The bell rang for registration. Bolton and Paul entered Mr Wilding's classroom.
As Mr Wilding called out the various names on the register, he looked around for his newest pupil, Philip Ryan. There was no sign of him. He frowned. He'd been told he was going to be here today.
"Has anyone seen Philip Ryan? He's a new lad" he asked the class
Paul and Bolton sniggered
"I think he's a bit tied up, sir!"
Matt crossed his arms, staring at Bolton
"Bolton, I can see you're dying to tell me what it is you and the rest of the class know that I don't"
Bolton snorted, messing around with the props and costumes.
"He had to answer a call of nature" Bolton smirked
"How is he going to do his flies up?" Paul joined in
Bolton and Paul burst into a fit of laughter.
Mr Wilding sighed, heading to the boy's toilets.
There was one occupied toilet cubicle when he arrived, allowing him to narrow down Philip's whereabouts. He knocked gently on the cubicle door.
"Philip? Are you in there?" He called
No answer
He thought about turning away. But something about what Bolton and Paul had said, about the way they were acting, didn't sit right with him. So he knocked again.
"Philip? It's Mr Wilding. I'm your form tutor. There's no one in here, just me"
"I can't come out" Philip mumbled
"Why not? What's the matter? Are you locked in?" Mr Wilding questioned
He pushed the door open, finding an embarrassed Philip tied to the toilet, dressed in boxing gear.
He sighed, helping to untie him.
"Come on, let's go to class, we'll sort this out"
They walked back toward the classroom, Philip walking behind Mr Wilding. Bolton and Paul's laughter echoed down the corridor. Mr Wilding was furious with both of them for their childish behaviour. He didn't stand for bullying, and knew Miss Mason and Mr Lawson wouldn't either.
The laughter died the second Mr Wilding and Philip walked into the classroom. Paul and Bolton were smirking.
"Paul, Bolton, with me, now!" Mr Wilding ordered
The two boys followed Mr Wilding out of the classroom and up the stairs to the cooler. Neither of them showed any remorse for their actions. After all, it was only a joke, right?
Eddie was sat at the front desk of the cooler when Matt Wilding entered. He sighed painfully at the sight of Bolton. Hadn't he caused enough trouble for Rachel recently?
"Langley there, Smilie over there" Eddie instructed, pointing at two tables on opposite sides of the room
As they slumped into their chairs, Matt put the boxing gear on Eddie's desk. Eddie frowned at him. Matt gave him no explanation as he walked out of the cooler and back over to Philip, who was waiting outside, staring blankly out the window.
"Come on" Mr Wilding said, ushering Philip down the corridor
"Sir? Will Miss Mason find out about this?" Philip asked as they walked along
"I'm sure she will. She's your legal guardian now after all. And as Head Teacher, she's zero tolerant on bullying"
Philip sighed
"Can't we just forget about it?" He asked
"We can, but Mr Lawson will probably tell her. And it's my job to report any bullying incidents" Mr Wilding explained
Philip groaned. He didn't want Rachel to find out he'd been bullied on his first day. She already had enough to deal with.
Mr Wilding sighed
"Listen, I know it's hard standing up to bullies, but,"
"What's going to happen to them?" Philip asked
"Well, if it was up to me, I'd exclude them for a week"
"Oh, great! So when they come back it'll be ten times worse!!" Philip huffed, rolling his eyes
Mr Wilding sighed. Of course Philip was right, excluding pupils didn't really fix bullying, often it made it worse. But what other option did they have?
"Come on, let's go and see Miss Mason now, ok?" Mr Wilding suggested
"No, no, no! I can't! Please, sir, I'm embarrassed enough as it is!" Philip pleaded
"Philip, she's going to find out anyway! She may as well find out now!" Mr Wilding reasoned
Philip shook his head
"Look, all we have to do is tell her what happened. She'll deal with the rest, ok?"
Philip nodded hesitantly, following Mr Wilding down the corridor to his Aunt's office.
...
Meanwhile, in the cooler, Eddie was dealing with Paul and Bolton.
They'd finally told him the truth. Angry was an understatement of how he felt, mainly for Rachel because she was the one who had to deal with this. Eddie Lawson didn't and wouldn't stand for bullying, especially when it came to Philip.
"It were just a bit of a laugh, sir" Paul shrugged
"Hilarious" Eddie responded sarcastically
He shook his head in disbelief
"When Miss Mason gets hold of you two..."
At that exact moment, Rachel walked in, looking furious. She shot Bolton and Paul an angry glare.
"What the hell do you two think you two think you were doing? Hmm?" She spat, glancing at the two boys
Both Paul and Bolton stared at the floor, too scared to meet her gaze.
"Philip was having a hard enough day being new here as it is. Tying him up to a toilet and leaving him there is not going to help!" She snapped
Bolton snorted. Rachel shot him a stern glare. She couldn't believe him. She'd had enough of his behaviour.
"Is this funny to you, Bolton?" Rachel questioned
Bolton's eyes returned to the floor.
"No, Miss" he mumbled
"I should hope not! Haven't I bailed you out of trouble enough recently?" She huffed, pacing up and down the cooler
Bolton glared at her
"No one asked you to, man!" He snapped, slamming his chair into the table behind him as he stood up
"Oi!" Eddie scolded
Rachel put a hand up to silence him.
"Yes, well, next time, I won't, Bolton. I gave you a very simple task to look out for Philip today. I trusted you and you couldn't even do that!" She huffed
Paul and Bolton looked away; the guilt was starting to creep in.
"You're both in after school detention for the next two weeks. And you'll apologise to Philip" she told them
Bolton groaned
"Miss you can't, man! I've got boxing after school!" He whined
"I don't care! You should have thought about that before! You'll have to make alternative arrangements with Mr Cleaver" Rachel retorted
Bolton scoffed, rolling his eyes
"Whatever, man" he mumbled, throwing himself back into his chair
Rachel sighed, storming out of the cooler and back to her office where Philip was waiting for her.
"Are you alright?" She asked, sitting down beside him
"I'm fine" he nodded
"Are you sure you're not hurt?" She checked
Philip nodded. But it wasn't enough confirmation for Rachel.
"You're absolutely sure? I can call the nurse up to the office to check you over?" She offered
Philip rolled his eyes
"I'M FINE!"
She flinched at the raised volume of his voice.
"Look, I'm sorry, Rachel, but will you please stop fussing? All due respect, but I've been through this before. I'm used to it" he sighed
"I know you are, Philip, but you shouldn't have to be! And you're not going to go through it here. We'll stop it before it starts" she promised
Philip rolled his eyes. He didn't want the special treatment.
"Can I go?" He asked
Rachel nodded, sighing as he walked away.
She stood up, sinking into her office chair. It was only Philip's first day and she'd already let him down by putting him in the care of two bullies. She should have known better than to have trusted Paul and Bolton.
Eddie stood in the doorway, watching her internally beat herself up. He sighed. This wasn't her fault.
He walked over to her slowly, placing his hands gently on her shoulders. She looked up at him, smiling weakly.
"Alright?" He asked, kissing her forehead gently
"Fine" Rachel nodded, busying herself with paperwork
"What happened with Philip wasn't your fault, Rach. You know that, right?"
She sighed
"Eddie, can we talk about this at lunch? I've got all this paperwork to get through" she responded, a little more harshly than she'd meant to
"Ok. I'll see you later" he nodded
He kissed her cheek softly, leaving the office and closing the door behind him.
Rachel immediately felt guilty for snapping at him. He'd only been trying to make her feel better. She'd apologise later. The pile of paperwork was only getting bigger and needed her attention. And she needed something, anything, to take her mind off tonight's meeting with DI Wolfe about Stuart Hordley.