Over at Tom's house, he and Steph had met up with the Estate Agent. Tom escorted him to the front door and let him inside.
Meanwhile, Steph had gone next door to the Kelly's house. She knocked on the door. When it opened, a younger woman with fiery red hair was staring back at her.
"Are you from the Social?" Rose asked, analysing Steph carefully
"No, I'm Steph Haydock. I teach at Waterloo Road. I'm Maxine's guardian. Can I come in?"
Rose raised an eyebrow.
"Have you go ID?" she asked
"Erm... will a bank card do?" Steph replied, pulling out her purse
Rose smirked
"It was a joke, I know who you are. You're still not coming in"
Steph rolled her eyes
"Then I'll get straight to the point. Maxine is leading me a merry dance at the minute,"
"Yeah, she's quite a character! Took a boot to the wall to shut her and Earl up last night!" Rose giggled
Steph sighed. She had a feeling she wasn't going to get anywhere with Rose Kelly.
"Listen, if you're here to have a go at me for letting them sleep together, you're wasting your time" Rose added
"Look, I'm appealing to you as a Mother. They've been caught... in the toilets together at school" Steph huffed
Rose chuckled
"Oh come on, don't tell me you've never had your arse up against a bog door?!"
Steph scoffed. This was definitely a waste of time.
"Do you know...? I'm sorry; I thought that we could have a reasonable conversation"
Rose went to slam the door in her face. Steph put her hand in the way, forcing it back open.
"Oh, and by the way, Tom's thinking of selling. I might have been interested, but now I know he's living next door to the town dump, I won't bother!"
Rose rolled her eyes dramatically, slamming the door in Steph's face.
...
Back in the house, Tom was showing the Estate Agent, Chris, around.
"How long have you lived here?" Chris asked, looking around the master bedroom
"Two years. Well, I don't actually own it; it was my ex-girlfriend's house. It's now owned by her two girls. I'm just living here with my new partner" Tom explained
Chris nodded
"Good neighbours?"
Tom paused
"Yeah, they're ok. You know, they've got kids, but..."
"We've had quite a few clients in this street in the last month. They're not selling" Chris informed him
He peered out of the window, looking at the Kelly's trashed front garden.
"That will put any buyer off!"
Tom sighed.
"So, what kind of price are we looking at?" he asked
"Six months ago, I'd have said you'd be looking at 200 grand. Now, you're going to have to compete with the rest of the street" Chris shrugged
At that, moment, Steph walked in.
"Well, now I know why you call her the 'Neighbour from hell'!" she shouted to Tom from downstairs
Chris looked at Tom, perplexed. Tom sighed, glaring at Steph from where he was stood on the landing.
"What?" she frowned
...
Back at the school, Davina was still in the staffroom. She was supposed to be sitting in on Eddie's class, but she needed some time to gather her thoughts.
She couldn't believe this was happening. She'd done nothing wrong! All she'd done was stand up for what was right, and it had landed her in trouble. How was that fair? How could Rachel and Eddie believe Maaka over her?
Jasmine approached her slowly. She knew exactly what Davina was going through, after being wrongly accused last year for hitting Michaela White. She knew Davina was innocent, and was willing to support her all the way. After all, Davina had done the same for her last year.
"Let me guess, Mr Lacey?"
Davina nodded, smiling weakly at Jasmine.
"All I need is one more accusation against me and I will be looking for a new job" she sighed
"No way! That won't happen!" Jasmine insisted
Davina shook her head. It was going to happen whether she liked it or not. It was how it worked in this school, and pretty much everywhere else.
"There's no coming back once you've been branded a racist"
"It's not going to come to that!" Jasmine protested
...
In Maaka's class, the students were chatting amongst themselves.
Earl Kelly was bored. There was no point being in this lesson! Mr Lacey looked as bored as he felt!
"Can't we do something else, sir? This is really boring me! I might as well go home!" Earl grumbled
Maaka walked into the centre of the room, clearing his throat.
"Ok, everyone. Who can tell me the capital of New Zealand?" he asked
Earl rolled his eyes, putting his earphones in and blasting the music on his MP3 player.
Maaka sighed.
"Earl!"
When Earl ignored him completely, he walked over to him.
"Earl!" He repeated, instructing him to remove his earphones
Earl took them out, rolling his eyes. Maaka didn't want this kid in his class. And he had the perfect way to get rid of him for a bit.
"Do me a favour, nip to the library and get me a book on... 20th Century European History" he requested
Earl raised an eyebrow
"Me?" he checked
Maaka nodded
"Yes... take your time" Maaka nodded
Earl stood up, happy to get out of the lesson.
"Something with lots of facts!" Maaka added
Earl strode out of the classroom, music blasting in his ears.
Maaka smirked, looking at his phone whilst the class chattered away.
...
Davina walked along the corridor. She couldn't help but that notice Michaela White and her friends were staring at her, smirking. She smiled at them politely as she passed.
"Miss?" Michaela shouted after her
Davina turned around
"Yes, Michaela?" she answered
"Everyone's been saying you've been rude to that New Zealand teacher"
"What are you on about?" she frowned
"You know, being dead racist and that" Michaela shrugged, swinging her bag onto her shoulder
Davina sighed.
"And who's been saying this?"
Michaela shrugged sarcastically
"Don't know. I think it's dead tight though"
Davina turned away, sighing deeply.
"If she was racist to me, I'd have her sacked... cow" Michaela mumbled to her friends
Davina carried on walking, ignoring her.
...
As Earl walked along the corridor, he spotted Mr Clarkson in his office. He smirked. It was time he paid him a visit.
He waltzed into the office.
"You think you're so much better than me and my family, don't you?" he snarled
Tom looked up to find Earl glaring at him.
"Why are you not in class?" he questioned
Earl grinned
"And this from a guy who moves some blonde slapper in, just a couple of months after his girlfriend gets sliced!" he taunted
Tom stood up angrily, glaring at Earl as he smirked.
"Oh yeah, I've had all the juicy gossip. I wouldn't mind a piece of that Davina myself"
Tom took a step further towards him, anger coursing through him. He wanted to punch the smug grin off of Earl's face.
"Dying to have a pop at me, aren't you?" Earl teased
Tom stood still, desperately trying to keep his anger under control. Earl was deliberately provoking him; he wanted him to lash out. He couldn't let him win.
"Is it true about Davina? She likes them young?" Earl asked innocently
That was the final straw. Tom lunged for him, slamming him against the wall. Earl was laughing. This was exactly what he wanted. Tom Clarkson was so easy to wind up.
Tom let go of him, walking away. Earl wasn't going to get to him.
"You see? You're just like me!"
"Get out!" Tom ordered through gritted teeth
"Oh don't worry, Tom. This'll stay between us..." Earl taunted
"I said, GET OUT!" Tom demanded
"Don't you think things are so much better when they're out in the open?" Earl questioned
Tom huffed as Earl grinned, walking away. He couldn't do this anymore. He thought he could handle Earl Kelly. But, given what had just happened, he wasn't sure anymore. Maybe Rachel was right, maybe his personal feelings were clouding his judgment at work. Maybe he wasn't destined to be Head of Pastoral Care.
...
Davina strolled along the corridor, Michaela's words going round and round in her mind, playing on a loop.
The whole school knew, even though it was all lies. Even if Maaka's complaint didn't go far, she was leaving anyway. How could she stay here after this?
She paused when she reached Maaka's classroom. Her eyes fell on Karla immediately. She was rocking backwards and forwards in her seat, trembling from head to foot. Maaka was ignoring her as he talked to two of the boys in the class, telling them yet another story from his personal life. His voice was so loud, Davina could hear every word.
She watched in disbelief as two girls snuck out of the lesson. Maaka hadn't even noticed. Some teacher he was! How were Rachel and Eddie ignoring this?
She'd had enough. She marched into the classroom next door, where Eddie was teaching.
"The kids in Maaka's class are sneaking out" she explained
Eddie groaned, turning to his own class.
"Carry on with this, I'll be ten minutes" he instructed them, following Davina out
Within five minutes, they'd managed to locate the escapee students. They were leading them back to the classroom, when they bumped into Earl Kelly.
"What are you doing out of class, lad?" Eddie asked angrily
"That new teacher let me out to go to the library" Earl shrugged
"Oh, did he now? The library is that way" Eddie huffed, pointing in the direction Earl had just came from
"Ah, so it is" Earl mumbled sarcastically
"Follow me" Eddie instructed firmly
He led them all back upstairs, escorting them into Maaka's classroom.
"I found this lot wandering around the corridors" Eddie explained
Maaka rolled his eyes
"Can I have a word... outside?" Eddie asked
As the students chattered amongst themselves, Maaka followed Eddie outside, a bored expression on his face.
"That lad, Earl Kelly? We specifically told you not to let him out of your sight!" Eddie told him furiously, pointing at Earl through the classroom door
"Yes, sure. That's him?" Maaka nodded, briefly glancing at where Eddie was pointing
"Why did you choose him to go to the library?" Eddie questioned, folding his arms across his chest
"Luck of the draw I guess, Eddie" Maaka shrugged
Eddie glared at him. He didn't like his attitude.
"And the others?" he enquired
"I like to give my students a bit of freedom" Maaka explained
"Ok... well we've got a bit of a Health and Safety issue here, haven't we, Maaka?" Eddie retorted
"Point taken, Eddie. I'll lasso them to their chairs! No worries" Maaka smirked, going back into the classroom
Eddie sighed. He was starting to wonder if Davina had been right.