(A/N): I couldn't find a good cut off point so this is once again a very long chapter. I'm only a couple of pages ahead of what's written here, so the next update may be a bit longer as far as waiting goes, but we'll see. Maybe I'll keep going on this burst of inspiration. I realised reading back over what I'd written years ago that I kept Bridget on as Rachel's admin, even though Bridget left, so in this story Bridget never left. Plus, Bridget was great I liked Bridget. Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, let me know what you think. See you on the next one!
What the Heart Wants
Chapter 24
As the week went on, most of the student body seemed to be returning to normal. Bolton seemed shiftier than ever, as did Paul, neither of them able to look the three girls in the eye, something that really worried Janeece. However, the two boys had stepped in between Alia and Philip on the Wednesday of that week, pushing the boy away from her in her defence. Philip had been acting off with everyone from the time he arrived at school on Monday morning, barely even reacting in the assembly and offering snide comments when he couldn't get away with outright ignoring his cousin. Alia suspected it had something to do with his mum, who though at work, was avoiding Rachel and Eddie like the plague, and glaring at Alia whenever possible. That Wednesday, the snide comments had reached a peak, with Alia finally losing a bit of her cool in response and telling him to tell her straight to her face, then he could watch as she knocked him out. It would have resulted in a fight, even with her dominant arm still firmly strapped to her chest, had the two boys not got between them and pushed Philip away from her. Even with their weird behaviour, they still made sure she was alright before frogmarching Philip to the cooler, locking him in there for an hour or so. He hadn't gotten any better with his attitude since, not realising that he was fast losing the friendship of his cousin through his actions that week. It wasn't exactly like he had that many friends otherwise, with most people talking to him because Alia and her friends did. All the majority of the student population knew was that for some mystery reason, Philip had started being awful to one of the girls injured by Earl, thereby ensuring most of them decided to treat him like he was treating Alia. It didn't help with him being the headteacher's nephew. Neither Rachel nor Alia were sure how that had gotten around the building within the day of him arriving at the school, but the relationship between them was still relatively quiet, even with such a nosy cohort of students.
Alia, Maxine and Janeece had been allowed to go to classes as of Tuesday, the first two girls having had their dressings changed and a date for the stitch removal two weeks from the Monday afternoon. They'd elected to go to most of the classes they had, with Maxine and Janeece sharing most of their classes, and so wouldn't be alone. Alia spent half her time in class and half her time in her mum's office, choosing not to be in PE, Science, Drama or Music, all classes that involved use of both hands a lot of the time. She still went to the rest of her core classes, and made sure she went to French, where Steph had placed her at the front to do what she could without writing anything, originally with Philip, but on her own once Steph had caught on to Philip's behaviour and moved him away from her.
During the week, Steph had retrieved her car from her house, though she, Maxine and Janeece were still staying with Rachel, Alia and Jack. Janeece and Maxine had moved to share the last spare room, even though Alia had offered up her own room, more than willing to sleep in her music room. Janeece had been in contact with her mother, who seemed unconcerned with her daughter's whereabouts and had told Janeece she wouldn't be home for the next ten days, as her boyfriend was taking her to Spain. Rachel and Steph had exchanged glances but kept their mouths shut. Neither Steph nor Maxine were even sure if they wanted to return to their house but were willing to give it time, as Rachel had reiterated that they were welcome to stay as long as they wanted. However, all week Rachel had had this nagging feeling, that someone needed to be blamed for Earl's actions, and that that someone was her. It was her who had let Earl into the school, who had fought to keep him there, had thought they were finally getting through to the boy. She'd seen out the aftermath as she'd promised herself she would, and though she knew the physical wounds on the two teenagers would last a good deal longer yet, the emotional wounds of the school were healing. It was time. She'd called Eddie very early that Friday morning to give him a head's up, secretly glad when she got his voicemail instead of him, silently bundling Alia into the back of the car where she had more room and driving them to the school. She'd barely pulled up when the passenger door opened and Eddie sat himself in the car, pulling the door closed for privacy. "Eddie!"
"You might've called me when I was awake, instead of leaving a poxy message. Cos I was hoping it was going to be one of those late night things, the sort you wake up and think better of." Eddie grouched, though internally he was panicking at the idea of her voicemail being true. He couldn't lose her, and neither could the school.
"What's going on?" Alia asked, slightly alarmed in the back seat. What was going on? The week had been going fairly well, even with the slight awkwardness between her mother and Eddie and the stares she received from some of the students over what had happened.
"Well it's not," Rachel replied to her deputy, ignoring her alarmed daughter. "I am resigning and today is my last day."
"Mum!" Alia exclaimed, beyond shocked. She'd thought things were finally going back to normal, or as normal as Waterloo Road ever got.
"Rachel! We've just spent a week putting this school back together. The counsellor, Charlotte, she's been great." Eddie tried to convince her but could see his words weren't getting through to the unbelievably stubborn woman.
"That's why now is the right time. If I had cut and run, I would have failed the kids, but I did what I had to and now I take the next step." Rachel told him, still ignoring the increasingly alarmed protests emanating from the back seat.
"Which is?"
"I admit that I got it wrong. I take responsibility for Maxine and Alia being hurt." Rachel spoke quietly, silencing both Eddie and Alia as she exited her car and slammed the door. Alia slid forward until she was perched between the two front seats, every inch the scared child as she fixed the deputy head with wide eyes.
"Eddie? What's going on?"
Eddie turned to the fifteen year old, his features softening automatically as he took in her genuinely confused, scared features. "She didn't tell you?" He sighed as she shook her head as fast as a cartoon character. "She called me this morning when I was still asleep. She's leaving."
"No. She loves it here. Eddie, we need to stop her!"
"Hey, no arguments here. Any ideas, come and get me, yeah? I'll try and think up some of my own. Ali, it'll all be okay. No matter if your mum gets her way or not."
…
Of course, it couldn't simply be an easy day, not at Waterloo Road. Danielle and Aleesha had finally been caught with making all the poodle posters of Jasmine as payback for her going out with Rob. Of course, the student body had already known for ages who was behind it all. The two girls hadn't made it much of a secret. Rose had brought Marley and Sambuca back to school, to much pupil upheaval, despite the three girls publicly declaring that they only blamed Earl for what he'd done, not Marley or Sam. Bolton and Paul in particular seemed to have taken their return hard, with Bolton picking a fight out of nowhere with Marley that Rachel and Eddie had had to break up in front of the governors, the LEA representative and Candice, who were all there to sort out Rachel's resignation. Alia and Janeece had happened to be in the corridor at that time, with Maxine being in another part of the school with Steph, who was on a free, watching the whole thing, horrified. Once they'd broken up the fight, Eddie stepped over to the girls after wrestling Bolton far enough away from Marley.
"Who's that?" Alia murmured, gesturing to the LEA representative near Rachel with her head.
"Mr Evans from the LEA." Eddie watched as her face fell.
"She's not still going through with it?"
"I'm afraid so, Ali."
"Get to your lessons now, go." Rachel directed the students away briskly, her mind obviously occupied with Bolton and Paul's behaviour. Her face softened slightly as she saw Janeece and Alia still stood in the corridor, fear flickering over their faces. "Girls. Go to Steph's room, wait with Maxine. All this will get sorted, don't you worry."
"Worry?" Alia snorted in derision. "You're leaving. This isn't your problem anymore." Alia rolled her eyes, knowing her tone was nothing but disrespectful. She turned on her heel and strode off, a confused Janeece following in her wake.
Rachel blinked a few times, clearly surprised at the tone her daughter had taken with her but dispersed the remaining pupils; Bolton to the cooler, Paul back to class and Marley to the school nurse, Charlotte going with the latter to make sure he actually went. She pushed it to the back of her mind as she addressed the LEA and governors, biting back her response as the LEA representative handed her back her letter of resignation and gave her until the end of the day. She instead strode back to her office, Eddie hot on her heels as she gave instructions for Bridget to send her leaving memo to the staff. She barely even noticed as he deliberately closed the door to her office.
"You're giving the staff letters when he's given you another six hours to make up your mind." Eddie frowned at her. What was going on in her head? The events in themselves were strange enough, but when she hadn't even informed her own daughter of her decision when it definitely affected both of them rather than just Rachel, it left Eddie really reeling. He knew Alia would have warned him if she knew, and her little outburst in the corridor had only reinforced her blind panic that morning that she had no idea what was going on.
"It's already made up. You're wasting your breath. I'm leaving teaching, Eddie." Rachel told him, defeated.
"Hang on… leaving teaching?!" Eddie asked incredulously.
"Yes, a fresh start. Why not?"
"Uh, because it's your life! Think of what you're giving up, think of your daughter. What does Alia think of all this?" He saw her flinch at the mention of her daughter and knew he had her on that point.
"Not anymore it isn't. Plus Alia will be fine, especially once she starts a new place. I'm recommending you for the job."
"Me?"
"Yeah, you'll do a good job. Excuse me, I need to see Marley."
Eddie's brain finally caught up to everything she'd said as she rounded her desk to go see Marley. "Wait, so you're not only leaving, but you're pulling Alia out of school here too? Have you told her any of this?"
"I am her mother, Eddie."
"Yes, and she's too much like you. You're going to have one hell of a fight on your hands. She's not going to take any of this well. You've already sent her reeling with announcing you're leaving." Eddie tried to reason with her, but she simply walked out with another statement of having to go see Marley. Fighting the urge to track down Rachel and shake her until she started speaking sense again, he instead turned to the French classrooms, finding Steph and the girls in the former's classroom. Alia spotted him almost instantly, coming outside at his gesture, closing the door behind her.
"Eddie?" She asked after checking the corridors were empty. "What's wrong?"
"Your mum, she…"
"She's not left already has she?"
"No love. She has until the end of the day for that. No, the thing is, she's talking of leaving teaching. And," He held up a hand to forestall her reaction, "when she leaves, she's taking you with her."
"What?" Alia's jaw dropped. "Is this some kind of joke?"
"I wish it was Alia."
"No, no, she can't do this. She cannot force me both into and out of school within a month. This is ridiculous." Alia paced back and forth, to which Eddie silently marvelled at how much like her mother she truly was. Over the course of the week, the bandage on her arm had reduced in size, though she still had to wear the sling another two weeks until the stitches came out, before she would then have to attend physio to get the strength back in her arm and hand. But the arm strapped to her chest did little to detract just how much like Rachel she looked in that moment. She stopped abruptly, looking Eddie dead in the eye. He winced at the broken, defeated expression in the teenager's face. "Is it my fault? I mean, if I hadn't been there, hadn't got hurt, maybe she wouldn't be quitting. Maybe I shouldn't have come to school in the first place. I knew it was a bad idea. I should've just stayed at home. Bad things always happen when I go to school," She rambled, getting less coherent as her babbling continued. Eddie blinked in surprise at her rambling, his heart going out to her. For all she acted much older, he knew Rachel had a tendency to forget she was only fifteen.
"Alia, calm down." He reached out, pulling her into a gentle hug, thinking it the only way to calm her. He felt her good arm wrap around his back after a moment's hesitation. "It is not your fault. If you hadn't been there, yes you wouldn't have been hurt, but it could have been a lot worse for Maxine and Janeece. Would you change that?" He felt her shake her head. "You've got the same streak as your mum, running into dangerous situations without thinking of what could happen. But that doesn't make it your fault your mum is doing all this today. I promise, it's not your fault, not at all."
Neither saw Rachel come into view further down the corridor on her way back from seeing Marley, her heart breaking at the sight of her daughter visibly upset in Eddie's arms. She still wasn't sure what to make of her daughter's attitude earlier, but something had clearly happened to bring her near tears and accept a hug off anyone, let alone a teacher, in public. Fighting all her instincts to go and comfort her daughter, she turned away and headed for her office to speak to Marley and Bolton.
Alia pulled back slightly, offering Eddie a wan smile. "Thanks. I wish I could say I believed that. Thanks for telling me though. I'll grab my things. No point being here if I'm out by the end of the day anyway."
"Alia. Tell you what, hang around with me for today, alright? I've got no lessons, got cover when I heard Rachel's voicemail. Even if it's your last day, we can come up with something to pass the time."
"…Only if it's no bother."
"Of course it's not. I might have to nip out a few times to deal with the Bolton Marley fiasco, but other than that I'm sure we'll find something."
…
Alia only had a general idea of how she'd ended up waiting in the cooler with a sullen Bolton. She'd spent the morning playing stupid pen and paper games with Eddie, all things she could kind of manage with her off hand, which she knew was a blatant attempt to distract her, whilst Eddie was trying to distract himself with everything surrounding Rachel leaving until he could think up a solid plan. He'd gone to try and talk her out of leaving, again, whilst talking about whatever Bolton and Paul were hiding, so Alia had decided to wait in the cooler, knowing Eddie would walk with Rachel to collect Bolton when they finally decided how to handle it. She'd expected the sullen silence from the boy, hence why she'd settled into a chair a little away from him and busied herself with a book she'd been carrying in her bag for when she couldn't do whatever work was being done in lessons. What she hadn't expected was a stray pencil to bounce onto the desk in front of her. Slowly, she turned to face the other occupant of the room, only barely glancing up from her book. "What?"
"Is Mason really leaving?" Bolton asked quietly. Alia shrugged, knowing her face was giving it all away.
"I found out at school this morning. I think so."
"It wasn't her fault, what happened." He motioned towards her arm.
Alia offered him a wry smile. "She blames herself. Pretty sure she blames me at this point too."
"What did you do?"
"Ran after a crazy guy with a gun like I know how to wrestle?" Alia sighed, putting her book down. "We all knew Earl was psycho. My mum didn't. She thought they were getting through to him. This," she gestured to her arm, "is proof it didn't work. She fought to keep him here, so she thinks it's her fault."
"So why's it your fault?"
"Many things. Mainly for putting myself in harm's way. Doesn't matter anyway. She's pulling me out of school along with her. Probably send me off to my aunt's, get what happened completely away from her," She added bitterly. It honestly seemed to her that her mother was trying to run away from what had happened last week, run away from it all. Therefore it was only logical she'd also get rid of the evidence of what had happened living with her.
"It wasn't your fault. Wasn't hers either. If it was anyone's fault, it was mine."
"What are you talking about? Earl had the gun; it was his fault."
"Yeah, but, what if he could've been stopped before he even decided to go to Max's that day?"
"Bolton, what do you mean? Is this something to do with the earlier gun, the one here at school her first day back?"
"How'd you know about that?"
Alia shot him a look. "My mother is the headmistress. I know about everything that happened since the day she started here. I had more than a few words with her about running blindly into buildings after kids with guns. Hypocritically, as it turns out."
Bolton eyed her warily. "Wait, so you know about the whole prison thing?"
"The mock prison from last year? Yeah. Rach was happy she'd got through to you. Never wanted to see anyone end up down the rabbit hole she did if she could help it. She saw potential in you." She saw right through his façade. "Yes, I know about the dvd. And no, I'd never tell a soul about it. I tend to keep what I see and hear to myself."
Bolton took a deep breath, glancing at the door to make sure they were still alone. "That first day, Denzil didn't have the gun. Earl did. Threatened us into keeping quiet. Course, Paul then went and sent that note, dint he, which set everything off."
Alia blinked in shock. "He framed his own brother?"
"You said it yourself: psycho," Bolton defended himself. "If he was willing to frame his little brother for nothing, what was he going to do to us for snitchin'?"
"I get it."
Bolton sighed in relief. "Don't say anything, alright? I feel bad enough and Jan's already noticed." Both fell quiet as Rachel and Eddie appeared with Paul in tow, the boy sitting down next to his friend and eyeing Alia curiously. The girl offered him a small smile before returning her eyes to her book, though she wasn't reading as she listened to the conversation between the boys and the teachers. She placed her book down on the desk as Rachel told them what would happen and that Candice had told them that Bolton had to accompany her and Paul to the lawyer's office. The boys both stood reluctantly, but Alia snagged Bolton's wrist as he passed her, pulling him to a stop as he looked down at her questioningly.
"Look out for my mum, okay? She's stressed enough today," She murmured just loud enough for the boy to hear, barely moving her lips. Bolton nodded with understanding, a sad smile gracing his features.
"I'll miss you, y'know."
"Surprisingly enough, back at you." Alia smiled, letting go of his sleeve and letting him follow Rachel and Paul out of the room. She blinked in surprise as Eddie levered himself into the chair next to her.
"What was all that about?" Eddie asked, nodding to the door the three had left by.
"Can't tell you, sorry." Alia shrugged, putting her book back in her bag. "Confidential."
"That excuse doesn't work between two pupils you know."
"Still won't make me tell you." She paused for a second. "I asked him to watch out for her whilst they're gone. He knows she's quitting and he'll watch to make sure she's alright."
"And you trust Bolton Smilie with that?"
"Of course. He has a crazy amount of respect for Rachel." She glanced at the clock before standing. "Shit, I have to run. Donte and Chlo are getting married and Max, Janeece and I are bridesmaids."
"I thought they were already married?" Eddie asked in amusement as he walked with her out of the cooler and towards the sixth form common room, which was being utilised as a dressing room for the day's events.
"They are. It's something Donte's doing for Chlo after everything that's happened. He's roped half the upper years and the staff into helping him make it special for her." Alia paused before the common room door, turning to Eddie as an idea based loosely on what Donte had done dawned on her. "What if you called round, get other people involved instead of containing it? Grab Candice and ring round everyone, get enough pressure on the LEA to make Rachel stay? I mean, it won't do much good where I'm concerned, but you could get her job secured for her, get the top guys to convince her to stay."
"That sounds like a brilliant idea Ali. I'm on it." He patted her good shoulder before sprinting off to find Candice and put the idea into action. Alia sighed, pasting on a smile she didn't feel before entering the room to the pandemonium of Chlo, Maxine and Janeece trying to get changed, with Chlo trying to fasten her dress behind her (she'd had to tell the other girls about the baby on Monday when the counsellor had had a meeting with them, so it had slowly filtered through the school) and an already dressed Janeece helping Maxine into a dress without jostling her arm. The girls all greeted Alia warmly, moving over to herd her to where a bag had been left for her. Glancing inside, Alia found one of her older dresses that had been in the back of her wardrobe but still fit her, a short, strappy, sparkly number, along with black stilettos. Janeece and Maxine approached her, Maxine's hospital sling exchanged for a black sparkly one.
Maxine noticed her glance and smiled. "It ain't exactly designer, but it's much better than that hospital crap. Come on, let's get you ready." Together, they managed to get Alia out of her boots, leggings and t-shirt and into the sparkly dress and stilettos, Janeece fixing her arm with a matching black sparkly sling before Chlo did everyone's makeup for them. Since that Monday when they'd all been made to sit in a room together and talk through everything, the friendships between the four girls had never been closer. Maxine had finally realised why Chlo had reacted like she had over Max wanting a baby with Earl, and the three had managed to convince Chlo that they blamed her not at all for everything that had happened that Friday. Together, they'd been able to put a few individual issues they had behind them, which in turn had made them all much closer.
Traversing the school and ignoring the stares they were getting from both pupils and teachers still in lessons, they were stopped just before the entrance to the school by Steph, who offered them all a wide smile and made them pose for pictures with her digital camera.
"You girls look beautiful."
"Come to the wedding, miss?" Chlo offered.
Steph nodded. "Sure Chlo, I'd be honoured. Lead the way." She fell into step with Alia as Chlo led the way out of the door, flanked by Janeece and Maxine.
…
Rachel felt like banging her head off the nearest wall out of frustration. Paul had agreed readily to sign an affidavit, even after it had been explained what that meant in terms of holding back information, but Bolton was still steadfastly refusing to do anything, though she thought she caught him watching her in concern once or twice. The lawyer left them to it with a commiserating look to Rachel as she turned to Bolton. She tried to reason with him, asking how many more people he was willing to let down with his behaviour, but it didn't seem to get through to him.
"You and I made a deal, do you remember?" She wasn't entirely sure she'd even get a response from him at this point, so close to giving up on him and just adding the failure with him on top of the guilt she felt over allowing Earl to stay.
"…I remember."
"You do your best and I support you. So why are you throwing that back in my face? And how could I have got you so wrong?" Rachel took a calming breath, knowing it wouldn't do for her to lose her temper with the boy. Paul already looked a little afraid of her. "What I saw in you was someone who was worth going out on a limb for. Not someone who would leave an eleven year old child, scared and in a place he shouldn't be!"
Bolton was acutely reminded of Alia's words in the cooler: "Rach was happy she'd got through to you. Never wanted to see anyone end up down the rabbit hole she did if she could help it. She saw potential in you." He could see it in Rachel's face that she cared what happened to him, that he could be the best version of himself and felt even worse that he was letting everyone down. How had it been relatively easy to tell Alia, but not to claim what had happened publicly?
"If I knew how little you cared about anyone else, I'm not sure that I would've backed you. Your mum, Denzil, Paul, me. How many more people are you going to let down here, Bolton? What about yourself?"
"Tell her." Paul implored, making Bolton glare at him as Rachel immediately caught on that there was still something she didn't know.
"Tell me what?"
"Bolton, she's going to find out, that we kept quiet and now Maxine and Alia are hurt," Paul continued, ignoring the stricken look on his headteacher's face and Bolton's sullen one.
Bolton stared at Rachel for a moment, seeing the stress Alia had mentioned prominent in her features. "Clarkson says you're leaving. Is that cos of this, what Earl did?"
"Partly." Rachel admitted reluctantly. Of course her leaving wouldn't stay a secret for long.
"It's not your fault." Bolton knew he'd hit on at least part of the reason as he saw her expression fall minutely before she fixed on a more neutral look.
"Then show me that I can be right about something. Show me I was right to believe in you."
"One condition. If I speak then you stay," Bolton solemnly told her, before recalling the rest of his conversation in the cooler. "And you let Alia stay too."
"What?"
"Well, it weren't your fault," Bolton reasoned. "I never 'fessed up cos I was scared. I was scared of what Earl would do to me. So, if I speak, then you and Alia stay. Deal?" He watched her carefully, his stomach in his throat. What was he thinking, trying to bargain a deal with a teacher, not just any teacher at that? He just prayed it wouldn't backfire on Alia, who he was also trying to help with his deal as well as himself and the head. He figured his teacher had a lot of work to do if she was going to convince her daughter she didn't hate her or want to send her away, but he figured getting her to stay at school would be a good start.
Rachel stared at him. Eddie must've told Alia what she'd planned and the teenager must've told Bolton. No wonder the boy looked so fierce over his deal, trying to keep them both in the school.
Bolton sighed at her silence, deciding to throw in a little more information for the woman. "She thinks you blame her for what happened. That you're going to send her away because of it. Said something about being sent to her aunt."
Rachel's face dropped along with her heart. She'd been so intent on shouldering the blame for what had happened and using it to get away from it all that she'd completely forgotten that her daughter was living proof of what had gone on and would see her running for what it was. She'd never thought of blaming her daughter for what had happened, not thinking that her actions would cause the fifteen year old to blame herself. How could her baby even think it was her fault when the blame rested solely with the boy who had carried that gun into the house? The part of her that had been looking for someone to blame and blamed herself was brought up short as she realised if she refused to let her daughter take the blame then it exonerated her too. She glanced up from her shoes to see Bolton watching her nervously, whilst Paul seemed confused.
"Okay, Bolton, you have yourself a deal. You sign the affidavit and tell the whole truth and I won't quit. Alia can stay in school too."
…
Rachel pulled up to school just as the makeshift wedding ceremony was finishing up and everyone had balloons, releasing them into the air with a thanks for the way things had turned out, that it hadn't turned out any worse. She'd had to do a double take at the sight of her daughter with Maxine and Janeece, dressed in a sparkly dress she hadn't seen in over a year and stilettos she knew her daughter only wore as Lia Rose, picking her way over the gravel playground expertly. She looked so grown up, and Rachel had to blink the proud tears from her eyes as she climbed from the car and waited for the boys to exit too. She almost smirked as Bolton and Paul also did a double take at the girls, obediently following her into the school where Eddie was waiting for her in the foyer even as the wedding party piled into the school, Maxine and Alia giggling together as Bolton led Janeece back outside to explain everything to her. Rachel didn't miss the fact that her daughter had tried not to look at her and pushed down the hurt she felt at the action. She had to remember that Alia still thought she was quitting and pulling her out of school without talking to her about any of it.
"Eddie I-" She was cut off as Eddie directed her to Liam, the LEA representative that had been there earlier and before she really knew what was going on, she had moved the impromptu meeting to her office, where Candice was waiting for them impatiently. She listened to Liam's speech, not missing Eddie and Candice's proud looks at the amount of people they'd managed to get involved in order to convince her. "This is all sweet, but I've made up my mind." She saw their faces fall and offered them a smile. "In fact, Bolton made it up for me." Her smile widened at Candice's wary face, obviously wondering if her son had fixed things or made them worse. "I'm not leaving; I'm staying." Her smile stayed fixed to her face as the office erupted in cheers and Liam promised her she was doing the right thing before leaving for the meetings he had that had actually been scheduled that day. Waterloo Road could be quite determined when it put its mind to something. Candice excused herself not long after to go cater to the wedding and find her son, and Rachel found herself alone with Eddie once more.
"So, what happened?" Eddie asked as they moved to the sofa together, more comfortable than either side of her desk.
"Earl had that gun the first day, framing Denzil. He'd threatened Bolton and Paul earlier in the day with it. They never said anything because Earl terrified them." Rachel felt utterly exhausted with the entire day. "Was it just us teachers that were so blind? Apart from Maxine, the entirety of the pupils seemed to know what he was really about. Alia had even warned me early on that it sounded like he was playing everyone but I dismissed it because she didn't even go to this school."
"How were we to know, Rachel? It's not like he gave us any reason to think he'd do something like this, and he presented us with a very different view of himself than he did the other kids," Eddie pointed out, slumping slightly in his seat. "So how did Bolton change your mind? You were hell bent on going last I spoke to you."
"He made me a deal. If he talked then Alia and I would stay." A thought occurred to her and she turned to fully face him. "He said something else to me."
"Oh? What?"
"He said that Alia thought I blamed her for what happened with Earl. That I would send her away because of what happened." Rachel watched Eddie's face, her heart sinking even further than it had already at the lack of surprise or upset on her deputy's face, clearly telling her that he already knew about it. The embrace she'd seen in the corridor made a lot more sense now. "Oh God."
"I tried to tell her it wasn't her fault, but she doesn't believe me. She actually started rambling, muttering things about bad things always happening when she was in school and she should never have left home?" Eddie explained gently, though his words had caused tears to spring to Rachel's eyes. She knew her daughter had been wary of going back to school and that she'd been convinced bad things happened when she did, but despite the rollercoaster, Rachel had honestly though school was getting easier for her fifteen year old. One day had undone all that work in an instant. She felt the colour drain from her face and knew Eddie had seen it too as he scooted over to her side and covered her shaking hand with his larger one. "She'll be fine, Rach. She'll be a lot better when she finds out you're both staying at least." He knew it sounded hollow to both of them, but he hoped that it wasn't going to be.
Rachel stood, tugging him to his feet as the final bell rang. Not that many people were in class, most having made their way to the canteen for the impromptu wedding reception. They made their way to the room, finding a decent spread laid on for the happy couple and a makeshift dance floor created by pushing a few of the tables against the wall. Candice was in the kitchen with Bolton, the boy clearly halfway through telling her what had happened. Chlo and Donte were dancing together, with Alia, Maxine and Janeece nearby also dancing. The rest of the students in there were either eating, talking or dancing, or some combination of the three. Tom, Steph, Jasmine and Matt were all stood against one of the walls, acting as supervision though they were just talking amongst themselves. All of them glanced over as Rachel and Eddie approached them. Rachel offered them a smile.
"I was convinced to change my mind; I'm staying."
The four teachers smiled and congratulated her, with Steph throwing in a comment on how she'd only just broken in Rachel and didn't have the time required to break in a new headteacher. She knew she was in for a long chat with the blonde woman that night, but she was more focused on the forced smile her daughter was sporting as she finally begged off dancing and moved to the buffet, where Candice promptly served her with a smile, showing that Bolton had confessed the relationship between her and Rachel to his mother. Eddie nudged Rachel a little, drawing her attention to him as the four teachers returned to their earlier conversation. "Go on. You need to talk to her."
"Not here." Rachel tried to sound convincing but Eddie just rolled his eyes at her.
"Yes here. She's miserable at what's clearly a happy occasion. You need to tell her. Everything else can be sorted out later."
Rachel nodded, reluctantly conceding that he was right as she made her way through the throngs of happy students to her daughter, who was picking at a sandwich at the end of the buffet line, clearly looking for somewhere to escape to for a few minutes. Glancing round to make sure they weren't drawing too much attention; Rachel placed her hand on her daughter's elbow and guided her through the kitchen and outside past the bins onto the playground. Before she could say anything, Alia's face dropped even further and she nodded.
"I get it. I'll just go grab my things. I'll call Aunt Gabby from the house." She made to move away but Rachel's hand on her elbow stopped her.
"Ali. Why would I want you to call your aunt?"
"To go live with her, whilst you figure out whatever it is you're doing next." Alia stared at her like she'd lost her head. Rachel sighed, knowing she'd caused much more damage than she'd thought, albeit completely unintentionally.
"Love, no." She placed a hand on her daughter's cheek gently, wincing when Alia looked confused with the gesture. "I don't want rid of you. I never did."
"But… you're running from everything that happened last week. I'm the proof you're running from."
Rachel guided them to sit on the low wall nearby, wondering in the back of her mind how Alia hadn't broken her ankles with those shoes yet. "I was wrong. I was blaming myself and I thought it was best for everyone that I leave. I know I pretty much forced you to come back to school, so I thought taking you with me would be fine, just like it was before. No shady past, no kids with guns, no one getting hurt. I didn't realise you wouldn't see it like that." She paused for a moment. "In the cooler, when Eddie and I walked in. Bolton told you, didn't he?"
Alia nodded reluctantly. "I promised I wouldn't say anything."
"It's alright," Rachel hastened to assure her. "It just makes me understand the conversation I had with him a bit more. I don't blame you love, and I never will. I definitely do not want to get rid of you. Never."
"Okay." Alia didn't look convinced and Rachel hated that she'd planted that doubt into her daughter. "I'll go get my things."
"Why the rush? I'm sure Donte planned the reception to go on at least a while longer."
"Because the day is officially over and you're no longer the headteacher? And I no longer actually go to this school? I'd rather slip out now than draw attention to me leaving."
"Well it hardly matters when you'll be back a week on Monday." Rachel smiled at her. Alia still needed the following week off to deal with all her meetings, injured arm or not. She'd spun it as a career event when signing off on it as an authorised absence, which it technically was. "Bolton made me a deal. He told the truth in exchange for us both staying at the school. We're not going anywhere, love." She suddenly had her arms full as her daughter snuggled into her, wrapping her good arm around her mother's waist and burying her face into her collar.
"You mean it?"
Rachel barely heard her muffled words, but she smiled, holding her fifteen year old closer and wondering how she wasn't feeling the cold November air, wearing less than half the fabric Rachel currently was, and she was cold. "I mean it. It was wrong of me to do all this without talking with you first. I can't promise there won't be a next time but I can promise to do my best to talk things through with you before I make any more rash decisions."
They sat there for a moment longer, Rachel spotting Candice stick her head out of the kitchen door and smile at the pair before disappearing back into the building. Eventually, Alia pulled away, offering Rachel a genuine smile.
"I'm sorry for the attitude this morning. I was upset."
"It's fine Ali, all forgotten." Rachel stood, tugging her daughter to her feet. "Come on, there's a party to get to that's lasting about three hours more." She smirked at the fifteen year old's obvious confusion. "Who do you think signed off on the use of the canteen for a wedding reception? Donte asked me this morning." They walked back into the kitchen, finding Bolton and Candice waiting for them with wide smiles.
"Looks like you don't have to be missed then," Bolton teased.
"Prat," Alia nudged him with her good arm. "Anyway, it's a party right? Come on, let's find Janeece." The two left, with the mothers nearly laughing at Bolton wondering aloud if her shoes could double up as weapons and receiving another nudge from Alia for his words. Candice offered Rachel a warm smile.
"Thank you."
"I'd love to take the praise Candice, but this was all Bolton."
"And without you he'd never be this way in the first place." They wandered to the front, watching the pupils generally run amok, the five teachers against the wall deliberately turning a blind eye to it. It was mainly harmless and after the week they'd had, letting off a little steam in the form of a party held at school with no alcohol seemed an awfully tame thing to do, all things considered. Rachel knew it had been a deliberate move on Donte's part, knowing his wife couldn't drink, and so had chosen a location no one could drink in rather than Chlo being the odd one out.
"He's a good lad." Rachel smiled. "Not sure how I feel about making deals with him though. Somehow I feel duped." The two women laughed.
"He told me, you know, about Alia. Honestly, I think it was more cos he didn't know how to understand she was the same person, you know, before and after he'd found out like." Candice rolled her eyes. "She's a good kid."
"I guess we both have good kids then."
They exchanged another smile before Rachel left the kitchen to make her way back over to the teachers. However, she didn't make it as she was waylaid by Chlo, Maxine, Janeece and Alia, though the latter held her good hand up to indicate it hadn't been her idea. She looked a lot happier though, Rachel was pleased to note.
"They want you to dance with us," Alia informed her wryly. "They want to shock the entire school in one go."
"It's not like you don't know how to dance," Maxine pointed out. Sunday morning, her and Janeece had stumbled into the kitchen to find Rachel and Alia dancing along to the radio, sharing a laugh before joining in, the four of them dancing round the kitchen in fits of giggles.
"Please Rachel," Janeece added, batting wide eyes at her.
Rachel nearly rolled her eyes. She knew they'd gang up on another teacher but hadn't expected it to be her again. She noticed they'd drawn some attention before meeting her daughter's eyes, silently asking her what she thought.
Alia shrugged. "It'd be funny."
"Cheeky. My dancing is not that bad." Rachel complained even as she let the girls herd her to the dance floor.
"I meant everyone's reactions," Alia clarified as the track merged into the next one, ironically a Lia Rose one. Rachel bit her lip to keep from laughing as Alia rolled her eyes. "Who chose these songs?"
"At least I know this one." Rachel let the girls lead the way in the dancing, though she did join in with them, laughing throughout. They were right in that it did shock those in the canteen, everyone pausing to see a year eleven, three sixth formers and their headmistress dancing to an upbeat pop tune. No one quite knew what to think, which showed on their faces. The girls all burst out laughing by the end of the song at everyone's frozen faces, Rachel joining in after a few moments before begging off another song due to getting a slight stitch and not wanting to completely break all her students, making her way finally back over to the teachers, all of whom were staring at her in shock and slight wonder. "What?"
"You know you just danced with pupils in front of like half the school, right?" Tom checked.
"It was the girls' idea. Shock the whole school in one go." Rachel rolled her eyes. "They have got to stop ganging up on teachers."
"Well, uh, you certainly can dance, Rach." Eddie blushed slightly at the compliment, something none of the teachers missed, though Rachel chose to ignore it.
"Thanks. Wonder how many of those kids I broke with the knowledge their headteacher is an actual human being." The teachers all snickered at that, knowing the kids had a tendency of believing the teachers were just there to teach them and had no actual lives of their own. Obviously it wasn't the case for the ones who lived with them, but it was for the majority of the kids.
The party dwindled down after another couple of hours, and Matt had disappeared home after only an hour at the party along with Eddie having to pick up his son, who was going back to Alison's on Sunday, leaving only the teachers there that would need to collect their charges. As the party wound down, Rachel found Alia and Maxine holding bin bags with their good hands with Katie and Janeece collecting rubbish to put in them. Chlo and Donte were also helping tidy up, but everyone else seemed to have scarpered the moment the topic of tidying up was mentioned. Sighing, the teachers moved to help them, Steph and Rachel taking over bin bag duty whilst Tom grabbed a broom to start sweeping up. After about fifteen minutes, the room looked much as it had before the party, though with a few bin bags extra that the teachers shoved into the bins out back. Katie had then gone home, waving at those still there as she ran to catch her bus home. Those remaining split in different directions, the teenagers to the sixth form common room to collect their things and the teachers to their classrooms/office to collect their things.
They met back up in the foyer, the teenagers still in the clothes they'd worn to the wedding, though they now had coats or jackets on as a nod to the chilly weather outside they'd ignored earlier.
Chlo turned to Donte. "Thank you. I know what a right pain I've been this week."
"Babes, it's fine. I just wanted to do something nice for you, yeah?"
Rachel smiled at Tom, who was good-naturedly rolling his eyes at the couple. Chlo then turned to the teachers. "Good dancing by the way miss."
Rachel flushed a little at the chuckles that went round. "I am never dancing to the radio in my own kitchen again."
"What about someone else's kitchen?"
"Or the living room?"
"Could always try the hallway."
Rachel turned to the three speakers, Alia, Janeece and Maxine respectively. "You three. I swear we need to limit how much trouble you can cook up somehow."
"You love us anyway." Alia waved it off, knowing her mother wasn't being serious. "We should probably leave though before the cleaners think we're squatting for the night."
They all left together, Chlo and Donte with Tom, Maxine and Janeece with Steph, and Alia with Rachel. The silence in the car was slightly awkward for Rachel and Alia, with the latter not sure what to say and the former not knowing where to start. Halfway home, Rachel pulled over at the side of a park, directing them both out and over to a park bench.
"I know this isn't ideal, but we still have a houseful back there and I wanted to talk with you." Rachel held her daughter close as they watched the eerily empty park. "First off I want to remind you that no matter what, I will always love you and want you around. Even when you're my age and have a whole life of your own."
"Did you just put a Dolly Parton song in there?"
Rachel ignored her daughter's attempt to lighten the conversation, knowing everything that needed to be said. "I forget sometimes that you're only fifteen. Silly, I know, considering I was there giving birth to you." She smirked at Alia's slightly disgusted reaction. Sure, her daughter may have ways to embarrass her, but she could give as good as she got at times. "You keep your grades up despite having a whole career you're constantly working on and our lives are not exactly quiet even without all that. You act older a lot of the time but that's not a reason to forget how old you actually are. I'm your mum. I should talk to you about things that are going to affect you. God knows you give enough advice when I don't ask for it."
"Someone has to." Alia sighed. "Rach, look. I've been blaming myself since Friday. What happened today didn't cause me to think like that, just reinforced that it was actually my fault. Then with everything going wrong and you quitting, I just… honestly I'm surprised I didn't pass out again. Eddie definitely thought I was going to at one point.
"My point is, yes, you need to talk to me more, especially about things that are going to affect more than just you. But so do I. Today probably could've been avoided if we had just talked to each other properly."
Rachel pulled her in for a tight hug. "I am the luckiest mother in the world to have you as a daughter."
"That's unbelievably soppy."
"Doesn't make it a lie."
"…I love you too mum."
They stayed on the bench a while longer before standing to go back to the car, most of what they'd needed to say having been said. They felt both better and exhausted.
"So where did the clubbing outfit come from?" Rachel asked just before they reached the car. "I'm sure that dress was longer the last time you wore it."
"It was." She tugged on the hem a little. "Max and Jan raided my wardrobe this morning whilst we were making breakfast. Donte was planning all this as of last night. I've grown about four inches or so since I last wore this dress. And I'd forgotten to take the shoes upstairs."
"Well you about gave me a heart attack when I pulled back up to the school." Rachel helped Alia into the car before climbing in herself and setting back off for home. "Though I think you surprised just about everyone with your outfit." She could see her daughter blush from the corner of her eye. "You look good, very grown up Ali. Just don't go growing up on me too quickly okay?"
"Are you trying to invite me to be a moody teenager for as long as possible? Are you sure you're well? First you say I can sleep with a boy and then you call me grown up and then want to keep me a teenager for as long as possible. Did you get a concussion or something when I wasn't looking?"
"I meant actually sleep and you know it." Rachel pulled into her driveway beside Steph's car. "No matter what happens, we can get through anything, Ali. I promise."
TBC…
