The Reunion- A Waterloo Road Fanfiction

Chapter One

TW: This story contains references and themes of depression, suicide and grief

...

Rachel sighed as she heard the letter box open and close, her mail thudding onto the floor of the hallway. In the two weeks she had been off work for, she had memorised the time the post man came. Every morning at 11AM, except on Saturdays and Sundays. Since she had nothing else to do, apart from watching day time TV and going out for a walk round the block, the post man coming to drop off her mail was the only interesting event in her day. Most of the mail she received ended up in the bin, but it didn't matter, it was still the highlight of her day.

Once she'd made herself a cup of tea, she headed out into the hallway, her eyes falling on the pile of letters on the floor. She placed her mug on the side as she bent down to pick them up, flicking through them. The envelope with the Waterloo Road logo stamped in the top right hand corner caught her eye. A million memories came flooding back to her as she stared at the letter in her hand.

Two years. It had been two years since she had left Waterloo Road to start a new life with the man she loved. Out of all the schools she had taught at and been in charge of, Waterloo Road had been the best and the most challenging. It was a school like no other, a place where kids and staff from different backgrounds and abilities came together as one big and slightly dysfunctional family.

The last two years had flown by in a blur. They had been filled with happiness and love.

If you had told fourteen year old Amanda Fenshaw that she would one day change her name to Rachel Mason, move to Rochdale and become a Head Teacher, she would have laughed in your face and called you crazy. If you'd told her she'd marry her childhood friend Adam Fleet (A.K.A 'Fat Adam'), she would have laughed even harder.

But it was all true. Rachel had met and married the love of her life. They had spent a blissful year, travelling around Spain, Italy and Greece, exploring and soaking up the sun before returning home to rainy Rochdale. Once they were home they settled into a routine. Rachel went back to work, resuming her pre- Head Teacher role of teaching English at another secondary school in the area. It was a change for her, and, at first she was a little rusty, but she soon realised how much she'd missed being in the classroom.

Adam had gotten a job as Head Chef at a local restaurant. Everything was perfect. Rachel and Adam were blissfully happy. Rachel's favourite thing was to come home from work and to have the smell of Adam's cooking blasting her in the face as she walked through the door. Her second favourite thing was walking into the kitchen and watching his face light up when she walked up to kiss him. They spent their weekday evenings talking about their day whilst cuddled up on the sofa, watching TV. They spent their weekends going on walks and playing games, laughing, joking and making memories. They really did love each other. Rachel had never in her life felt happiness like this.

Just seven months ago, that happiness had turned into agonising heartbreak and grief.

...

Seven months ago...

It was a Friday night, approximately 6pm. Rachel had just arrived home. She was exhausted after a busy day of teaching and staff meetings. She couldn't wait to get home, order a Chinese and crash on the sofa with Adam and watch a movie, like they usually did on a Friday night.

She hadn't thought much of his car not being on the drive. But she was surprised, however, when the house was silent. Again, she hadn't panicked at first. Adam usually got home from work at around 5pm. It was just gone 6pm. She figured he was running late and had forgotten to text her.

When two hours had gone by and Adam still hadn't walked through the door, she knew something was wrong. Her suspicions were confirmed when she opened her front door to find a policeman stood on her porch. As soon as the words came out of the policeman's mouth, Rachel's world crumbled, her heart shattering in two.