One hour later...
Eddie practically skipped over to his car. He was smiling so much that his face was starting to hurt. But he couldn't control it. Currently, he felt like he was the luckiest and happiest man on the planet!
He couldn't get the image of the now noticeable curvature of Rachel's stomach out of his mind. He'd never forget the way his heart had fluttered and skipped a beat when he'd noticed it for the first time.
Even though he'd seen the baby via two ultrasound scans and had heard their heartbeat, Rachel being pregnant had felt a little surreal. Seeing her tiny baby bump this morning had made it real. It was one of many magical moments they would experience on this pregnancy journey. He couldn't wait to meet their little one in a few months time and to watch them grow up. He already loved the tiny baby growing inside Rachel so much. He was excited for their future.
It was 8AM when he arrived in the school car park.
He couldn't deny it, he already felt a bit lost without Rachel by his side, and he'd only left the house fifteen minutes ago! It would be weird not seeing her all day.
He was worried about her having to go to the midwife appointment alone, even if it was her choice. She was always nervous about going to any kind of hospital or doctor's appointments. He knew she was itching to get her independence back though, and he needed to let her. But would this be too overwhelming? Would it have been better for her to go to the second appointment alone, rather than the first? He didn't know.
Of course he was more than happy to hold the fort for her at work. If he could do anything useful, it was that. He had mixed emotions about the day ahead and couldn't help but wonder what stories he'd be telling her tonight when he got home.
He didn't miss the eye roll from Kim as he got out of his car. They were getting along better now, but things were still frosty between the two of them. He had promised Rachel that he'd try and be nice to her today, and he really was going to try. It was whether Kim was going to co-operate.
He fell into step beside her, waving at little Grace who was sitting in her pushchair.
"Morning" Kim greeted, smiling at him weakly
"Morning. Fasten your seatbelt, Kim. New guy in charge! Well, just for today!" Eddie replied enthusiastically
"God help us. You're bad enough as a Deputy, you're going to be insufferable as a stand in Head Teacher!" she grumbled
"I just want to keep standards up while Rachel is away" he shrugged, helping her to lift Grace's pushchair up the steps
"You managed to persuade her to take the day off, then?"
"Surprisingly, yes" Eddie nodded
Even though she hated the thought of Eddie being in charge for the day, she was glad that Rachel was taking the day off. She had been rushed off her feet the last couple of weeks. She was exhausted. Not only that, she'd been experiencing nose bleeds, as well as hip and pelvic pain. Kim had been the one to fetch Eddie yesterday when she'd found Rachel hunched over her desk, whimpering in pain as she tried to keep her hot water bottle pressed to her lower abdomen whilst also trying to get control of the blood flowing from her nose at the same time. Like Eddie, she was glad Rachel had taken the day off today to rest and to go to her midwife appointment.
"Good. Has the pelvic pain settled a bit now?" Kim questioned, her concern for Rachel laced in her tone
"A little. It was bad last night when we got home, but she seemed a little better this morning" he explained
Their conversation was interrupted by Sambuca Kelly dashing over to them in a panic.
"Sir! Have you seen it?"
"Seen what, Sam?" he questioned
"The traveller site, just round the back" she told him, pointing to the field
He sighed. The first headache of the day!
Eddie had worked in schools located in rough areas around the UK over the years. He'd seen a lot during that time. Good, bad and ugly. But he had never dealt with travellers trespassing on school property before. If he was honest, he wasn't quite sure how he was supposed to handle it, other than to call the Police. But that didn't seem like something Rachel would do, not immediately at least. She'd try and negotiate with them first.
He looked to Kim, frustration bubbling inside of him when she shrugged. The one time she didn't have something to say! It seemed he was on his own with this one.
"There's kids there and everything, Sir!" Sam added, pulling him from his thoughts
"Thanks, Sam. I'll deal with it, ok? Get to registration" he told her
She nodded, skipping off towards her classroom.
"Do we call the Police?" Kim asked
"Not yet. Can you hold the fort while I go and have a chat with them?" he requested
Kim nodded hesitantly. She was unsure of how 'having a chat' with them was going to help things. They wouldn't move unless they were made to.
...
Eddie made his way round to the back field, which had now been turned into a large make-shift campsite. He had hoped that Sam was lying and was sending him on a wild goose chase. It was clear now that she definitely wasn't. And it was a bigger problem than she'd described.
There were caravans and tents scattered around, trucks parked up beside them. People of all ages were wandering around, including, as Sam had said, children.
As he walked over, he was greeted by a woman and several other onlookers. He smiled at the woman politely.
"Morning. I'm Eddie Lawson, Deputy Head. Have you got permission to be here? You do know this is school property?"
The woman smiled.
"Bernadette Callaghan, from the Traveller Education Service" she announced, offering her hand for him to shake
"Right..." Eddie replied simply
Bernadette's introduction didn't answer his question about whether or not they had permission to stay here. He didn't want to jump to conclusions, but he assumed the answer would be no.
"I'm looking for Miss Mason" she added, checking the piece of paper in her hand
"She's not in today I'm afraid" Eddie explained
"Right, well, these will be your responsibility, then. Eight fresh faces!" she told him cheerily, pointing to the small group of teenagers behind her
Eddie frowned.
"No-one told us about this"
"They arrived on Saturday. It's all been a bit of a rush, but we'll get there" Bernadette explained simply
Eddie sighed. He knew there was nothing he could do. He wasn't going to turn the kids away or deny them an education. Rachel wouldn't either if she was here. He'd have to make it work somehow.
He smiled politely at the scruffy teenagers.
"Welcome to Waterloo Road! Let's go inside and get you enrolled and allocated to your classes" he announced
"We heard there was a breakfast club?" one of the boys said as they walked along
"That's right. We'll make that our first stop then, shall we?" Eddie suggested
He smiled to himself as all the kids mumbled in agreement.
...
Whilst Eddie was dealing with his first headache of the day, Kim was dealing with hers. She escorted a smug Janeece into her office, slamming the door behind her.
The cause of Janeece's mysterious, two and a half week absence had been revealed by Bolton when Rachel had grilled him last week. Gossip spread like wildfire at Waterloo Road, so everyone (staff and students) now knew about Janeece's boob job.
Even though it wasn't any of her business, Kim wasn't in approval of Janeece's decision, mostly because she'd missed nearly three weeks of school and all of her mock exams. There was no doubt in her mind that Sarah-Leanne had influenced her to do this, or had made her feel insecure enough that she felt she had to do something like this in order to be 'noticed'. Again, it wasn't any of her business, but, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in Janeece.
Before Kim had left Waterloo Road a year and a half ago, she had known Janeece quite well. She was a smart, intelligent and bright young lady, with a fascination and interest in dinosaurs and fossils. She had so much potential and it just seemed like she was wasting it all now. All Kim could see now was a girl who was secretly insecure and just wanted to fit in. Beauty seemed to matter to her more than her education.
They sat down, Janeece smiling innocently.
"So, what was all that about downstairs, then?" Kim asked
Janeece frowned.
"What do you mean, Miss?"
"We've all been exposed to the details of your... breast augmentation, Janeece. We DO NOT need to see the results, thank you very much!"
Janeece smirked, unfazed by her teacher's opinion.
"Sorry, Miss. Since I've had them done I just can't help but show them off!" she giggled
"But this is a school, Janeece. This isn't a 'glamour shoot'" Kim pointed out
Janeece sighed.
"I think it's a good idea to put your jumper back on and stop drawing attention to yourself"
"I would do, Miss, but... it doesn't fit anymore" Janeece admitted with an innocent shrug, swinging the red jumper around in her hand
Kim was, for once, speechless. She'd had many students over the years coming to her with wardrobe malfunctions, but none like this.
"Can I go now?" Janeece added
"Yes" Kim huffed, escorting her out the door
She watched as Janeece strolled down the corridor like she was a model on a catwalk, smiling and lapping up the attention of the students she passed. Kim couldn't help but shake her head in disbelief.
Steph smirked as she moved to stand next to her. Kim barely acknowledged her.
"The media has A LOT to answer for, I tell you! The 'beauty' industry- big boobs, small waists. Girls KILLING THEMSELVES to fit in because they are told it's 'how they should look'?" she ranted
Of all the staff at Waterloo Road, Steph was the worst person to vent to about this topic. Steph didn't necessarily agree with what Janeece had, had done, but she wasn't going to judge her for it either. And besides, this was the first time she'd seen her smiling since Maxine's death. It was nice to see her happy for once.
"Oh, get over yourself, Kim!"
"Excuse me?" Kim scoffed, glaring at Steph
"Pick your battles, Kim. Everyone is doing it now! We'll be able to get them off the shelf soon! In fact, I might ask Janeece where she went for hers!" Steph joked with a hearty chuckle
"Steph!" Kim scolded
"Oh, lighten up! Listen, if you had the money and the chance, don't tell me you wouldn't want knockers like an 18 year old!" Steph argued
Kim glared at her disapprovingly. There were a lot of things she wanted to do if she had money and endless opportunity. Getting a boob job wasn't one of them. Steph had some weird priorities!
"Well, I know I would!" Steph huffed, heading back to the staffroom
Kim shook her head in disbelief. It couldn't be just her who was concerned about Janeece?
Eddie was the last person she wanted to go to with this, but she felt she didn't have much choice. If Rachel was in today, she knew she would be concerned and would take action. Eddie was (unfortunately) the next best person to talk to about this.