‘Thanks, sir. I’ll see you again soon.’ And he was gone.

Donny sat down again, staring blankly at his computer screen, shaking his head. His heart was speeding like a runaway train and he felt sick. His world as he knew it would never be the same if Dan let the cat out of the bag. He had to think, he had to stop this lad from messing his life up, but how, how would he do this? Everything he’d worked for felt like a house of cards and this kid threatened to knock it all down.

It was lunchtime. Tina walked into the dining hall and scanned the place for Amelia. The racket was deafening; you couldn’t hear yourself think in here today. Chelsea was the main culprit, as always, and you could hear her sounding off from the other side of the room. Frankie was sat on his own and Tina gestured to the deep bruise around his eye.

‘What’s happened to you, Frankie, where are those bruises from?’

He dropped his head low. She repeated her question. ‘Frankie, are you alright?’

‘Yeah, alright miss – just leave me alone. I’m fine.’

‘Well, you don’t look fine. After dinner come and see me, I want to talk to you.’

He completely ignored her, just carried on eating his food.

Rita was looking around the room to check she’d fed everyone. She caught Tina’s eye and smirked. The teachers sat dotted about the room and ate their food too – there was no private space for staff to have lunch. That had always been one of Donny’s things, everyone ate together in this school. She spotted Amelia, who looked like she was trying to be invisible. Tina sat at the end of the table, trying to catch her eye.

Melanie came over and sat down next to Tina with a deep sigh. ‘Is it not the end of today yet? I’ve had a crap day so far and I can’t wait to go home.’

Tina agreed. ‘Tell me about it. The kids here kick off all day, and now I’m having the same at home. I need a break, I tell you.’

Amelia could hear the teachers’ conversation and dropped her head low, unconsciously moving her hand to her stomach as she glanced over. Mel noticed, nudged Tina and whispered through her fingers.

‘Ears everywhere.’ She used her eyes to signal the kids all around, lowered her voice. ‘But I’m so sorry to hear that. Are you alright?’

Tina nodded. ‘Maybe we can have a proper chat after work? Do you fancy going for a drink later? A few glasses of wine are just what the doctor ordered. I’m sick of men, kids, bloody everything at the moment’