The Drama With My Drama Teacher

Sophie Or Not Sophie, That Is The Question

Sophie or Not Sophie, That Is the Question

He looks genuinely pleased to see me. "Chelsea, hello, please come inside" Finn tells me and ushers me inside. "Can I take your coat?"

"Yes, thank you" I reply, a tad shyly, and I hand him my coat. "Your house is lovely"

Finn's house has a very homely feel. It's a lot cleaner than I expected, not that I expected it to be incredibly messy, but I do have a brother and his room used to be a tip. "So have you been rehearsing?"

"Of course" I answer with a confident smile.

"Has anything else happened with Mr Howard?"

My smile drops instantly. Slowly, I begin to remove my shoes, focusing all my attention on that instead of the question I've just been asked.

"Chelsea, don't ignore the question" Finn says, taking my shoes from me and placing them in the shoe rack in the hallway.

"He... He came round earlier. To the house. But I wasn't home alone. It's okay" I say nervously and Finn shakes his head. He marches into the living room and I nervously follow him.

"Chelsea, why did you not call me? I should have been there, what if you had been attacked?!" Finn worries, taking a seat on the sofa and putting his head in his hands. "Chelsea, we need to report this to the head teacher, the police..."

"We can't" I move towards him, and crouch down in front, resting my hands on his knees. "For a start, it's still my word against his. Gemma was the person with me today, and her word isn't any more legitimate than mine. And he threatened you, so I won't have it"

"Chelsea, I can't let you get hurt, not for my job, not for anything" Finn tells me, reaching forward to cover my hands with his.

"Mr Howard will make stories up about us, say you're harassing me rather than him, it's not just a matter of losing your job, you could go to jail" I tell him, a feeling of guilt washing over me "I never should have told you or got you involved"

"Chelsea, I'm so glad you did. I'm not saying you need someone to protect you, but you need someone looking out for you to defend you. We need a way to bring him to justice" Finn tells me. I take a seat beside him on the sofa.

"Justice might be a tad extreme" I say, trying to crack a smile. But Gemma told me something today, something interesting. She gave me the number of this girl called Sarah who had dropped out, because she accused Mr Howard of harassing her, but I'm not sure how far it went. Gemma said a lot of other girls had accused him as well, but I'm not sure they took it to the police or anyone like that" I tell Finn, who looks at me in surprise.

"There have been several girls like this?" Finn repeats, in disbelief "I can't understand how he still works there... Why has no one picked up on this?"

"Because I doubt they had any evidence. That's what we're lacking, solid evidence that he is harassing people. The next time he comes round-!"

"The next time?!" Finn repeats, his voice filled with dread

"The next time, because there will be one, he won't give up that easily, I'll record him. I'll record what he says and what he does and then we'll have evidence" I tell Finn firmly, who nods slowly.

"If he's coming to your house, then I don't want you to be alone. Who's at home with you?" Finn asks and I swallow nervously. He's going to be mad. And worried. And concerned. There's that guilt again.

"Usually my Dad... But... He's away on business... All Christmas..." I say quietly and Finn shakes his head. "Chris and Gemma have Matthew, they don't visit anymore, but it's fine, I'll have friends round"