Rachel sighed heavily as the bell rang out for lunch. She'd well and truly had enough. If she could, she would be lying down in a dark room, sleeping the afternoon away. The headache she had was only growing in intensity, stretching from the back of her skull, to her forehead. The end of the school day couldn't come fast enough.

It didn't help that she was having no luck with Bolton. He hadn't spoken a word since they had arrived in the cooler. Rachel was about ready to give up on him. She didn't have the time, energy or patience to battle with and try and make Bolton crack and tell her what was going on. Even if she did, she was sure she'd be wasting her time. Bolton wasn't going to tell anyone anything.

She smiled weakly at Tom as he entered the cooler. He'd been making his way to her office to try and talk her out of resigning.

He wasn't surprised when his eyes fell on Bolton, who was pacing up and down the room angrily. Bolton had stormed out of his class this morning to chase after Marley, Paul not far behind him. It had happened so fast that Tom hadn't been able to stop it. Whatever Bolton had done had obviously been bad enough to land him in the cooler.

He looked over at Rachel, who was sat at the main desk. She looked completely drained and done in. The weight of the world seemed to be resting on her shoulders.

"I can take over if you like?" he offered

"No, it's ok. I want to stay with him" she insisted

"What happened?" he asked, glancing at Bolton

Rachel sighed.

"He punched Marley in revenge for what Earl did to Maxine. There's something else going on too, but he won't tell me"

"Do you want me to have a word?" he offered

"You can try" Rachel shrugged

Tom turned to Bolton.

"So you don't think this school has already had its fill of violence then, Bolton?"

Bolton just shrugged as he rolled his eyes, continuing to pace up and down the cooler.

"Sit down!" Tom demanded

Bolton angrily pulled the chair out from under the desk, slamming himself down.

"Thanks, Tom" Rachel whispered

"Can I have a word, outside?" he requested

Rachel nodded, following him out into the corridor.

"I've been sort of co-opted..."

"Tom, really, there's no point" she told him firmly

"There is no one in that staffroom who wants you to go, including me" Tom insisted

Rachel shook her head. She could think of someone who was probably jumping for joy that she was going.

"Change frightens people, Tom. Two weeks with a new Head Teacher and you'll all move on" she shrugged

"We don't need a new Head. It isn't just the kids that have benefitted, it's all us lot as well" he reasoned

"That's because you're all good teachers. You don't need me for that"

"It should be me that goes, Rachel, not you. I mean, no one is saying it, but I'm Head of Pastoral Care. If anyone messed up with Earl Kelly, it was me"

Rachel shook her head again. There was nothing Tom could say that Eddie hadn't already said. No one could change her mind.

"I'm sorry, Tom. I'm not backing down on this. But thank you, I really appreciate it"

Tom nodded, heading back into the cooler.

"Miss?" Janeece whispered, appearing from behind Rachel

"Yes, Janeece?" Rachel answered, turning to her

"Can I talk to you? It won't take a minute" she requested

"Of course" Rachel nodded

"Is Bolton ok?"

"No, he's not, he's in big trouble" Rachel told her

Janeece sighed.

"It's not all his fault, Miss. He's been, like..."

Rachel frowned as Janeece paused.

"Like what?" she questioned

"Off..." Janeece replied

Rachel frowned, encouraging Janeece to elaborate.

"Maxine was my mate, but he's took it harder. I don't know why" she continued

Rachel nodded sympathetically.

"We're sorting it, Janeece, don't worry" she reassured

Janeece nodded, turning away.

Rachel sighed. She thought about going back into the cooler and trying to get something out of Bolton, but, if she was honest, she was furious with him. She needed to calm down before she talked to him, and he needed to calm down too. She just wanted to know what was making him act like this. Of course she believed Janeece when she said he had taken the news of Maxine's death harder than others. Bolton wasn't as tough and cold-hearted as he let on. But there was more to it than just grief. He was keeping something from everyone, she could see the weight of it pressing on him, and it was pulling him down.

She knew that Bolton and Earl had history. That had been made clear after their fight, which had landed them both in Rachel's office. Rachel had seen for herself how intimidated Bolton was by Earl's presence. But again, there was more to it than just bullying. Something else had happened between them, she could feel it. Rachel didn't know how to get the truth out of him, especially if he didn't want to tell her. But it was clear he needed help.

Instead of going back to her office to clear her head, Rachel found herself wandering over to Eddie's classroom. She had sent him off to try and find the culprit who had photo-shopped the pictures of Jasmine. She wanted to know if he had made any progress. And there was also the fact that she didn't want to sit in her office alone. She was determined to let Eddie back in again, she needed to. The fact that she was heading over to his classroom as she was craving his presence was a good sign.

She didn't miss the look of surprise on Eddie's face when she walked into the room.

"Hey" he said

"Hey" she replied, leaning her back against the door

"What's the situation with Bolton?" he asked

"He won't talk to me. I've left him with Tom for a bit" she sighed, sitting on one of the desks

"He'll calm down, Rach" Eddie reassured

"I know... I just- I don't know what to do. I spoke to Janeece, she said he's taking Maxine's death harder than anyone else is, but she doesn't know why. There's no doubt in my mind that his actions were partially triggered by grief. But he's keeping something from us. I know that none of it is an excuse for what he did to Marley. But I can see the way that whatever it is, is eating at him. But I don't think he's going to tell me"

"Have you spoken to Rob? He works with him one to one for boxing, he might know something" Eddie suggested

"No, I didn't think of that. I'll go there next" she decided

"Do you want me to come? I've got a free next period" he offered

"No, I'll sort it" she insisted

"Maybe talk to Paul too. He knows more than he's letting on" Eddie added

Rachel nodded.

"How's it going with the photos of Jasmine?" she asked

"Nothing yet" he replied

"Let me know if you find anything"

Eddie nodded, watching her walk away.

...

With only ten minutes left of lunch, Matt left the staffroom, heading in the direction of Steph's classroom. He figured he had given her enough time to cool off after her outburst. He had thought about giving her some space and talking to her at the end of the day. But he was worried about her and so he needed to talk to her now.

When he knocked on the door, Steph greeted him with a glare and an eye roll. She evidently wanted to be left alone, but Matt wasn't going to allow it.

He stepped into the classroom, sitting on the desk opposite hers.

"What do you want, Matt?" she asked, looking up from the book she was marking

"I'm worried about you" Matt shrugged

Steph rolled her eyes, her attention returning to her marking.

"Worried about the booze, or the foul temper?" she questioned

"All of it... Steph, this isn't you"

"So, what? You've come here to tell me how 'real Steph' would behave, have you?" she huffed

"No, of course not," Matt sighed

"So, tell me, how am I supposed to 'behave', Matt? How am I supposed to be to make everyone else happy? Eh?"

Matt stared at her, not knowing what to say. He knew she was hurting and that she was angry. He desperately wanted to help. But he didn't know how. It was clear that she was bottling everything up, and Matt was worried about her exploding one of these days. In the week that had gone by since Maxine's death, Steph hadn't said a word about what had happened. Matt had given her the opportunity to talk about it countless times, but she hadn't. She was keeping everything inside, and it was causing her to act and react like this. He wanted her to know that she wasn't alone, even if she thought she was.

"Well, come on, if you're such an expert!" she snapped, her voice cracking with emotion

Matt sighed.

"I just want you to know... you know where I am, ok?"

Steph nodded, biting back tears.