CHAPTER TWO
Belle's night had been a lot quieter than usual. She'd arrived home apprehensively after the phone call, only to find her father already engaged in a harried phone conversation. He'd barely spared her a glance before he'd slammed the door of his study, not to emerge for the rest of the evening. She'd made herself dinner and kept to her room, studying and writing her music.
Which was why she was so upbeat the next morning. She sat in her usual spot until her friends arrived, even giving her headmistress a small wave (although she was met with only a strange look and a tight smile). Then she headed to her form with the gang, laughing louder than usual. Sliding into her seat besides Sameen, she gossiped with her friends and bantered with the lads.
Her good mood continued into maths, then chemistry, all through break which she spent debating the pros and cons of various football players with the girls, and even during french.
Several teachers passed comment in the staffroom at lunch, which was why Rachel was so shocked when Jasmine burst through her doors during fourth period.
"Rachel, quick! Michaela White and Belle Munroe are at each other's throats!"
"What?!" She exclaimed, jumping up and hurrying through the corridors after the english teacher.
"It was lucky I was on my way past! Tom looked like he was having a hard time pulling them off each other.
Sure enough, when they got to the classroom, Tom was shouting and attempting to keep both girls at arm's length while they were both lunging at each other. The rest of the class was cheering and egging them on, and Paul was filming on his phone.
"What exactly is going on here?" Rachel asked, storming in.
The noise immediately died down, with everyone returning to their seats other than Michaela, who stepped back, and Belle, who despite the presence of two teachers and her headmistress, took one more lunge at the other girl, only to be restrained once more by Tom.
"Isabelle!" Rachel shouted, getting a reaction this time, "are you quite finished?"
Belle had the sense to look sheepish, but didn't respond.
"Both of you- cooler, now!"
The pair trailed out, followed by Tom. Jasmine picked up with the class as he spoke to Rachel outside.
"What on earth set this off?" She asked with a sigh, a crease appearing between her brows.
"Oh, the usual. Michaela being a pain, winding Belle up. Belle being hot-headed and reacting with her fists."
"Ok, but what was said? Eddie and Steph were saying barely an hour ago that Isabelle was having a good day today."
Tom thought briefly. "I didn't hear a lot of it, they were muttering, but Michaela was goading Belle about her home life. It's not too different from yesterday's fight between Bolton and Kade, to be honest."
Rachel nodded, beginning to put the pieces together. "But Isabelle threw the first punch?"
"From what I could make out, yeah. But Michaela gave as good as she got."
"I don't doubt it. Thanks Tom, I'll take it from here."
By the time she got there, they were both arguing and Grantly, who was on cooler duty, was snapping at them to shut up (to no effect).
Rachel entered the room and the pair fell silent at last. Grantly scarpered, pleased to be relieved of his obligation.
"Mr Clarkson told me what happened. Girls, to say I'm disappointed is an understatement." Rachel leant against one of the desks, looking from one to the other. "Fighting in the classroom? You're better than that."
Michaela thrust her chin out challengingly. "Miss, she just went for me! She hit me first, everyone'll tell ya!"
Belle remained silent, staring ahead defiantly, not meeting Rachel's eyes or acknowledging her words in any way.
"From what I can gather, Michaela, you were pushing for a reaction. And you're not the only one with bruises here." Rachel nodded to Belle, who, sure enough, did have the beginnings of a bruise starting to form on her cheekbone.
"It was self defense! What else was I supposed to do when she just swung at me?"
Rachel cast a glance over at Belle, who hadn't moved an inch. "Isabelle? Do you have anything to say?"
For a long moment, Rachel thought she was about to be ignored. Then Belle spoke, slowly and with a level voice.
"No, Miss."
Rachel sighed heavily. "Right, Michaela, you stay here for the rest of the day, and you're on detention every lunch for the rest of the week." Michaela made a noise of disgust but sank back in her seat, apparently accepting her punishment. "Isabelle, would you come with me to my office?"
The girl said nothing, but scooped up her bag and slank out the room after Rachel.
She was silent the whole way to the office, still not looking her in the eye. When they got there, Rachel directed her to the sofas and closed the door before sitting opposite her.
"Isabelle?" No reaction. "Belle?"
She looked up, still staring resolutely ahead, but responded this time. "Yes, Miss?"
Rachel frowned, recognising the signs of a child who'd closed themselves off: the lack of eye contact, the folded arms and hunched posture, the flat voice and almost monosyllabic answers. "I understand why you reacted the way you did."
This drew a disbelieving scoff out of her.
"No really, I do. Michaela was taunting you and you saw red." Rachel said gently.
Belle eyed her warily. "I'm not sorry for hitting her." The way she said it was like she expected Rachel to give up after that, like that was the end of it.
"I'm sure you're not. Mind if I ask what it was that she said to get you so riled up?"
Belle considered her for a minute, finally meeting her eyes. "She was talking shit about my...situation at home."
A shadow flickered across Rachel's face, not that Belle was paying attention.
"What situation is that?"
No sooner had Belle opened up ever so slightly, she shut herself right off again. "Nothing."
"Belle… I'm trying to help you here. Let me help." Rachel practically pleaded with her.
"You can't." It was this turn of phrase which surprised Rachel when it came from Belle's mouth. "So just give me my detention and let me go."
Rachel scrutinised her carefully. "If you can't give me a good reason for your actions then I'm afraid it won't just be detention. You started a fight with another pupil: that's a two day suspension, Belle."
The shift in Belle's demeanor was instant and jarring. "No! No, Miss please no! You can't- I can't! I can't be at home for two days!"
Again, the wording made Rachel stop slightly. "Why? Is something wrong at h-"
"No!" Belle jumped in. "I'm just worried about missing school work. Can't I just spend two days in the cooler instead?" Her huge brown eyes were begging.
"I still need a reasonable explanation for your behaviour, Isabelle!" Rachel leant closer to her, spotting tears beginning to spill over her lashes. "Help me so that I can help you, hm?"
Belle hesitated, but gave in. "She was just saying that like, it was my fault my mum abandoned me. That nobody would ever want me, cos' not even my mum stuck around."
Rachel let out a long breath. "She's wrong; it wasn't your fault, Belle." She said softly.
"You don't know that, Miss."
Rachel had to physically bite her tongue to stop herself from responding. Then she moved to her desk and pulled out a form from one of the draws. "I think two days isolation in the cooler will do just fine, don't you?"
Belle physically sagged in relief. "Thank you, Miss. I mean it."
"But you've got to promise me, Belle, that you'll try to ignore what people say. Girls like Michaela are just trying to get a rise out of you- don't let them."
"I don't make promises," Belle muttered, then when she caught the stern eye of her headmistress, "but I can try."
So there you are! Thought it would be good to see Belle in action, with the added bonus of some bonding at the end there. Thank you for all your reviews, I'm grateful for any feedback and suggestions for improvements. Let me know if it sounds clunky anywhere, or if the characters are ooc. I used to write fanfiction years ago, and I'm just getting back into the swing of it! There will be more focus on Rachel and possibly other teachers in the future, but for now the focus is mainly on Belle as the story is really hers, and I don't want to give too much away too soon, although I'm sure it's a little obvious where this is headed! Thanks again for reading :)