"I told you to keep your hands off him!" Janeece sneered
"I did! You saw what happened, I didn't ask him to come in here, did I?" Maxine argued angrily
Eddie flung the classroom door open
"QUIET!" He yelled
The class fell quiet instantly, turning to face Eddie.
"Listen carefully. I want you all to collect your things together and go with Mr Budgen to the School Playground. You will do this in absolute silence. Do I make myself clear?" Eddie instructed
The students looked to one another nervously, standing up and gathering their belongings.
Grantly cleared his throat, walking over to Eddie.
"Uhm- look, I know they're a bit noisy, but teaching a class outside is punishment enough"
"It has nothing to do with that" Eddie replied
Grantly opened his mouth to protest
"Just do it, Grantly" Eddie ordered, exiting the classroom
...
Slowly but surely, the staff and students gathered on the playground outside of the school, clueless as to what was going on. But they were glad to be out of their lessons.
Rachel stood on the far hand side of the playground in a daze, studying all the pupils carefully. Knowing one of them potentially had a gun made her uneasy, especially when she didn't know who it was. She didn't even know if this was real, they could be making all this fuss, all for it to be prank!
And what if it was true?
What if there really was a gun in the school?
She'd never had any training to deal with it. Things like this didn't happen in British schools, especially not in Rochdale! Of course it could only happen at Waterloo Road! And on her first day back of all days.
Eddie joined Rachel outside. He could sense her anxiety from a mile away. He placed a hand on the small of her back to comfort her.
"It's alright, Rach. We've done the right thing" he reassured
Rachel nodded apprehensively
The Police cars came thundering down the road, blue lights flashing and sirens wailing. Rachel really hoped she wasn't about to waste their time. It had taken a little persuasion to get them here in the first place. If this turned out to be a prank, the chances of them coming out to a real emergency in the future, were small.
To add more stress onto Rachel, it was Ralph Mellor who got out of the Police car. Rachel sighed heavily.
Ralph Mellor wasn't just a detective for Rochdale Police. He was also the Father of Waterloo Road's Head Girl, Felicity Mellor and was on the chair of Governors.
From her very first day as Head Teacher, Ralph had made it clear he didn't like Rachel. He had been the one to call up a vote of 'no confidence' after the LEA had found out about her past. Of course it was shut down by the LEA immediately. This didn't change his attitude or bitterness towards her. If he'd had it his way, Eddie Lawson would have taken over the role permanently.
Rachel pushed passed her anxiety and walked over to greet him. She felt more confident, knowing Eddie was next to her.
"Ralph, thank you for coming. Here's the note, we've evacuated the School building" she announced, offering the note to him
Ralph nodded ignorantly, taking the note from her. He turned away from her, talking to Eddie.
"Ask your staff to start a bag search and take registers to see who is missing. We'll likely be able to narrow down the alleged culprit... if there is one at all" he instructed smugly
Eddie nodded, walking away to brief the staff. Rachel was left with Ralph, who she was convinced was pretending she didn't exist.
"Bet you wish you'd resigned after all now, Miss Mason?" He sneered, breaking the silence between them
Rachel rolled her eyes. Ralph was trying to undermine her, to get under her skin. But she wasn't having it, not today. Not ever. This was her school. She was determined to stand her ground.
"It all comes with the job, Ralph. You of all people should know that" she shot back, smiling politely
"I do" he nodded
"I also know it takes a leader to run a place like this. Someone who sets a good example. I'm beginning to wonder if that's you, Miss Mason. Time will tell"
He strode off to talk to his colleagues, leaving Rachel bubbling with anger. She took some deep breaths, desperately trying to calm herself down. Ralph Mellor's opinion didn't matter, not right now at least. What mattered was investigating the anonymous gun note and separating fact from fiction. With that in mind, she headed over to the staff and students to help with the bag search that Eddie had started.