At 7:30AM, they left the house and drove to school in Eddie's car. Rachel tried to push the events of yesterday to the back of her mind as they pulled into the car park.
Eddie noticed she was nervous. He took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She smiled weakly, her nerves easing a little.
"You can do this" he told her
Rachel nodded, hoping he was right
As they walked through the car park, they spotted Candice and Bolton unloading their car with food supplies for the kitchen. Candice saw them and waved. Eddie and Rachel laughed, waving back as they walked over.
"Morning Miss Mason, Mr Lawson" she said cheerily
"Morning Candice, Bolton" Eddie answered
Bolton nodded at them politely, not saying a word. Rachel suddenly remembered the petition he had spent hours making for her. She owed him a thank you.
"Bolton? Can you come up to my office after registration please? I'd like a word" she requested
To her surprise, Bolton started to panic, his eyes widening in fear. For whatever reason, he thought he was in trouble.
"Don't panic Bolton, you're not in trouble!" she reassured him with a small laugh
"He'd better not be, Miss Mason! I've told him if he causes anymore trouble he'll be grounded for a lifetime. You know better than to get in trouble, don't you son?" Candice interrupted
Bolton nodded shyly, smiling weakly at Miss Mason.
"Don't worry, Miss. I'll be there" he mumbled
Rachel nodded
She observed Bolton carefully for a few minutes, unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong. He wasn't his normal, chatty and energetic self. He seemed shifty, quiet and on edge. Rachel had never seen him act like this. Of course she could be seeing things, or maybe she was reading too much into it. Teenagers had the incredible ability to swing from one emotion to the next in seconds. She hoped he would tell her if something was on his mind when she spoke to him during first period.
Eddie and Rachel said goodbye to Candice, heading up to the staffroom.
After last night, Rachel was nervous to face her colleagues. But with Eddie's hand resting in hers, she felt stronger. They would face this together.
Eddie went in first, Rachel following closely behind him. The chatter in the room quickly died out, all eyes turning to them. Had it not been for Eddie having a tight grip on her hand, she would have shot back out the door.
She cleared her throat nervously
"Good morning all. I hope you'll join Eddie and me in treating today as a fresh start. I know yesterday was frightening for everyone, but we can learn from this. I'll be emailing the LEA today to see what security measures we can have put in place to prevent anything like this from happening again. As soon as I hear back, I'll let you know"
The staff seemed to trust Rachel's words and felt reassured by them, which was a relief.
"As you know, Marley, Earl and Sambuca Kelly will be returning to Waterloo Road today. We expect everyone to welcome them and treat them fairly. They deserve a chance here" Eddie continued
The staff remained silent, still not keen on the idea of welcoming the Kelly's again.
"Have a good day" he added
The staff returned to their own conversations. Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. She had been dreading this.
"You did great" Eddie reassured, rubbing her arm comfortingly
Rachel smiled at him
"I'm just glad they're all on board" she sighed
At that moment, Matt strode over to them, a sheepish Grantly behind him. Rachel and Eddie looked at them expectantly.
Matt cleared his throat, glancing at Rachel awkwardly.
"Grantly has something he wants to say, Rachel" he announced, pulling a retreating Grantly forwards
Rachel raised an eyebrow at him, nervous to hear what he had to say after last night at the pub.
"I would like to sincerely apologise for my behaviour last night, Miss Mason. I'm afraid I wasn't quite myself. It won't happen again" he mumbled
"I appreciate that, thank you Grantly. We won't say anymore about it" she nodded with a smile
Grantly nodded, turning away.
Eddie scoffed
"Do you think he meant that? Or was he just trying to avoid getting sacked?" He chuckled
Rachel shrugged
"There's no harm giving him the benefit of the doubt"
The bell rang for the start of registration. Eddie and Rachel departed from the staff room.
Once Rachel was settled into her office, Eddie went to photocopy and sign off some paperwork for her whilst she made a start on the email to the LEA about security measures. Pain continued to shoot through her wrist as she typed, sharp and distracting. She was glad she was going to the hospital later on today to get it looked at.
Before she knew it, the bell rang out again for the start of the first lesson.
Minutes after it had gone off, Bolton was stood in the doorway, tapping on the door. Rachel smiled at him reassuringly, gesturing for him to come in. He took a seat across from her, staring at the floor.
"Miss, are you sure I'm not in trouble?" He checked
"No Bolton, you're not. Unless there's something you think you've done?"
Bolton shook his head, slouching further into the chair.
"So, how are you finding Year 12 so far?" I know it's a big jump from GCSE's" she asked
"Fine, Miss" Bolton mumbled, refusing to look her in the eye
Rachel sighed. Every instinct in her was screaming at her that something was wrong with Bolton. It wasn't like him to answer her questions with one or two worded answers, or to not be able to look her in the eye.
"Bolton, is everything ok?" She asked gently
Bolton looked up at her when she said that. Nothing was ok; he desperately wanted to tell her that. But how could he? He couldn't tell her about Earl and the gun, or how he and Paul had been taunted and threatened by it in the boy's changing rooms yesterday. He couldn't tell her how Earl had, had them on their knees, staring down the barrel of the gun in his hand. She wouldn't believe him anyway, it was too ridiculous to be true. What did it matter anyway? The gun had been taken by the Police. Of course, Denzil had been arrested for it instead of Earl, but what was more important? Getting rid of Earl, or getting rid of what made Earl so dangerous?
"I'm fine, Miss" he nodded
Rachel took the hint to drop the subject and not push it any further. If there was something wrong, he'd tell her when he was ready.
"Alright, well, I'll get straight to the point. I just wanted to say thank you Bolton, for the petition, I really appreciate it" she explained
Bolton smiled a little at that
"It was nothing; Miss. Everyone wanted you to come back. We need more Teachers' like you at Waterloo Road. You're the best Head Teacher this school has ever had"
Rachel smiled, touched by his words.
"Can I ask you a question, Miss?"
"Of course" Rachel nodded
"What happened to Stuart Hordley?" He asked nervously
Just the mention of his name made her skin crawl. Bolton didn't know what Stuart had done to her of course, other than the blackmail. But as a victim of Stuart in a different way, Bolton had a right to know and ask about his fate.
"Well, as far as I know, he lost all his contracts and is in prison for blackmail" she told him
And rape.
Bolton seemed relieved at that.
"Good. He was scum, Miss. I'm sorry he humiliated you in front of the whole school. You didn't deserve it. He shouldn't have used your past against you like that"
Rachel nodded quietly
"The important thing is, he's gone now. He won't be hurting anyone else ever again, Bolton"
"If I ever see him again, I'll punch him" he threatened angrily
"You'll do no such thing, Bolton. You do that, and you are stooping to his level. I want you to stay out of trouble. Do you understand me?" She replied sternly
"I'm already in trouble, Miss" he mumbled with a shrug
Rachel frowned at him, wondering what he meant by that.
"What are you talking about?" She questioned
Bolton had suddenly realised what he'd said and started to shift anxiously in his chair.
"Nothing, Miss. It was a stupid thing to say" he muttered
Rachel sighed, her concern only increasing
"Bolton, are you sure there's nothing wrong? You can talk to me you know? It's what I'm here for"
"Yeah, Miss, I'm fine, man. Just a bit tired innit?" He scoffed, brushing her off
Rachel nodded, not wanting to push him further on the subject.
"Too many late nights over half term, hmm?" She questioned
"Yeah, something like that" he shrugged
Bolton stood up, picking up his bag
"I'll see you later, Miss"
Rachel nodded, letting out a heavy sigh as he left the office.