(A/N): This chapter is 25 pages long and like 14000 words. I really need to learn to do shorter chapters. But we have hit chapter 30! Woo hoo! Absolutely mental, I assure you. Oh yes, to the reviewer who asked me to tell the poem from the last chapter, I can't. I did have a poem in my head that I did study at GCSE that had a theme of love vs control which I based it off but I cannot recall the poem at all, just the argument it caused in class. Some of the things I write in here are actually things that happened in my school, just taken out of context or reworked by me. Some of it I completely make up. Have fun figuring out which is which. Anyway, have fun, read, enjoy and let me know what you think.

What the Heart Wants

Chapter 30

The following Friday couldn't come quick enough for anyone at Waterloo Road. The students all wanted the mock exams over and done with, as did the teachers, the extra pressure and stress affecting everyone from the headmistress to the year 7s somehow. There had been more fights and arguments between groups of students during that week than the entire month leading up to it, with the number of pupils that spent their time outside of their exams in the cooler skyrocketing. Everyone hoped for the relief the Friday afternoon would bring, the end of the mocks signalling the end of the pressure for the time being. Rachel had informed the three teenagers involved of the plans for that Friday night, bowling with herself and Eddie. She'd figured it was a good way to see Eddie in a social setting again whilst allowing the teens to let off a little pressure from the exam week, as she knew Jack had also had mock exams that week at his own school. What she hadn't counted on though, was agreeing to meet the three teens and Eddie there after getting changed into a more casual outfit of jeans and a white t-shirt with a pink zip up jacket and trainers. Alia had told her she was meeting up with Jack whilst Philip had told her he'd make his own way there. She'd spotted Eddie almost immediately as he waved to her from the lane he'd booked for the five of them. They both collected bowling shoes, Eddie glancing round as Rachel tied her shoes.

"Where on earth are those kids?"

"I don't know. They said they'd meet us here. Probably to avoid being seen leaving with the headmistress I suppose." She'd had to leave earlier than usual and knew that Alia and Philip would have been seen in her car as she drove away. It was no wonder that they'd opted out of her offer, with Alia catching the bus in the opposite direction to Philip, the former going to meet up with Jack and the latter to go home and change. "Alia said she was meeting Jack after school and all three said they'd make their own way here. You need to keep your eye on the ball mister, this one at least." She stood, selecting her bowling ball and lifting it up with a silly smile. "Oh hang on." She paused as her phone beeped to indicate a new text message. "It's from Philip. Apparently he's going to a gig, said it was a better offer."

"Bloody cheek. So much for quality time. Where are the other two then?"

"Not a clue. Afraid you'll need some back up for when I whip your butt?" She challenged. Neither adult had seen Alia and Jack approaching them, but her teasing words prompted Alia to drag Jack to a stop and pull him behind the nearest cabinet, poking their heads out to watch the scene a little like meerkats. Neither teen wanted to get in the way of a moment between the two adults. "We can always start one on one and let the kids join when they get here."

"Ooh, I forgot how competitive you were. I thought it was the taking part that counts?" Eddie immediately took the challenge, teasing her right back as he selected his own bowling ball.

"Oh, I'll leave that one for the kids, Mr Lawson. Tonight victory will be mine." She declared with a laugh, leading him over to type their names into the screen. Eddie had paid for a few games, so the teenagers could add their names to the next game, assuming they showed up in time for that, that was.

"Well, we'll see." Eddie pouted good naturedly as he followed her, neither adult spotting the two teenagers that were watching them from behind the cabinet.

Jack tapped Alia on the shoulder once the adults were engrossed in teasing each other over who would go first and if going first would increase the odds of winning. "Why are we hiding?"

"Do you really want to get in the way of those two? I had to call you to bail me out of it last time."

"Can we at least go on the arcade then, as we're already here?" Jack asked, a slight whine to his voice that made Alia laugh.

"We'll do half an hour on the arcade and then if they've toned down the flirting, we'll join them bowling. Does that sound like a good compromise?" Alia replied, laughing again as Jack nodded, practically dragging her over to the arcade area where they spent a fiercely competitive half an hour trying to outmatch each other on every game they played. Alia was surprisingly good at the motorbike simulation game whilst Jack absolutely thrashed her at air hockey, both managing to win a few sweets and a keyring apiece on the two penny machines. Jack had crowed victoriously over getting three more sweets than Alia, only for her to open her closed fist to reveal five more sweets that she'd just collected from her machine, jumping up and down joyfully as Jack pouted at her. The prizes all went into the same pot for them to share anyway.

When their self-imposed half hour was up, they shoved their prizes into Alia's school bag, as both teens were still in their uniforms, having not had the chance to change like the adults had. There was no point letting on they'd been hiding in the arcade unless they absolutely had to. The pair slowly approached the lane they'd seen Rachel and Eddie set themselves up on, glancing up at the monitors to see that Rachel was leading by a mile. Eddie must be really bad at bowling, they decided, as they'd beaten Rachel a few times each at the game. Both stopped dead in their tracks though, frozen into place as they spotted Rachel moving away from the lane towards Eddie's back, convinced they'd be caught before they could pretend to have only just arrived.

"Are you calling me a liar?" They both heard the laughter in her voice as she playfully pushed him, him spinning round to face her, his back nearly directly to the two teenagers who didn't know if they should approach or run away. It didn't seem as though the adults had noticed their arrival after all.

"Oh I'm far too much of a gentleman to say that."

Two sets of eyes widened at the immediate mood change between the two adults, not able to turn away before they found themselves witnessing Rachel and Eddie liplocked in the middle of the bowling alley, uncaring who saw them. Alia turned to Jack, away from the adults, bright red in the face from embarrassment at seeing her mother trying to stick her tongue down her deputy's throat. She could admit that it would be a somewhat sweet scene if one of them wasn't her mum and the other wasn't her maths teacher. "Can we please leave? I really don't want to see whatever they decide to do next."

"Groping each other publicly is the answer," Jack informed her woodenly, wincing. He wasn't faring much better than Alia at witnessing the woman he considered something of a second mother wrapped in Eddie's arms, hands roaming more than was appropriate for the rather public setting. "Yeah, we definitely need to go. I don't think even hiding in the arcade is going to salvage tonight." He took hold of Alia's hand and they rushed out before they could be seen, bursting through the doors leading to the street and carpark, only daring to breathe properly once they'd hit the chilly night air and the doors had closed behind them.

"I think we need some form of mind bleach." Alia shuddered, only partly due to the cold, shrugging on her leather jacket as Jack did the same.

"Definitely. Want to go grab something to eat before we have to face your mum later?" They both winced slightly, knowing they'd have to school their expressions if they weren't going to give away what they'd witnessed that evening. Sure, it would be funny eventually, probably sooner than Rachel would like, but that didn't stop the initial shock or embarrassment they felt.

"Sure. Want to go to the other arcade a few streets over? They do good hot dogs and burgers."

"Only if I can beat you at air hockey again."

"In your dreams."

"Where were you two tonight? I though we'd agreed on bowling." Rachel commented lightly from where she leant on the doorframe to the living room, the two teenagers curled up on the sofa turning to face her in surprise. A few sweets littered the coffee table along with a keyring she could just about spot under a few empty wrappers. She'd left Eddie by his car in the car park to the bowling alley, silly smiles and more than a few stolen kisses having to be enough to tide them over until they saw each other again. But she had noticed the lack of teenagers they were supposed to be sharing the evening with, and as such she was surprised to find the two that had never even text her to tell her they were busy curled up on her sofa watching a film, a blanket covering them. Had they been there the whole night?

"We, uh, we got the wrong place?" Jack offered weakly, pausing the film they were watching.

"All night?" Rachel responded dryly, not believing him for even a moment. For a start, they had to have gotten the sweets from somewhere, as she didn't have that brand in the house usually. Plus, it definitely looked like the sugar packed sweets found in arcades.

"Are you telling us you missed us?" Alia deflected, neither teen quite managing to look her in the eye. The initial shock and embarrassment had lessened but hadn't vanished for either of them. "Wasn't Philip there?"

"No, he went to a gig instead."

"Well there you go then." Jack stood, tugging Alia to her feet. "We best get our work done." They stumbled out of the room before Rachel could object or even say anything, leaving a blanket skewed over the sofa they'd been occupying and the sweets scattered. Rachel sighed, moving over to clean up their mess. She scrunched up the empty wrappers in her hand and picked up the keyring, frowning as she read the stamped back of it, advertising the bowling alley that Rachel herself had been at that night. So they were there after all, but why would they lie about it? And why disappear before she could question them any further? She blushed a bright red as the answer came to her. She thought she'd seen them that night, but when she'd glanced over to check, there'd been no one there.

"Are you calling me a liar?" She asked teasingly, pushing at Eddie's back with a giggle. Anyone looking would have sworn blind she couldn't possibly be a stern, responsible headmistress. From the corner of her eye, she thought she could see Alia and Jack approaching them, but before she could look properly, Eddie turned to face her, a grin playing at his mouth.

"Oh, I'm far too much of a gentleman to say that." The mood instantly changed, charged in nature. Rachel could feel the electricity between them as their gazes flicked between eyes and mouths, growing ever closer until Eddie reached out to cup her jaw, bringing her in gently for a kiss. He bit at her bottom lip a little as her arms wrapped round his neck, pulling herself in closer to him, trying to get as close as possible. The kiss deepened instinctively, hands roaming and gripping as they lost themselves in the moment, only pulling apart when a particularly loud cheer for a strike broke through their little bubble from the outside world. They stepped apart, panting for air and more than a little embarrassed they'd gotten so carried away in such a public place. Rachel glanced over to where she thought she'd seen the two teenagers, but no one was there. She must've imagined it.

Rachel nearly groaned aloud. Of course they'd have to witness an intimate moment between herself and Eddie. She pushed the sweet wrappers in the living room bin before making her way up the stairs, keyring in hand. She frowned as she spotted the doors to both Alia and Jack's rooms open, no sign of either teenager. That only left one place left to look: Alia's music room. She climbed the second set of stairs, not bothering to knock at the door at the top before opening it, leaning on the doorframe once more with an involuntary smile. Jack was sat on a chair near a desk, playing a guitar from sheet music Alia had composed whilst Alia was singing the lyrics that accompanied that piece, sat at a keyboard and playing the piano sections. Rachel knew it had been hard for her daughter, not able to do the music she loved whilst her arm was wounded, and though it wasn't completely healed, it was healed enough she could get back into it. And her new music sounded good, really good. Rachel waited patiently until the end of the song, silently believing it would definitely end up in the charts like a few of her songs had before and another of her current album was at that moment. It wasn't quite as pop genre as the one currently at the top position, but it had an infectious melody with lilting lyrics that would definitely make people want to listen to it again and again.

"So this is where you two disappeared to." She noticed the lack of eye contact this time as the pair turned to face her in surprise at being followed. She held the keyring out on one finger in their general direction, watching as they both winced in near unison. "Care to explain?"

"You were flirting with him when we arrived," Alia haltingly explained, glancing more at Jack than her mother. It was one thing to embarrass her mum over things that had happened in the past but she really didn't need to see her mother trying to shove her tongue down anyone's throat. "So we decided to spend half an hour in the arcade and come back to see if you two had stopped flirting or not."

"Well, you'd stopped flirting anyway when we went back." Jack flushed red uncomfortably. "Not much talking going on at all."

Rachel blushed just as red as the teenagers, though if her daughter was anything to go by, they'd be teasing her over it as soon as they had their heads wrapped around it. "You saw…"

"You and Eddie trying to eat each other's faces." Alia confirmed with a wince. "We left when the hands started wandering."

"We didn't want to witness whatever happened next." Jack shook his head as though to try and shake the memory of what happened out. "We went to a different arcade then came back here."

"Plus, you both would've been much more embarrassed if you'd found us there." Alia pointed out quietly, playing with a few keys on the keyboard before offering a slight smirk to Rachel. "Maybe don't invite us on your dates if you don't want us to catch you snogging him."

Rachel blushed further as she handed Jack the keyring. How was it that somehow these two found out way too much about her love life, even completely unintentionally? She decided to change the topic, the focus on her night with Eddie already a little too much for her. "That was a beautiful song, Ali."

"Thanks." Alia turned shy, as she usually did over praise for her music. Lia was confident about it in a way that Alia never was. "Oh, that reminds me. Can Jack and I borrow your keys tomorrow? The ones for the school?"

"Why?"

"I need to get used to the stage presence and the echoes and all that. The theatre I usually use for this kind of stuff is booked solid for two months. I've booked in as soon as possible, but it would help more if I could start now. It's not like anyone else would be there on a Saturday either, so we'd have the place to ourselves."

"…Only if I come with you," Rachel eventually compromised after thinking it through in her head. Her daughter's request wasn't unreasonable and she was proud she was taking initiative when faced with setbacks, but she couldn't really justify two fifteen year olds, only one of which was a pupil at the school, being found alone in the school on a Saturday with her set of keys on them. And they would be identified as hers, as all teachers that had a copy of the school keys had a keyring with their name on it to differentiate between the keys. She had more keys than most of the teachers, though Eddie also had the same keys she did as the head and deputy head. If she was there however, it would justify the teenagers' presence a little more. "I can't justify it otherwise."

"Okay, thanks." Alia smiled. "We only didn't ask you to come because we thought you'd want a lie in tomorrow, with the stressful week you've had."

"I'll always have the time and energy for you, love." Rachel assured her. "Are you going as Lia or as yourself?"

"As me. It's more to get some of the songs down when sung live and movement that won't show off my arm too much. It's easier to sort out when actually on a stage or in a wide, light area than it is up here." She gestured round at the music room. It was quite large, with a relaxed area with beanbags and a few bookcases of her files and paperwork and composition books and the area they were currently sat in, with her instruments, some recording equipment and a large desk with a computer and printer. One wall had a wardrobe with most of her Lia Rose outfits in, plus a couple of stage outfits she couldn't bear to be parted from. The rest of her stage outfits travelled with her on tour but were housed either with the designer or at her label. The beanbag area also had a large sofa bed with a few blankets, mainly for when Alia had had to have naps from working too long on her music. Rachel much preferred there being an easy place for her to relax and rest when needed. When they'd first set the room up, Rachel had insisted on getting the whole room soundproofed, so even if someone was downstairs, they wouldn't hear Alia's music unless the door was open and she was being especially loud.

"Alright. Is ten o'clock leaving here early enough for you both?" Rachel checked. Both teens nodded.

"Oh, mum?" Rachel turned in the doorway at her daughter's call to face them once again. "I'm glad he makes you happy."

"Chlo!" Max called out, causing the pregnant seventeen year old to turn on the playground, smiling automatically as she paused, waiting for Maxine and Alia to catch up with her. They'd caught the bus to school together that day, as they had happened to bump into each other leaving their homes that morning. Philip had opted to drive in with Rachel.

"Max, Ali," Chlo greeted warmly as the girls caught up to her. "The scan went great; the baby's good and healthy and all that."

"That's great, Chlo." The other two chorused with wide smiles as they all traipsed into school. Janeece wasn't there as she was in hospital. The girls knew that Janeece was insecure at times, but they all were. It was part and parcel of being a teenager. They'd never thought she'd actually go and get a boob job, nor that her mum would not only agree but fund it herself. But she had and they had done their best to be dutifully supportive of it, no matter that they thought she didn't need to change at all, that she was beautiful exactly as she already was. Bolton had already tried that and gotten nothing but aggravation from Janeece about how she was doing this for her, to improve her modelling career chances and if he didn't like it then he knew where the door was. He'd stopped trying to convince her she didn't need the boob job after that, instead adopting the same approach as Maxine, Chlo and Alia.

It had been a few weeks since the mock exam week and they were all waiting for their results, which were supposed to be released to them at some point that day. There had been announcements in form the day before that they were to collect their mock results at lunch time today along with the papers they'd sat, so they could see the grades and the actual marking so they could improve on the grades they'd gotten for the real thing. Naturally, everyone was nervous, and both Maxine and Alia had asked Steph and Rachel respectively what they'd gotten several times, but under pressure, both had admitted that once marked by individual teachers, the papers had all been sent to external examiners, a precaution put in place after the fiasco of the cheating the year before. So they were in the dark too, if to a lesser extent than the students.

"I bet I got a U on the French paper. Steph'll murder me." Maxine complained as they journeyed into the canteen to grab some toast before form. "Say nice things at my funeral, both of you."

"Like what?" Chlo asked, laughing a little at Maxine's dramatics. "Something like 'Max was always trouble, but an angry French teacher was just too much for her'?"

"No, no, it's got to be 'Maxine: felled by atrocious grades but immortalised in school graffiti'." Alia offered as all three girls burst into laughter, ignoring the curious looks they were getting. They bought some toast, eating their breakfasts on the way to their form rooms, parting at the last possible moment to do so.

Alia slipped into form eating her last piece of toast, smiling even as Tom rolled his eyes at her for eating in his class. It was only form, anyway. She slipped into her seat beside Philip, offering him half a piece of toast he accepted after barely a moment's hesitation. Things were still a little awkward between them but he'd apologised sincerely to Rachel and the two cousins were both working on getting back to the close relationship they'd had before. They sat, eating, as Tom called out the register and then moved on to announcements, reminding them all that they were to leave their fourth lesson ten minutes early to collect their exam results. The class traipsed out of their form room at the sound of the bell, none of them really looking forward to lunch with the cloud of worry over their mock results hanging over them.

Lunch time came around too quickly, and ten minutes before the bell was due to go, the A level and year 11 classes were all let out, the students all converging on the assembly hall with dread. The general flow of the students meant that no one could really dawdle and before long, they were all in the hall, where any teacher on non-contact time was situated, both to hand out results and to comfort anyone whose results weren't as expected. They wanted to run it as close to the real thing as possible, so it would hopefully lessen the stress surrounding the real results days in the summer. Alia stood in the queue with Bolton, as they'd shared the same class that lesson and so had journeyed to the hall together.

"My mum'll have me if I've failed again," Bolton muttered, shifting his feet from side to side.

"Mine will definitely kill me if I've failed." Alia added, staring blankly at the back of the pupils in front of them. They were quite close to the front, with only three sets of two students in front of them in the year 11 queue. The teachers had placed the year 11 results at one end of the room and the A level results at the other to try and minimise the chaos.

"We'd have to come back as ghosts to haunt them then." Bolton shrugged. "Bet Janeece is glad she's missing all this."

"How's she doing? Are you seeing her later?" They moved further forward in the queue.

"I'm seeing her tonight, hopefully. She's still in surgery as far as I know. Her mum's got her phone but she's a bit…"

"Much." Alia finished for him with a knowing nod. She'd only had a few interactions with Janeece's mother, but she knew even with those few interactions, just how Mrs Bryant was and her views on the world. No doubt she'd been telling Bolton how happy he'd be with Janeece's new look.

"Something like that, yeah." Bolton winced as another set of students received their results, leaving only one pair before them. "We're so dead if we've done bad. Good luck, Ali."

"You too, Bolton." They stepped forward again, giving their names to the staff sat at the table, one with a large box for last names A through M and one with a large box for last names N through Z. Alia grabbed her folder reluctantly from the teacher as Bolton did the same, both moving out of the queue and staring at the folders in their hands. Instinctively, they moved to the corner of the room near the stage, opening the folders to find the first sheet telling them their grades for each subject. The rest of the folder contained the marked papers that they'd sat.

Alia took the paper out cautiously, placing the folder on the edge of the stage as she read through her results, not sure just what she was hoping for. She let out a sigh of relief at the same time Bolton fairly yelped in glee.

"I passed everything and even got a B in English and Maths!" Bolton cheered. "I gotta go show my mum!" He bolted from the room without a pause, leaving Alia alone to glance back at her own results. She felt, rather than saw, someone approach from behind her.

"Ali? Love, are you alright?" Rachel asked gently, moving to stand where Bolton had just moments before, her eyes worried for her daughter, who hadn't really reacted beyond staring at her results paper. Alia shrugged, handing the paper over to Rachel, who read it quickly with the practiced ease of a teacher that needed to find the relevant information instantly. "This is great, sweetheart. All As in your core subjects, an A in French and Bs in Art and Business. I'm so proud of you."

"You are?" Alia checked. "You're not disappointed I didn't get an A in everything?"

"Ali, no, of course I'm not disappointed. I'm unbelievably proud of you." Rachel smiled warmly at her. "This is the first time you've sat any exam at secondary school level in a school environment. Plus, I know you did your best. That's all I've ever asked of you and all I ever want. No matter what the letters on any piece of paper says."

"Thanks, Rach." Alia finally smiled back, relief and happiness mixing on her features. "Thanks."

"Let's go out to celebrate tonight, you me and Philip." Rachel offered. "He did well as well, though not as well as he probably could, though I blame that on Melissa abandoning him again. I'm proud of both of you."

"Could we go to that new place on the high street?"

"Of course. I'll call and book a reservation as soon as I can get back to my office." Rachel handed Alia the results back. "Now, go, share your good news with your friends. There's plenty of time to talk to me later."

"Thanks mum."

Alia watched from the side of the playground along with Chlo and Maxine as Janeece flaunted herself with a wide grin. The girls couldn't deny that her boob job had given Janeece more confidence in herself, but it also looked like a way of changing herself, to try and make a new her away from the bad things that had happened the previous term. She'd even told Maxine and Alia that the plastic surgeon she'd seen had said he could fix the scars on their arms in no time, if they could afford him. It had been a little insensitive, and Steph and Rachel would've been angry if they'd found out, but Maxine and Alia had kept quiet about it. They'd talked with one another over the Christmas break, properly, finding that they didn't mind the connection they shared through the mirrored scars and the experience they'd been through together. They knew it would affect them in some way or another forever, but they were willing to work through it and enjoyed the closer friendship they shared because of it. However, it had only been a few days since she'd been let out of the hospital and Janeece's new policy of flaunting herself in what she thought were model poses every possible moment was getting a little tiring for her three true friends. They'd only seen her here and there though, as she'd only been cleared by the doctor to go back to school that day and her mum had been policing who could see Janeece when up until that day.

Alia sighed as she sloped into the school building only a few minutes before she knew the senior management would arrive, later than usual because her mum wasn't there to ensure their punctuality. She was on a course for a few days and had given both her and Philip her usual lecture on what she expected from them, leaving them alone for a few days. Alia had tuned out after approximately three minutes, having heard the speech countless times before, but Philip had listened wide eyed with rapt attention, having not heard this particular speech from his aunt before. Alia already knew the drill: no parties, no alcohol, no drugs, bed at a normal time and general cleanliness. The only difference was that Rachel had asked Steph to check in on them every now and again, to make sure they were alright. She hid a small smile as she saw Eddie's car pull into the school entrance. Despite not being on another date yet, she knew her mother and Eddie were getting closer, texting and calling when they didn't see each other enough at work. It was rather sweet actually, despite the number of eye rolls she felt obligated to throw at Rachel when she'd grin involuntarily over whatever text he'd sent her or reply she was thinking out. No doubt, Eddie wouldn't have a moment's peace whilst Rachel was away, his phone going off whenever she felt the need to text him. Alia pulled out her own phone, typing out a quick message. Rachel had gotten her a new phone for Christmas, a new model that was set to become the latest trend in terms of electronics. Alia could see why, but she did sometimes miss her old phone.

To: Rach.

Good luck at the course. Don't worry, I've not burnt the house down. That was Philip. Seriously, don't worry about us, we'll be fine. Have fun. Ali x

She pocketed her phone again, heading away from the main doors just as Sambuca called out for Eddie, who was in charge for the duration of the course her mother was on. Why did it seem that it wasn't going to be an easy day, even when Rachel wasn't there?

Alia fell into place between Chlo and Danielle as they all crowded into the art room that break time, at the behest of Kim Campbell. "What's going on?" She asked with a frown, adjusting her bag to sit more comfortably over her shoulder. Her arm had been playing up a little that day and she was more uncomfortable than usual. She'd probably bring it up at physiotherapy that Friday if she needed to, or if Maxine or Steph decided to snitch on her about it as she knew they'd both noticed her discomfort.

"Not a clue. Campbell's rounding us up for some reason or other." Danielle told her with a shrug as they entered the surprisingly empty art room, all crowding on the opposite side to the art teacher, who was watching them all with a general air of disapproval.

"We've noticed the modifications of school uniforms have gone beyond a joke. So we're going to have a crackdown." Kim told them all sternly. Alia frowned even as the assembled students began immediately protesting. This couldn't have come from Rachel or Eddie. Rachel would never have left the uniform to be an issue tackled when she wasn't there, for a start. Plus, she'd approved Alia's uniform herself, without so much as a comment about her wearing her leather jacket instead of her blazer most of the time. If she was going to be moaned at over her uniform, shouldn't it come from her mother? She heard Chlo complain about how she couldn't fit into anything else, which seemed a fair complaint as she voiced her agreement with Chlo, the entire collection of students Kim had unfairly singled out protesting. Kim appeared not to hear them as she continued, holding up a yellow flyer. "You're going to see these notices all around the school. You're also going to get a letter to take home to your parents." Alia actually scoffed aloud at that, thankfully drowned out by the sea of dissenting voices that rose with every word the head of pastoral care spoke.

"Miss, why are you getting all worked up about making the uniform changes now?" Danielle asked as soon as the protests had settled from a cacophony of noise to a murmur. The assembled students nodded and voiced their agreement. The uniform had been mostly laid back for ages, so why now all of a sudden?

"Because everyone's noticed it's getting out of hand." Kim had to raise her voice to be heard over the protests and dissents that immediately rose in response. "A uniform is a uniform because it makes everybody uniform."

Danielle scoffed. "So it's got nothing to do with Janeece coming in looking like Jordan or anything?"

"Ugh!" Janeece protested as Aleesha mockingly disagreed with Danielle. Even Chlo, Maxine and Alia had to admit that it made sense that Kim would clamp down on uniform in response to Janeece's new liberal dress sense, no matter what the uniform actually looked like. Kim hadn't exactly made it a secret what she thought of Janeece's new look and everyone had noticed. It was more to do with Kim than it was to do with Janeece.

"When's all this happening?" Alia asked, eyes hard and arms crossed over her chest. This new crackdown would never last. Had Kim forgotten the kind of student that went to Waterloo Road? Did she really think that this sort of heavy handed approach would work? All it would do would make them rebel against her, which was unfortunate in timing with Rachel away.

"Now." Kim had them all line up, ignoring their protests as she directed them on wearing their uniforms properly, badgering people until they complied with her demands. Chlo complained about not being able to tuck her shirt in due to her baby bump, a reasonable excuse, but Kim acted as though she never heard her, which only caused Chlo and Alia to both narrow their eyes in her direction.

"Can she really do this?" Chlo murmured to Alia when she was sure Kim was out of earshot. Alia nodded reluctantly.

"Technically, any teacher can enforce the school dress code. But Rach will be back in a couple of days, so that's the longest it'll last." Alia glanced at herself, where she hadn't changed anything about her uniform yet. "I mean, she's hardly going to enforce strict uniform when she approved me wearing this from the moment I set foot in this place."

They sighed in near unison as Kim turned her attention to them, reluctantly rearranging their uniforms with Chlo at least doing her tie up properly and trying to make it look as though her shirt was tucked in and Alia doing up her tie, tucking in her shirt and removing her jacket to put her blazer on instead. She raised a single eyebrow at Kim, almost daring her to make a comment about the customized blazer with its rolled up sleeves, or her boots, but the woman had thankfully moved on to Maxine and Aleesha by that point.

As soon as they'd left the classroom with Kim's approval of their uniform, they immediately strode out of view of the room and began helping each other put their uniforms back the way they'd been before. Alia stuffed the blazer back in her bag, pulling on the leather jacket as she noticed Maxine hitching her skirt back up to its previous height and Danielle loosening her tie. Whatever Kim was hoping to prove was doing nothing but turning the students against her and not helping. Alia heard Danielle and Aleesha concoct a plan as far as the uniform went in order to get back at the unfair regulations that were being imposed on them. Maxine and Alia shared a glance before agreeing somewhat to the plan. They didn't like the way the girls were proposing using Janeece as an example of their cause, but they also didn't like being punished for no reason and it was more to get back at Kim for imposing the rules because she didn't like the way Janeece dressed. Even Danielle and Aleesha admitted that it was more to do with Kim than it was to do with Janeece.

Maxine and Alia refused to shove toilet roll anywhere but dressed themselves just as provocatively as the other girls, so at least as far as they were concerned, the fight was against the rules Kim had so forcefully applied to them and the fact she'd singled them out. Alia felt a little uncomfortable with her shirt open so far, but the tie did hide some of her chest thankfully. All the girls involved did look similar, and similar to Janeece as well, so they could point out that technically they were all uniform as Kim had wanted. Kim just wouldn't like how they'd all managed to become uniform.

Of course, Alia and Maxine were caught by none other than Eddie and Kim as they climbed the stairs to their next lesson, Eddie's mouth dropping open in shock and horror at the fifteen year old and seventeen year old dressed in an even looser approximation of the school uniform than before, even with Kim telling him she wanted to crack down on it. He closed his eyes briefly. Of course. Kim had gone in in her usual highhanded way and she must've gone about it badly if even Alia was acting out because of it. Why else would the girl dress like that now with her mother away? It couldn't even be because of Rachel, because he'd seen the girl that morning dressed the same as she always did for school. He sighed. He thought the travelling camp on the back field would be the issue he had today, not teenagers dressed so provocatively because Kim had riled them all up. And it wasn't just those two, he noted, as he spotted a few more girls walk past in very similar modified uniforms. "Girls, head's office after the football match." He informed them quietly when Kim was distracted with another few of the girls that had shoved toilet roll down their shirts. Both girls nodded reluctantly, walking ahead of them as the adults escorted them out to watch the football match.

Not that the football match was a success either, with what started as quite a friendly match descending abruptly into a full out brawl between the travellers and the Waterloo Road pupils. Maxine and Alia exchanged worried glances, moving back out of the way as much as possible. They could fight as well as the next pupil in the school, but their arms were just about mended and they still didn't like physical confrontations much. They were working on it, but it still scared them a little, being reminded of Earl fighting them to keep hold of the gun. Alia did manage to share a glance with Maxine before reaching out to grab Sam Kelly as she tried to get past them, pulling her back before she could cause any more damage, Max helping her get hold of the flailing year 9. She immediately tried to fight them, but quickly calmed down as she saw they'd been staying well out of the fight and the teachers had split up the fight for the most part. Eddie motioned for the two girls to get Sam back into the school as the teachers escorted the main players in the fight in as well, directing them all up into the cooler.

"Whatever's happened, this isn't the way to go about it Sam," Maxine informed her quietly as they escorted her up the stairs.

"At least, if you do it in future, don't get caught." Alia advised just as quietly as they managed to get the younger girl into the cooler and sat down.

Eddie met them at the door with a couple of the fighters of his own. "You two, go wait in Miss Mason's office." The girls sighed but nodded, heading off in that direction as the rest of the fighting teenagers were brought to the cooler. They'd ignored Bridget and her once again surprised expression as they'd traipsed past her into Rachel's office, not bothering to close the door before slumping down into a couple of the seats at the round table in there.

"How much trouble do you reckon we're in?" Maxine asked after a few moments.

"Depends. Mostly though, I think he wants to know why we're dressed like this." Alia shrugged. "I mean come on, it can't have been his idea to choose the first day Rachel isn't here to clamp down on uniform."

"You've a good point there. I mean, Lawson's seen us dressed normally for school enough that he'd just tell us if we went too far with it." Max agreed.

"I nearly laughed earlier, when Campbell said she was sending letters home to our parents." Alia admitted. "I mean, Steph's going to laugh at it and I'm pretty sure my mum's going to find it pretty funny too once she gets over being annoyed by it." They both laughed as they imagined Steph and Rachel's reactions to being handed letters from the school saying that their charges were dressed inappropriately and it needed to change. Max definitely could see Steph putting it straight in the bin. Their laughter died as they heard the sounds of Eddie and Kim arguing grow ever closer, entering without seeing the two pupils sat there, Grantly following them.

"I'm sure Rachel'll be pleased her inclusion policy is working a treat!" Kim exclaimed.

"Would you rather they were fighting in the classrooms?" Eddie shot back. "Cos that's what's going to happen next!" They were interrupted by knocking on the door and Janeece's mother stepping through in a short skirt and low cut top, fairly standard apparel for her, which the two teenagers were well aware of. Obviously it wasn't as far as Eddie and Kim knew, as they both stared at the newcomer in surprise.

"Alright, I'm here. What has she done now?" Janeece's mother noticed the two teenagers and waved to them with a smile. "Hi girls. Good to see you again."

"Hi Mrs Bryant." Maxine and Alia manged to chorus reluctantly. They'd met Janeece's mother a few times, the woman often inviting them to stay and party with her. It wasn't that she was a bad person, just not what they were used to. Plus, they knew how she'd reacted when the whole Earl thing had happened, as Steph and Rachel had told them so they could support Janeece a little more if she needed it. Eddie and Kim flushed in embarrassment that two pupils had caught their argument, Eddie only just recalling that he'd sent them to wait in Rachel's office himself. He was about to send them out when Janeece herself appeared, having been text by her mother to get to the headteacher's office.

"What's going on?" She asked as she automatically took a seat beside the other two girls, Mrs Bryant taking the final seat and all turning to look at the three teachers expectantly. Grantly excused himself with a poorly held back grin, obviously hoping all three girls were in for it, payback for them ganging up on him when they'd had the imperial summons after the Earl incident.

"Well, uh…" Eddie didn't even know where to start, having hoped to get the true situation from Alia and Maxine before the meeting Kim had arranged. Unfortunately, the football match debacle had thrown everything up in the air.

"It's about how some of the boys have been reacting to Janeece's new look." Kim stepped in, though the words didn't seem to bother Janeece's mother any and Eddie swore he could see the three teenagers wincing slightly. Clearly, Kim wasn't going to get the well-reasoned response she was looking for.

"Getting all hot and bothered are they?" Janeece's mother smirked.

"Well, it's not just the boys. Some of the girls have been commenting and even imitating her too." Kim tried again before Eddie could attempt to reword the situation to make Janeece's mother see reason.

"Just been dead bitchy." Janeece practically sulked under her mother's questioning gaze.

"You have been drawing attention to yourself though." Kim rebutted. Maxine and Alia shared a glance. They knew this wouldn't go well and were regretting not getting out the same time that Grantly did. Neither had wished for Rachel to not be away at a course quite so much as they did at that moment. She would know exactly what to say, especially having dealt with Mrs Bryant before. They watched as Janeece's mother commented on the size Janeece had chosen for herself and Kim's explanation of the more impressionable students. Alia couldn't help it; a giggle slipped out before she could stop it, drawing all eyes to her as Max tried her best to stop herself from joining in. Kim shot her a harsh look. "Anything to comment, Miss Falan?"

"No." Alia crossed her arms over her chest, fighting to bite her tongue at Kim's dismissive tone. "Nothing."

"Hmm, I'm sure." Kim shook her head, clearly not believing her. Eddie sighed, torn between amusement and disapproval.

"Alia, Maxine. Why are you dressed like that today?" Eddie asked.

"Janeece's influence, clearly." Kim interrupted before any of the teenagers could respond. Janeece shot Kim a dirty look. Alia's hackles were raised instantly with Kim's tone.

"No actually, though we didn't dress like this for the fun of it." Alia gestured to herself and Maxine's attire. "Miss Campbell, you came down on all of us like a tonne of bricks because you didn't like how Janeece was dressed. You actively singled out students unfairly this break time because of our uniforms, which weren't that bad. Steph doesn't mind how Max normally dresses for school and my mum doesn't mind how I usually dress for school. Clearly, Janeece's mother doesn't mind how she dresses for school either. Sure, Janeece could do with a few more buttons done up but apart from that, what harm is it really doing?"

"So the uniform modifications…" Eddie prompted.

"Were in retaliation for trying to punish us all for doing nothing." Maxine confirmed. "Sure, maybe Steph and Ali's mum might not like us dressed quite like this, but they'll also understand why we're doing it."

Janeece sighed. "I had my shirt all buttoned up this morning, but I ran for the bus and a few popped off." She glanced at her friends, who were silently pleading with her to get them all out of the incredibly awkward situation. "Ali, have you got your blazer?"

"Yeah, why?" Alia fished it out from her bag and placed it on the table between herself and Janeece. Janeece took it and shook it out. Alia had gotten one a little too large for herself as it fit over jumpers or hoodies better and looked better oversized with her customisations.

"I'll wear this for the rest of the day and I'll buy another shirt I can do at least one more button on." Janeece told them all. "But I have freedom of expression and I'm not bowing down to the awful rules imposed on us today." She shrugged on Alia's blazer, which whilst didn't cover her chest an awful lot, did hide her figure a little more than she had done all day.

"You tell them love. They aren't the clothes mafia." Mrs Bryant stood, Janeece following her action automatically. "Well, if that's it, I'll be off. You can't dictate my daughter's clothing choices and that's final." She stalked out, Janeece following in her wake. Eddie glanced at Kim, who was glaring at the two remaining teenagers. Maxine and Alia hadn't noticed, too busy righting their uniforms to the state they'd been in when they'd arrived that morning.

"You two." They glanced up at Kim's icy tone. "I'll be having words with your parents, both of you. The blatant disrespect cannot be allowed to continue. Especially you." Her final words were directed at Alia, who simply looked back, mildly disinterested. Eddie sighed.

"Kim, why don't you go deal with our other issue for now and I'll catch you up?" He urged Kim silently to leave them to it, which she nodded curtly to, but had some parting words for the girls before she left the office.

"Friday. I'll be arranging a talk with Miss Haydock and Mrs Falan for Friday afternoon girls." She made to storm out but Eddie stopped her.

"Kim, stop. Yes, the girls were wrong in what they did but they clearly weren't the ringleaders behind the idea. Plus, they have a point with why you wanted to crackdown on the uniforms. I think we're just going to have to chalk this one up to a bad idea all round." Eddie played peacemaker, more worried about what Rachel would do if Kim started badmouthing her daughter to her face before knowing who she was. Kim nodded curtly after a few moments, finally storming out to deal with the other issue they were trying to deal with that day.

"Who's Mrs Falan?" Alia asked after a few beats. The girls burst into giggles and even Eddie managed a laugh.

"Rachel is going to have a field day with all of this." Eddie sighed again. "Was the whole uniform thing a way to get back at Kim?"

The girls shrugged. "She singled us all out at break for our uniforms," Maxine told him. "Didn't even give Chlo a break even though she's pregnant."

"We thought it unfair, so it was our way of hitting back. The only influence Janeece had was on how we went about it," Alia added. "Look, Eddie, we might've gone about it in the wrong way, but so did she."

"I know. You're just lucky I've talked her out of a meeting with your mum. Or did you forget she doesn't know who your mother is?"

Alia flushed slightly at the reminder. "I know, and I know Rachel will be disappointed. You don't have to remind me of that." She grabbed her bag and left without another word. Maxine glanced at Eddie as she grabbed her own bag.

"Sir, Ali's dealing with school and her home life being separate and the same all in one. Maybe you should cut her some slack on it? Rachel's not even going to be home until Thursday night. Maybe she's just missing her mum."

"Wait, who's staying with Alia and Philip?"

"No one." Max shrugged. "Rachel asked Steph to look in on them a few times, make sure they're behaving and that, but other than that they've the place to themselves until Thursday." She shouldered her bag and made her way to the door, turning in the doorway to glance back at him. "Oh, Mr Lawson?"

"Yes, Maxine?"

"She doesn't need anymore guilt. She already blames herself for way too much around here."

Eddie was glad he'd managed to catch Alia before she left the school at the end of the day, even though he'd cut it fine trying to help the travelling camp stay and not be moved on by the council. He knew she had ignored the shout of her name, though Kim hadn't as she hastened to catch up with him in the playground, buggy in front of her and Steph anxiously trying to slow Kim down. Thankfully, Eddie had caught Kim and Steph from the corner of his eye as he caught up with Alia, his hand on her arm spinning her round to face him. Even if the adults were in earshot, he would still be able to say his piece. Thankfully though, it seemed Steph had been able to distract Kim far enough away so as not to hear their conversation.

"Ali, I need a word."

"Porcupine."

Eddie blinked for a moment, trying to figure out what she meant before it sunk in and he shot her an unamused look. "Very funny. Look, I didn't mean it and I know you've got a lot to deal with. Do you think you can just try not to irritate Kim for the rest of the time your mum's away please?"

"She irritates you too."

"I know. Okay, we will both try and not irritate Kim until your mum is back. Deal?"

"Deal." Alia agreed somewhat reluctantly. "Don't beat yourself up if people find out about her though. It's going to happen at some point. And yes, before you ask, I'll tell her what went on here today when I call her tonight so she's not caught unawares."

"Okay, good. Oh, and Ali, if you need anything whilst she's away…"

"Steph's only next door, but I get it. Thanks."

Eddie fell into step beside Rachel on the way up to her office, smiling involuntarily at her as they approached her office. He'd pulled up that morning in time to see her say a few words to Alia before she ran off inside, leaving Rachel to grin at him as he got out of the car. They'd discussed his few days without her, Rachel laughing as he complained about Alia and Maxine's involvement in the rebellion against Kim, and he'd asked her about the course as they reached the antechamber.

"It was a good course and it was good to have a few days away." Rachel shrugged, knowing it hadn't been much of getting away with the nightly phone calls from her daughter and nephew confessing whatever they'd done at school that day, plus the sporadic updates from various members of staff. She'd gotten more than a few looks when she'd had to explain some of the things that had popped up on her phone. It was clear which teachers knew of Waterloo Road and which ones didn't. "Shame you couldn't have been there." She added to him, knowing she had really missed him her few days away and not able to help the goofy smile on her face.

"Well, I felt I was. You texted me about it ten times." He smiled in response to her little laugh. He was happy she texted him so often, that she was making the effort to talk to him, be open about her day. It might be something small to most people but he knew how big a deal it all was to her, and he wasn't about to ruin that for anything.

"So you didn't miss me then?" She mock pouted, but the effect she was aiming for was ruined by her wide smile that he automatically shared in, almost reaching out to touch her arm.

"Oh, was I supposed to? Are we officially 'going out' now?"

They were interrupted by Kim, who proceeded to pour out a lot of items onto the table and talk to them about the sex education day she was running and how important it was for the kids. Eddie waited until Kim was distracted and murmured into Rachel's ear as she was staring at a packet for jelly boobs with a mixture of confusion and shock. "Don't need the jelly ones if you can get your hands on the real ones." He wasn't quick enough to dodge the elbow she nudged into his stomach, both fighting to hide their laughter as Kim whirled out just as quickly as she'd come in.

"Eddie, you're incorrigible."

"It is my middle name."

"No it's not."

"Prove it." He laughed, catching her round the waist as she moved over to the filing cabinet, bringing her back to him instead of looking for his personnel file, which he was certain she'd pull just to prove him wrong. Instead, he bent down slightly and pressed a sweet kiss to her lips. Today would be a good day if he had any say in the matter.

Rachel smiled as she walked down the stairs with Eddie at her side, spotting Philip and Alia making their way up them, chatting quietly. Philip had asked for a birthday party at Rachel's house, and Rachel had reluctantly agreed after talking it through with Alia. The teenaged girl had pointed out that the school was going to find out sooner or later, and them finding out through a party the head had allowed to be thrown at her own house would be infinitely better than any other way the student population would find out. She greeted the pair as Eddie wished Philip a happy sixteenth birthday, sighing as the boy barely acknowledged it, moving on to his next class with Alia at his side.

"I wish his mother had bothered to even remember, let alone be here for it." She commented almost tartly as they continued to move down the stairs.

"Wait, she hasn't been in touch with him either?" Eddie asked, shocked. How could a mother treat their own son like that? They reached the bottom of the stairs and paused by the sixth form lockers, just out of the way of the steady flow of students heading to their lessons.

"Nope, not a call, not a card. Not even a text." Rachel sighed, her heart reaching out for her nephew. For all she'd abandoned him before, Melissa had never once forgotten his birthday or failed to at least acknowledge it. "You know that he's asked to have a party at mine tonight? I agreed, after a bit of persuasion. He needs something to cheer him up, doesn't he?" She gazed up at him, a small, mischievous smile playing at her lips. "And you know, if things get out of hand you can always step in and help me out."

"Oh I can, can I?" Eddie laughed, immediately drawn in by how happy, carefree she looked.

"Oh, please. It's the only chance I'm going to get for an adult conversation all night." Rachel complained. It wasn't her idea of a good night by any stretch of the imagination, her house being overrun by teenagers smoking and drinking and generally wrecking her home.

"I haven't been to a house party in years. I might have to go and dust off my old glow sticks and everything." Eddie murmured in her ear teasingly before he drew back, frowning slightly as a thought occurred to him. "Wait, a party at your house?"

"Yes, seeing as how it's also where Philip lives right now."

"Yes, and your daughter." Eddie whispered urgently, trying not to draw attention to his words. Rachel nodded, immediately understanding. Eddie had accepted the secrecy surrounding Alia quite well, and so she knew it would seem strange with her seeming rather calm over the whole concept of the entire student body finding out in one go. Well, they'd took a bigger secret from her personal life fairly well, for a start. What was finding out she had a fifteen year old in comparison to her former profession being that of a prostitute?

"I get it and ordinarily I'd have said no, but she herself pointed out that a bunch of people already know and of all the ways for the pupils to find out, this would be the easiest." She lowered her voice to match Eddie's, still careful not to mention her daughter by name. "I mean, who can really object to her being my daughter when I'm allowing a bunch of teenagers to throw a party in my home?"

Alia, Chlo and Donte were sat near Bolton and Paul at lunchtime after the awful sex ed lesson where Philip had embarrassed himself, with mostly only himself to blame. No one would have said anything to Michaela in the first place, but Philip was a whole different matter. Alia had tried desperately to get her cousin not to say anything, to just sit quiet and shut up like she was doing (she was still trying her best not to irritate Kim in agreement with Eddie, so was trying to not draw much attention to herself), but the boy had stood up to announce that he was a virgin anyway and stormed out when the class hadn't reacted to him like they had Michaela. She had tried talking to him afterwards, but he'd been moody and combative, so she'd left him to it. There was only so much she could do and she definitely wasn't asking Jack for help on how to talk to him about it. She didn't want to know how teenaged boys' minds worked, not really. Now she watched warily as he approached the table, praying he wasn't going to make school any worse for himself. Somehow, she was doing a much better job at fitting in at the school, despite having been out of school for three years, than Philip was with his many school experiences.

"Alright, lads. I'm having a party tonight." Philip announced nervously, fidgeting slightly.

"So?" Bolton asked, not caring as he flicked a pea in Paul's direction.

"It's at Mason's." Philip clarified.

"Are you serious?" Bolton asked as he and Paul immediately turned to Alia for confirmation. "Ali, is this true?"

"Yeah." Alia shrugged. "She agreed once she got home from her course last night."

"But, isn't everyone gonna find out about you?" Paul asked hesitantly.

Alia nodded. "I know. But they were all going to find out sooner or later."

"We'll be there. Ali, don't worry, we'll sort out anyone that gives you shit over your mum. Sit down, Philip." Bolton invited him to take a seat at the table. "Leave the inviting to me from now on, yeah?"

"No one upstairs for any reason. No alcohol. No graffiti. No smoking indoors."

Both Philip and Alia were perched on the kitchen worktop listening to Rachel list off the things she expected of them for the umpteenth time that evening. They were already dressed for the party, Philip in black jeans, black trainers and a polo shirt and Alia in an old Lia Rose dress, lilac with sequinned sections, though she'd put some of her own, lower heeled shoes on. Rachel was dressed casually in a long sleeved layered top, jeans and trainers, laying out food for Philip's party as she continued to lecture them.

"I already locked the door to my music room and put three padlocks on it, plus like a million barriers to getting up there. I locked your room too." Alia told her after an obligatory sigh and eye roll. "They'll need to get upstairs to the first floor to use the bathroom, unless you want your pupils to be peeing in your garden."

Rachel sighed, knowing Alia made some good points. Still, that didn't lessen the need to impress on them her expectations for the night. "No alcohol. No graffiti. No smoking indoors." The doorbell stopped the lecture from really kicking up a notch and Alia jumped from the countertop to answer it with an audible sigh of relief. Thankfully, it turned out to be Eddie, dressed as casually as Rachel.

"Where is she?" He asked after greeting the fifteen year old warmly. Alia rolled her eyes, leading him to the kitchen.

"In here, doing our heads in."

"I heard that," Rachel shot a half-hearted glare at her daughter as she hopped back onto the counter beside Philip, who looked just as bored with the constant rules as she was.

"Why, what's happened?" Eddie asked, automatically reaching out and stealing one of the snacks.

"That was not for you!" Rachel scolded him as he held up his hands with an insincere apology spoken around his mouthful of snack.

"Rach thinks we're going to have a tea party or something instead of a house party. Just listen to her lecture a few times and you'll get it." Alia rolled her eyes again. "Mum, it's a party. There's going to be alcohol. There's going to be smoking. Even you're not so naïve as to think there won't be."

"I can hope, can't I?" Rachel sighed, knowing her daughter was right. "I need you two to be responsible tonight. I need to be able to trust you both, that my house will still be standing by the end of the night. So no graffiti-"

"Rach, Rach, ssh, ssh." Eddie's hands reached her shoulders, massaging them a little in a bid to get her to relax. He could understand why she was so nervous, but she wouldn't do anyone any favours getting herself so worked up over it.

"Are you guys staying or?" Philip asked.

"No, Rach and I are going out for a couple of hours. Somehow I think we'd kill the vibe."

"You're already killing it by calling it a vibe." Alia wrinkled her nose slightly. Eddie laughed.

"Remember, no alcohol, no smoking indoors, no one upstairs." Eddie fought the urge to laugh again as the teenagers' eyes instantly glazed over with Rachel's instructions, obviously having heard the rules nonstop since Rachel had gotten home from work that afternoon.

"We know, no fun of any kind." Alia sighed. "We got it the first twenty odd times too."

"If there are any problems, call me. Especially if they give you grief over the pictures." She directed the last part at Alia, knowing that the photos they had up of themselves over the years would probably be the thing that gave away the secret of Alia Falan really being Alia Mason.

Eddie took in their glazed eyes and vacant expressions and took pity on them, moving over to Rachel, interrupting her by repeating her shortened name several times until he got her attention. "Shush, shush now. Zip it. Let the kids have some fun." He managed to manoeuvre Rachel from the room, calling out that he would see the teenagers later as he managed to get Rachel into her coat and collecting her bag, out the door in what was definitely record time.

"Tell me you think it's a good idea Eddie." Rachel requested of him as they closed her front door, heading for her car. Eddie had gotten a taxi to hers, knowing she liked to drive herself places, have that feeling of control. And she was leaving her barely sixteen year old nephew and fifteen year old daughter to have a house party she had no control over.

"Yeah, they both need cutting some slack, especially with the day Philip's just had." He wrapped an arm round her shoulders. "And, we need some time to ourselves as well. First date."

"First date." Rachel couldn't help but laugh at how trite the phrase sounded. They were so much more than that, even if she didn't know how to put that into words. "At least we know my daughter won't catch us kissing this time."

"What?" Eddie paused to stare at her in surprise.

"Didn't I tell you? Alia and Jack did show up at the bowling alley, just in time to see us kiss. They ran away before they could be emotionally scarred for life." Rachel laughed, Eddie joining in after a few moments of embarrassment. "Apparently, we have to stop inviting them to join us if we don't want them to catch us together."

"Makes sense, especially how Alia couldn't look me in the eye for a few days after the bowling night. One rule for the date." Eddie brought them back to the current situation as he prompted them to move towards the car once more.

"What?"

"No mention of school, and no mention of Alia or Philip or even Jack, just us." He rounded the car to the passenger side as Rachel unlocked her car.

"Okay, just us." She placed her handbag on top of her car as Bolton interrupted them, carrying a crate of what she supposed was an attempt to dupe them into believing there actually would be no alcohol at the party. How he thought she was so naïve was beyond her, especially considering the fact she knew they all drank at parties, the one she'd seen them all off to before Christmas a prime example.

"Hi miss, sir." Bolton grinned at them widely.

"Just a minute Eddie." Rachel shot him an apologetic look as she turned to face Bolton. Eddie hid a smirk at the way Bolton's face instantly dropped the joviality to a more respectful, if slightly fearful mien. "Bolton, can you come here please? What is that?"

"It's all alcohol free miss, don't worry."

"I'm not stupid enough to believe that." Rachel shook her head slightly. "I'm relying on you to keep things in order tonight, Bolton. Make sure nothing goes wrong." Her voice dropped from headteacher mode to concerned parent in an instant. "If the other kids find out about Ali, can you keep an eye out for her please?"

"Don't worry. I'll be looking after them. What's in it for me if it all goes cool?"

"What's in it for you? You might just avoid spending the rest of your life in the cooler. And that's before I set Alia on you." Bolton visibly shuddered. The fifteen year old had indeed gotten her revenge for them pushing Philip into Sarah-Leanne and it was not an experience he wanted to repeat. Alia had all the scary vibes of her mother without the restraints of being a respected member of staff. It was a scary combination. "Take those glasses off when I'm talking to you, okay?" She took his glasses off, placing them on top of the beers. "Don't think I don't know about your little advertising campaign for tonight. The staff do monitor the school chat boards. Anything in that house gets trashed and you are personally responsible and I mean that. I'm serious."

"Yes miss." Bolton nodded solemnly, showing her he was serious about it.

Rachel nodded, though she was definitely still wary and unsure of actually letting the party take place. "Go on, I'm trusting you." She dismissed Bolton, and Paul who had been stood behind him, only to turn and bite back a groan. "Oh God there's more of them." Eddie fought back another laugh, though Rachel was reassured a little as Maxine, Katie, Chlo and Janeece all showed up nearly one after the other, each individually assuring her they'd look out for her daughter that night and her nephew by extension.

Philip had opened the door to Bolton and Paul, Alia only just jumping off the countertop as Bolton glanced in the doorway, having greeted Philip loudly and rambunctiously. "Hey, Ali. Are we setting up in the living room?" Alia nodded and Bolton led the procession of people into the living room, immediately pushing the coffee table out of the way to the far end of the room so the DJ set up could be placed properly and they'd have room to dance. Philip seemed overwhelmed that so many people would show up to his party, even at the headmistress' house, gladly accepting a beer that someone thrust into his hand. It was his birthday and he was going to enjoy it, despite his aunt's rules. His cousin could deal with that tonight. Alia entered the room, immediately flanked either side by Maxine and Chlo, Janeece having gone to get a drink and Katie helping to set the decks up. The room steadily filled with people as they saw Michaela, Danielle and Aleesha all make their way to the bookshelves, immediately deciding to be nosy in their headteacher's house.

"Look, it's Mason, with a kid. Mason has a kid!" Michaela exclaimed, having picked up the first photo of Rachel in hospital, holding baby Alia. Rachel's grandfather had taken the photograph and proclaimed it his favourite one ever.

Danielle picked up another photo. "She's smiling in this one, with a tan." Alia knew that was one of her favourite photos of her mother, one of the few moments she had caught on camera where Rachel had been genuinely smiling without a care in the world. But she also knew what photograph was next on display, and she knew that her secret wasn't much of one when there were close to a hundred pupils at her home.

Aleesha's eyes widened almost comically as she picked up the third photo, glancing frantically between the frozen memory and Alia sandwiched between Chlo and Maxine. The photograph was of Rachel and Alia on holiday just before Rachel had taken the job at Waterloo Road. They both had longer, rather tousled hair but it was obvious who they were. The photograph was from the waist up and they were both in bikinis, laughing on the beach with their arms round each other. They'd done it on a self-timer on Rachel's camera, amazed it had actually come out half decent. They still referenced the photo as the calm before the storm. "No, it can't be!"

"What is it?" Danielle asked, trying to see the photograph Aleesha was holding at an odd angle. Alia sighed whilst Maxine and Chlo exchanged worried looks, both already knowing what the photo was of as well.

"Mason does have a kid," Aleesha exclaimed loudly, halting the set up for the decks as all eyes turned to the girls holding the photographs. "Mason's kid is Alia!" Instantly, the attention turned to Alia, who rolled her eyes at the stunned reaction she'd gotten from those who didn't already know, thankful for Chlo and Maxine who hadn't left her side.

"Try telling me something I don't already know," She quipped dryly.

"Wait, is it true?" Someone else asked, the room unnaturally quiet for a party. "Are you Miss Mason's kid?"

"Last I checked, yes." Alia rolled her eyes again. "Listen up. My full, legal name is Alia Rosemary Mason. My school records still have me listed as Alia Falan. I'm getting that sorted after my exams. Plus, my mum's cool." She glared at the scoffs she could hear littered around the room. "Uh, correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you all attending a party in her house? If that doesn't make her at least somewhat cool then I don't know what does." She stalked out to the kitchen, smiling ever so slightly at Bolton's proclamation that he'd make people answer to him if they damaged anything. She picked at a few of the snacks, but they didn't really seem appetising so she instead went straight for the cupboard she knew the chocolate was in.

"Alia."

Alia glanced out of the cupboard to find Michaela watching her closely from near the doorway. Immediately she braved herself for a fight, or at the very least a shouting match. "What?"

"What you looking for?" Michaela asked curiously.

"Chocolate. Rachel went a bit mental on the snacks but I really want the chocolate I know she hid in here somewhere." She dug around a little more, finally pulling out the chocolate bar she'd been searching for, breaking it in half and offering one half to Michaela, who took it from her after a long moment, both moving to lean against the countertop. "I didn't choose to have her as my mum, you know." Alia said after a few bites of chocolate. "But I definitely could have worse."

"Where's your dad?"

"Died when I was twelve." Alia shrugged at Michaela's automatic apology. "It's fine, you weren't to know. But if you're still wondering about me and my life, I'll tell you. I moved in with Rachel when I was twelve, lived here ever since. I home schooled myself before going to Waterloo Road. My mum didn't want my label to be the headmistress' daughter from day one and my school records really do still call me Alia Falan, so that's who I am at school. Only Rachel, Lawson, Haydock and Clarkson of the teachers know who I really am. It's been fun playing the game of what I can say or do before they claim they're going to get Mason to call my mother."

Michaela smirked at the game, finally understanding just what was so funny to the girl every time a teacher threatened to send her to the head's office. Plus, she'd been in Alia's presence a few times when the girl had had the chance to snitch to her mother and she never had. Until that night, Michaela had been cool with Alia. Now, was she going to give that up over something that had been true the whole time, but no one had bothered to ask? For it was true, no one had really bothered to ask Alia about her life outside of school. "You could still play that game," Michaela offered slowly, deciding that if Alia had been cool so far then it shouldn't have to automatically change because of who her mother was. Alia frowned at her as they both finished off the chocolate bar.

"No I couldn't. The whole school is going to know by Monday."

"Hang on, come with me." Michaela grabbed hold of Alia's hand and dragged her to the main source of the party, the living room. The room grew quiet once more as they appeared, not knowing what was about to happen as Michaela grabbed the DJ's microphone. "Right, listen up. We have the chance for an epic prank, if none of you spoil it." She nodded at the intrigued looks she was receiving. "Ali here let me know that of the teachers, only Mason, Lawson, Haydock and Clarkson know about her being Mason's kid. So what do you say to a bit of fun, eh?" The cheers echoed round the house as they all agreed to Michaela's plan, somehow accepting Alia's relationship to the headmistress in stride because it could be used in such a fun way. She felt like shaking her head in amusement at them. Of course Waterloo Road wouldn't react in any normal way.

Chlo and Maxine whisked her away for a while, dancing, drinking and laughing until they caught the tail end of the breakup of Bolton and Janeece, Bolton seeming genuinely hurt whilst Janeece appeared to not care. Chlo murmured that she'd go check on Janeece, Alia whispered that she'd check on Bolton, whilst Maxine offered to make sure Philip was still enjoying his birthday. They all knew Philip wouldn't appreciate his cousin checking on him all night, no matter the good intentions.

Alia found Bolton in the kitchen at the table, picking at some of the snacks dejectedly. "Hey," She greeted softly, rooting round in the fridge before producing a can of fizzy pop for him, handing him the drink and sitting down next to him. "I saw what happened."

"Always knew she'd outgrow me once she saw how much better she could do."

"Hey, no, come on." Alia shook her head. "Some people, they don't know a good thing until it's gone. You can't help that."

"I'm in no mood to party, Ali."

"You weren't partying before." Alia pointed out. "Did my mother put the fear of god into you or something?" She laughed at his stricken face. "Please, whatever she said she doesn't mean it. If anything gets broken or whatever, I'll probably get the blame, don't worry."

"No, no, it's the least I can do, help you get stuff sorted round here."

They were both interrupted by Maxine, who burst into the room, seating herself on Alia's lap with a giggle. "You will never guess what I just saw!"

"What?" Bolton asked despite himself.

"Flick and Philip going into Philip's room!" Maxine crowed with another laugh, one arm round Alia's shoulders, the other holding a mostly empty bottle of wkd. "God, they were eating face and everything."

"I am so not telling my mum that part of tonight." Alia shook her head. "I won't be telling her most of tonight."

"Please, Rachel's cool." Maxine dismissed casually. "What good snacks are there round here?"

"Try the cupboard next to the sink. Rachel hides the chocolate in there." Maxine stumbled off Alia's lap in search of chocolate as Bolton and Alia shared a commiserating smirk. They both jumped up at a loud thud, exchanging knowing glances as they went in search of whatever had caused the noise. With Philip otherwise occupied, it was down to them to make sure Rachel's house was still standing.

Rachel led Eddie into the house, concerned at the lack of noise she could hear. Did she actually leave a party at her house? Because from outward appearance it really didn't seem like it, even if she had seen Bolton wandering down the street with a speaker in his arms. She felt Eddie's arms circle her waist as she gazed around her suspiciously teenager free home, no mean feat considering she currently lived with two of them.

"So this is you inviting me in for coffee is it?" He murmured suggestively. She slapped his arm gently.

"No, this is me inviting you to help me clear up. Come on." She stepped away even as he groaned at the loss of contact, staring around her impossibly tidy home. "What's going on?"

"Did they even have a party?" Eddie checked, though he'd seen some of the students enter just as Rachel had.

"Philip! Alia!" Rachel called, starting up the stairs and ignoring Eddie's plea for her not to embarrass them. She called their names again as she neared the first floor landing. "Philip, did you have a good birthday?" She heard him call back that it had been good from the general vicinity of his room. "Ali, did you have a good night too?" She heard an even fainter voice from her daughter's room that told her to stop worrying so much. "Do you think they're okay?" She asked Eddie as he joined her on the stairs.

"They will be, just relax and give them time to be on their own." He laughed as she tutted at herself. He wrapped an arm round her waist suggestively. "So, coffee, or maybe straight to a little sex ed lesson of our own?" He pulled her in closer as she hummed her agreement, their lips almost touching. How they'd held off so long was beyond him. "Yeah?" He kissed her soundly. "I'll take that as a yes then." He smothered her laugh with another kiss, letting her lead him in the direction of her bedroom, never once taking his hands or lips off her, despite her warning him that they needed to be quiet.

The door to her bedroom closed louder than either one expected as he pressed her back into it, kissing his way down her neck teasingly. She dragged his face back up to hers, her eyes unusually serious as she pressed a sweet kiss to his lips. "Take me to bed Eddie." It was a request he was only too happy to fulfil.

TBC…