how much she'd terrified the former John Fosters pupil, ironically moreso than Bolton had done by locking them in the office in the first place. What did it say when two sixteen year olds, one of which was the accused, were the ones talking her down rather than the other way round?
"You write me an essay on what you've learnt today Amy, or you're excluded." She finished quietly, moving to open the door and find either Max or Rachel, only to nearly fall over the latter, who had approached the door just as she'd begun yelling. Wordlessly, she let the headmistress into the room, whose eyes instantly widened as she took in the tearful girl on the sofa and Bolton and her daughter leant against the cabinet across the room. "Uh, Amy's admitted to lying about the whole thing. How are we going to handle the police?"
"We're going to get Amy to tell them." Rachel decided calmly before turning to the two sixth formers. "You two, get going. I'll talk to you both later." She gestured in the direction of her office with her head, knowing Alia understood when her face cleared and she all but tugged Bolton from the room, murmuring to him. They'd most likely be waiting for her as soon as she'd finished with the police and Candice to tell her all that had actually happened that day. She still wasn't sure how or why she'd found her daughter stood in the middle of a situation that had absolutely nothing to do with her, but Kim had seemed very calm about her presence, so she decided to roll with it for the time being. Together, Rachel and Kim escorted Amy down to where Max was letting the police in and telling them that Bolton had Amy locked alone in an office. Max stopped short at the two women escorting the tearful girl down the corridor, the police officers right behind him.
"Amy, are you alright?" He asked abruptly, eyeing the two women with blatant distrust, though Rachel was convinced she was the only one that picked up on that fact as Kim offered him a half-smile.
"She's completely unharmed." Kim confirmed, more to the police than Max.
"Where's Smilie?" He glanced behind them as though Bolton would magically appear with his question.
"I let him go." Rachel ignored Max's cry of protest, glad she'd managed to send the message to her daughter to get them both to her office away from where they might be seen before the truth came out. She'd managed to lock eyes with Eddie for a moment on one of the upper corridors so knew her deputy would join her in talking to them as soon as possible. "He's not guilty of anything, apart from stupidity." Rachel dealt with the police swiftly and evenly before escorting Amy away, noting in the back of her mind how she seemed to truly be the only one concerned with all the children involved in the situation. She definitely didn't like the way Max was looking at Kim, nor the way Kim was looking back at him. She left Kim talking to Max, whatever kept the man away from her office, letting Amy go and collect her things before going home for the day. Rachel knew Eddie had a non-contact period that afternoon, managing to snag him on her way up to her office, where she found Bridget waiting worriedly for them.
"They're in there." She informed them quietly, gesturing to the closed office door. "I kept the door closed incase that Mr Tyler came looking for him again." Bridget had heard some of the things Max had said to Bolton earlier, though she'd played dumb when Max had questioned her about it. She didn't like the man, her loyalty firmly on Rachel's side no matter what. And that included Rachel's faith in her students, innocent until proven guilty. It didn't hurt that Rachel's daughter had practically dragged Bolton in by the hand, proving that there was still some faith in the boy as Alia had pretty much pushed the other sixth former into the headmistress' office and told the assistant Rachel had sent them both to hide from Max Tyler.
"Thank you Bridget." Rachel let herself and Eddie into her office to find both sixteen year olds sat at the round table, Bolton with a book from Rachel's bookshelf and Alia with some of her mum's paperwork, clearly trying to be productive whilst waiting for at least Rachel. Bolton's things were still in the cooler, whilst Alia's belongings were still abandoned in her English classroom. Both of their heads shot up at the teachers' entrance, offering them weak smiles. "Okay, you can relax Bolton. Everything is sorted with the police and I'll hold an assembly tomorrow to announce your innocence officially." She slumped into a free chair at the table beside Bolton, Eddie joining them at the last free space between Rachel and Alia as a wide smile of relief blossomed on Bolton's features. "How the hell did you manage to get involved?" She asked her daughter tiredly, any façade at being their headmistress first long gone. "I'm sure I asked you to stay out of trouble after the mess of the first day."
"Yo, miss, that was my fault." Bolton admitted, scratching at the back of his neck sheepishly. "I went to try and see if Michaela believed me, but she went and broke up with me. I needed Amy to fess up, but I weren't stupid enough to do it alone, so I grabbed Ali's wrist on my way out and dragged her with me." He shrugged. "I needed a witness and someone that believed me. It's not like I was thinking straight or anything."
"It's a bit screwed up, but there's logic in that." Eddie shrugged. "Probably wouldn't have escalated nearly as much if Max hadn't stuck his oar in."
"He's sucking up to Campbell like mad," Bolton informed the two senior teachers with a grimace. "The more he talked to her, the more I could tell she didn't believe me. He's bad news."
Rachel sighed, not able to deny that the sixteen year old's words made sense and certainly explained the glances she'd spotted between them earlier. She obviously couldn't be the hypocrite that told Kim not to have a workplace romance, nor did she want to, wanting her friend to be happy. But how could Kim not see that Max wasn't going to be good news, for either her or the school as a whole? "You might have a point there Bolton, but there's not an awful lot we can do about that. What can I do, tell her off for seeing someone she works with?" She exchanged a loaded glance with Eddie. "Bit hypocritical of me, don't you think?"
"Eddie's nice though." Alia protested. "Max is weird. He kind of gives me Stuart vibes." Her eyes widened as all the other occupants of the room turned to stare at her. "What? He does. Like he could flip on the toss of a coin or whatever. I don't trust him."
"Kind of smarmy like Hordley too." Bolton agreed after a few thoughtful moments considering her point. "Like a politician that can play a room in no time, get everyone seeing only what he wants them to."
Rachel glanced at Eddie to see if he agreed with the teenagers' assessment of the executive headteacher. Eddie shrugged. "Explains why I've the urge to punch him in the face on sight." Rachel let out an involuntary laugh at that, Eddie chuckling as some of the tension was reduced in the room.
Alia leant over to Bolton, who seemed a little confused at the amusement shared between the two adults. "Eddie punched Stuart in the face for saying she was a two bit hooker who gave it to him for free." She shrugged. "I might not have been a pupil here but it doesn't mean I didn't get the rundown every night on what happened, mainly with the teachers."
Bolton's face scrunched up in disgust over the words of his former employer. "Damn, that dude gets worse the more I find out. I'm more surprised Lawson only punched him the once for a comment like that."
"Trust me Bolton, I definitely wanted to do more than hit him a single time."
"No punching Max, Eddie, I mean it." Rachel warned him with a hand on his arm. "No matter how much I secretly enjoyed watching you punch Stuart in my defence." Eddie nodded reluctantly, moving his free hand to capture her fingers and give them a gentle squeeze, silently agreeing to her words even though he would disregard them in a heartbeat should it be required.
"She never banned us though." Bolton murmured to Alia, who nodded subtly in response, making sure neither Rachel nor Eddie caught their exchange. They would definitely be keeping a closer eye on one Max Tyler.
…
That night was another pub night, even the John Fosters teachers agreeing that a drink was much needed after the day they'd had. Rachel and Eddie had reluctantly dropped off both their cars and Alia at home after seeing Bolton to his mum in the canteen, the woman grateful to the two senior teachers and the girl who'd all believed in her son and more than willing to make things up with her child, who'd shrugged and forgiven her straight away for her scepticism. Not everyone was as nuts as his headteacher in believing in the good in him after all. He'd taken the risk in Alia believing in him before actually asking her because in many ways she was definitely her mother's daughter. If anyone else was going to believe in him despite it being a ludicrous concept, it was going to be the child of the headteacher that did the same. Rachel and Eddie had caught a taxi to the pub, knowing they'd definitely both need more than the one drink each and neither really wanting to be the designated driver that night, ending up sharing their cab with Steph, who'd had the same idea as them in leaving her car and teenager at home for the evening. The trio entered the pub together wearily, finding pretty much all the teachers, apart from notably Kim and Max, sat in their usual section with their drinks all in front of them. Tom waved them over, indicating three free chairs with drinks waiting for them. Rachel slid into the seat beside Tom, Eddie next to her and Steph between Eddie and Matt.
"What a day." Tom sighed, gulping his pint. "How're the James girls?" He asked Rachel, who took a sip of her red wine and shrugged.
"I have no idea. There's definitely something Lindsay's hiding but god knows she'll never give it up, whatever it is." Rachel shook her head slightly. "I'm surprised they even trusted me to take them to the funeral today."
"Emily's always been open and trusting," Chris told them as he nursed his own drink, silently lamenting that Kim wasn't there as he'd been hoping to get to know the woman better. It hadn't escaped his notice that Max wasn't there either, though he didn't want to think much on the implications of them both being missing at the same time. "Lindsay on the other hand… It's a surprise you even got her in the car."
"Are we seriously going to ignore the main event of today?" Ruby questioned shrilly, eyeing the veteran Waterloo Road staff with more than a mild sense of disbelief. "I've had groups of terrified girls hiding in my room all day because of that, that-"
"That innocent boy who was accused by someone trying to get back at him?" Rachel finished for her coolly, one eyebrow raised. "I'm holding an assembly tomorrow morning to inform the whole school, though I'm guessing most of the Waterloo Road pupils know already. The power of our kids and technology should never be underestimated. Amy lied."
"He locked himself in an office with her!" Ruby protested. "How do we know he didn't coerce her in any way?" She'd been provided with that piece of information by Max, who hadn't seen Bolton hustling Alia into the room before him, only the boy himself entering the office and locking the door.
Eddie had never felt more thankful for Bolton's quick thinking in not entering that office alone, even if it had dragged Alia into the situation against her will. She'd actually been doing quite well at staying out of trouble as Rachel had asked of her so far. That day was the first day she'd somehow ended up in the middle of things since the first day of term, and he hated to think of what could happen next that would be thrown in their paths. Sometimes he swore the universe was against them. "Who said he was alone with her in that office, Ruby?" He took a sip of his pint with one hand, the other gripping Rachel's free hand under the table. Both could guess who had fed the food tech teacher that snippet of information, though they couldn't do anything as they had no proof either way. "What your source seems to have neglected to inform you was that Bolton took another sixth former in with him to be a witness to everything that happened, not wanting to be accused of what you just have." Tom and Steph took in the tension Rachel was near radiating, and Eddie to a lesser extent, instantly guessing, correctly, that the sixth former was Alia. Well, it did add a little more credence to Bolton's story for the officials, if he'd had the headteacher's daughter as a witness.
"If it's that little crony of his, Paul or whatever, then-"
"It wasn't." Rachel cut Ruby off for a second time with even less patience than the first, though she did her best to disguise it. "I appreciate the care you have for the girls, Ruby, I really do, but you're going to have to accept that Bolton is indeed innocent on this occasion." She drained the last of her wine, setting the glass back on the table with a clink. "I'm getting another, same again everyone?" She didn't wait for their answer, standing and making her way over to the bar without a backwards glance. Eddie waited a few moments before fulfilling the expectant stares of the veteran staff and following their headmistress to the bar, sidling up next to her as she ordered another round with the bartender. He placed a cautious hand on her lower back, feeling the tension in her spine ease slightly as she glanced over to him. "Sorry."
"Hey, you've nothing to be sorry for." Eddie assured her instantly, moving in even closer so he could see more of her face. Of course she'd be beating herself up over what was a very understated reaction to Ruby's refusal to accept the facts of the situation. "You did the right thing and honestly, if it were me in your shoes, I would've said a lot worse to her."
Rachel let out a weak laugh, tipping her head back tiredly. Her hand scrabbled across the bar counter to find his free hand, gripping it tightly and alerting him that her mood wasn't solely over Ruby. "Are we just kidding ourselves that this merger will work, Eddie? You have been checking Ali for weapons, right?" She was only partly kidding with her second question.
"I thought that's why we hired the security team." Eddie joked half-heartedly, twisting his hand under hers until he could hold it properly, entwining their fingers. "Rach, things are going well. Much better than anticipated, actually. We always knew the attitudes and misconceptions we were up against, from the teachers alone. Max bloody Tyler hasn't helped matters, I admit, but we do seem to be winning Chris and Jo over somewhat. It's progress, Rach."
"Why do you always end up being the one talking me down?" Rachel sighed, though she was smiling, paying the bartender for the round he'd made up during their conversation. She reluctantly let go of Eddie's hand, picking up one tray of drinks whilst indicating for Eddie to take the other.
"Because I know you and we left Ali at home." Eddie smiled, nudging her ever so slightly as they made their way back over to the assembled teachers, careful not to nudge her hard enough to spill any of the drinks. "We have Michael this weekend, by the way. I was thinking we could all go to the zoo."
"Is he still obsessed with monkeys?" Rachel asked lightly as she set down her tray, Eddie doing the same beside her, grabbing her drink and sitting back down. Eddie nodded as he retook his own seat, the pride and lightness he always felt when discussing his son washing over him.
"Yeah, monkeys and cars." Eddie smiled as he remembered his son telling him all about the two model cars Alison had bought him on the phone a couple of days earlier, the little boy beyond excited to be showing them to his dad, Rachel and Alia that weekend. "I keep telling him he is a little monkey, but it only makes him laugh."
"Who's this?" Jo asked, hoping to move the conversation away from the previous one and keep the more lighthearted expressions she could see on the headteacher and deputy head's faces.
"Michael, my son. He's five." Eddie told her warmly, his face lighting up as it always did when talking of his son, though only Rachel knew about Stephen. He'd asked her once over the summer if she'd ever told Alia about Stephen, to which Rachel had shaken her head and told him it was his place to tell her if and when he so chose to, not hers. He never had, but somehow he knew that it wouldn't be as bad as he feared, should he ever decide to do so. "He had a pirate themed party for his birthday a few weeks ago." Michael's party had been the day after the christening and he'd invited his dad, Rachel and Alia along so long as they solemnly swore to dress up properly as pirates, which, to Eddie's eternal embarrassment, involved Rachel sitting on him to hold him still whilst Alia applied some of her stage makeup to his face. They'd all made credible pirates though, with the pictures of the day tangible proof he'd had to wear makeup, no matter how much Rachel and Alia had tried to convince him it looked good. Michael had been amazed with their costumes, demanding individual pictures with each of them as well as with his mum and a group one with his invited friends.
"He's a sweet boy. Must be your ex-wife's influence," Steph teased with a smirk. "Can't possibly be because of you."
"Bloody cheek." Eddie grumbled good-naturedly, placing a hand to his chest dramatically. "And here I thought we were friends, Steph. I'm wounded, truly."
"Oh don't worry, I'm sure Rachel will kiss it better for you." Steph snickered even as the woman mentioned glared at her automatically in response, knowing there was no real heat behind it. After all, the couple weren't hiding anything and the governors and LEA both knew about them. Eddie glanced at the new teachers, all of whom were staring between Rachel and Steph with stunned expressions, as though wondering how the french teacher had just dared insinuate something like that about her own boss, to the woman's face no less. True, Steph sometimes didn't know when to stop, but she'd never say something like that if she wasn't only teasing, something both Eddie and Rachel, plus the veteran staff, already knew.
"Steph!" Jo hissed out a warning, clearly trying to get Steph to stop before she put her foot even further in it.
"What?" Steph asked, batting her eyes in a terrible show of innocence. Rachel took another large gulp of her wine.
"You can't say that!" Jo whispered, though somehow most of the table still heard her. Rachel and Eddie shared a resigned look, honestly wondering how none of the new teachers had caught on yet. Eddie's arm had been around Rachel's waist most of the night and she'd been leant on him half the time. Sure, they didn't make a habit of kissing in the school corridors, but they made no effort to obscure the fact they were together either. Maybe they'd just gotten too used to the eagle eyed staff they usually worked with and forgotten that most normal teachers didn't quite have the finely honed gossip senses that some of their staff members did.
"Why not?" Steph questioned with a laugh.
"You're a pain in the arse Steph, you know that right?" Rachel shook her head, smirking slightly. She knew Steph was messing with the new teachers to a greater extent than she was messing with her or Eddie, just using their relationship as a means to do so.
"Who, moi? Never." Steph denied. "I'm a saint."
"Saint Steph, now that's a scary thought." Tom quipped, snorting into his pint amusedly when Steph shot him a glare for his flippant words. "What are you, patron saint of red wine?"
"No, patron saint of platinum hair dye." Matt inputted with a chuckle. Steph stared at them with a mock indignant expression, hands on her hips as the rest of the staff descended into laughter, the subject moving on from Rachel and Eddie, though from the looks that were occasionally thrown in their direction, the new staff were clearly wondering about their lack of reaction to a member of staff's insinuation about them. Oh well, they would just let them wonder.
…
The familiar cohort of sixth formers eyed each other knowingly as they were bundled into the hall by Max, who was glaring at them all. They'd held a meeting at the same time the teachers had been in the pub, Alia and Maxine explaining their concerns over the executive headteacher to the sixth formers they felt they could trust, Bolton adding in his own opinion and experiences to back up the sixteen and seventeen year old. Eventually, they'd agreed to completely ignore the John Fosters teachers in class for the most part, but they would act up for Max if he were to start with them, or if he started trying to get at Rachel in any way. The group all knew that without Rachel or Eddie, their lives would generally be much worse off, not something they were willing to give up without a fight. And Waterloo Road students rarely lost a fight. They would protect themselves, and their headteacher, to the bitter end.
The group glanced at each other, noting that there were no former John Fosters pupils in the hall, but they were not the only ones in the room, pockets of pupils from other year groups, every year group, forced into the assembly hall. All Waterloo Road pupils as well, despite the John Fosters lot being required to wear the same scarlet uniform as them for the last two days. It also didn't escape their notice that there were no teachers in there either, just them and Max Tyler, more than a little suspicious. Max moved to the front of the room, clapping his hands together to get their attention and frowning when it did absolutely nothing, the students still talking in their own little groups. His ire automatically rose as he yelled for them to be quiet, all eyes spinning to face him in a mixture of hate and shock. "Right, I trust you all know why you're in here." He sighed at their blank faces. "I have ensured my former pupils are dressed appropriately for their new school, but it has come to my attention that you are not dressed appropriately for school." He gestured to a stack of papers on the stage that looked suspiciously like the ones Kim had tried to foist off on them the year before when she'd had her own problem with their uniforms, mainly because of Janeece. So for most of them, the message was clear, as was whose side Kim was on. It definitely wasn't theirs anymore. "Every button must be done up on your shirts, ties must be appropriate lengths, as must skirts, blazers must be worn. Shoes must be flat, no boots permitted. No customisation of the uniform. Am I clear?"
"As pea soup." He didn't see who'd shouted out, but the response prompted giggles from the assembled students, none of whom seemed impressed with his speech to them.
"Anyone who does not comply will have a letter to take home to their parents and lunchtime detention. I will have order in my school." He preened grandly, not prepared for the scowls or mutinous replies that followed, most of them not about there being a letter for their parents, surprisingly. He was much more used to the John Fosters pupils listening intently to his every word, obeying him without question.
"Your school? It's not your school."
"No, it's Miss Mason's school."
Once again, he didn't see who had shouted out at him, but it didn't matter. Soon enough, these children would see that he was much better for the school than the ex-prostitute was, he'd make sure of it. He also didn't see the glances between the sixth formers, had no clue that his words had set their plan well into motion. Not that it mattered, as he had a new plan, one that would either show him in a good light, or Rachel in a bad light. Either way, he couldn't lose. But first, he had to make a phone call, set things in place. He would be taking over and running this school well before the October half-term if he had his way.
…
"Mum?" Alia waved a hand in front of her face to try and dispel some of the steam in the ensuite bathroom. She was trying to tell her mum about what the students were doing, attempting to keep up her side of the promise of telling Rachel when something was happening. She was apprehensive about it, sure, but she didn't want the look of disappointment from her either when it came out she didn't tell her. She wouldn't break her promise if she could help it. She didn't want to be labelled a snitch, but honestly, telling Rachel about a power play by the executive head and the pupils' response felt more like warning her than tattling on her classmates. Not that she thought her mum would actually try and stop them.
However, when she'd gotten home that evening, she found a morose Eddie in the living room, barely acknowledging she was there, and a vague mention of Rachel being in the bathroom when she'd asked the whereabouts of her mother. She'd left it for a few minutes, staying in her room and trying to figure out the odd atmosphere in the house that evening, but when Rachel had shown no sign whatsoever of exiting the bathroom, she'd decided to bite the bullet and go in after her. It wouldn't be the first time, though every time she hoped it would be the last. "Mum?" She caught sight of a hunched figure under the shower spray, the cause of all the steam in the room. It was hot, too hot, Alia knew, as dread slid down her spine, icy despite the heat from the shower. Crossing quickly to the aforementioned shower, she turned the water off and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around her mum's shoulders and kneeling beside her in the cubicle, ignoring the wet floor damping her legs. Tightening the towel as much as she could, she embraced Rachel tightly, noticing the silent sobs that wracked the woman's body, curled in on herself as she was. Rachel shifted ever so slightly, managing to move her head just enough to bury it in Alia's hair, shaking hands reaching out to envelope her daughter's. Alia stayed stock still, letting Rachel gain whatever comfort she could, her mind racing ten to the dozen as she tried to figure out what on earth could have her mum sobbing in a boiling hot shower for ten minutes at a minimum, though she'd hazard a guess at her being in there since she'd gotten home from work.
This was not the first time Alia had seen her mother in this state, though it was the first time in quite a long while. And she knew, usually, what event caused her to try and boil her skin clean in the shower. Every so often, Rachel would have a reminder, or a nightmare, or something else that would trigger her memories of her past, the times she'd told clients no and they'd gone right ahead anyway, ignoring her protests and using her as nothing more than a piece of meat. The memories, she'd told her daughter once, felt seared into her skin, and she spent a long time in the shower trying to get rid of them, to make herself feel clean again. It had taken a few times, but Alia had it down now in how to at least get Rachel out of the shower, knowing nothing she could say or do would make the memories any easier to live with. But Rachel had seemed happy enough that morning, and the pupils had been well behaved for the most part, so it could only be that she'd had some kind of run in with a fellow teacher, or… Alia set her jaw, realisation washing over her. When she'd left, later than the other students because she'd needed to talk to Tom about something to do with the football team, she'd seen her mum approaching Lindsay James, sat desolately under Alia's usual thinking tree. So, it must've been something Lindsay had said that had triggered this behaviour in her mum, and as there was usually the one thing that caused this behaviour, it meant Lindsay had been forced upon, and she'd told Rachel about it. Of course, she could be a million miles off, but she didn't think she was, more of Lindsay's guarded behaviour and lashing out making a little more sense.
She felt the sobs start to subside and managed to move her hands out from her mother's grip to tighten the towel round her, shifting to help Rachel to her feet and make sure she was adequately covered by the towel, as her room would be cooler than the still steamy bathroom. "Come on mum, time to get you dry and changed." She manhandled Rachel into her room, handing her mum some underwear and a pair of pyjamas, knowing she could change herself no matter how distraught she was. She was treating the woman carefully, not like an infant. She waited for Rachel to put some clothes on, the woman not even protesting that Alia had thrown a top at her that showed half her scar, which had faded somewhat over the last year, looking more pinkish than mottled now. Alia roughly towel dried her hair, French plaiting it to keep it away from her face and only then glancing at herself and realising she was mostly damp too. Oh well, it wasn't as important. "Talk to me."
"I can't." Rachel whispered brokenly, gathering her daughter back into her arms and leaning back on her bed. Alia sighed softly, returning the embrace.
"What if I guess right? Can you confirm it? Or at least not deny it?" Alia didn't hear a protest, so decided to continue. "I know what causes you to hide in the shower, and there was nothing today that should've set you off, not like this. Unless… I saw you talking to Lindsay James this afternoon when I was leaving school." She felt Rachel impossibly stiffen even further, only proving her theory had some sort of merit. "She's being abused, isn't she?" She swallowed down the bile that rose up as Rachel didn't respond, not lying to her daughter but not confirming it either. Some part of her, deep down, had hoped she was wrong in her theory. She embraced Rachel tighter. "It'll be alright, mum. It'll all be alright." She held her mum close until Rachel fell into a light nap, slipping from the room to change out of her own damp clothes and shoving her uniform into the washing basket with slightly more force than strictly necessary. Looked like she was wearing her skirt tomorrow, instead of the pants she'd started wearing from the beginning of that week, at least for a few days until she could get her washing done.
She sighed, sitting softly on the end of her bed, staring into space as she took in what she'd just found out, what hadn't been denied when she'd guessed. Alia knew she'd never tell a soul about what she'd discovered that evening, taking it to her grave if she had to. It wasn't her secret to tell, and in all honesty, her heart went out to Lindsay and what she'd been going through alone until that evening, for it was clear no other teacher in that place had any idea about the girl's home life, all believing the front Lindsay put on for them. It was a good front, true, but any idiot could tell it was a cover for something else. Most people just didn't want to look below the surface, didn't want to see what they were hiding from the world.
She padded quietly down the stairs, taking note of Eddie still in the living room and heading in to see him, still staring woodenly at the television she knew he wasn't really watching. Clearly, Rachel had already told Eddie what Lindsay had told her. It was allowed, safeguarding and all that, plus they'd probably discussed what was next to happen as well. Eddie seemed just as cut up as Rachel, though Alia guessed he'd probably let her push him away a little to give her the space he thought she needed after such a confession from a child. She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, smiling knowingly when he jumped and tried to pretend to act normal for her benefit. "Eddie, mum's napping now. Go, join her." Her voice was soft, full of understanding. Eddie stood slowly, his features uncertain.
"Ali…"
"Go, I'll be fine. You both need to sort today out in your heads. Just come and find me if she hides in the shower again, alright?" Eddie nodded after a few seconds, hugging her tightly before disappearing to go find Rachel and leaving Alia alone in the living room, lit only by the telly. It was only when she moved to change the channel to a mindless cartoon that she realised she'd never told her mum what she'd intended on when she'd got in. Oh well, it wasn't nearly so important as what the two senior members of staff were currently going through. It could wait.
…
"A talent show?" Rachel asked sceptically, furrowing her brow slightly as she gazed across the table at Max and Kim, the former of which had just put forward the idea during their weekly management meeting. The Lindsay James situation had already been discussed as the first item in their meeting, Max expressing his disagreement with Rachel keeping Kim out of the loop on it. Eddie had backed Rachel up immediately and surprisingly enough, so had Chris, both men pointing out that bringing someone else in that Lindsay hadn't confided in would be detrimental to the girl at this point in time. "Somehow organised and executed before October half term? Are you serious?" Rachel knew she sounded somewhat incredulous. The whole thing sounded like a foolhardy idea if she was being honest with herself. Was he really thinking they could pull such a stunt off, successfully, in so little time?
"Perfectly," Max responded calmly. "It's a John Fosters tradition, one that will show to the community and the governors, just how far we've come in such a short space of time." He offered them all a smile that definitely didn't reach his eyes. "Well, Kim thought it a good idea, anyway."
"Woah, hold on, I said it could be a good idea nearer Christmas," Kim clarified hastily, blushing slightly. Rachel bit her tongue on asking just when he'd discussed anything with Kim, knowing that they'd been seeing each other every evening since the Bolton incident nearly two weeks earlier and not being able to say anything about it, despite wanting to protect her friend from the man who had too many faces to count.
"All we're doing is moving the timetable up a bit." Max shrugged. "That shouldn't be a problem, right Rachel?" She knew he had laid down the challenge on purpose, knew he'd won no matter what she said. If she said no, then he could report back to the LEA and governors that she was being uncooperative and hindering the merger, but if she said yes, she'd be left with the stress of it all and the fallout if and when things didn't go perfectly. But the kids came first, so she really had only one answer she could give.
"Yes, of course." She offered up a smile she didn't feel one bit. "Matt and Ruby can head up the auditions and I'm sure our choir will be happy to participate." She ignored Eddie's narrowed eyed gaze at Max, even Chris seeming a bit taken aback by the tension felt between the headteacher and the executive head. Hopefully, she could get both of them to help her get everything sorted, for she had a feeling her own time would still be hectic between trying to run the school and the power plays Max pulled every time he was there, which was becoming more and more often as the days went by. What more could possibly happen in the next three weeks until the October half term?
…
Eddie was on lunchtime detention duty that week, the rota having been made weeks earlier. He thought the school had been rather quiet for the typical antics of their kids, but to his surprise, he found the cooler nearly bursting when he entered that lunchtime, full of original Waterloo Road pupils laughing and generally being a little rambunctious. Nothing too out of the ordinary, if it weren't for the fact they were all somehow in lunchtime detention. He glanced at the list that had been generated, to make sure the students who were meant to be there actually showed up, surprised that the list showed over fifty pupils, only just over thirty of them currently in the room, if his quick glance at the sheer number of kids in the room was anything to go by. That had to be some kind of record. The register never said why a pupil was in detention in case the other kids got hold of the papers, so he was just left with a list of names from nearly every year group, including the name of his girlfriend's daughter, who, as he glanced up, he could see sat in the back corner on a desk, chatting happily away to Danielle and Aleesha. Not the teenager's usual reaction to being put in the cooler, nor had he had Rachel's worry and disappointment over it yet, which was just as surprising. Unless Rachel didn't know about it yet, which was also a possibility, depending on who had issued the detention to Alia. He whistled loudly to cut through the chatter, all eyes instantly turning to him. "Okay, this has got to be a record, even for you lot. What on earth could you lot have done to earn yourselves a lunchtime detention?"
"What makes you think we've only the one, sir?" Bolton laughed. That was another surprising thing, Eddie noticed with a frown. None of the students seemed even remotely concerned or upset with spending their lunchtime in the cooler, even the ones who really should as they had parents at the school, like Bolton, Maxine and Sambuca. "The record's fourteen up to now, for Vicki here." Bolton gestured to another year 12 girl, Vicki McDonald, who was sat on the other side of the room, the girl waving proudly at having the greatest number of detentions so far in a single day as the rest of the cooler clapped for her like she'd won some kind of award. The atmosphere was more that of a party than a detention, bizarrely enough.
"How the hell did you manage to get fourteen detentions in one day?" Eddie asked incredulously. These kids really were something else entirely. "How did so many of you manage to get detentions in the first place?"
"We showed up to school." Danielle shrugged unhelpfully. "Honestly, sir, we're pretty sure it's targeted at us."
"What is?" Eddie's brow furrowed in puzzlement.
"The new uniform stuff." Aleesha filled him in. "Campbell and Tyler's latest scheme for us all to be good little robots." She snorted and Eddie could practically see the regard they'd held Kim in previously drop as they lumped her in with Max. Kim was in for one hell of a shock as soon as she got her head from the clouds of being involved with the executive head. It was one thing to have a staffroom romance, but quite another to allow that to negatively colour interactions and relationships with the pupils. "We get a lunchtime detention for every item of the dress code we've broken each day."
"We've got a running tally going in the common room until half term." Alia piped up with a laugh, nodding slightly to let Eddie know everything he'd been told was entirely truthful. "Winner gets to choose the next film we watch in there, even if they're not a sixth former."
"You lot." Eddie shook his head, wondering just how something neither he nor Rachel had been informed about had somehow inspired all years of Waterloo Road to band together and turn what was supposed to be a punishment on its head, making it a badge of honour. Still, he had to applaud their ingenuity and creativity. Not to mention their deviousness. "Okay, well seeing as there are too many of you here to get on with your homework peacefully, who's up for a game of hangman?" He smiled at the cheers the suggestion raised, standing and wiping the detention sign off the whiteboard. "Who wants to go first?"
…
Chris didn't know how he hadn't been in the sixth form common room before, particularly as his form group consisted of sixth formers. He'd noticed that Rachel and Eddie had tried to give the John Fosters teachers either the more well behaved form groups, or the older form groups, obviously trying to ease them into it all a little rather than throwing them in at the deep end. That had only been reinforced when he'd had to find Eddie for some reason during one form time and found that the Waterloo Road staff dealt with all manner of disaster in their forms with a practised ease that concerned him deeply. Somehow, that also translated to the students, Chris having seen at least three fights thus far between the younger years get split up by the sixth formers before any teacher could get involved, this week alone. Somehow, he thought that the teachers that had journeyed over with him to this school had woefully underestimated both pupils and teachers, himself included. It had more of a family feel than an institution of learning. Still, he had to post an announcement for Max's Youth Volunteer Scheme that he'd insisted Chris head up as part of his role of Extended Services, telling him it would also be good for the merger, get the students working together for a good cause. He didn't know how well it would work in practice, Rachel and Eddie's faces both indicating that it wouldn't go as well as Max seemed to think it would, though they had held off from saying anything negative about the scheme after the fuss Max had already made about the talent show.
He stepped through the creche, an involuntary smile lighting up his face as he took in the messily playing youngsters with the slightly harried looking workers and volunteers. See, Chris could tell something like the creche was how Max wanted his volunteering scheme to go, where students signed up willingly to help out and really got stuck in, but the creche worked because there was a need for it and it really did seem that Waterloo Road stuck together. Opening the door to the sixth form common room, he was struck immediately by the sea of scarlet uniforms untidily worn. He didn't think the girl gangs and turf wars had made it even to the common room, but apparently it had as he couldn't spot even one of his former John Fosters pupils in the mix. Several of them were watching something on the television in there, more sat at the desks and computers talking and doing work, the final few crowding the small kitchenette with food and drinks, chatting amicably. Odd really, considering it was supposedly class time, but then they might have a free in the same way he had a non-contact time that period.
He made his way through the curiously packed room to the large notice board, pinning up the notice beside a flyer for the school choir, which were apparently competing down in London in December. How hadn't anyone picked up on such a positive thing yet? Or was it just that the John Fosters teachers hadn't picked up on it yet? His eyes were drawn to a photograph just above the choir announcement of Lia Rose singing mid-song, on what was clearly Waterloo Road's playground, a photograph of the school choir singing on what was clearly the same day, the same event, beside it. His jaw dropped slightly. Seriously, just how many secrets surrounded this place? More photos littered the notice board, including a few from the christening that Tom had shown them at the pub, though his gaze focused on one that had been pinned up of Rachel holding the baby with Eddie beside her, both laughing for the camera. Even for the head and deputy head, they did seem rather close.
He caught sight of a piece of paper, headed by it being the year 13 betting list. Curious, he stepped forward to read it, his eyes nearly bulging from his head as he saw the top three bets that had been written down:
Mason and Lawson finally get together
Clarkson and Shackleton get engaged
Bolton and Janeece make it official
"That's last year's list." Chris jumped as Alia appeared beside him, seemingly from nowhere. She nodded to the list he was reading. "We haven't finalised this year's yet, trying to figure out the best candidates for Clarkson's next romance. Chlo and Donte are no help, keep saying he's more focused on doing right by them and Izzie before dating this year."
"Who's Shackleton then?" Chris tapped the piece of paper over the unfamiliar name. The original Waterloo Road teachers had been surprisingly tight lipped on anything gossip or news wise, not trusting the new teachers enough to share that kind of information.
"SEN teacher, last year. Did a runner on everyone out of the blue, the div." Alia rolled her eyes, keeping the more private information to herself. Tom seemed mostly over Davina leaving now, but Rachel, Alia, Chlo and Donte still kept an eye on him every now and then to make sure he really was alright. "We tend not to bring her up; it's still a touchy subject even now." She shrugged. "Why're you in here, anyway? Most teachers tend to give this room a wide berth."
"New volunteer scheme." He pointed to the notice that he'd pinned up, not sure what he was expecting from the sixteen year old, but definitely not anticipating the scoff she let out as she took in the sharp advertisement for the scheme.
"God, that's so pretentious it's unreal." She shook her head. "You're not going to get anyone with an appeal like that. What did the other teachers say?"
"What's wrong with it?" He thought it quite good himself.
"You mean, apart from it depicting only John Fosters students and the entire thing looking like an advert for why you should always wear protection?" She smirked at his reddened face. He was just as easy to wind up as Rachel and Eddie could be when it came to mentioning things like sex. It was too easy, this winding up teachers thing. "Seriously, what did the other teachers say about it?"
"It was Mr Tyler's idea, and Miss Campbell seemed to like the idea in principle." Chris still wasn't sure why he was talking so openly with her, but figured it was because she was actually engaging him in conversation for the first time since the first day of term.
Alia snorted in amusement. "Of course she would; it's obvious they're sleeping together. What, was no one meant to know about that?"
"How many people know about it?"
Alia laughed lightly. "Watch." She turned, raising her voice to be heard over the chattering and low music playing. "Oy! Okay, hands up, who knows about Campbell and Tyler?"
"What, that they're sleeping together?" Janeece checked, to which Alia nodded. Instantly, every hand rose into the air, the students all laughing at Chris' dumbfounded expression. He really needed to up his game if he was even going to begin to try and understand this school. He shook his head, leaving the common room as fast as he could, not expecting to be followed until he heard his name being called down the corridor. Clamping down on the automatic discomfort he felt at the students knowing way too much about the teachers' personal lives, he turned to face the one who'd followed him, Alia's face still vaguely amused even as she thrust the advertisement for the volunteer scheme back at him.
"Seriously, think on how many kids here are young carers, or parents themselves, or holding down one or more jobs, all on top of being here every day, before you decide we aren't doing enough for the community. This is not John Fosters and it never will be."
TBC…