Hey guys! Thanks so much for all the reviews, it's so encouraging to know that you're all really enjoying this story. Anyway, here's the next chapter, enjoy!

DISCLAIMERS: I DON'T OWN WATERLOO ROAD OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS!

Walking into her office on Monday, Rachel ran a hand through her hair, yawning. She'd been up all night, worrying about what she was going to say to the staff. She'd felt guilty about not telling them on Friday, but after the situation with Josie, it had just slipped her mind. So, instead, she'd arranged an early morning meeting in the staffroom. Fear flooded through her as she struggled to think, still unsure of what to say to the staff. Taking some deep breaths, she sat down at her desk. She knew that she shouldn't be worrying this much, especially when the inspection hadn't even happened yet, but as much as Rachel hated to admit it, she was scared. Well, terrified. This job meant everything to her; without it, she had nothing. Her heart began to pound as she looked at the clock, realising that she only had a few minutes before the meeting. Reaching down, she dug through her bag and grabbed her phone before standing up and making her way back out of the office. She met Tom on the stairs as she headed to the staff room.

"Morning Tom."

"Morning. So, you ready for this meeting then?"

"You mean, am I ready to tell the staff that they might be getting a new head teacher, even if we pass tomorrow's inspection? No, not really." She sighed, stopping outside the staffroom door. "Sorry." Her heart began to pound again.

"Look, it'll be fine. You just need to stop worrying." Giving Tom a small smile, she opened the door and walked into the staffroom. She felt the tension in the room as everyone looked up at her.

"Good morning everyone, I want to thank you all for coming. I know it's early, so I really appreciate it." She paused for a moment, eying Grantly as he stared around the room lazily. "As you know, tomorrow we have someone from the LEA coming in to re-inspect the school and assess its progress since the merger."

"But why are we being re-assessed? I thought we passed the last inspection?" Rachel heard the confusion in Steph's voice as she spoke.

"We did, however, the LEA believe that there was a personal bias towards me during the last inspection, and that the school passed for the wrong reasons. As a result, the school is being re-assessed to see whether or not the school has made successful progress since the merger." She sighed as the staff began to murmur. "And I'm afraid that's not all. Due to recent events, the LEA are questioning my ability to run this school. Even if we pass the inspection tomorrow, which I have doubt that we will, there's a possibility that the LEA are going to replace me as head of Waterloo Road."

"What? They can't do that, surely?" She looked up as Steph spoke again.

"Unfortunately Steph, they're the one's in charge, so they can do what they like. Hopefully it won't come to that though, so long as we pass this inspection." Everyone nodded. "In the meantime, I need all of you to make sure everything is in order for the inspection tomorrow. Make sure all lesson plans are up-to-date, that all recent coursework has been marked and the grades noted. Right, that's all from me. Thank you everyone, have a great day." She smiled and left the staffroom, not wanting to stay and hear the comments from Grantly about how it would be better if she left. Breathing deeply, she made her way down the stairs and to the main doors as the students began to arrive. Standing on the steps outside, she smiled at the kids as they walked through the doors.

"Morning Miss."

"Alright Miss?"

She stood there for a while, watching some of the kids playing football. Checking her watch, she jumped slightly as the bell rang, signalling the start of the school day.

"Right, come on everyone, inside! Head to the hall for assembly!" She stared as Bolton and Paul continued to kick the football against the wall. "Uh, Bolton, Paul, come on, inside. You'll have plenty of time to play footie later."

She remained on the steps for another couple of minutes, making sure that the last few stragglers got to assembly, before heading up to her office to prepare for tomorrow's inspection.

"Alright, alright, settle down everyone. Silence, s'il vous plait!" Steph shouted as she made her way into her classroom. Sighing as the kids continued to talk, she walked over to her desk. "Silence, tout le monde!" As the class quietened down, Steph grabbed some vocabulary sheets and began handing them out.

"Today, you're going to be finishing your coursework essays on tourism and travel." She paused as the class groaned.

"Miss, why do we have to do this?"

"Because, Lauren, you won't get a GCSE grade in French if you don't do it. Plus, I need this coursework in today ready for the inspection tomorrow."

"Miss, why are we having another inspection? Wasn't there only one like, a few weeks ago?" Steph sighed and rolled her eyes, before looking out at her class.

"We're having another inspection to see how successful the school's become since we merged with John Fosters, and to assess Miss Mason's ability to run the school."

"What d'you mean Miss?" Hearing the confusion in Danielle's voice, Steph mentally cursed herself, realising what she just said. She was sure that Rachel wouldn't have wanted her to tell the pupils that she might be getting replaced. She cursed herself again; her and her big gob.

"Miss?" Steph was drawn from her thoughts as Danielle spoke again.

"It means that the LEA don't think that Miss Mason is able to run the school efficiently. Basically, the inspection is to see whether or not Miss Mason should remain as your head teacher." The class began to shout and protest.

"What? No way man, Mason's ace!"

"They can't get rid of Miss Mason!"

"Yes, yes alright everyone, settle down." Steph paused as she waited for the class to quieten down again. "I know you're all very fond of Miss Mason, but at the end of the day it's the LEA's decision whether she stays or goes."

"It's not fair though. Miss Mason has made this school better." Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Like I said, it's not our decision." She took in the disappointed looks on their faces. "Look, if you want to help Miss Mason, you just need to behave well tomorrow to help us pass the inspection." Turning away from the class, Steph walked to the whiteboard and began writing some things down. "Right, où aimez-vous partir en voyage?"

Tuning out from what Miss Haydock was saying, Danielle leaned over and tapped on Bolton's shoulder. She knew how grateful he was to Miss Mason for letting him stay at Waterloo Road, and for the extra support she gave his mum, so she knew he'd want to help with her plan. He turned around quickly and faced her.

"What?"

"You want Mason to stay, don't you?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I've got an idea to stop her getting fired."

"Alright, I'm listening."

Leaning back in her chair, Rachel sighed as Bridget came in and deposited another pile of paperwork on her desk.

"This year's school budget assessments."

"Thanks Bridget." She smiled as turned and left the room.

Grabbing her pen, she drew herself closer to the desk and began going through the pile. As much as she despised paperwork, she knew it was necessary, especially with the inspection tomorrow. Skimming over the information, Rachel frowned as she looked at the English department's budget, studying it closely. She quickly did some calculations in her head, sighing as she realised the information was correct; Grantly had overspent the department's budget. Normally it wouldn't have been an issue, there was always spare money set aside in case this happened, but this was the second time that he'd had overspent this school year. Sighing again, Rachel stood up and made her way out of the office, heading down the corridor to Grantly's classroom. It was no surprise to her as she looked inside, seeing Grantly snoozing in his chair.

"Grantly," she knocked on the door, walking in as he jumped in his seat. He glanced at Rachel before standing up.

"Ah, Miss Mason. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Grantly, I need to talk to you about your department's budget. I've just been looking over the files, and it appears that the department has overspent, again. Now, last time it wasn't so much of an issue, but this time there's not enough money left over to cover it." His face dropped slightly.

"How, um, how much have we overspent by?"

"A couple of thousand, and like I said there's not enough to cover it. I really need you to sort this out, Grantly. With the school's inspection tomorrow, we can't afford any mistakes."

"Of course not. I'll um, I'll get right onto this. Don't you worry, Miss Mason." She nodded and left the room. As she walked back into the office, she was surprised to see Chris standing in the middle of the room.

"Rachel, we've got a problem." She took in the grim look on his face as he took something out of his pocket. "I've just taken this off one of the students." Rachel looked down as he placed a small bag of cannabis in her hand.

"Who?" He hesitated before speaking.

"Sambuca Kelly." Rachel's head shot up as mentioned the girl's name.

"What? Sam?" He nodded.

"It fell out of her pocket during my lesson. She denied that it belonged to her, saying that she'd been set up. To be honest, I don't know whether to believe her, it was in her pocket at the end of the day."

"I just can't believe this. If you'd have said it was Finn I'd understand, but Sam? It just doesn't make sense." She walked over to her desk, shaking her head in disbelief. "Where is Sam now?"

"I sent her to the cooler, she was quite upset."

"Okay. I'll go and talk to her, see if we can get to the bottom of this."

"You know what this means though? We'll have to exclude her." Rachel sighed.

"Let's just talk to her first. Can you do me a favour and bring Rose up here while I get Sam?"

"Yeah, of course." She closed her eyes and ran a hand through her hair as Chris left the room. She couldn't believe this, she knew Sam and her views on drugs, and with Rose's previous addiction, she knew that she wouldn't go anywhere near them. Putting the bag in her desk drawer, she walked out of the room and headed to the cooler.

As she walked into the room, Rachel's heart sank as she looked at Sam, seeing the sad, scared look on her face. Immediately, she stood up and began protesting.

"Miss, those drugs weren't mine, I swear!" Rachel heard the panic in her voice.

"Sam, just calm down." She moved across the room to stand in front her, motioning for her to sit back down. "Look, I need you to tell me your side of the story. Mr Mead said that the drugs fell out of your pocket, and as you know Sam, possession of drugs in school means exclusion."

"Miss, I promise you, they weren't mine. Someone put 'em in my pocket to set me up."

"If that's the case then tell me who would do that."

"I don't know Miss." Rachel sighed and looked away.

"Come on Sam, I won't be able to help if you don't tell me what's going on." Sam shrugged and started fiddling with her jacket.

"Honestly Miss, I don't know." She looked up at Rachel, fear in her eyes.

"Well, unless you give me an explanation, I'll have no other choice but to exclude you Sam." She took a deep breath and crossed her arms, watching the panicked expression return to Sam's face.

"Miss, you can't! They weren't mine!"

"Help me out then Sam. Tell me what's going on, otherwise, like I said, I'll have to exclude you." She let her arms drop as Sam looked down, fiddling with her jacket again. "Who do you think is trying to set you up?"

"I don't..." She trailed off, and Rachel watched as a look of confusion came over Sam.

"Sam?"

"Amy...I bet she put the drugs in my pocket! She was showin' Lauren somethin' earlier, in the toilets, said she was goin' to use it tonight at Finn's party." Rachel nodded, listening carefully.

"Okay, but why would she try to set you up Sam?"

"Because I wouldn't give Finn her letters at break. Said I didn't want to get involved. Honestly, she acts like she can't live without 'im Miss. She was really annoyed at me though, said I'd pay. She's the one that's set me up Miss." Sam grabbed her bag and stood up angrily. Rachel was about to tell her to sit back down when the cooler door opened and Chris appeared in the doorway.

"Sorry Rachel, but Rose is in the office. She wants to see Sam." At the mention of her name, Sam looked at Rachel, watching as she nodded towards her. She quickly made her way out of the room, leaving Chris and Rachel alone.

"So, what did she say?" Rachel felt the awkwardness in the room as he asked the question.

"She thinks that Amy Porter planted the drugs on her. Apparently Amy was upset that Sam wouldn't play messenger for her and Finn, and based on Amy and Finn's recent behaviour, I'm inclined to believe Sam. We've had enough trouble keeping the two apart today as it is." Crossing her arms, she turned and walked out of the cooler, making her way down the corridor. "Can you get Amy and bring her to my office? I need to go and speak to Rose, try and clear this mess up."

"Yeah, sure." Rachel smiled in thanks as Chris opened the door and walked down the stairs, disappearing from her sight. She walked into the main office, sighing as she spotted Rose and Sam through the window, sat silently in front of her desk. Pausing outside the door, Rachel took a deep breath before walking into her office. The sooner she cleared up this mess, the better.

Hey guys, that is it for this chapter. So, thing's between Chris and Rachel are still awkward, the students have got a secret plan, and now there's a drug issue as the inspection approaches...What's going to happen? All will be revealed in the next chapter. Don't forget to R&R, next chapter will be up soon!

Tia x