Hey guys, sorry it's been a little while since my last upload, life has been a little manic.
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Thanks, and enjoy!

Rachel had a lot of time to think alone as she attempted to drive to work the next morning. Overnight, an army of cones had appeared in the road forcing the usually busy road to come to almost a standstill.

There were so many thoughts swirling through her brain from her meeting itinerary for the day; worries about Nat (who was staying at home that day); and the looming threat that Stuart Hordley was becoming.

She was so deep in though that she didn't even remember driving into the school car park. It wasn't until Eddie had called her name several times was she finally pulled out of her trance.

"You okay?"

Rachel quickly shook off all the clouds of thoughts in her mind and pulled herself into the present. She flashed him with a quick smile; "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just been a long week."

"Hasn't it just," Eddie returned the smile as they walked into the school - he could tell something was up but decided not to press her on it.

…

The following couple of days before the weekend had only got more and more stressful. By Friday she was unable to hide it from Eddie who had been hovering around her more and more just waiting for her to break. She was glad that Nat had taken a few more days off school so was unaware of what was going on. She knew both of her daughters would be worried about her, especially if they saw her now, trying not to cry, whilst sitting alone in her office.

She wasn't alone for long though as Eddie soon materialised in her office.

He took one look at her face and threw himself down onto the sofa next to her.

"Hey, hey, Rach! What's going on?"

She told him everything.

About the blackmail, and other things she had never told anyone, ever.

She told him how her mum had died when she was young and her father had turned to drugs. How he'd brought an abusive girlfriend home and how terrified she, and her younger sister had been. That she'd turned to prostitution to get food on the table. How she'd saved up all the leftover money to be able to run away with her sister. That her sister had taken the money and ran without her. She told him how distraught she'd been and how far to the edge she was pushed until eventually, the arrival of her first daughter saved her.

She said it all in one go, she knew if she stopped, she'd never speak again. Once she finished, she broke down.

Eddie watched on as the sobs wracked her usually strong frame - he felt hopeless. What could he do to make any of this any better?

Eventually Rachel calmed down, took a few deep breaths and sipped some water from a glass that Eddie had passed her. She tried to force a smile and wiped away all of the remaining tears.

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, there's no need to be sorry. You can't help that all of this has happened to you. I wish you'd have told me sooner but I understand how hard it must have been for you to tell me at all. You're not alone in this anymore I promise. We'll get through this together."

Rachel nodded and a smile began to form at the edge of her lips. "Thank you, really."

"I take it your girls don't know then?" Eddie knew it was a stupid question - but the answer seemed important to him regardless.

"Not in full. I've told them about things vaguely but I can't possibly bring myself to tell them - not yet anyway. Especially not Nat, she's way too young to understand. She's too young to have to even think about this stuff."

…

Nat hadn't been at school for the remainder of that week, her mum had phoned the doctor who'd said to let her rest for a few more days until she was totally symptom free.

The following week, she was back at school - just as the school seemed to have been thrown into a mad bout of chaos. As teachers began to prepare their classes for the end of year exams, the students grew rowdy and things began to kick off.

Miss Koreshi was suspended; one of the girls on the school football team was groomed by an illicit supply teacher; an environmental protest was staged on the site of the controversial new school building and another girl on her team faced deportation.

Nat was not surprised to see her mum coming home late, looking more stressed than ever before.

Her stress levels seemed to peak on the lead up to the spelling bee and Nat made sure to stay way well out of her way.

Due to her injury, Nat wasn't able to play football for quite a while, it seemed like she might never go back. It wasn't her concussion stopping her anymore but her whiplash that flared up anytime she attempted to exercise. Mr Clarkson offered to let her help with the coaching but she couldn't bear to be on the sidelines and not play. Eventually she found herself staying after school to study in the library afterschool. She knew she wouldn't study at home.

Trying to make sense of the piles of homework she found herself with was a difficult feat, she always did her maths work first (which she found easiest) and left her English till last.

On Wednesday afternoon, Miss Koreshi (who had been reinstated after her suspension) found her there, struggling through of Mice and Men revision.

"Hey Nat, didn't expect to see you still here. You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just trying to keep up with all my work."

"I see, need some help?"

Nat wanted to say yes, but she didn't want to inconvenience her. As she looked at her teachers smiling face, she couldn't say no. "If that wouldn't be too much of a hassle, then yes please."

Miss Koreshi sat and helped Nat for a few hours. She had a way of explaining things that could make Nat understand them - things teachers had never been able to teach her before. It was as if she could really ge inside her dyslexic ridden brain.

"You need to understand Nat," she said in the end, "that dyslexia isn't a life sentence, it's more of a superpower if you want it to be. You just have to work with it, not against it.'

…

Finally Friday came, which was a massive relief to Nat as they were out of lessons in the morning to watch the spelling bee!

It was a nice break before end of year exams the week after, she was starting to feel the stress of everything pile up.

Once the school had gathered in the hall, the competition began. Nat was in the middle of an aisle with her friends on either side of her - they soon became engrossed on the drama of it all. Nat's competitive side flared up as letters volleyed between the teams and points were tallied. Neither she, or anyone else in the hall noticed the man enter at the back. Not until he spoke….

They don't know the real you though do they Amanda… That's her real name see, at least that's what it was when she was a prostitute! That's right boys and girls your Miss Mason used to earn her living on her back...

The words cut Nat like knives, but she could see it cut her mum deeper. The man was unable to finish his little tell tale story as the whole hall burst into a frenzy and he was pushed out by Mr Lawson and a few other teachers, but her mum didn't leave the stage...

She spoke with a shaking voice, but did so with confidence and compassion. Her face was riddled with lines that told the real story - Nat could barely listen to what she was saying. It all felt so wrong.

After what felt like an eternity, she stopped speaking and ran off the stage. The whole hall erupted into applause but Nat remained still, like a statue. Her mind had no time to process any of this and had just stopped working. She started shaking and couldn't stop as tears tried to force their way out. It all felt so wrong.

All the students were sent back to their classes as if nothing had ever happened. All Nat's classmates were talking about what happened, unsurprisingly, but that was the last thing she wanted to think about.

She was supposed to be in a maths lesson with Mr Lawson, but he hadn't turned up. After sitting through a few minutes of the thoughts and opinions of her fellow students on the massive bombshell; she got up and left. She needed some space - her head was spinning. Was it true? Who was that man? Why did Mr Lawson seem to know him? What else didn't she know about her mum? Did Sam know about all this? Was her mum okay?

She walked herself straight to Miss Koreshi's classroom, praying that she wouldn't have a class.

…

Jasmine was glad to have a free lesson after the chaos in the hall - not only would the kids be even more rowdy than usual, but they'd be asking questions she'd never be able to answer.

She heard a knock on her door and looked up to see Nat stood there.

"Hey, you alright?" By the look on her face, she wasn't alright.

"I just need a minute. I won't get in your way or anything."

"That's okay, you take as long as you need. Let me know if you need anything."

…

Nat sat there a long time silently without moving an inch as her brain tried to process all that had happened. She wasn't sure what to do, or how to feel, the only thing she knew was that she needed to call her sister.

She was still sitting there trying to get her mind in order when the explosion went off...