Always, Forever (Larry)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

A/N: some smut in this chapter so enjoy :)

A few days later and Bethany had settled well into her new school. Her friends were amazing and the support she had received from Miss Brown was helping her to reduce the amount she self-harmed. She hadn't mentioned her episode in the toilets to her dads; and she didn't intend to for that matter.

The canteen was bubbling with students exchanging gossip about the summer dance as Bethany packed away the remains of her lunch. She had PE theory homework that she didn't understand and needed to head off to find Miss Brown for help.

She said a goodbye to her friends and threw her backpack over her shoulder, exiting the hall and heading down a multitude of corridors. The small turn off that lead into the changing rooms crept into sight and Bethany soon found herself situated outside a slightly ajar office door.

"You need to tell her, Ellie, it's not fair." Bethany recognised the voice as Miss Freeman, another PE teacher who was friends with Miss Brown. Her feet glued themselves to the floor as each side of her brain fought over whether she should interrupt or not. Eventually, she decided on the latter.

"I know." Miss Brown sighed. "I don't know what I would say though. It's not like I can just bluntly spit it out. God, I don't even know if I could say it out loud. It makes it too real; you know?"

Bethany soon found it within her to approach the door and knock gently. Miss Freeman greeted her with a smile, but her eyes drifted to the blonde lady behind her as Miss Brown downed a handful of pills from a prescribed bottle.

Immediately releasing that a student had graced them with their presence, Miss Brown ushered Bethany into her comfy chair and they completed the task issued the previous lesson. Despite trying to focus on the work, all Bethany could think about was those pills and what the hell they meant.

The following morning was absolute chaos. Imagine the worst possible start to your day, triple it, and you still wouldn't come close. She slept through her alarm, ran out of shampoo in the shower, realised all her skirts were in the wash, and couldn't find a matching pair of white socks even if her life had depended on it.

Once eventually dressed in odd socks and trousers despite it being summer term, she raced downstairs to be met with a note from her dad. Both parents had been called into an urgent meeting so weren't home, meaning no lift into school. It took ten minutes to drive to campus but 25 to walk and to make it worse, the bell was due to ring in 15.

Bethany opened the fridge on the verge of tears to find the milk and pour her cereal. As she spooned the coco pops into her mouth, she attempted to detangle her hair with a brush. Unfortunately, multitasking wasn't exactly her strong point and the next spoonful of breakfast missed her mouth altogether, coating her pearl white shirt in brown milk.

With mascara running down her cheeks from just thinking about what Ms Weaver would say to humiliate her, Bethany changed clothes and brushed her teeth, grabbing her school bag and rushing out of the door.

As Bethany panted down the corridor and into her form room, an unfamiliar face stared at her state with wide eyes. She apologised quietly and scuttled to her seat beside Hattie, sighing as she sat down 15 minutes late.

"What happened to you?" Hattie chuckled, pulling out a makeup wipe from her purse to remove the black streeks running down Bethany's cheeks.

"Thanks," she muttered, "and you don't want to know. We would be here all day. Who's that?" Bethany nodded her head towards the lady sat behind her desk grading papers.

"Mrs Cox, our form tutor. It's her first day. Ms Weaver was a sub, thank the lord, she was a bitc-." Hattie was cut off as a large crash sounded from the door of the room. Each head jolted up in surprise to find a smirking man looking Mrs Cox in the eye.