I'll keep you safe

Chapter 61

At 7:30AM, they left the house and drove to school in Eddie's car. Rachel tried to push the events of yesterday to the back of her mind as they pulled into the car park.

Eddie noticed she was nervous. He took her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She smiled weakly, her nerves easing a little.

"You can do this" he told her

Rachel nodded, hoping he was right

As they walked through the car park, they spotted Candice and Bolton unloading their car with food supplies for the kitchen. Candice saw them and waved. Eddie and Rachel laughed, waving back as they walked over.

"Morning Miss Mason, Mr Lawson" she said cheerily

"Morning Candice, Bolton" Eddie answered

Bolton nodded at them politely, not saying a word. Rachel suddenly remembered the petition he had spent hours making for her. She owed him a thank you.

"Bolton? Can you come up to my office after registration please? I'd like a word" she requested

To her surprise, Bolton started to panic, his eyes widening in fear. For whatever reason, he thought he was in trouble.

"Don't panic Bolton, you're not in trouble!" she reassured him with a small laugh

"He'd better not be, Miss Mason! I've told him if he causes anymore trouble he'll be grounded for a lifetime. You know better than to get in trouble, don't you son?" Candice interrupted

Bolton nodded shyly, smiling weakly at Miss Mason.

"Don't worry, Miss. I'll be there" he mumbled

Rachel nodded

She observed Bolton carefully for a few minutes, unable to shake the feeling that something was wrong. He wasn't his normal, chatty and energetic self. He seemed shifty, quiet and on edge. Rachel had never seen him act like this. Of course she could be seeing things, or maybe she was reading too much into it. Teenagers had the incredible ability to swing from one emotion to the next in seconds. She hoped he would tell her if something was on his mind when she spoke to him during first period.

Eddie and Rachel said goodbye to Candice, heading up to the staffroom.

After last night, Rachel was nervous to face her colleagues. But with Eddie's hand resting in hers, she felt stronger. They would face this together.

Eddie went in first, Rachel following closely behind him. The chatter in the room quickly died out, all eyes turning to them. Had it not been for Eddie having a tight grip on her hand, she would have shot back out the door.

She cleared her throat nervously

"Good morning all. I hope you'll join Eddie and me in treating today as a fresh start. I know yesterday was frightening for everyone, but we can learn from this. I'll be emailing the LEA today to see what security measures we can have put in place to prevent anything like this from happening again. As soon as I hear back, I'll let you know"

The staff seemed to trust Rachel's words and felt reassured by them, which was a relief.

"As you know, Marley, Earl and Sambuca Kelly will be returning to Waterloo Road today. We expect everyone to welcome them and treat them fairly. They deserve a chance here" Eddie continued

The staff remained silent, still not keen on the idea of welcoming the Kelly's again.

"Have a good day" he added

The staff returned to their own conversations. Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. She had been dreading this.

"You did great" Eddie reassured, rubbing her arm comfortingly