Chapter 2

Suspicious minds

Mr Wallis watched the conferencing going on around him, his eyes settled Momentarily on Mark Stevens, he was talking to their new Italian Teacher, Gennaro or something, Wallis wasn't really interested, they had so many language teachers and none of them really stuck around very long, often driven away by the monstrous students, he didn't blame them for leaving he often contemplated it for himself, still there had to be a reason some of them stayed. Mr Wallis's eyes settled on Mark again back from Mario, he watched him wave to a student outside the door, he wasn't certain of her name. His face twitched, and his eyes narrowed with suspicion, those two, Mark and that girl were close, unusually close, unnaturally close, too close for it to be professional. Wallis knew what his thoughts were telling him but he had nothing to confirm his suspicions and no evidence to back them up, all he had was rumours and his own contemplating mind.

The truth

Mr Stevens entered his office after the meeting in the main hall and stopped, sitting on his chair, swivelling slightly was Paige Darling, immediately his heart began to pound, his blood rushed around his veins as his gaze took her in. She moved and eventually it wasn't just his gaze that was holding her.

"Good Morning Sir" Paige said twirling his blue tie with her fingers, he was wearing the one Paige had bought him for his birthday, it was obviously his favourite but he didn't tell her that.

"Hello My Dear" Stevens replied stroking her hair, and shutting the door with his foot. As their lips met, all of James Wallis's suspicions would have been confirmed...except..

"Oh Lorraine" Wallis said as he rang his fingers through her blonde locks. Lorraine wriggled beneath her bosses hands, secretly she enjoyed him touching her, still it was inappropriate they were after all in the coffee room.

"James no stop later" she said pushing his hands away from her face.

James pushed backwards and stared at Lorraine long and hard, she had beautiful eyes, brilliant blue, still she was his thing. He took his hands away and left the room, just in time for another secretary to enter, James paid no attention to her.

Craig Grisham wasn't a tall man, his height had never been of particular handicap to him, still it bothered him that people laughed about it. Craig had dark brown curls and a long nose; he had a stooped walk, sometimes dragging his feet. It was with this walk that Craig made his way down the corridor heading towards Mark Steven's office that he encountered Paige Darling, for the first time that term. He glanced at his watch, it blue dial read 9.04 am, she had done well this term, Craig thought, to last this long before sloping off to see Mr Stevens.

"Good day Paige" Craig said in added surliness. Paige flinched ever so slightly.

"Hello Sir" she replied and quickened her pace away from him

"How's Mark this morning" Craig said quickly before she could run away.

"How should I know" Paige replied coldly.

"Oh Thought you might" Craig said airily.

He left it at that, he had wound the girl up sufficiently for the day; he watched her make her way up to the Sixth form centre, blue heels clacking on the stone surface. Craig smirked and pushed open the door to Mark's office as if it was his own.

"Stevens!" Craig shouted as he walked through the door. Mark jumped slightly. But never the less he smiled at his friend.

"Grisham" he replied picking up a pen in an attempt to look sufficiently busy; it had no effect on Craig.

"How's your morning been" Craig asked picking up a cup on Marks desk. The Cup had a picture of a Spanish resort; Mark's name had been written in gold paint across the top.

"Fine, boring really, not seen anyone, only the head, you?" Mark said simply.

"Paige Darling" Craig replied placing the cup down on the desk.

"Oh yes" Mark replied turning on his computer. "How is she?"

"Don't you know Mark, I assumed you of all people would have seen her over the holidays" Craig said sitting down on the green chair, the sponging deflating beneath his weight, He shifted a little.

"Nope!" Mark said jovially and turned to face Craig who was shuffling in his seat. "When are you moving in next door" he asked.

Craig smiled, it had been a fantastic stroke of luck that the head should have offered him the job of assistant head teacher, the benefits of being James Wallis's lackey was the extra money, less teaching and of course the office, the bigger office, next door to Mark' s. "When ever John moves out" he replied watching a lost year seven walk across the entrance, he ignored it.

"I can't wait to be your neighbour, hey, we'll always know what each other is doing" Craig said smiling at him. Mark didn't return the smile, it was something in the way Craig said that last sentence that made the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. Instead he busied himself with looking at his timetable.