Rachel stormed down the corridor and over to the Study Room where Marley and Flick were. She had to sort this.
She couldn't deny it; she was disappointed in Marley Kelly. He was a model student, with so much potential, and now, because of this drugs test, he was in trouble. His education could slip through his fingers easily because of this. Rachel was more than happy to let it lie and give him a slapped wrist. But Ralph wasn't, and neither was Eddie.
If Marley hadn't been smoking Cannabis, they wouldn't be in this situation. She was frustrated, because she had her suspicions as to why he was using it. His home life was a mess, as was his Mum. He was always trying to keep everyone happy. No wonder he needed some kind of release! But there were other ways to let go of the stress, such as talking. Rachel's office was always open to students who were struggling. Why hadn't Marley come to her? She could have helped him. Now they were in an even bigger mess.
She walked into the Study Room, asking the students on the table opposite Marley and Flick to leave. They hastily grabbed their things and left the room. Rachel took a deep breath, her eyes darting over to Marley.
"I don't need to tell you how disappointed I am in you, Marley" she hissed, leaning on the table
The confused look on Marley's face only aggravated her more.
"Take that look off your face! You know what you've done!" she scolded
Marley and Flick glanced at one another. They'd never seen Miss Mason so angry.
"Are you gonna tell me?" Marley questioned, staring at his Head Teacher
"You tested positive, Marley... for drugs. You've been found out" Rachel told him
Marley's jaw dropped. His eyes darted from Flick, to Rachel, and back again. This was a joke, right?
"That's rubbish! What?!" he scoffed
"And I don't want you lying to me!" Rachel huffed, sitting down in the chair opposite him
Marley stared at Miss Mason. Judging by the furious look on her face, this evidently wasn't a joke. The results had come back, and somehow, his was positive. And Miss Mason believed it, without asking him first.
"Ok. So you've made up your mind then?" he replied calmly
"The tests don't lie, Marley. YOU do!" Rachel snapped
"Hang on a minute, what about my test?" Flick interrupted
"You don't need to worry" Rachel replied simply, turning her attention back to Marley
Flick glanced at Miss Mason. There had obviously been some kind of mix up. She needed to get Marley out of trouble.
"Miss Mason, it's not..." Flick started
"Flick, shut it!" Marley snapped
"Don't tell me what to do!" she retorted
Marley had, had enough. He should have seen this coming. Of course Miss Mason would believe a stupid test over him. After all, he was a Kelly.
He turned to Flick.
"I'm sorry, Miss Mason's right. I'm a Kelly. Guilty as charged."
He turned back to Rachel
"So, what are you going to do about it?" he questioned
"Well, I'll tell you what other people want me to do. They want me to remove you from the school!" Rachel sighed
Marley scoffed. Of course they did. The entire school had it in for his family. First Earl, now him. They weren't going to stop. So why not give them what they wanted?
Rachel was annoyed by how little Marley seemed to care.
"Doesn't that bother you?!" Rachel cried
"Why should it?" Marley spat
Rachel sighed, nodding in defeat. If he didn't care about his education, why should she? If he wasn't going to defend himself, why should she?
"Well, one thing I will be doing is removing your Head Boy title" she announced, standing up
"That is so unfair!" Flick protested
Marley barely even blinked at her words. He didn't care.
"And you will enrol in the Drug Awareness programme" Rachel added, ignoring Flick
"No, I won't" he said, almost robotically
"Yes, you will! What you've done could seriously damage the reputation of this school!" she snapped, turning to walk away
Marley scoffed, causing Rachel to turn on her heel. When her eyes locked with his, he was scowling at her.
"Do you know something? I don't care what you do. Because if you don't want me here, I don't want to be here!" he growled
He stood up, storming out of the room. Rachel followed.
"Marley, don't be stupid!" she called after him
But it was too late; he was already halfway down the corridor.
...
Back in the office, Eddie and Ralph were heading out, on their way to find Rachel.
"I've got to say, I'm not unhappy to see a Kelly go. I'd be glad to be shot of the lot of them" Ralph rambled
Eddie sighed. Whilst he agreed with disciplining Marley, Ralph's grudge against the Kelly family seemed to be personal. And he didn't like it.
"Which is why you shouldn't be Chair of the Board of Governors" Eddie retorted
"There are some people you just can't help" Ralph shrugged, glaring at Eddie
Before Eddie could respond, a furious Marley stormed up to them, getting into Ralph's face.
"I know what you are, Mellor!" he snarled
"Marley, don't make it any worse than it is!" Eddie reasoned, pulling him away from Ralph
"HE'S BENT!" Marley yelled, storming down the stairs angrily
...
Rachel walked into the school kitchens, where Candice and Rose were having a cup of tea. The thought of potentially ruining Rose's first day on the job made Rachel feel sick.
"Rose, I need to talk to you" Rachel announced
Rose smiled, standing up immediately.
"Miss Mason! Candice reckons I did excellent, don't you Candice?" she beamed proudly, looking over at Candice
"Yeah, 110% after a bad start" Candice confirmed
Rachel smiled. She really was pleased. It was a gamble employing Rose, but she had risen to the challenge, as Rachel thought she would have.
"Ey, well done you! It can't have been easy for you" she praised
Rose shrugged
"It's hard enough getting out of bed, never mind slogging my guts out!"
Rachel smiled weakly
"Rose, I've got a bit of bad news" she admitted
Rose stared at her expectantly
Rachel took a deep breath, bracing herself. What she was about to tell Rose about her child, was something no Mother would want to hear.
"Marley has tested positive for drugs" she told her
Rose frowned at her
"My Marley?" she checked
"Yeah" Rachel nodded
"No bleedin way! I'll see about this!" Rose huffed
She stood up angrily. Rachel stood in front of her in an attempt to stop her from doing anything stupid.
"Hang on, Rose! Come on; do not spoil what you've achieved today!"
Rose scoffed, glaring at Rachel
"Spoil? I've worked all day, haven't I? Like I said I would? What happened to you 'meeting us halfway'?" she argued
"We're trying, Rose. So should you" Rachel sighed
"Look, I know he'd never do drugs! Earl, yeah, but not Marley!" Rose insisted
Rachel desperately wanted to believe that Rose was right. She wanted to believe that Marley was telling the truth. But how could she? The tests didn't lie, according to Ralph anyway. Marley had deceived everyone. The evidence was concrete.
"Where is he?" Rose asked, breaking the silence
"I'm afraid he's walked, after I took away his Head Boy status" Rachel explained with a sigh
Rose glared at her. It seemed the Head Teacher's talk of supporting them and being on their side had been a load of rubbish. Rose had, had enough.
"Well, you can shove your job, and your school up your arse!" she snarled, pushed passed Rachel angrily
Rachel groaned. Marley had already walked; she couldn't have Rose do it too. They could lose the whole Kelly family if they weren't careful. Of course that's what most people wanted; to have the Kelly's removed from the school. But it wasn't what she wanted. And she knew, deep down, the Kelly's didn't want that either.
"Rose, come on, do not overreact! Think about your kids!" she pleaded, chasing after the younger woman
Rose paused. If she walked now, her kids could lose their education. They'd have to move again, when they'd just started to settle. She couldn't put herself or her kids through that again.
Sambucca Kelly burst into the kitchen, tears in her eyes as she walked over to her Mum.
"Mum? They're saying our Marley's done drugs, but he'd never!" she cried
Rose rubbed her arm comfortingly
"They've got it in for us, love" she shrugged
"Can we go home, Mum?" Sam asked tearfully
"That would not help your situation, Rose" Rachel warned
Sam looked from Rachel, to her Mum, and back again.
Rose sighed. Rachel was right. Leaving and walking away wouldn't fix anything.
She turned to Sam, smiling at her reassuringly.
"I've got work to get on with. You get back to your class" she instructed
Sam nodded, eyeing Rachel wearily before turning away.
Rose turned, walking away from Rachel to clean up the rest of the dishes.
Rachel closed her eyes, sighing deeply. She was pulling a family apart, all because of a stupid drugs test.