Even as I post this I am still asking myself why...

Hello, Waterloo Road fandom.

So in the summer, I rediscovered that Waterloo Road was on Youtube and started watching it again. Still trying to work out whether that was a mistake or not because around my rewatch of series 4/5, this story started to write itself in my head and it would stop until, 26 chapters later, I am here, posting this. I am going to put it on the fact that this has been one of the easy things I have written in months.

For Radam fans... This probably isn't the story for you. Just putting it out there. It was something else that I realised during my rewatch and as much as 2010 me was just happy to see Rachel happy, 2019 me doesn't have the same opinion. Might lead to another one-shot that wrote itself in my head the other day...

Anyway, enjoy while I go and write the last 3 chapters...

Chapter One

When Tommy asked to go to Waterloo Road, Rachel had no objections. She knew that the school still had a bad reputation but she also knew that the reputation wasn't as bad as when she started there. In terms of the growth of the school, it had changed dramatically. He had made up his mind and that was where all his friends would go, it seemed like a no brainer.

Just not to Adam.

They had fought for hours about how Adam thought it was best that he was sent to a private school or any other school. Rachel was the one, in the end, to put Waterloo Road down as Tommy's first choice and was delighted when he was accepted into the school.

As Rachel pulled put towards the school, she couldn't help but see the difference between the school in Rochdale and the one in Greenock. It might have the same name but to her, it wasn't Waterloo Road. It wasn't her school.

"Got everything?" She asked as Tommy reached for the door handle.

"Well, it will be too late to get it now if I have."

She smiled at him. "Have a good day. And I want updates when you get home."

"Of course Mum."

Her smile started to drop as he got out and even more so as he crossed the road towards the gates of the school. Maybe part of her knew that Adam was right. The school brought up too many memories for her, good and bad. She found herself playing with the clasp of her watch before she snapped out of her daydream. Way too many memories.

With a nod of her head, she pulled away from the school, attempting to shake off as many memories as she could.

Rachel couldn't deny that hearing about Tommy's first day excited her. He spoke quickly about all the teachers that he had met and how there was a small memento to remember Tom and Grantly. He mentioned that they were all to have tests in October to measure their abilities but every teacher had told them that it was just so that they could assess the sets that they were in.

"Sets?"

"Apparently. The rumour that was going around was that the new head was angry that there had been sets in place. I think someone heard that he had said that there was no room for sets at Waterloo Road. It doesn't do anything to help the morale of the students. I also heard that he said that Waterloo Road never had sets when he was first there and that if the head was still there, she would never have allowed it."

"So this new headteacher was at Waterloo Road before?"

"Seems that way." Tommy took a mouthful of food. "Actually we were all sent home with a letter. The old head was booted out over the summer holidays."

"Really."

"You don't sound surprised."

"It is Waterloo Road. Nothing about that school could surprise me."

"So it is true that they moved a whole school from Manchester to Greenock? Because that just seems really stupid."

In all honesty, when Rachel had found out about the move, she had thought the same thing and it saddened her more to find out that the school in Rochdale had been demolished to make way for more housing. Those corridors held a lot of memories for some people, her included.

"If it kept the school going, then no matter where it was based, it would always be Waterloo Road. The school isn't the building, it is the teachers and students."

She allowed herself to smile at the memory of her saying that to the students that witnessed the destruction that Ralph Mellor had caused. She tried not to think about everything that had happened that day. The words that she had said just before that still hurt her just as much as they did when she told them the first time.

With a bang of the door, she knew that Adam was home and that the atmosphere would change. As he walked into the kitchen to grab his dinner before joining them at the table, Rachel wanted to mention to Tommy not to talk about his day in as much depth as he had just done to her. She could do without another argument.

"How was your first day?" Adam asked not long after he sat down.

"It was alright. The teachers that I have met today seem nice."

She didn't know why she was so worried. She knew that Tommy knew the score by now. She knew that he hated it when they argued but she also knew that she was only staying with Adam because of him. She had already seen one father struggle with not seeing their child, she couldn't do that to Adam or equally Tommy.

"You said about this letter?" Rachel said, giving Tommy the perfect opportunity to excuse himself from the table.

"I will get it now. And then I had better start organising myself. You know, make sure I know my timetable and which books I will need for which days."

She offered him a smile to tell him that she understood before he got up, placed his plate on the side and headed upstairs.

"What is the letter about?" Adam asked.

"There is a new head. The previous one was fired over the holidays."

"It seems to be the curse of that school."

"Schools don't usually have the same headteacher until they retire."

"And you aren't telling me that you wouldn't still be there if we hadn't got married."

"Adam."

"Well?"

With Tommy's steps thundering down the stairs, Adam turned back to his dinner and Rachel tried to relax.

"Here. Quickly scanned it. Seems like he has also addressed the sets situation as well."

As soon as she had taken it off of him, he left them again. Rachel turned her attention to the letter, wondering whether Adam would drop the conversation.

"Well?" He repeated.

"I don't know and I will never know will I?"

She was glad when he dropped it, focusing more on his dinner. She turned her attention back to the letter that did explain that the old head was fired for reasons that couldn't be shared and that there was going to be a small change to the way that the school was run. It wasn't until she reached the bottom that she realised that she recognised the signature. It was one that she had asked for on numerous forms. If it wasn't for his signature, she probably would have just tried to brush it off.

There must be more than one E Lawson in the world, isn't there?