Chapter 5
Amy still hadn't been back to school after being poorly, and although she was loads better now Rachel didn't see the point in sending her in for the last day so was letting her have tomorrow off.
It was a Thursday and the night of the Christmas party for the sixth form. Both Rachel and Poppy were going so Lucy and Amy were both going to stay at Mel's for the night.
Mel was giving Amy and Lucy tea so Rachel was helping them both get packed up ready to go.
"So who's going to take me to school tomorrow?" Lucy asked
"Mel's going to take you"
"Is she picking me up too?"
"No I'll pick you up like normal"
"I wish we'd finished school already, I just want it to be Christmas"
"I know you do" Rachel said smiling
It had been so nice for Rachel having the girls around for the build-up for Christmas. Amy and Lucy had both been really excited but Poppy hadn't seem that excited about it all.
"Come on then let's finish packing your stuff and then I'm going to get you over to Mel's"
"Can you get some pyjamas, tights and knickers out of your drawer love? I'm just going to nip down to the utility room to find you a clean skirt"
She nipped into the bathroom on the way up and packed Lucy up a little wash bag before going back and putting all of the stuff into a bag.
"Can I take my teddy Rachel?"
"Do you really need to ask that?" Rachel said laughing
"I'll just go and check on Amy then we'll go"
Rachel went into Amy's room and saw she was all packed up.
She had a quick look through the bag to make sure she had everything, she knew Amy probably didn't need her to check but she couldn't help herself.
"Right are you ready to get going?"
"Yeah"
Rachel told Poppy where she was going and then went and got in the car with Lucy and Amy.
Both girls were quite quiet on the journey over there but Rachel knew they were probably just tired.
They got to Mel's and both girls hovered by the car while Rachel got the boots out. They were still a bit nervous around Mel as they didn't know her quite well.
"Come on then, let's get you inside"
Rachel knocked on the door and Mel soon came and let them in.
"Go and make yourself comfy in the lounge, Phil's in there. Do you want to stay for a coffee Rach?"
"No I'd better get back, I still need to get ready and get the girls something to eat"
Rachel followed Amy and Lucy into the lounge and stayed for a few minutes until they felt a bit more settled. She then said goodbye to them both before going back to the car.
She was just reversing off the drive when she saw Lucy waving out of Mel's window.
She waved back and gave her a big smile before driving home again.
When she got in she put a few pizzas in the oven for the girls before going upstairs to have a shower.
She realised that she was actually running out of time so washed her hair really quickly and then got out and wrapped a towel around herself.
She walked out of her en suite and found Poppy in there.
"Rach please can we borrow your straighteners?"
"Yeah help yourself"
"I'll bring them back when we're done"
"I don't need them tonight, I'm going to curl my hair anyway"
"Okay thanks" Poppy said before rushing out again
Rachel got her dress on before going down to take the pizzas out.
She got the drink out of the cupboard too that she'd agreed to buy Poppy. It felt weird doing it but she knew everyone else would be drinking beforehand so she couldn't really stop her.
Rachel told the girls the pizza it was all on the table and then went to finish getting ready.
Once Rachel was ready she went down to have a few slices of pizza herself but when she got down she saw hardly any of it had actually been eaten. She also noticed there were loads more empty bottles than what Rachel had bought so realised that Poppy's friends must have brought some with them too.
Rachel quickly ate the pizza before shouting to the girls that it was time to go.
She was stood in the hallway putting her lipstick on when they all came down. It was obvious they were all very drunk. Rachel wasn't too happy about this, as she really hadn't been planning on letting them get so bad.
There wasn't a lot she could do about it now though so she turned everything off before picking her bag up and going out to the car with them.
The four of them looked a lot older than they usually did, Poppy especially, with their makeup and short dresses.
They got in the car and drove to school where they were getting the coach from.
When they got there the bus was already there so Rachel let the girls out before going to park the car.
She made sure it was locked before going down and waiting with Kim as all the students arrived.
"Are Chrs and Tom here yet?" Rachel asked
"Yeah on the bus, and so is Steph with Olivier"
Olivier was the French assistant that had been helping out in lessons since September.
"God they all seem pretty bad I really hope no-one's sick on the bus" Rachel said after a group of students got on the bus
"Hopefully not" Kim replied but she too had her worries
It got to 7 and no-one else seemed to be arriving so Kim and Rachel got on the bus and sat down.
The bus journey to the hotel was a pretty loud one so Rachel was relieved when they finally got there.
She got off the bus and went and told the people at the hotel that they'd arrived. Rachel then stood at the door with Tom watching as the students all staggered in, the majority heading straight to the dance floor.
Most of them were inside now when Aleesha and Danielle walked in.
"Miss I don't feel well" Danielle said as she walked past her head teacher
"Okay toilets are through here" Rachel said taking her other arm and guiding her to the toilets
As soon as they got in there Danielle rushed into one of the cubicles and started being sick.
Rachel sighed before going over and rubbing her back whilst she was sick.
"What are we going to do with you lot, hm?" Rachel said laughing
Aleesha was surprised that her head teacher wasn't angry, she definitely wasn't expecting her to be laughing over it.
Once Danielle had finished being sick she was feeling a lot better.
"Do you want me to go and get you a glass of water?"
"No I feel fine now"
"Okay well go and have a good time then, and don't drink anymore"
Rachel followed the girls out of the toilets and then went and stood with Tom and Kim who were by the bar.
She smiled as she stood watching them all dancing. They'd been working really hard all term so it was nice to see them letting their hair down and having a bit of fun.
Poppy definitely seemed to be having a good time which Rachel was glad about.
"Where's Steph?" Rachel asked
Tom pointed and Rachel saw her dancing, she didn't know how she hadn't spotted her before really.
"Do you want a drink Rach?"
"Yeah I suppose one drink won't hurt, I'll have a glass of white wine please"
Poppy was having a really great time. She was managing to get a boy in year 13 to buy her drinks so she was getting into a pretty bad way.
She was stood at the boy when she saw Rachel walking around so quickly walked outside with her drink.
She drank her drink pretty quickly before going back inside and going to the dance floor.
She saw some of her friends dancing with Olivier so rushed over to him. They all thought he was really hot and the majority of the girls at Waterloo Road fancied him.
Poppy went over and started dancing with them too. Olivier started giving her lots of attention which she was quick to make the most of.
After a lot of dancing with Olivier Poppy started to feel a bit funny so decided to go outside for a bit of fresh air.
Olivier followed her out and when he saw her looking like she was going to pass out went to get her a glass of water.
Poppy took the glass from him and after having a few sips she began to feel better again.
She took Olivier's hand and dragged him back onto the dance floor where they started dancing really closely again.
It was nearly time to go home again so Rachel made her way to the DJ to tell him they could have a couple more songs.
She couldn't believe her eyes when she turned around and saw Poppy kissing Olivier rather passionately in the middle of the dance floor.
She's already had quite a few girls come up to her and tell her that Olivier was being inappropriate with Poppy, but she had no idea that this was going to happen.
She immediately went over and took Poppy's arm before dragging her to the toilets.
When they got there Poppy ended up passing out so Rachel sat her down on the chair before getting one girl to get her a glass of water.
Rachel slapped Poppy's cheek gently and she started to come around again. As soon as her eyes opened though she had to immediately stand up to be sick.
Rachel followed her through and held her hair back while she was being sick into the toilet.
She knew there was no point in saying anything to Poppy now as she wouldn't remember it in the morning anyway, so she just rubbed her back whilst Poppy continued to be sick.
Once Poppy had been sick she started to feel a bit better but she was still feeling really rough.
Rachel heard everyone starting to leave, so helped Poppy out and onto the bus.
Poppy sat next to Rachel on the bus home and fell asleep on Rachel's shoulder almost as soon as they left.
Rachel got her phone out of her bag and realised that she had a missed call from Mel so called her back straight away.
Mel had a very upset Lucy sat with her who was begging to come home, so Rachel said she'd come and get her.
When they got back to school Kim said she didn't mind checking everyone got off safely so that Rachel could get going straight away.
She got Poppy into the car before starting the drive to Mel's.
"Rachel I'm going to be sick" Poppy said when they were halfway there
"Bloody hell" Rachel muttered before pulling over and going to open the door
Poppy jumped out and started being sick into the hedge.
Once she'd finished they both back got in the car and drove to Mel's.
Lucy was still in tears when Rachel got inside so Rachel sat down and put her on her knee.
"What's wrong sweetheart?" Rachel asked rubbing the little girls back
"I wanted you, Rachel please can I come home with you?"
"Of course you can, come on let's get going. I'm sorry about this Mel"
"Don't worry it's fine, where's Poppy?"
"In the car, she's had way too much to drink so I'd better get back"
"Okay see you tomorrow then"
Poppy was asleep when they got back to the car so Rachel got Lucy strapped in before driving off again.
When they got in Rachel carried Lucy out of the car as she was really sleepy, and then unlocked the door before going back to get Poppy.
Rachel helped Poppy into the house and up to her bedroom.
She got her changed into her pyjamas and then into bed.
Rachel sighed before going into Lucy's bedroom where Lucy was sat on her bed.
"How come you got dressed again?" Rachel asked noticing Lucy was in her clothes again
"Because I wanted to come home"
"I would've taken you in your pyjamas, anyway let's get them back on"
Rachel went to go into the bag that Lucy had taken to Mel's but Lucy stopped her.
"What are you doing Rachel?"
"Getting your pyjamas out"
"I think I left them at Mel's"
"Oh okay I'll get you some clean ones out of your drawer then"
Rachel went over to her chest of drawers and got her out a pair of pyjamas before getting her changed into them.
"Do you need another wee before you go back to sleep?"
"No I don't need to go"
"Okay into bed then"
Lucy climbed into bed and Rachel sat down next to her.
She stayed with her until Lucy dropped off to sleep as she thought she might be a bit unsettled after coming home from Mel's.
Once Lucy was asleep Rachel picked up her little bag and went into her own bedroom.
She wanted to take Lucy's school uniform out of the bag so that it wasn't all creased for tomorrow.
She was surprised when she saw Lucy's pyjamas at the bottom of the bag as Lucy had said she left them at Mel's.
It was only when Rachel lifted them out and felt they were all wet that she realised why Lucy had said she didn't have them.
Rachel felt a bit sorry for Lucy as she knew how scared and embarrassed about it she would have felt at Mel's.
Rachel went and put a load of washing on with Lucy's pyjamas in before going to get ready for bed. She quickly text Mel to let her know the sheets probably needed to be changed.
She woke up and had a quick shower but didn't bother to wash her hair as it still looked ok from last night.
After putting her dressing gown on she decided to go and wake Poppy up wanting to punish her a bit for last night.
She went into Poppy's bedroom with a glass of water and then gently woke her up.
It took a while but eventually Poppy woke up.
"How's the head"
"It bloody hurts"
"No wonder, me and you need to have some serious words about last night"
"Why what happened?"
"The fact you don't remember means you clearly drank way too much"
"Everyone was drinking Rach, it's not like I was the only one"
"Yes, but I don't think anyone else kissed Olivier did they?"
"Neither did I"
"Yes you did"
"I wouldn't do that"
"Well I can assure you you did, I saw it with my own eyes Poppy"
"Are you joking me?"
"I'm afraid not"
Poppy put her head in her hands instantly regretting getting so bad last night.
"Anyway it's time to get up, we'll speak more about this later"
"There's no way I'm going to school today, did everyone see?"
"Well you were doing it in the middle of the dance floor so I'd say so yes"
"Please don't make me go to school today"
"You're going to school today Poppy, end of"
"No please let me have the day off, it's not like I'm going to achieve anything feeling like this and it's the last day of term anyway"
"Nice try, but you're going in. Now go and get in the shower"
Poppy realised that she wasn't going to win this one, so as rough as she felt she got out of bed and went and got in the shower.
Rachel went into Lucy's bedroom to wake her.
It didn't take long for Lucy to be awake fully so Rachel decided to have a little chat with her about last night while it was just the two of them.
She didn't want to embarrass her by bringing it up but she also wanted to make it clear to Lucy that she wasn't angry about what had happened.
"Luc, I found your pyjamas at the bottom of your bag"
Hearing Rachel say this made Lucy's cheeks blush immediately so she pulled the quilt up over her head not wanting to look at Rachel.
Rachel pulled the quilt back and put her hand on Lucy's arm.
"Hey it's nothing to be embarrassed about, these things happen sometimes don't they?"
"Are you not cross with me?"
"Of course I'm not darling, you're still young and I know you didn't do it on purpose so of course I'm not cross"
"Mummy always used to shout at me when it happened, so I always got Poppy to help me sort it out but Poppy wasn't there last night"
"You should have just told Mel, she'd have helped you. Or if you didn't want Mel knowing you could have told me, I wouldn't have been cross I promise"
"I'm sorry Rachel, I'll try not to let it happen again"
"Don't worry if it does happen again, just come and find me and I'll help you sort it out I wouldn't tell anyone else"
"Thank you Rachel" Lucy said wrapping her arms around Rachel
"Anyway let's get you up and get you ready for your last day of school"
"It's only six days until Father Christmas comes now"
"I know, it's lucky you've been such a good girl this year isn't it?"
Lucy suddenly gasped and clasped her hand around her mouth, which made Rachel worry a bit
"What is it? What's happened?"
"I forgot to send my list to Father Christmas"
"Well Father Christmas is very clever, I'm sure he'll have done a good job anyway"
"But I drew him a special picture, I wanted him to see it"
"Well do you know where your letter is now?"
"I think I left it in my old bedroom" Lucy said sounding all upset
"Well how about you draw him another one when you get home from school, and then we can put it in the fire tonight"
"Why would we put it in the fire? Won't it burn?"
"No that's how you send your post to Father Christmas isn't it? How do you normally do it?"
"Mummy normally puts it in the post box"
"Oh well this is a special way of sending Father Christmas a letter, so we'll do it tonight okay?"
"Okay"
Rachel helped Lucy to get dressed and made her bed for her before going back to her own bedroom to get ready.
Once she was ready Rachel went down to the kitchen to make breakfast and then called the girls down.
When Poppy came down Rachel had to admit she did look quite rough, she hadn't even bothered to put any makeup on so she was looking really pale and tired.
Poppy had some toast and Lucy had a bowl of cereal.
Rachel made Lucy's packed lunch for her while the girls were eating. Normally she did it the night before but she hadn't had time last night.
When the girls had finished Rachel put their dishes in the dishwasher before getting ready to go out the door.
"Hang on I haven't even packed my bag yet" Poppy said running past her and going upstairs
"Hurry up then, I don't want to be late and I've got a million things to do before the end of school"
Poppy quickly packed up her things. She couldn't wait for the end of the day so that she could just get back into bed.
She was sure she didn't have everything she needed but she couldn't think of anything else, so she just went down and got in the car where Rachel and Lucy were already waiting for her.
They dropped Lucy off at her primary school before driving to Waterloo Road.
Poppy really wasn't looking forward to going into school after last night, as by the sounds of it she'd done loads of things that she was going to regret.
They both got out of the car and walked up to the entrance together.
"Have a good day" Rachel said before leaving Poppy so that she could go up to her office
Poppy sighed before going off to find her friends in the common room. Of course the first thing they said to her was about Olivier.
Poppy was trying her best to ignore what they were all saying but she was starting to get really fed up because it was all anyone would talk about.
When the bell went for her first lesson Poppy was relieved, although she wasn't so thrilled that she had to go and do an hour of maths.
Maths seemed to drag but eventually the bell went for second period so everyone started to pack up their stuff.
Poppy was heading back to the common room, and she presumed Chlo and Janeece would both be too as they all had a free lesson however the two of them turned in the opposite direction.
"Where are you two going?" Poppy asked
"Miss Mason wanted to speak to us" Chlo told her
"About what?"
"I don't know"
Poppy made her way to the common room and sat down on the sofa.
She was still sat there when Chlo and Janeece came back in and sat down next to her.
"What did she want?"
"She wanted to speak to us about Olivier" Janeece said giggling
"Oh my god why?"
"Because what he did last night with you was completely inappropriate, so she wanted to find out exactly what was going on"
"What did you tell her?"
"How he was flirting with you all night and then how he kissed you"
Poppy put her head in her hands not believing that this had happened.
After break Poppy had French which she was really dreading as she definitely didn't fancy seeing Olivier this morning.
She sat down in her seat next to Chlo and Steph came in a few minutes later. She was surprised when Olivier wasn't there as he was usually in that lesson.
For the whole lesson everyone was going on about how he'd probably lost his job because of Poppy, and she was really emotional anyway because she was so tired so she ended up bursting into tears.
Poppy picked up her bag and ran out of the classroom.
She was going to just go to the toilets but in the end she decided to go up and see Rachel.
Poppy knocked on the door and waited until Rachel said so to come in.
Rachel noticed Poppy was crying as soon as she came in so quickly rushed over and sat on the sofa with Poppy.
"What's happened?"
"I really wish I didn't kiss Olivier last night, why did I do it?"
"Because you'd had too much to drink, I think we all have regrets from when we've been drunk but there's nothing you can do to change it is there?"
"I know, I still wish it hadn't happened. Has Olivier lost his job?"
"I've had to suspend him yes"
"Why?"
"Do I really need to tell you why?"
"He was only having a bit of fun, it wasn't like we went any further"
"That's still not the point, he stepped over the line Poppy so I have to do something about it"
"Please don't"
"What's it to do with you anyway?"
"Because I'll feel bad if he doesn't get to become a teacher anymore just because of me. Are you going to report him to the LEA?"
"I haven't decided yet"
"Even if you don't let him work here anymore please don't report him to the LEA"
"I don't know Poppy" Rachel said running her hands through her hair
"Please, for me"
"I'll think about it"
"Thank you" Poppy said wrapping her arms around Rachel
"Anyway I think it's time you got back to your lesson"
Rachel reached for her box of tissues and cleaned up Poppy's face for her
"Thanks Rachel"
"I'll see you at the end of the day"
The rest of the day went quickly and soon it was time to go home. Everyone was so pleased to have finished, they were ready to go home and start the Christmas holidays.
Rachel was so excited about having the girls there for Christmas, she planning on making sure they all had an excellent Christmas.
Someone asked if I could include Chris in this, never really written about Rachel and Chris before so I may give it a try! Please review xxxxx