Chapter 15 (Revised)   Simon Jones is Eve Jones. But she didn't know.

 
 
Previously:

Eve, Claire and Eve's mum have had several run-ins with Dave Stevens, another student, leading to damage to Eve's mum's car. Now Claire is being dragged into the troubles and her mum has asked Mr Dixon, solicitor, to intervene.

Now the story continues.
 
 
Eve Chapter 15
 
 
I woke with a sore head, but at least I'd slept solidly. I was a tad grumpy when I arrived in the kitchen and was reaching for the headache tablets when mum walked in.

"You're supposed to tell me."

"I know mum, but I need to, just let me take one then I was going to tell you."

"No sarcasm young lady, it doesn't suit you."

The phone rang.

"Yes Sharon, ok. See you there at two."

"Eve, Sharon has an appointment with Mr Dixon at two this afternoon; she wants us to be there as well. Claire will finish school at lunchtime as Sharon also wants her to give an account of what happened."

"Okay, mum."

"When you've had some cereal go and get showered and dressed, your tutor will be here in an hour."

My headache cleared quickly after my first coffee of the day and I dashed into the shower. My own hair was growing well now, about an inch long, but not enough to scream 'girl'. My natural colour was mousey brown, that would have to be dealt with when it was long enough, seeing as the wig is blonde.

I dressed simply in a pair of jeans and a strappy top. It was mild out and today was not a dress up day.

By the time I was back down mum was on the phone to the insurance company. They wanted the crime number before they'd process the claim and we hadn't yet been given the reference number. Typical.

My tutor arrived shortly after 10am. As my medical appointments had reduced, so my tutor was now able to see me more often in the mornings. I was still behind with my overall work but reckoned I was catching up.

I handed in my completed weekend work on a memory stick. This time she brought a mini laptop, a netbook she called it, and copied the files directly onto it then handed the stick back to me. She made no effort to mark the work this time and I wondered if she would pass it to someone else.

I had no time to ponder this when we entered into a massive Q&A session that seemed to last an hour and covered a wide area of my chosen subjects. Much of it I knew from my GCSE coursework, most of the remainder I had picked up from my reading over the past few weeks. The rest I had to guess, educated guesses of course.

She was marking the Q&A on the netbook, and whilst she didn't give me my score did smile at the end.

"Your media studies and english are on track but you need to work on your history. We'll concentrate on that this week."

"That's fair enough but why did I have to do such a long Q&A?"

"Your school asked me specifically to assess you in case remedial work was needed."

"What?"

"They sent me a message late on Friday. Apparently a tutor at your school had queried your progress, they are marking this work."

"I didn't know that and I can't say I'm happy with it. Mum?!"

My mum came into the kitchen that was my temporary classroom. I repeated to her what Miss Scott had just told me.

"Eve, I understand your concerns but someone has to mark your work and your 6th form tutors are best placed to do it, for now. Eventually you might have to go back there."

"But you said..."

"Later, dear."

Mum left me and Miss Scott to continue working. We did a different Q&A solely on history and she was a bit more pleased with this one, then hit me with a biggie."

"Eve, I need 5,000 words from you by Friday on Post War Europe, from 1952 to 1989."

Great. 1989 was the fall of the Berlin Wall but alot happened in between.

"You are to concentrate on international economics in Europe, particuarly EFTA, Comecon and the EU."

"Surely you meant the EEC? The EU was later."

"I'm just reading this, sorry that's what it says here."

"OK, by Friday?"

"Yes. Also, you are to start using the internet tutor from tomorrow. I won't be here for the next two days but I suspect you'll have plenty to keep you occupied."

With that she left and I started gathering information for my essay. The problem was that there was just too much information available. All the major news providers had archives that covered the cold war and the formation of the European Economic Community. Information about EFTA, the European Free Trade Association and Comecon, the Eastern Bloc's Trade Association, was available but took a bit more digging. By midday I had my sources mapped but my brain was frazzled.

Claire and Sharon arrived just before one to join us before we headed down town.

I told Claire about the tutor's test and the suggestion of remedial work.

"That's strange. I was asked by Mrs Abbot to speak to her after the first period today. She asked how you were getting on and if I knew if you were doing your schoolwork."

"what did you say?"

"That I knew you had a tutor but I knew no more."

"And?"

"I'm not sure that she bought it."

Claire went home to change and I went upstairs to put a hooded top on.

Sharon was waiting outside for us with her car and the four of us rode into town, avoiding the carpark we'd used on Saturday. We arrived at the offices of Dixon Hill with minutes to spare.

"Good morning Mrs Johnson, Mrs Jones, Miss Johnson, Miss Jones. I wasn't expecting all of you."

"Mr Dixon, as this matter impacts on all of us I only felt it fair that Debbie, Mrs Jones, and Eve were here with the two of us."

"That is understandable. I have had a fax this morning from the school, it concerns the incident on Friday afternoon. The deputy head has spoken to both sets of parents with differing degrees of success. Mr Brown and his parents have admitted his role in the harrassment and said that he was in turn bullied by Mr Stevens to join in with him."

"That is no excuse," said Sharon.

"Indeed, but in turn for providing certain information, the school is apparently prepared to be lenient, subject to the governors' approval. Quite what that means I do not know at this stage. I have a meeting with the chair of Governors and the acting head later this afternoon when I hope some more information will be available. So far as Mr Stevens is concerned, his parents are claiming provocation and say they will defend their son. They suggest that Miss Johnson should be excluded."

"How dare they!"

Claire was not prepared to sit quietly, obviously.

"Miss Johnson, please. The chair of Governors however is casting serious doubt on this accusation as the school has CCTV of Friday's incident. They have passed a copy to the police following a request and again the Governors are still to make a formal decision, although permanent exclusion is likely."

"Good."

"Thank you Miss Jones. But this is not the end of the matter as you should well know."

Mum, who had been quiet until this point finally spoke.

"Mr Dixon, we are all keen to see the end of this matter. However, you're aware of my concerns about Eve's medical records?"

"Yes, I've written again to the Hospital Trust asking them to investigate."

"Thank you. Now, what about my car?"

"Yes, I have Mr Steven's statement here. His father was unavailable so his aunt, an Anne Holts was present during the interview."

"Holts?" We all asked.

"Yes, why?"

Sharon looked at mum then answered for all of us.

"She's the school bursar, unless there are two Anne Holts in this town."