The next morning, Bolton was, once again, in school bright and early. He wanted to avoid any confrontation with Earl at all costs. So he had gotten up earlier to get a lift in with his Mum. Candice would normally have questioned it, but after how he'd behaved yesterday, she wanted to keep an eye on him.

"Now, you listen to me, lad. I don't want to hear anything from your teachers today, Bolton. Do you understand me? Stay out of trouble!" She warned him as she unpacked the car

"Yeah, Mum. I will" he mumbled

"You're lucky you only got lunchtime detentions. If it were me who'd caught you punching a locker, you'd have had a lot worse!" Candice rambled

Bolton nodded quietly

"I'm embarrassed, Bolton, I really am! How many times have I told you about treating other people's property as you would your own, eh?" She continued

"Only a million times" Bolton said to himself

"And after everything Miss Mason has done for you, this is how you repay her? That woman stopped you getting excluded, Bolton! You owe her an apology, and you'll do it today!" Candice ranted

Bolton was fed up, he'd heard all of this last night.

"Just shut up Mum, yeah? I get it, you're annoyed with me! I'll apologise to Miss Mason, but just get off my back yeah?"

He stormed off into the school, heading straight for Miss Mason's office. He had seen her come in with Mr Lawson earlier.

Whilst he was still agitated, he knew owed Miss Mason an apology.

Today was going to be a new start. He was going to keep away from Earl as much as he could, and he planned to find Paul and apologise. This wasn't Paul's fault. When he put the gun note under Miss Mason's door, he was doing what he'd thought was right. Anyone else would have done the same. Paul was just as frightened and anxious as Bolton was. Falling out wouldn't fix anything.

When he approached Miss Mason's office, he knocked cautiously on the door.

"Come in" he heard her shout from the other side of the door

Bolton turned the door handle. He stared nervously at Mr Lawson and Miss Mason, who were sat on the sofa in the corner of the room. Both looked surprised to see him stood there.

Miss Mason was the first to greet him, giving him a warm and reassuring smile.

"Bolton, come in"

He did as he was told, stepping into the office. Mr Lawson made his excuses and promptly left the office, closing the door behind him.

"Sit down, Bolton" Rachel instructed, tapping the sofa opposite her

He sat down, growing more nervous by the second.

"How's your hand?" She asked

"Fine, Miss" he mumbled

"Good. And how are you feeling? I hope you've had a bit of time to cool down"

Bolton nodded

"I'm sorry about my behaviour yesterday, Miss" he said

Rachel smiled gratefully

"Are you going to tell me what it was about?" She questioned gently

Bolton shook his head

"Alright, well, you know where I am if you change your mind, ok?" She reminded him

He nodded as the bell rang out for registration.

"Go on, go and join your friends and have a good day, alright?" She told him

"And don't forget your lunchtime detention" she added

"Thanks, Miss" he nodded

He walked away, more determined than ever to stay out of trouble today.

Rachel watched Bolton go, feeling a little perplexed by the sudden change in his mood. Maybe Eddie had been right about it being hormones. As much as she wanted to believe that, she didn't.

Whilst she appreciated Bolton's apology, something seemed to be eating away at him. It wasn't just a niggling gut feeling anymore, she had seen it on his face just now. All she could do was watch and wait. She wanted to help Bolton with whatever was troubling him. She hoped he would see that and would come and talk to her.

This morning, she had made plans to talk to Earl about yesterday's incident with Bolton. From what Eddie had told her, he had done it deliberately. She wanted to try and nip his violent behaviour in the bud as quickly as possible to give him his best shot at Waterloo Road.

She had asked Eddie to be with her whilst she spoke to him. He had seen the incident take place with his own eyes.

And also, something about Earl made her feel on edge. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was, but either way, she felt having Eddie in the room would help.

It seemed this week was going to get better after all. Bolton was in a better mood, Rachel's wrist was on the right path to heal now, the staff had calmed down about the Kelly Family coming back to Waterloo Road, and the LEA had responded to her email, agreeing to provide the requested safety measures. Soon, there would be security guards on the main doors of the school, as well as metal detectors. They would be installed within the next week.

Rachel felt a little relieved. She couldn't help it. She was finally regaining some control. Things were heading in the right direction.

Until...

Thirty minutes later, Rachel jumped as Flick Mellor crashed through her office door, a panicked expression on her face.

"M-Miss! There's a fight!" She stammered breathlessly

Rachel leapt into action, following Flick down the corridor.

She pushed through the endless sea of students, who were chanting "FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!" and into the centre of the action.

Her heart sank when she saw the two culprits.

Earl and Bolton.

They were locked head to head, punching and kicking at each other angrily.

"STOP IT!" Rachel screamed, trying to pull them apart

It was at that moment that Tom joined the scene, followed by Eddie.

Tom rugby tackled Earl to the floor, dodging his thrashes and punches. Eddie grabbed a hold of Bolton, holding him back firmly.

"You're gonna regret doing that, mate!" Earl snared at Bolton, wiping the blood off his bottom lip

"Do your worst, man! I ain't scared of you! You're scum!" Bolton spat, desperately trying to shake Eddie off so he could swing another punch at Earl

"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Rachel yelled, silencing the chanting crowd

She turned to them

"Don't you all have classes to go to?"

The students dispersed, talking between themselves, leaving the corridors empty and quiet.

Rachel turned back to the two boys. Bolton was shaking with anger. Earl was seething; she could see the fury dancing in his black eyes. No one was as furious as she was though.

"Get to my office. Now" she ordered through clenched teeth

Earl rolled his eyes with a smirk as Tom led him away. Eddie followed behind them with Bolton.

Rachel sighed.

Just when she thought this was over...