Thank you for the reviews.

Getting this early because work is dead and most of the office is outt on a course later so I can let my mind wander a bit and not worry about being caught on my phone when I check it every 5 seconds.

So in chapter 27, I mentioned about losing Tom's POV and picking up Philip's. This is the future chapter as to why we picked up Philip's POV because this chapter is just from Philip's POV... A bit of a switch up but it makes some sense with what is going to happen in this chapter. I actually really enjoyed writing this chapter as well.

I feel like what I have written here is also an idea or something similar happened in a fic I read a while ago (Basically I came onto this site to read Waterloo Road fanfiction (back in 2012) and here I am now writing it. But another reason why I started writing again was because I did start reading again). So I am going to dedicate this chapter to that fic, even though my memory is so bad and I can't remember what the fic was called or who it was by... that sounds really bad and I apologise to the author...

Chapter Thirty Six
The Pledge

The last thing that Philip wanted to do was to make more trouble for Rachel but as he was marched to her office by Tom, he knew it was exactly what he was doing. It didn't help that the guilt of what he was doing for Max was killing him and, in turn, affecting his behaviour. Therefore it might have only been the end of the second week of term after Christmas, but it was Philip's third time being taken to Rachel's office and there was only one day out of ten that he hadn't spent in the cooler.

It was just by the sigh from his auntie that he knew that he wasn't making things better. The look from Max told him that as well.

"I'm sorry Rachel but I have just witness Philip punching Joseph Miller."

"What?!"

Philip couldn't help but agree with her. It wasn't his finest moment and Rachel's disappointment was worse than the pain in his hand.

"I don't know exactly what happened but I just about managed to drag Philip off him," Tom said.

"Philip? What happened?"

He knew his stubborn silence wouldn't help him but he couldn't do it any more. He felt that if he opened his mouth, everything over the last month or so would come out and he wouldn't be able to stop until he had said everything.

"Ryan. Answer the question." Max said as he took a step closer to him.

"I… Miss… I'm sorry." Philip managed to get out.

Rachel sighed. "Can I speak to Philip by myself?"

"As your student or your nephew?" Max asked.

"You make it seem like they are mutually exclusive."

"They are. I'll go and see where Miller is."

Neither of them said anything to begin with. Philip was still trying to gather all his thoughts together as Rachel was obviously thinking about the right question to ask to get him to open up. She walked over to him and grabbed his right wrist.

"That looks sore." She said as she looked at the knuckles.

"It's more of a dull ache now."

"Come on Philip. Talk to me. I… I can't help you if you don't talk to me. I thought we got over this. I could understand your bad mood after your mum left but… I thought you were happy with me."

"I am."

"Then what is on your mind? You obviously take after me rather than your mum."

"I… Nothing's on my mind. Rach… Miss. He just said something. I… I have been waiting for the comments. It expected them at the beginning of the school year. I just didn't expect him to say it now. Ask Bolton and Paul. They were there with me."

"What comments?"

Philip swallowed. "About your past."

"Oh, Philip." She sighed as she stood in front of him, making him look at her. "The comments will come. They will always be there. I… I am honoured to think that you are looking out for me, thinking that it is down to you to silence people that don't know me like you do. But, as I have learnt, some people can't let go of the past. Your mum is a key example of that. The comments don't hurt me. You messing up your schooling because of a comment hurts me."

"I… I was going to walk away. He provoked me. I... I am sorry. I just don't know what came over me."

"You've been hanging around with Eddie too much. That is what that is. Leave it with me. You might just have to spend a couple of days at home by yourself."

"I understand."

"I've just got to get that past Max. Come on. Let's get you to the cooler."

Philip knew that he could have told her about what was happening. She was basically willing him to open up to her but he couldn't do that. The look that Eddie gave him as they left her office was almost as bad as Rachel's disappointment and he knew that he couldn't keep doing this to them.

"Eddie, can you take Philip to the cooler? Actually, go and get his hand checked out and then to the cooler." Rachel said.

"What's happened?" Eddie asked.

Philip could tell that Rachel was about to reply when Max returned with Joseph Miller and the black eye that was forming wasn't looking good for him.

"I'll get you for this Ryan. You teacher's pet. Look at you with your slut of auntie…"

"That is enough!" Max shouted, pushing Joseph into the office and slamming the door behind him. "I think we should probably leave him to calm down for the moment."

"Think that might be best." Rachel said. "But probably not in my… our office."

"I'll have a word with him in a moment. Shouldn't you be sorting Philip out?"

"Eddie was just going to take him to the cooler."

Philip didn't like the look that Max gave him before Eddie said that they should get going.

"I honestly can't believe you got suspended," Bolton said.

"What have I missed?" Philip said.

"Mate, it has been dead quiet. You were obviously giving us all the drama."

"Really?"

"Other than the assembly, when Tyler literally stopped Mason mid-sentence and took over," Paul said. "She looked absolutely mortified by it. She looked even worse when he dismissed us."

"And then there was the other thing that he took over from her. That thing with Helen Hopeless." Bolton added. "He always seems to like to be in control. Mason can't usually get a word in."

Philip didn't say anything. If he did, he would probably tell them what he knew.

"You're quiet all of a sudden."

"Just thinking."

"Really? Don't think too hard now."

"Very funny."

"No, what's up? Somethings well weird with you."

It was only as Max walked passed them and nodded towards Philip that he realised that he couldn't do it any more. He couldn't keep the secret of what he was doing. Would bringing Bolton and Paul in on what Max was trying to do the worst thing in the world?

"Okay, you have to explain that now," Paul said.

"Not here. You have no idea who is listening."

Somehow it had gone from just Bolton and Paul to Michaela, Danielle and Aleesha as well. All five of them looking at him expectantly.

"Tyler… he is using me to find out information from Mason and Lawson. About the school, the teachers, everything. He said if I didn't do it, then Mason and Lawson would lose their jobs and he would find a reason to expel me as well. It's killing me and I hate doing it because… Mason has been nothing but nice to me but, ultimately, Tyler is trying to take over the school."

"Mason won't allow that," Bolton said.

Philip scratched the back of his neck. He knew that Max would have the perfect opportunity to try and push her out when she went on maternity leave. Not that this pregnancy was common knowledge yet and it was the last thing that Rachel would want Max to know.

"But look how determined he was to say that you were a rapist," Danielle argued.

"Tyler is capable of anything," Michaela added.

"And we won't let him," Bolton said as he stood up. "I mean, if Tyler is trying to take over the school and stopping Mason from doing her job, then maybe we need to give him a taste of his own medicine."

"I can't get into any more trouble," Philip said.

"Then relax. I am a man with a plan. We might just need to get a few John Foster lot on our side."

"Good luck with that," Michaela said.

"Well while you have been pulling their hair out, one of us has been making friends with a certain John Fosters girl."

Philip didn't catch on that it was him for a while.

"Ros wouldn't…"

"We aren't expecting your girlfriend to do anything…"

"Not my girlfriend."

"But she will know who to talk to about getting people on board."

Philip sighed. "I suppose it is worth a shot."

"Wicked. Then I finalise my plan, meet up tonight. Get as many people on board as you can."

Philip didn't know whether he could trust Bolton or not with this. If anything, he was glad that someone knew what was happening. But maybe the five people he had just told wasn't who should know.

"Words out that you want some help," Amy said as she joined them under the tree.

"We don't need your help," Michaela said.

"I wouldn't be too hasty," Philip said.

"What? You are willing to take help from that lying slag?"

"I am right here," Amy said.

"All help is needed," Philip said. "Plus, we know she likes to cause a bit of drama."

"Plus at the start of the year, we were all a little naive to what this place is actually like. Maybe we now see why you like it here so much and why you all think so highly of Mason."

"So you would pick Mason over Tyler?" Michaela asked.

"Of course."

"Just the way you lot all clapped when he entered the assembly on that first day, made us all think that you saw him as a god."

"Tyler likes to think he is the king of everything. He just wants to rule. Mason… well, she is more like one of us. With everything that happened, she never spoke down to me. Not like Campbell did. Even Bolton thought that she went too far."

"Maybe she will be useful," Michaela said as she turned to Philip. "After school, behind the stage. And maybe you could put the gob of yours to good use. Round as many of your lot to the cause. Those who like Mason."

"Why? What's going on?"

"Don't worry. You'll find out later." Philip said before Michaela said anything else.

Philip was actually quite surprised at how many people showed up. There was easily 30 of them crammed into the small space and apparently there were more that wanted to come. It was just overwhelming that there were so many people that wanted to help his auntie.

"Without going into too much detail, Tyler is trying to push Mason and Lawson out of the school," Bolton said.

It was met with everyone asks loads of questions and it was nice how they began to fizzle out after a while. Philip could see the old Waterloo Road students that were very unhappy about the news.

"There are two routes we can go down." Bolton continued. "Either we show Tyler how bad Waterloo Road can be and risk the prospect of being excluded. Or we do everything to make it seem like this merger is working and hope that it keeps Tyler off her back."

"Tyler isn't going to stop. You've seen what he is like." Amy said. "He will probably take all the glory for the merger working and still be trying to kick Mason out."

"Tyler is trying to make it look like Mason isn't doing her job," Philip added. "Maybe we should do the same. Keep Tyler busy so that Mason can do her job and run the school. He seems to like trying to discipline us."

"There we go. Let's bring back the Waterloo Road that was under Rimmer. But only around Tyler. We don't want to cause Mason much trouble." Bolton said.

"What about Campbell?" Amy asked.

"What about her?"

"Well, she is going out with Tyler. We saw them in town over the Christmas holidays. Plus you saw the way she reacted when I admitted I was lying."

"That was before I knew what Seddon had done."

"What did Seddon do?" Paul asked.

"Had Campbell in the cooler and talked about taking off her bra."

Philip didn't like the way that Amy was looking at him. It was obvious that she was going to ask a question about Rachel's past.

"I know it isn't talked about. But Mason must have gone through something like that in her past. Being like… you know. Why was she so nice about it?" Amy asked.

"Because that is just Rachel," Philip said.

He didn't like how everyone turned to him.

"Come on Philip. What do you mean by that?" Bolton said.

Philip thought about it for a few moments. He knew that he had already said way too much but his auntie had trusted him with that secret. Should he really be the one to tell them?

"What did Hordley say when he announced that she was a prostitute?" He said.

"She might have been good while she was a prostitute but she is no good now," Michaela said.

There were a few moments where it took a few of them to work it out and turn wide eye to him.

"You did not hear this from me because Rachel would kill me if I told you. But yeah. In her office." Philip said.

"But the baby was Lawson's. Bolton said that they even admitted it." Danielle said.

"In every essence but biologically. Again, you didn't hear that from me." He sighed. "Look, we know how Mason can be. We know that she will shout at us and discipline us but we also know that she will never give up on us. Tyler will have us all out before the end of the school year. When my dad came to pick me, Rachel said that this was a school that, even she would admit, doesn't have the best reputation, but is a school built on so much more than league tables and exams."

"Maybe something else we need to show Tyler. You mess with one of us, you mess with all of us." Paul said.

"So Operation Mason Stays is in motion. We will let you know when we want you to do something. Alright?" Bolton said.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement and Philip only hoped that Bolton's plan would work.

Philip didn't like Rachel's worried face after he closed the front door behind him.

"Where have you been?" She almost shouted at him.

He was still getting used to someone always asking where he had been or where he was going. The fact that she was so worried about him made him wish that he had sent her a text.

"Sorry. I went round Ros'. She is helping me to catch up with what I missed during my week off."

The relief washed over her.

"A text would have been nice."

"I'm sorry."

Rachel sighed. "I'm sorry as well. You are 16. I should remember that sometimes." She gave him a smile. "Do you want to see?"

Philip only smiled at her as he followed her into the kitchen. The sonogram was on the side and they both leant over it.

"They are saying 12th August as the due date. So I definitely will not be returning in September. Maybe Max making Chris my second deputy will be one of the good things that he has done. At least Eddie can share the workload."

"I can't wait to meet them."

"I think because of that, Eddie might take his paternity leave at the beginning of the school year. So he will have a longer break then and they will be slightly older, when they become more difficult, or so I am told."

"And I'll be here as well." He turned to his auntie. "Rach, I am so sorry for everything that has happened in the last three weeks. I will make more of an effort."

She placed a hand on his arm. "I know you are. But Philip, you can always talk to us if there is something on your mind. Believe me, that is one thing Eddie has taught me. A problem shared is a problem halved. We can help."

"It… It was just my first Christmas without Mum and I know… she left me and the circumstances of that but she is still my mum. I do miss her Rach."

"And you are allowed to. You are allowed to miss her and hate her and love her. Just it is better to talk about these things that let them build up."

"Why are you always so understanding?"

"Because sometimes you have to be. There isn't always a one-size-fits-all approach to things and it is the little things like that which Max doesn't understand." She smiled at him. "Your dinner is in the oven. While I am on strict instructions from Lawson to not do anything this evening."

"I suppose that doesn't extend to me."

"I could argue that you were helping me to relax. As long as you do get all your homework done."

"I'll join you in a bit."

Philip allowed his smile to drop slightly as she left. He couldn't cause any more trouble for Rachel. Not while she was pregnant with his cousin. So was Bolton's plan really the best way forward?

Side note... So you don't always have me ranting on here, I am finally going to use a twitter account that I made because some shirt was going down regarding an event thing that I was meant to be going to. The username is the same as my pen name (pongo0614) on here and the profile pic is the same (which I might have changed for the purpose of this). I am not saying that won't still get this side notes on here. But that is where I am going to do most of my ranting from now on... And maybe progress of fics and where I am with writing them. Maybe... I'll even give you a few sneak peeks of upcoming chapters or fics... It might mainly be me moaning about how I cannot write on a Tuesday and Thursday... who knows really.