𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐓

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐨

★★★★★★★★

Zoey had spent most of her week in detention, of course it was boring...no doubt about it. But for someone to lose their mum because of a  protest? it broke her heart in two. Zoey knew what it was like to not have her mum there for her when she needed it most, being in and out of her dad's care really fucked her up, especially when she was only dead young.

Zoey honestly hated what Izzie was going through, she'd attempted to speak to her but it seemed she was having none of it. This past week had already been super hard...and Zoey couldn't have felt more bad than ever.

★★★★★★★★

"The Hundred Years' War." Mr Guthrie explained as he walked over to the whiteboard. "I take it we've all watched the module now. So what do we think?"

"Sir, you've still got that up" Samia spoke as she pointed over at the wall which had the words 'The British Empire' displayed in bold.

"That's because we should be paying attention to the historical record, and not whoever shouts the loudest!" Mr Guthrie replies condescendingly.

"So you don't agree with getting rid of the racist name, sir?" Samia questions, now curious as to what her History teacher thought.

"How long was the Hundred Years' War? How long did it last?" he asked, changing the subject and turning his attention to the whiteboard. "Now it's tricky, it's not as easy as it sounds"

"I just asked you a question, sir" Samia shouts out, demanding an answer.

"Yes, and you're framing it in a particularly emotive way" Mr Guthrie replies.

"Well, you either do or you don't" Samia shrugs, annoyed with her teacher's response.

Zoey watched on as it seemed like Mr Guthrie and Samia were now going back and forth in this situation, she wanted to argue back but she knew it would get her a detention and she couldn't cope with another detention.

"If you want an honest answer, no" Mr Guthrie answers back, causing an uproar in the classroom. "William Beswick did a lot of good in his time! That is a fact! History is about establishing the truth, whether you enjoy that truth or not!"

"Sir, you're something, you, sir" Kelly-Jo sighs, not even looking up at him.

"Yeah, gammon!" Samia adds on, scoffing.

"Well, here's a truth. You've got detention!" He yells back to Kelly-Jo, causing her emotions to become even more intense.

"Again? Why?" Kelly-Jo exclaimed, her brows furrowing in anger.

"Or I've heard that the behavioural unit is open, if you prefer to go there" he shrugs, looking over at Kelly-Jo.

"So it doesn't bother you, Sir. That Beswick was a slave trader?" Zoelle suddenly asks, her head tilting as she spoke.

"Oh my days! No-ones actually ever cared before. Just cos a couple of geeks wanna go 'oh, boohoo!' Yeah. We don't care!" Noel suddenly yells out, causing Zoey to get mad.

"What are you actually starting for?" Zoey yells, Kelly-Jo agreeing. "shut up Noel!" she stared at him with annoyance, wondering why she still actually had feelings for this man.

"We don't care! Chill!" Noel yells back, looking over at just Zoey as he speaks. "Turn around yeah!" he leaned back into his chair and laughed.

"Do you know who was the key advocate of the abolition of slavery?" Mr Guthrie suddenly asks, causing the whole class to quieten. "The Duke of Wellington, also known as the hero of Waterloo. But he was also involved in Peterloo, where soldiers opened fire on innocent protestors just down the road from here. So is he to be celebrated or vilified? See the full picture is complicated, and it goes against the nature of my subject to reduce it to sloganeering"