Once Rose was settled in the kitchen, Rachel headed over to the hall, standing next to Eddie. She watched as the students filed in, putting their testing permission slips into the box before taking their seats. Rachel was all for this event, but she couldn't lie, when the LEA had sent out letters to parents to ask their permission for their child to be tested for drugs, she felt they'd stepped over the line. It sent out completely the wrong message. But what could she do?
"I don't think this testing is a good idea" she whispered to Eddie
"It's just a trial, Rach. It's not like we're labelling the kids a bunch of dope heads" he reassured
Rachel nodded quietly. She couldn't really believe he agreed with this side of the day.
Once everyone was seated, Rachel walked up to the front to the start speaking.
"Morning everyone. In case you haven't already noticed, today we're beginning our Drugs Awareness Campaign. Detective Inspector Ralph Mellor, Chair of The Board of Governors, is here to take us through the nuts and bolts"
The students stared at her sceptically.
"I want you all to remember, this is a drugs test trial. It is not a witch hunt. All we want is to make sure that everyone in the school, including staff, are drugs aware" she continued
Her words were met with silence, as she'd expected. Rachel turned to Ralph, nodding at him to takeover. She sat down next to Eddie with a sigh.
"Yeah, on that last point... yes, it's a trial. But, I hope anyone testing positive will use a Drugs Education class, because taking Cannabis is a criminal offence. We want to stop young people from turning to a life of crime" Ralph bellowed
Rachel rolled her eyes. She felt Ralph was being a little over dramatic with all of this. Why did the LEA have to send him of all people?
"Now, the only people having fun with drugs- are drug dealers. They will take your money, and sell you what could be your final hit" he continued
He blew a whistle. Rachel frowned, turning her head over to the door. Another Policeman came in, with a Police dog in tow. The students whispered to one another excitedly.
"Aw!" they all squealed
"This is Gonzo" Ralph introduced
"Gonzo is a sniffer dog. His bark is admissible evidence in court" he continued
Rachel scoffed. Why bring a sniffer dog into school if this was a trial? The students could easily do research on the purpose of sniffer dogs, they didn't need a demonstration! And besides, none of them would dare bring drugs into school!
"What the hell?" she whispered
Eddie put his hand on Rachel's leg in an attempt to calm her down. She shook it off angrily.
"Off you go, Gonzo" Ralph instructed
Gonzo wandered around the hall, weaving in and out of the aisles. The students and staff watched. Rachel sighed, placing her head in her hands in despair.
Suddenly, Gonzo stopped. He sat in front of Tom Clarkson, barking madly. Everyone turned around.
"He seems to have found something" Ralph said, walking over to Tom
"Oh, come on!" Rachel scoffed, watching Ralph
"Can you turn out your pockets, please?" Ralph requested, looking Tom up and down
"You what?" Tom frowned
"Can you turn your pockets out? Now" Ralph demanded
Tom sighed, standing up and turning out his pockets. Rachel's jaw dropped when she saw him hand over a small packet of powder. She looked to Eddie, who was just as surprised.
Ralph took the small packet off Tom, shaking his head in disbelief.
"And you, a teacher!" he sighed
"Somebody must have planted it on me!" Tom shrugged
"Yeah, how many times do you think I've heard that one, pal?" Ralph scoffed, guiding Tom out of his seat
Rachel could hear the Reporter's camera clicking away. She could see the flash glinting out of the corner of her eye. It was giving her a headache. The Newspaper's would have a field day with this if she wasn't careful.
She turned to the photographer angrily.
"Excuse me? Could you stop taking those photographs, please?" she huffed
The Reporter rolled his eyes, lowering his camera just a little.
"You're coming down to the station with me" Ralph announced to Tom
Rachel turned to Eddie.
"I don't believe this" he whispered
"It isn't mine!" Tom insisted
"Listen, lying only gets you in deeper. How long do you want to spend behind bars, eh?" Ralph reasoned
Tom sighed
"It isn't mine!" he repeated
Rachel watched as Ralph smiled, patting Tom on the arm.
"Thank you, Mr Clarkson"
Rachel was the last to catch on that this was a prank. And when she did, she rolled her eyes. What was the point in that?! At least everyone else thought it was funny, Eddie included.
"Now, obviously this was planted for demonstration purposes only. It will be going straight back to the Police stores" Ralph explained, holding up the small packet of powder
Earl, who was sat near the back of the hall, decided to put his plan into action. He cleared his throat, tapping Mr Budgen on the shoulder.
"Sir? Is that your tenner on the floor?" he asked innocently
Grantly leaned over without even thinking
"Yes, yes... thank you, Kelly" he replied, reaching for the imaginary money
Gonzo suddenly started to bark at Grantly as he was blindly searching under his chair.
"Are you sure there's a tenner down here?!" he questioned
Suddenly, Gonzo walked over to him, grabbing Grantly's wig and pulling it off in one clean swipe.
"Oi, get away!" Grantly scolded
Gonzo shot out of the hall with the wig in his mouth. The students burst out laughing, following the dog into the corridor. Rachel and Eddie followed, keeping the kids away from Gonzo as the Police attempted to pry the wig from his mouth. Eventually, they succeeded.
"Back to your seats!" Eddie ordered, ushering the students back into the hall
When Grantly finally got his wig back, it was ruined. He stormed passed Eddie, Rachel and the giggling students, who were slowly filtering back into the hall.
Once everyone had settled down again in the hall, Ralph continued.
"Testing will take place in here all day, and I will be here to oversee the proceedings. Let's have a couple of volunteers, just to show everyone there's nothing to be worried about"
Rachel looked around, no one had put their hand up to volunteer, as she'd expected.
"Come on" Ralph encouraged
Nothing.
"What about our Head Boy and Head Girl?" he suggested, looking to Marley and his daughter, Flick
"Why us?" Flick questioned, evidently irritated
"Because you two represent Waterloo Road. If you two do it, you'll be setting a good example to the others. Anyway, I hope my own daughter hasn't got anything to hide"
"How do we know the test will be fair?" Marley asked
Rachel stepped in. It wasn't fair to put two students on the spot like this.
"Marley, if you don't want to take the test, don't do it" she told him
Marley looked at her, then at Ralph.
"So it's my choice, right?" he checked
"Fine, if you're choosing no" Ralph shrugged
"Stupid!" Michaela said with a forced cough
Everyone laughed
"Hey, come on, guys. If Marley doesn't want to be open about things..." Ralph shrugged
Marley sighed. Ralph was doing this out of spite, because he was going out with Flick, because he despised his family. Ralph wasn't going to win.
He stood up
"Fine. I'll take the test. Bring it on"
"Thank you, Marley" Rachel said
She sighed, looking to Flick.
"Flick, the same goes for you. It's your choice" she told her
Ralph glared at Flick
"What's the problem, Felicity? If Marley can volunteer... come on, it's just a simple cheek swab!" he huffed
Flick sighed, standing up to stand beside Marley, who'd already done his cheek swab.
"We're being treated like guinea pigs" she mumbled, swabbing her cheek angrily
"It's fine" Marley reassured
They returned to their seats, Ralph smiling smugly.
"See? That wasn't hard, was it? We're here all day for anyone who wants to do theirs. Off you go"
Everyone stood up as the bell rang for the start of lesson one. Eddie and Rachel stood up, following the kids out of the hall.
Rachel couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. It was wrong to put Marley and Flick on the spot like that. Drug awareness was important of course, but forcing students to do a drug test was wrong, especially your own child. She couldn't help but feel Ralph had done that to spite and embarrass Flick and her new boyfriend.
Eddie could tell she was angry. If he was honest, she was stressing over nothing. The day was going to plan. He'd seen no malice in Ralph's actions.
"We've got to give them a steer, haven't we? I mean, if they take drugs, they're going to get into trouble" he rambled as they walked along the corridor
"And that is why we need education and awareness, not pointing the finger! I won't put kids off asking for help, Eddie!" she argued
Eddie sighed, placing his hands on her arms
"Rach, you're fretting for no reason. It's all going according to plan!" he reassured
"Oh, said the Captain of the Titanic!" she huffed, rolling her eyes
Eddie stared at her, taken aback by the sharpness of her tone.
"I just don't trust Ralph Mellor, that's all. He's too... heavy handed. I don't know why the LEA got him involved!" She admitted
"Rachel, it's fine, I promise. He's just doing his job" he insisted
Rachel rolled her eyes again, causing Eddie to sigh.
"Look, I've got to go, but let's talk about this later, yeah?" he added
She nodded, sighing as she watched him walk away. Maybe he was right; maybe she was fretting over nothing. But it didn't feel that way.
She turned away, heading back up to her office.
"Miss!"
Rachel turned, finding Flick in front of her, a panicked expression on her face.
"What's wrong?" she asked
Flick eyed her nervously, wringing her hands together.
"Erm... if taking drugs is illegal, how can a teacher guarantee you can't be charged?"
"That's the deal we made with Police, Flick. If a test comes back positive from a pupil, the Police won't press charges, on this occasion" Rachel explained
"Yeah, but you don't know my Dad, Miss. He sometimes swings the rules if it suits him" Flick sighed
"There aren't any rules to swing here, Flick. It's just an experiment. Your Dad is a professional and will do what we agreed" Rachel reassured
"But you'll be reading into it, won't you, Miss? Like who's a good or bad person, depending on the results"
Rachel sighed
"Flick, you're worrying over nothing. We're not doing this point the finger. I know it feels that way, but it isn't. All we're trying to do with these tests is help to make you aware and help you to find solutions to some of the problems you might have. Doesn't that sound like a good thing to you?"
Flick nodded
Rachel smiled
"Go on, get to your class. It'll all be fine, I promise" she reassured