Sometimes the Best of Intentions Don't Always Have the Greatest Outcomes
This chapter has been requested by an anon on tumblr and the prompt was After Jason was arrested because of Robbie's actions when he robbed Price Slice, Sandy knew she had to take action, to make sure her youngest didn't get into any more trouble because of her other sons. So, she sends him to Hampton Academy, one of the most prestigious boarding schools in the whole country, but when he comes back in the Summer Holidays, he's not exactly as he was before
I'm sorry this is slightly later than usual, it was simply due to me being unable to actually get to my computer yesterday as my work over-ran and I had to stay at a friends, though this chapter is extra long, so surely makes up for it? ;)
Everyone knew that Jason was the smart one in the Roscoe family, he never rubbed it in anyone's faces or spent hours upon hours revising though, it was just fact and something that everyone accepted, especially when he walked away from his GCSE's with six A*s, four As and a B. The results were so amazing in fact, that Jason found himself being offered a scholarship from one of the country's most prestigious boarding schools, Hampton Academy practically on the spot.
Hampton only took on the best of the best (or the richest), and everyone left well on track to start at Oxbridge, or another equally worthy university. If you didn't come from money, then it was extremely unlikely you would be joining the school, with its extortionate fees of over ten grand per term and the school's track record of only allowing a scholarship student in, once in a blue moon.
But Jason's GCSE results had truly been in another league, and his teachers, with the permission from Sandy of course, sent in an application form, and though they all hoped that Jason would be accepted to do his A-levels at the boarding school, none of them really expected it to happen, after all, what would Hampton want with your average, run of the mill teenager like Jason Roscoe, good GCSE results or not.
In fact it turned out that Hampton wanted a lot to do with Jason, if their agreement to let him join the school via a scholarship was anything to go by. The letter had arrived only a few days after the Roscoe's had moved to Hollyoaks Village, and despite the initial excitement and joy that Jason had been accepted, all dreams had been put on halt when said student revealed his true intentions.
He didn't want to go to Hampton Academy, in fact he hadn't even wanted to apply for the scholarship in the first place, but had felt like he'd been forced to. Despite Sandy trying to persuade him to take the offer, Jason had remained adamant that he wasn't going to go, after all, they had just moved into their new family home, he wanted to meet people there and find friends, not in a stuffy boarding school, where no doubt everyone would be stuck up and tease him for being on a scholarship.
Sandy hadn't been happy with Jason's admission, but had backed down easily enough once she saw how little her youngest actually wanted to go to the prestigious school. For a short time it looked like the family was going to remain together and live in the villag, all at peace with one another and enjoying their new lives together, but that all changed the day that Sandy found out about Robbie's involvement in the Price Slice robbery, and she was forced to do things she didn't want to do, including Jason's current situation with Hampton Academy.
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"I think we need to talk," Sandy said as she leant against Jason's doorframe, peering in to see her youngest still unpacking. Her mind was still spinning after learning that it was Robbie who had robbed the shop, who had let Jason spend a night in jail till being released only that very morning. Robbie had said nothing as Sandy and the others had all worried throughout the night, not even being able to sleep as they pictured dozens of different scenarios that Jason could be going through at that very point, none of them being good.
When she had learnt that it was one of her sons that had caused the robbery, Sandy knew what she had to do next, even if she knew that everyone was going to hate the idea.
"We do?" Jason asked, moving away from the wardrobe and turning to Sandy, giving her a confused look.
"It's about Hampton."
"What about it? Are they giving you grief about me not accepting the scholarship, cause that's not on mum."
"It's not that J," Sandy sighed, wishing there was way to say this without causing a massive fight, but she knew it'd be impossible. "I want you to take the scholarship."
"Wait what?" Jason asked, eyes widening when he realised just how serious Sandy was. "I told you I didn't want to go and I'm not going to. You said that was okay."
"I know I did love, but things are a bit different now."
"Yeah, Robbie robbed a shop, I don't understand why I'm being sent away for what he did," Jason snapped, his confusion growing with each passing second.
"You're not being sent away, I just think it would be best for you overall-"
"How is that best for me? You know it wasn't me. I didn't do that robbery, it was Robbie, but I'm the one being punished for it, by the police and now you?"
"Robbie will be getting punished believe me, but this is for your own good Jase. You have a bright future ahead of you, and I hate to say it, but Robbie will just end bringing you down. You've gotten into fights because of him, and now this, I know you had nothing to do with the robbery Jason, but it's a wake up call for us all I think. Which is why you'll be going to Hampton come September"
"You can't do that! I don't want to go and you can't make me," Jason snapped, slamming his wardrobe door shut with a bang, like that would help him to prove a point.
"I think you'll find I can," Sandy said, her own tone growing steely as she realised how difficult it would be to persuade Jason to go to Hampton. Why couldn't he see that she was just doing it for him? Sandy had always wanted what was best for her children, and sending Jason to Hampton, whilst heartbreaking for her, and not something that he wanted either, was really the best thing for him.
He'd get better grades there, would make friends who were more on his level intellectually, and wouldn't be brought down by Robbie, because what Sandy had said earlier was true. Jason had been getting into trouble more and more this last year because of his twin, and the only way to prevent that was to split the pair up.
She knew she could send Robbie away, maybe down to his auntie's back in London, but the whole reason they'd moved up here was because of Robbie, it made no sense for him to go back again, especially when he had been expelled from nearly every college in the area.
"Mum!" Jason exclaimed once more, furious that he was being given no choice in this whole sorry mess. After all it was his life, he was eighteen in less than a year and still, he wasn't allowed to make his own decisions.
"This isn't up for debate, I've already called Hampton to tell them that you've taken the place. Come September first, I'll be dropping you off at that school, and that isn't going to change," Sandy said, her tone stern as she refused to let herself be interrupted by Jason's enraged cry. "I'm not punishing you Jason, this is the best for you, on all levels, and I know you'll understand that with time."
Saying no more, Sandy turned and left the bedroom, flinching as she heard a sudden crash shake its way through the whole house, no doubt Jason throwing something at the wall in pure anger, though instead of regretting her recent actions, it just made it clear to Sandy that she had chosen to do the right thing, even if it was going to be difficult saying goodbye to one of her sons.
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The next few weeks were torturous for the whole Roscoe family, for one very simple reason, being that Jason was more than happy to take his anger and annoyance out on anyone who got in his way, not caring for the consequences. It was liking walking on egg shells twenty four/ seven, and no matter what was said to him, Jason simply didn't care, after all what could they really do, he was already being sent away.
The person who was suffering the most was Sandy though, because at least the rest of the family could normally get a decent conversation out of Jason if they timed it right, but the older woman could simply do nothing. Jason had not took being sent to Hampton well in the slightest, and Sandy could do nothing to fix the mess she had made, short of enrolling Jason into Hollyoaks High that is, and she was adamant that was never going to happen.
If she'd had any doubts about her latest decision, well they had completely dispersed by just looking at how Jason was reacting to the news. Once upon a time, Sandy just knew he'd have taken it well, hell Jason may have even be excited by the prospect of going to Hampton, but now he was acting uncharacteristically aggressive about it, something the academy may just be able to sort out. The nurse hoped so at least.
Jason's act of silence towards her was still going on come September first, when Sandy was driving him to Hampton, hoping that the teen would be less closed off at the school because he'd never make friends if he continued to act in this way, though if the way he'd been acting in the past few weeks were anything to go, there was little chance of that happening.
"This is it," she breathed as she pulled in to the school's car park, taking in the way that the other students were all hugging their parents tightly whilst they said their farewells, and she only prayed that that would happen between her and Jason, though she knew it was unlikely. "You ready?"
"Going to have to be aren't I?" Jason shrugged, speaking for the first time since getting into the car just over two hours ago. "I mean, I'm being forced here against my will, so it's not like you're going to care about whether I'm happy or not."
"It's not like that J, you know it's not," Sandy sighed, running a hand through her hair as she tried to form the words in her mouth. "Coming here to study for your A-levels is the best thing for you, and not just academic wise. I'm not sending you away, I'm trying to do right by you."
"Whatever," Jason said shortly, getting out of the car and making his way round to the boot to get his suitcase. As he walked he felt dozens of eyes on him, watching the new kid and trying to figure out his weak spots.
No doubt they'd be able to tell that he wasn't like any of them with one just glance, they'd figure out he was a scholarship kid and would relentlessly bother him about it, whilst flying off in their private jets every other weekend, with all their other snobby friends. Jason knew it was going to be exactly like that, he'd seen the movies and they'd told him all he needed to know.
The next two years were going to be hell and on earth for him, and as the teen grabbed his suitcase, he couldn't help but wish that that time was already over.
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That mindset hadn't changed half an hour later, when Jason found himself in his dorm room, unpacking his bag and making a conscious effort to keep all his things on his side. He had no idea what his room-mate was going to be like, but no doubt he wasn't going to be overly nice, and Jason had no intention of pissing off the mystery boy before they'd even met, because knowing his luck, it'd be the captain of the football team (did they even play football here, or was that too common? Lacrosse maybe, seemed obscure enough for a fancy place like this), and soon enough the whole school would hate his guts.
It sounded completely out there, and something you'd only find in an American TV show, but Jason hadn't had the best of luck recently, and that was just something that would happen to him if it was going to happen to anyone.
As he placed his stuffy blazer into the wardrobe, Jason's thoughts were broken off by the dorm door being opened swiftly, with a tall, tanned boy Jason's age on the other side, lugging a suitcase through the door with an inelegant 'oomph'.
"Oh hello there!" he exclaimed when he spotted Jason, not even moving to stop his bag from falling to the floor with a crash, choosing instead to look at Jason properly, in a way that was more than uncomfortable for the other teen. "I'm Brad, you must be new yeah?"
"Yeah, just got accepted for A-levels. I'm Jason," the sandy haired boy replied uneasily, already feeling a little more irked by Brad, though that may have been the posh accent.
"Gosh you're unpacking already! I hope you're not one of those OCD sorts, otherwise you're not going to like sharing with me, I can get really messy at the best of times, hell, I'll probably still be unpacking come October."
"Right," Jason responded, not quite sure what to make of his new room-mate. Brad was trying to make conversation yes, but it felt like he was teasing or trying to annoy Jason more than anything else, which he was definitely succeeding with if that was the case. He had no idea how he'd deal with Brad for the whole year, though probably not very well.
"Not very chatty are you?" Brad asked again, moving to his bed and taking a seat, leaning his back against the wall to watch Jason still unpacking, looking interestedly at what he'd brought with him.
"Yeah well I'm just tired," Jason said shortly, trying his best not to snap, though it was difficult. He didn't even want to be at this bloody school, didn't want to wear the stupid uniform, and he definitely didn't want to share his room with some spoilt rich boy, who would no doubt just tease him for being on a scholarship and being 'poor'. "The journey up here was long and we had to leave early to get here on time."
"That's not just it," Brad assessed after a few moments of silence. "I've seen your type before Jason, Hampton's full of them, so don't think you're fooling anyone with that little tired act."
"What type am I then?" Jason asked, turning to face the other boy head on, trying to control the strong urge he had to punch Brad, though it wasn't easy.
"The stereotypical rebellious little rich boy. You went against daddy so you were sent here to learn your lesson, when in actual fact we all know that he's just using his money to hide the problem till you're old enough to live on your own."
"I'd say yeah, but there's a few things wrong with what you just said. For one, my Dad's a waste of space and I haven't seen him since I was nine when he walked out on me, my mum and my brothers without a backward glance. I'm also here on a scholarship, so you can think again about that whole rich thing. Just because I earned my way in though, doesn't mean I want to be here, I was forced to take it because my brother shot somebody!"
"Sounds messy," Brad commented, arching his brow as he took in Jason's words, though his eyes glinted with amusement at the mini rant from Jason, who until that point had been keeping it all locked up, the stress and anger slowly building up more and more, till eventually it was too much and it all came rushing out messily.
"Though at least your backstory's interesting, everyone will love you for that. Just give this place a chance yeah, it's a good school and not just academics wise either. You may think we're a bunch of posh, stuck up twats, but we're not, not really, just good at putting on a show. Now, you ready to stop moping up here, cause Adam will have set up the games consoles by now and we're going to have a massive Grand Theft Auto marathon, you're more than welcome to come."
Jason was silent for a moment, as he realised that even though he'd been a huge ass to Brad from the get go, and had basically word vomited all over him, he was still willing to hold his hand out and offer his friendship. Already Hampton Academy was going against his expectations, and Jason was more than pleasantly surprised.
"Yeah, I think I will, if that's okay?"
"Course it is you daft sod," Brad laughed, jumping off his bed and guiding Jason to the door, the two teens both making their way to the common room. "Leave your bags, there's plenty of time to unpack, but first I need to completely thrash you with a good old battle, you think you up to it newbie?"
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Even though Jason had been completely insufferable to live with in the weeks before he left to go to Hampton, the Roscoe household was still strange without him. His calming influence was hugely absent, and even though the whole family could talk to him via Skype and Facebook, it wasn't the same in the slightest for any of them.
They hadn't thought it would be that bad, after all, Jason would be coming down for the holidays and school terms weren't actually that long, but putting that into practice was another thing completely. In fact, by the time the summer holidays rolled around, almost a year after Jason had joined Hampton, the youngest Roscoe had only come home once, and that was for Christmas.
It wasn't like they hadn't tried to get him to spend some time at home... it was just difficult.
In October half term, the whole of Jason's dorm had come down with a chronic case of the flu and weren't allowed to leave in case they spread the infection around further. During the February half term, he'd gone a school trip to Italy with his class for the whole week, and in Easter he'd been too busy focusing on his exams and had chosen to stay at the school to revise with its better resources.
They were all legit reasons for Jason to not come home, but everyone knew there was another reason behind his continued absence, after all, it wasn't difficult to come down on the weekends if he so wished, but the teen was still angry at being sent away, and Sandy couldn't help but wonder if her youngest would ever forgive her for doing what she thought was the right thing.
And it had appeared to be the right thing, every-time they spoke on the phone or on Skype, Jason had always appeared happy and Sandy hadn't picked up on anything that could have possibly been up with him, so with that knowledge in hand, the nurse knew she couldn't have done a god awful job of trying to help her son out by sending him to Hampton, though that didn't stop the doubts which were lying in the back of her mind, waiting for the right moment to pounce.
Believing that what she had done for Jason was the right thing for everyone, and also believing that he would also see that, didn't stop the bundle of nerves that were coiling in Sandy's stomach as she made her way to Hampton to pick up Jason on the last day of the school term.
This was the first time she was going to properly see her son in almost seven months, and after not parting on the best of terms (because although there had been no arguments during Christmas, there was still a slightly awkward air between the blonde and her youngest son), Sandy was more than in her right to be feeling slightly apprehensive, and boy was she.
The first thing she noticed as she saw Jason walk out of the main doors, was that he was taller, noticeably so in fact. The second was that he was laughing and obviously happy, walking hand in hand with a petite red head, both laughing with a gangly tanned boy on his other side, who seemed to be telling a fairly amusing story, if the two others reactions were anything to go by.
This stranger was the first to notice Sandy, though he seemed to recognise her if the way he motioned to Jason was anything to go by, who paused for a few seconds, before turning so he was directly making his way to Sandy, one hand clutched tightly on his suitcase handle, the other holding the girl's hand, even tighter than he had beforehand.
"Jason," Sandy said softly, moving forward as Jason did so, relinquishing his grip on both object and girl to give his mum a much needed hug. "How've you been baby?"
"Yeah, I'm good," Jason said softly, biting his lip as he tried to work up the courage to introduce Sandy to the two teens who were stood behind him. "Mum this is Brad Jenkins, he's my room-mate, taught me all the ropes here."
"It's nice to meet you Ms. Roscoe," Brad said, taking a step forward and shaking Sandy's hand firmly, kissing her on the cheek in greeting, something that Sandy had rarely experienced from a stranger before, least of all a teenager. Once more, she questioned whether she had made the right choice in sending Jason to Hampton, in just a few minutes she already felt way out of her depth, how had her son coped being here for a whole year?
"And this is Kelsey, my girlfriend," Jason said hurriedly once Sandy had properly greeted Brad, the nerves he was feeling at introducing her, obvious to see, and Kelsey didn't look a lot better, if the pale colour she had turned was anything to go by.
"I hadn't noticed with the way you were holding her hand," Sandy deadpanned, rolling her eyes at her son's actions and moving so she could greet the brunette with more ease, glad to see that the girl instantly looked a lot more comfortable.
The group of four stood where they were for a few minutes, chatting lightly before the arrival of a large B.M.W interrupted them. "That's my Dad," Kelsey said, moving to grab her bag, though not before kissing Jason in farewell.
She ran over to the vehicle, laughing with pure joy as she greeted her obviously much loved dad. "You not going to introduce yourself?" Sandy asked, as Jason turned to make his way to the car.
"Nah, I met him a few weeks back, had to go to dinner and everything."
"Oh, how did that go?"
"Yeah it was okay, Kels said her folks liked me anyway," Jason said, shrugging non-committally as he opened the boot and lifted his suitcase into the back of the car.
"I'm pleased, and how long have you been together?"
"You mean Rob hasn't told you? Thought he would have said something straight away," Jason scoffed. "We've been together for about three months now, and yes it's been going well and yeah, I do really like her."
"Well that's all that matters isn't it?" Sandy smiled, glad to see that Jason was truly happy, or at least seemed to be. "Now come on, lets get home, the others have missed you a ton and can't wait to see you."
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As Sandy had promised, the others were all delighted to see Jason once more, and he seamlessly slotted back into everyday life, picking up shifts at the garage, going to the gym with Ziggy and going down town with Robbie like he had never been away.
In fact, it would have been like Jason hadn't been gone for almost a whole year, if not for a few very odd occasions, that the Roscoe's couldn't help but not ignore. After all, time changes everyone, and that had been no different for Jason, but Hampton had changed him in more ways than one.
It was little things that they noticed at first, like the way that no matter what, if he was given a free moment, Jason always seemed to be reading.
Now that wasn't odd on it's own, the youngest member of the family had always been a bit of a bookworm, but before he'd often read some form of graphic novel or a mystery story, but Robbie couldn't even remember seeing one of those books since Jason had come back home, let alone actually seeing his twin reading them.
No, nowadays Jason always seemed to be attached to one of the classics that English teachers loved to bang on about, never mind the fact that the book was just a pile of absolute crap.
To Kill a Mockingbird.
Lord of the Flies.
Pride and Prejudice.
In fact, Robbie was half sure he'd seen Jason reading a Shakespeare play the other day, but he'd rid the image from his mind, not wanting to focus on it more than he necessarily would need to.
That wasn't the only difference that he saw in his twin though, as Robbie knew he'd probably never forget the day that a few of Jason's new friends from Hampton came down to Hollyoaks to spend some time with him. Now it wasn't because anything of merit happened during those few hours, in fact it was just your usual summers day more than anything, but Robbie couldn't shake just how wrong it was to see Jason with those sorts of people.
They were all nice enough but despite that, they were in a completely different league to all the Roscoes, and whether it was subconscious or not, Jason was definitely different around them. It made Robbie feel uneasy, it was like his twin was trying to impress them, and he wasn't sure how far Jason would go to keeping them on side, because at the moment he was laughing at jokes that Robbie just knew he didn't understand or appreciate, but how long till he was telling those jokes himself or even lies to fit in and go to the universities he was now expected to go to.
Robbie didn't like it, didn't like the change in his twin, because this wasn't the Jason he remembered, but he could keep his tongue easily enough, would have to keep his tongue if he wanted to keep the peace. But that all became too much for him one Tuesday afternoon, as the five brothers were all working in the garage, the two eldest and two youngest trying to hide their amusement as Ziggy tried to deal with their newest client, who just happened to not speak very strong English.
"Look I don't know what you mean mate," Ziggy exclaimed again, practically pulling his hair out as the elderly gentleman that was sat across almost did the same thing, though instead he turned back to his car (a small silver ford), and began pointing to it.
"J'ai besoin de nouvelles plaquettes de frein! Combien il pour acheter et monter les plaquettes de frein?" The man repeated, rolling his eyes as Ziggy only blinked in confusion, though he turned to glare at his sniggering brothers.
"Look mate, we don't speak French, is there anyone who can translate-"
"Oh for christ's sake," Jason muttered as he moved out from under the car he'd been working on, grabbing a cloth to wipe the oil off his hands. "He's asking about brake pads, all he wants to know how much they'll be and if we can fit them."
No-one spoke for a second, staring at Jason in confusion at his new found linguistic skills, who only sighed in response and made his way to the desk and the now very bemused client. "Pour acheter et monter les plaquettes de frein, il devrait être autour de £ 250 à £ 300."
"Ahh merci. Souhaitez-vous être en mesure de servir ma voiture et faire cela?" The french man replied, beaming from ear to ear as he could now describe his car problems and get them sorted out.
"Bien entendu, les parties ne seront pas tardé à venir et vous devriez être bien de prendre la voiture jusqu'à ce vendredi. Il suffit d'écrire votre numéro et nous vous appellerons si il ya plus de problèmes." Jason replied easily, passing over a pen and some paper for the older man to write down his number.
When that was done, he quickly departed the garage, though not before thanking Jason again. "Okay, what the hell was that?" Robbie asked, once the Roscoe's newest customer was well out of earshot.
"That was me serving a customer because no-one else in this family can speak French." Jason said dryly, moving back to the car he had been working on previously and grabbing a spanner as he did so. "You can get the brake pads done by Friday right? Cause that's what I've told him and otherwise we'll have to ring him up."
"Uh, yeah that should be fine, we may have the right ones in now," Joe said after a moment, trying to shake himself out of the confusion, though he was struggling. He hadn't even known that Jason could say hello in French, never mind partake in a full on conversation, about cars no less!
For the hundredth time, the four Roscoe brothers couldn't help but wonder just how much Hampton had changed Jason, though they were given no chance to ask before the teen began working on the car, fully immersed in his own little world.
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"And so we're all sat there like a bunch of lemons, wondering what the hell this guy is asking for, and then Jase comes up and starts up a full and proper conversation in French with him," Freddie told Sandy and Lindsey later that night as the family all sat around the dinner table, the two women unable to control their giggling at the image that they'd been presented with. "He totally saved our bacon back there."
"It wasn't anything," Jason said bashfully, cheeks flaming as the extra attention got to him. "I just did what anyone else would of."
"Except you did it in fluent French bro," Ziggy chuckled, using the time where Sandy was solely focused on Jason to spit out a mouthful of his rancid curry into his napkin.
"That another thing that place taught you?" Robbie asked, though unlike the others, his tone wasn't joking, no it was steely and almost... dangerous. "I mean, that's not the only way you've changed since we last seen you, and I kind of have to wonder how much do we still not know."
"I don't get what you're trying to say Rob, I haven't changed," Jason said, ignoring Sandy's attempts to calm them both down and choosing to solely focus on his twin. Since getting back from Hampton, Robbie had appeared to have a problem with him, doing what he could to stay away from Jason, and the teen wasn't going to let the opportunity drop, no he wanted answers and he was damn well going to get them.
"You ain't changed, except in practically every single way. You're always reading those stuffy books and when your 'friends' came round that day, you were acting like you were a million times better than us all," Robbie snapped, unable to keep it all bottled up like he had been doing for the past few days. "You know what, I missed you when you were gone and couldn't wait for this summer, but it feels like you've been replaced by a bloody clone or something, cause you're not the same as you were before."
Jason tried to take a calming breath, to try and not let Robbie's words get to him, but the unwavering stares on all sides were too much, and like his twin, Jason felt his patience snapping. "Oh I'm sorry I'm not exactly the same as I was almost a year ago, sorry that I've had to adjust slightly to survive in that place you call a school and am slightly different because of it!"
"What do you mean? You're not being bullied are you?" Sandy asked instantly, homing in on Jason's words, images of what she had prayed wouldn't happen flashing through her mind, though the shaking of Jason's head calmed her slightly.
"No, pretty much everyone's fine, but there's certain standards in a place like that. 99% of the kids come from money, they've grown up in a different world to us and by sending me there, I have to act like they do, otherwise I won't be taken seriously by visitors or hell, even some of the teachers.
"If I want to do well, and not just in lessons, but to get chosen for sport teams and to get good references for university and jobs, well I can't just act like me, I have to do things to make sure I can get the very best, because that's what you sent me there for, and I learnt pretty quickly that being second doesn't get you anywhere.
"I'm not victimised for having a scholarship, in fact I'm treated like everyone else, but that's also difficult for me, because I don't know any of these traditions and the such like everyone else does. I have to put on this mask 24/7 to make it easier for me, so sorry for not being able to act like I used to, but after months of deliberately doing one thing, or saying something in a certain manner, well it's kind of hard to just switch off.
"And those stuffy books which the 'old me' would hate with a passion, well I still do Robbie. but this is my summer reading of all things. I'm on my holidays yes, but I can't stop working, to get good grades at that place you have to work so hard, hell me and a dozen others were on the verge of a breakdown in the exam season because we had so much to do."
No-one said anything when Jason had finished speaking, though they were all silently berating themselves for not noticing how unhappy he was at Hampton, because he had to be if all that came rushing out from the quietest and calmest Roscoe.
"You don't have to go back there if you don't want love," Sandy said finally, mind already made up after hearing just how much Jason seemed to be struggling at the prestigious school. "We can enrol you to Hollyoaks first thing if you want to, I mean you don't seem happy there and I don't want you suffering anymore than you have been. I thought what I was doing was best for you, but I see now I shouldn't have pushed it. You're you, and my worries were stupid."
"It's okay mum," Jason smiled, finally on the same wavelength as Sandy, and more than ready to focus on repairing his relationship with her, properly this time. "But, I want to stay at Hampton."
"But you said-"
"I know what I said, but I do really like it there too," Jason said, successfully interrupting Joe. "I like the people and I really love Kelsey, and I don't want to leave them. And the school isn't a bad place, it's just different, but I think I've accustomed myself to it now. I'm halfway through my A-levels, and Hollyoaks High isn't under the same exam board, meaning I'd have to do my AS's all over again. I'm halfway through, I might as well go the whole way and finish them there."
"Only if you're sure," Sandy said, determined this time to do right by Jason and not force him into something he didn't want. Their relationship had almost been ruined last time, and Sandy wasn't going to risk that a second time, because they might not be able to fix it then.
"Yeah I am, but thanks for listening to me," Jason said, with his first genuine smile for the blonde in almost a year.
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"And you promise to come down in a few weeks time?" Sandy asked at the gates of Hampton Academy, as yet another new school started up.
"I promise Mum, I said I was going to visit a lot more this year, and I mean that," Jason replied, laughing slightly as he pulled Sandy into a tight hug. "I better sign myself in, the admin staff can get dead pissy otherwise."
"Okay, be good love," Sandy said, pulling out of the hug to allow Jason to grab his suitcase. As she watched him walking the short distance to the front entrance of the school, welcoming and talking to friends that he'd met last year, she couldn't help the swell of happiness the grew as she knew she had done right by her son, and that their close bond had survived one of it's hardest tests.
Hampton had been good for Jason, and in his first year he had really matured into a kind, and intelligent young adult, Sandy could only hope that his second year would be just as beneficial, though she had little doubt that it wouldn't.
Next Chapter – Sandy and Fraser have a baby, how do they and their family cope with the prospect of a new arrival – prompted by Jessica