Chapter 3

It was 7:30pm and the students and teachers of Waterloo Road had slowly begun to fill the hall for the end of the year prom.

Steph, Jasmine and Kim and Matt were sat at a table talking about fashion and Matts new boyfriend Richard.

It was now 7:35pm and a mad rushed Rachel had just finished carefully and artistically applying the finishing touches to her hair and makeup before spritzing herself generously with Chanel no.5 that Eddie had gotten her for Christmas, and that was before they started dating. As she gave herself the good to go in the mirror Rachel heard the doorbell ring. Closing her eyes in a prayer like desperation Rachel slowly made her way down the stairs, carefully avoiding tripping in her new 7 inch heels.

"Oh God please do not do this to me" Rachel pleaded as she reached for the door hoping that it was somebody she could get rid of quickly.

However when Rachel opened the door she was greeted by a very odd looking well dressed man. He was too smart to be a sales rep and normally they have a cheesy quality about them, whereas there was nothing cheesy about this man who was holding a small package in his clutched hands.

"Can I help you?" asked Rachel looking confused at the stranger stood before her.

"Good evening madam, I'm looking for a Miss Rachel Mason." The man even spoke well, which made Rachel even more curious to why he was standing on her doorstep, on tonight of all nights. He definitely was not a sales rep however Rachel smelled a rat, there was something going on that she didn't know about.

"You found her" Rachel replied still very confused.

"Well Ms Mason, my name is William and I will be your personal chauffer for tonight. I'm here to present to you a gift from a Mr Eddie Lawson, and last but not least… your car awaits you" Smiled William as he handed Rachel the small package in his hands before making his way towards the 1940's Bentley parked outside of her house.

'Eddie' Rachel thought with a gigantic Cheshire smile. She should have thought.

This was perfect Rachel thought to herself as she slid elegantly into the car. She could not believe it, she was just half an hour to spending a wonderful night with the man of her dreams. Of course she had spent numerous nights with Eddie, usually sat on the sofa and the odd trip to lunch but nothing mounted up to what tonight meant for Rachel. About ten minutes into the journey Rachel noticed the small package in her hands, she was so caught up in the moment of the surprise that she had completely forgotten about Eddie's gift until now. She spent a moment studying the package trying to decode its meaning, wondering what could be inside. As she unravelled the bow of string tying the soft turquoise material together, a diamond bracelet slid out onto her lap. Rachel immediately felt tears form in the corner of her eyes as she realised that this was not just any ordinary diamond bracelet, it was the limited edition tiffany diamond bracelet that she had been looking at in ridiculous admiration for months. She felt her heart warm up inside her as she fixed the bracelet around her wrist as silently thanking for whatever had impelled Eddie to do this. Surely there could not be anymore surprises, as exquisite as all of these gifts were, Rachel was still adamant that she did not deserve all of this. In a desperate bid to not become emotionally overwhelmed Rachel closed her eyes and took several deep breaths before stepping out of the car at the school.

Back at the school hall things were in full swing however Eddie's eyes were fixed on the door. Rachel was late, she should have arrived 15 minutes ago; Eddie's hands began to get clammy as he contemplated the fact that maybe she wasn't going to turn up. Just then the whole room went silent as the most beautiful figure that Eddie had ever seen, stood elegantly in the door way.

"Christ!" Tom said as he like every other man in the room noticed how jaw-droppingly stunning Rachel Mason was. Immediately Eddie became speechless as he stood to greet the magnificent sight before him. He looked at Rachel from head to toe, she was intoxicating, her hair artistically defined to give an effortless messed up look. Her eyes smouldering as he could see that the window to her soul was full of passion and emotion; her lips were as crimson as the most beautiful red rose could be. This was only the start of Eddie's admiration for Rachel, as his eyes continued to trace up and down the one shouldered black dress that carefully enhanced the perfect bust, yet safely covered her scar.

Immediately standing up Eddie approached her in absolute awe.

"You look amazing" Eddie whispered in Rachel's ear as he led her across the room by the hand. He could not believe it, he was very aware of Rachel's beauty but his breath was literally stolen as he held her hand. Of course this went over everybody's head as everyone took it for granted that he was just taking her to their table.

As the evening passed, Rachel and Eddie were becoming more and more lost in each other as they had now completely separated themselves from the other members of staff. The sparkle in Rachel's eyes alone could have lit up the whole room with more intensity than the brightest lights available to man. Also, things weren't looking too bad for Philip either as he danced with Danielle Harker, just the two of them. Despite a rocky start to Philips year at Waterloo Road, he and Danielle had grown extremely close and had been going out for about two months now.

"Phil you know despite what everyone said before, you're the nicest, kindest, most loving person I've ever met," Danielle said as she looked lovingly into Philips eyes as she watched a teenage love struck grin spread across his face as he leaned down to kiss her. However their bliss was short lived as Bolton Smilie took it in his stride to announce them to the whole of the room, making Danielle blush as the two of them were bombarded with wolf whistles from every angle.

"Looks like Philips having a good time" Eddie laughed as he point towards Philip and Danielle getting off with each other in the corner.

"Yeah, it's nice to see somebody take a shine to him for a change" Rachel replied as she watched the cute teenager love scene from across the room.

Eddie looked at Rachel and let out a small laugh before pulling her closer to him so that one of his arms were draped comfortably around her waist as they watched everybody dance and have a good time.

Eddie put his hand on Rachel's face, turning her to face him. For a moment that's all he did before descending into a kiss, however just before their lips met Rachel looked to the floor, causing Eddie to look rather baffled.

"Rachel, what's wrong?" Eddie asked thinking that he might have done something to upset her.

"Nothing, it's just we haven't told anybody about us yet" Rachel said as she pointed out their potential audience. Eddie gave a small giggle of relief as he had completely forgotten about everybody else in the room for a moment.

"Well then I guess they'll find out now then won't they?" Eddie smiled cheekily as he descended again to kiss Rachel however their moment of passion was interrupted yet again. This time not by Rachel but by Steph Haydock as she called upon the attention of the whole room.

"Attention everybody!" Steph called from the microphone. "I would like to take this chance to thank two people who have transformed this school, ladys and gentleman, please take this opportunity to raise your glasses to the wonderful Eddie and Rachel!"

"What is Steph Haydock doing now" Rachel sighed as she knew that Steph couldn't behave herself for one night, she always had something up her sleeve.

"Eddie and Rachel" The whole room started to clap as they raised their glasses in a toast.

"Everybody please welcome Eddie Lawson who is going to say a few words now" Steph announced as Eddie gave a sigh of annoyance.

"So much for that kiss" he groaned as he made his way to the stage.

"Thank you Steph," Eddie replied as he took over the microphone at the centre of the stage. "Well what can I say? It's been one hell of a year! Each and every one of you are special to this school, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for not giving up when times were hard. Things haven't always been a walk in the park for Waterloo Road, and there have been many occasions where out patience, out loyalty and our strength have been put to the test. You've probably heard myself and other members of staff remind you that you should never look down on anybody else unless you're helping them up. I can safely say that no matter how much we all lose it, there is always one person that keeps us all together, without her there is no Waterloo Road. This woman put her career, her dignity, her life on the line for this school and," Eddie didn't take his eyes off of Rachel as he took a deep breath before continuing. I…I… well I love her"

Eddie looked at Rachel, who's face was soaked with tears as she smiled at him. As he decended off the stage and took her hand infront of the whole room Rachel's heart fluttered with love as the tears continued to trickle like diamonds down her face.

"Rachel Mason I love you" Eddie announced as he gazed into her eyes.

"I love you too" She replied, giving a small laugh before bringing their lips together in the most sensational kiss that man could ever witness. The whole room suddenly erupted into an applause as they witnessed what was going to be a love that would last forever.