As the bell rang out for the start of the second lesson of the day, Rachel and Eddie headed downstairs towards Reception. They had arranged to meet Mr Evans, (the new Chair of the Board of Governors) before they began the meeting.

Eddie was dreading this meeting, mainly because he knew Rachel was going to resign. He really didn't want her to go, but changing her mind seemed to be impossible. He was also worried about what they were going to say about Earl Kelly and Maxine's death. It was going to be an intense meeting that was for sure.

Rachel resigning could go one of two ways with the Governors. They would either refuse her letter of resignation, or they would let her go without a fight. He knew which outcome Rachel wanted, and he knew which one he wanted. Eddie hoped they would persuade her to stay. He doubted it of course, but there was nothing wrong with trying to be hopeful. Even if they did say no, Rachel seemed adamant that she was going, so their opinions probably wouldn't change her mind.

Rachel was dreading this meeting too. If she was honest, she just wanted this whole day to be over and done with. She was tired, her head was pounding and she felt sick and lightheaded. Sitting in a room full of people wasn't going to help. But she had no choice. Resigning was the right thing to do; she didn't care what anyone else thought. She couldn't do this anymore, and that was final. She just hoped the Governors wouldn't put up a fight. If she had it her way, she'd hand her letter of resignation straight to Mr Evans and then she would be on her way. But it wasn't going to be as simple as that. It never was.

As she approached Mr Evans in Reception, she put on her best forced smile. She had only met Mr Evans twice since he had taken over as Chair of the Board. He seemed nice enough. Anyone was better than Ralph Mellor of course.

"Mr Evans, it's nice to see you again" she greeted, shaking his hand

"Hi, Rachel, Eddie" he replied, smiling politely at the two of them

"Hi" Eddie responded, shaking the other man's hand

"Are you going to tell me what this meeting is about?" Mr Evans asked, looking at Rachel

"Yes, absolutely. Follow me" Rachel nodded, leading the way down the corridor

When they arrived at the empty classroom that the meeting was being held in, Rachel was greeted by a handful of other members of the Board, as well as Candeece Smilie, who was looking rather confused as to why she had been summoned at the last minute.

"What's going on? I've got school dinners to be making!" she sighed, looking to Eddie as Rachel followed Mr Evans inside

"Hopefully, we're doing the right thing" was all Eddie could reply with

Candeece frowned at him, trying to work out what that meant. Eddie didn't know why he'd said that. For starters, this was Rachel's decision and hers alone. And it was far from the right thing to do.

Once everyone was settled in their seats, Mr Evans turned his attention to Rachel.

"Can we get on? There's no agenda, I assume, because you want to discuss recent events?"

"In part, yes" Rachel nodded hesitantly, swallowing the lump in her throat

Mr Evans nodded, clearing his throat.

"Obviously the LEA will compile its own report, but it won't hurt to show we're ahead of the game" he explained

"I'm thinking sweeping changes, a fresh look at everything," he continued

"Then again, change for changes sake never solved anything. The important thing now is to trust the people here to put Waterloo Road right" Eddie argued, interrupting Mr Evans

"Meaning what? Everything's fine? The school is running well and we should simply close our eyes?" Mr Evans questioned, sarcasm laced in his tone

Eddie was about to respond, when Rachel beat him to it.

"No. No, Leon, you're right, something did go wrong. And if we're to learn from that, we have to accept it"

Eddie sighed, running a hand through his hair. He knew exactly what she was going to say next.

"Just as I have to accept my responsibility. It wasn't a failing from my staff. It was my decision to persevere with Earl. I thought I could make a difference. And whether that was from arrogance or naivety, it was wrong"

"Hold on, Rachel," Eddie cut in

Rachel ignored him, continuing to speak.

"And because of that... I'd like you to accept my resignation, with immediate effect. Thank you"

Eddie scoffed as he watched Rachel slide the letter over to Mr Evans. The tears in her eyes were evident as she did so, communicating to Eddie just how much she didn't want to do this and how much it was hurting her. He had been hoping she wouldn't actually go through with it. But she had. It was too late to change anything now.

Rachel had hoped that handing over her letter of resignation would provide a sense of relief. But it hadn't. She didn't feel anything at all, not even a tinge of regret. Her career was over, and she felt nothing.

The subtle, unimpressed glare Eddie shot her did make her feel guilty, but for different reasons. She knew he hadn't wanted her to do this; he'd wanted them to discuss it first. But she couldn't. This is what was best for everyone. She had to keep telling herself that.

"No, just hang on a minute," Eddie protested

Rachel shot him a glare, but it didn't stop him. He grabbed her hand under the table, pulling it into his own.

"I've worked with a number of Head Teachers. Rachel is the best by a country mile. So, if you want my advice, take that letter and bin it!"

"Eddie!" Rachel scolded, shaking her head in disbelief

Eddie ignored her. He was going to fight her corner whatever it took. He wasn't going to let her resign without a fight.

"This school is better on all counts because of Rachel. If this school works, it's because of Rachel Mason. No one else" he finished

Rachel sighed, pushing back the tears that were threatening to well up in her eyes. Maybe Eddie was right; maybe she could stay and make this work?

It was only when she briefly closed her eyes and saw the image of the body bag being carried out of Steph's house that she changed her mind. She was pulled back into reality. She had to leave. This was for the best.

As Mr Evans was processing her announcement and Eddie's words, the sound of heavy, running footsteps echoed down the hallway. Rachel and Eddie looked up, watching as Marley dashed past the window, Bolton and Paul hot on his tail. When they heard an almighty crash and a cry of pain, both of them shot out of their chairs, running out into the corridor.

Bolton had backed Marley into a corner. Rachel dashed forwards as Bolton threw punch after punch into Marley's face. Paul was yelling, pleading with Bolton to stop.

Before Rachel could get too close to the scene, Eddie gently pushed her to one side. He didn't want her or the baby to get in the middle of this and get hurt. Thankfully, she didn't fight him on it. She stood back, watching helplessly as Eddie tried and failed to pull the two boys apart.

"Bolton, stop!" Paul pleaded, trying to help Eddie pull Bolton away

"BOLTON, STOP THAT NOW!" Rachel yelled from the sidelines as she watched Bolton throw another punch at Marley

Eddie finally managed to pull Bolton off Marley, restraining him and dragging him as far away from Marley as he could.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Eddie hissed, wrestling to keep a firm hold on Bolton

"HAVE YOU LEARNT NOTHING?!" Marley cried, glaring at Bolton in disbelief

Rachel stared at Marley in horror, a hand flying to her mouth as she saw the blood covering his face. Once again, she had got it wrong. It had been a mistake to let the Kelly's come back to Waterloo Road. She thought she had been doing the right thing by welcoming them back and letting them stay. But she had put them in danger instead. Marley was another victim of her poor judgment. Another thing to add to her list of mistakes.

"YOU ARE DEAD, MAN! WE WANT YOU AND YOUR FAMILY OUT OF HERE!" Bolton roared, thrashing against Eddie

"Bolton! This is stupid! How is this going to keep things quiet?" Paul snapped

Rachel's head shot up at that.

"Keep what quiet?" she questioned

Rachel pushed Bolton back, glaring at him as he moved to lunge for Marley again.

"That is ENOUGH from you!" she scolded

"That's what I should have done to Earl on day one!" Bolton cried, spitting at Marley as he continued to squirm in Eddie's grip

"I SAID THAT IS ENOUGH!" Rachel screamed

"You're just as bad as Earl!" Marley huffed, pulling himself to his feet

"Nah, mate. It wasn't me who started this" Bolton shot back, finally shrugging Eddie off him

"I don't care who started it, just calm down!" Eddie said firmly, moving in front of Bolton

Now that everyone had calmed down a little, Rachel leapt into action with her questions. She turned to Bolton. She was furious with him. She knew he was grieving, but he was channelling his pain in the wrong way. He had been making so much progress recently, and he had just ruined it all.

"Right, do you want to tell me what's going on here? What should you have done to Earl on day one, Bolton? Hmm? What?"

Bolton suddenly looked uncomfortable, his heavy breathing calming to an even pace. Rachel turned to look at the small crowd of students that had left their classrooms to see what all the commotion was.

"Get to your lesson, now. Go on, go!" Rachel instructed, ushering them away

The students went back into their classrooms, leaving Eddie, Rachel, Bolton, Paul, Marley, Mr Evans and the rest of the people who had been in the Board meeting in the corridor.

Rachel took a deep breath to steady herself. She was furious, but she needed to be calm in order to get through to Bolton.

"Will someone please tell me what started this?" she questioned angrily, looking between the three boys

"Bolton, tell Miss Mason, NOW!" Candeece demanded, glaring at her son

Bolton refused to speak.

"Right, you're going to keep it to yourselves? Fine. Get to the cooler!" Rachel instructed, pointing down the corridor

Bolton glared at her, walking away. Rachel sighed, turning to Davina who had just appeared after hearing the commotion.

"Can you make sure he gets to the cooler, please?" Rachel requested

Davina nodded, following Bolton.

Rachel turned to Paul, who looked incredibly uncomfortable with all of this.

"Paul, I'll speak to you later, go on" she told him

Paul nodded, heading in the opposite direction.

"I'll call the school Doctor" Charlotte offered, appearing from her office

"No, it's fine. I don't need a Doctor" Marley insisted

"We'll be the judge of that, thank you" Rachel snapped

Charlotte led Marley away, leaving Rachel and Eddie with the Governors. The embarrassment Rachel felt by what had just occurred was off the scale. She wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. She took another deep breath to regain her composure.

"Right, shall we get back inside? I'm really sorry about this. I'm really... I apologize for that" she apologized, ushering everyone back into the classroom

"No, no, it's me that should be apologizing" Candeece interrupted

Rachel sighed, rubbing her neck to try and push down the bile that was rising rapidly.

"Miss Mason," Mr Evans spoke

Rachel turned to him nervously.

"This school needs strong leadership, something I know you can offer. I don't want you to go. I think you're being rash"

Rachel closed her eyes to stop her tears as she let out a shaky sigh. She really didn't need this right now. All she wanted to do was resign; it was what was best for everyone. And yet obstacles and people kept standing in her way. Mr Evans was wrong, she wasn't a strong leader, and she certainly wasn't being rash in her decisions. She couldn't do this anymore, she'd had enough. Why couldn't he understand that?

"Take until the close of play today. If you're still determined, then it's best it's done as quickly and effectively as possible" Mr Evans continued

Rachel nodded sharply, walking over to the other side of the room. She stood by the window with her back to everyone as they chatted. She took some slow, deep breaths, but they didn't stop the tears from running down her cheeks.

Eddie watched her. He thought it best to leave her for a minute. She wouldn't want his comfort right now. It would draw attention to her and the fact that she was upset. He was relieved that Mr Evans had offered her the chance to consider her resignation for a little longer, and that he had told her that she was being rash. He didn't think it would make a difference though.

"I'll say goodbye, Mr Lawson" Mr Evans said

"We'll see you soon" Eddie nodded, shaking the man's hand

"Hopefully Miss Mason will have changed her mind by the end of today" Mr Evans said

Eddie nodded.

Once everyone had left, it was just Rachel and Eddie in the classroom. Rachel was still stood by the window. Eddie could tell by the way she was trembling and sniffling that she had finally let her guard down. He desperately wanted to comfort her, but he didn't want to be pushed away again.

"Rach?" he whispered softly, taking a few steps towards the window

She looked at him painfully, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. He placed a hand on her arm gently.

"Let's get you back to your office, yeah?" he suggested

Rachel nodded, grabbing a piece of paper off the table on her way out.