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Karla Bentham was a pupil at Waterloo Road from 2007 to 2010.

History[]

Karla was 15 years old when she arrived at Waterloo Road after a series of failed attempts at most other schools in the area. She was badly let down by the system who failed to diagnose her with Asperger's syndrome (a form of autism that is no longer recognised as a diagnosis today) and wrote her off as being a truculent troublemaker.

Before her arrival at Waterloo Road, Karla was excluded from three schools. The Bentham family eventually cracked under the pressure. Her dad walked out on her and her mother, Annette. She was removed from her last school when Annette was given the choice: find another school or face permanent exclusion.

With the help of teaching assistant Davina Shackleton's help, Karla carved out a place for herself at Waterloo Road. Despite finding it hard to fit in, she found two friends in Danielle Harker and Aleesha Dillon.

Series 3[]

On Karla's first day at Waterloo Road, Grantly Budgen shouts in her face which causes her to experience sensory overload and lash out in self-defense with a chair.

Karla is bullied by her peers, but over time, she makes new friends, particularly Danielle Harker and Aleesha Dillon. She also learns how to understand things more clearly and join with class jokes.

In episode 9, Karla and Janeece Bryant are both digging in the school grounds in search of remains, but they discover the remains of Maxine Barlow's baby which puts Karla on edge for the rest of the day.

Aleesha and Danielle further trick Karla into starting a distasteful petition to allow the students to continue digging on the school grounds. After Eddie Lawson finds out what happened, he bans Aleesha from performing in the school musical and bans Danielle from the school council, telling them that bullying at school wouldn't be tolerated.

In Series 3 Episode 10, Aleesha tries to get her own back on Karla, but she and Danielle change their minds after reading what Karla wrote about them in her diary. From this point onwards, the three of them are friends.

In episode 20, Karla helps win the school spelling bee against Forest Mount School.

Series 4[]

After returning to school, Karla has a much easier year, now supported by a lot of people and now increasingly confident. When Danielle reveals that her father had been abusing her, she and Aleesha remain by her side. They organize a protest to keep Danielle at school; however, it was revealed that Danielle lied about being abused to increase her chances of staying which causes a rift between the girls, but they soon become friends again.

In episode 12, Karla is shown to be very skilled in art, particularly in drawing. When her skill is revealed, Michaela forces her to sit in the girls' toilets for hours drawing portraits of the students and sells them.

The pressure of having to draw portraits eventually pushes Karla too far and she runs out of school towards a busy road which puts herself in danger. Luckily, Kim Campbell manages to find Karla and safely return her to school, and Michaela is punished for her actions.

On the final day of term, Karla was seen in the school choir where she is happy when they win the competition.

Series 5[]

When Karla returns to Waterloo Road for her final year, things are different due to the closure of the local private school, John Fosters which forces them to merge with Waterloo Road with disastrous results.

When a large brawl takes place in the playground, Karla is seen looking on in horror. When she sees Emily James crying, she attempts to comfort her, but her sister, Lindsay sees her as interfering.

Lindsay and the girls from John Fosters attack Karla which makes her terrified to go back to school. When Karla does return, Lindsay apologizes for her actions. Michaela plots revenge on Lindsay, saying that it was for Karla when in reality, it was an excuse for another fight.

In episode 7, a student named Cassie Turner claims that she is being bullied. When Karla sees Cassie crying under the stairs, she offers to help her, but Cassie rejects her gesture. Later on, a paranoid Cassie leads Karla into the boiler room and her behavior starts becoming more erratic.

Karla manages to find her way out of the boiler room with blood on her, and tells Steph Haydock and Kim Campbell what happened. Kim and Tom Clarkson find Cassie in the boiler room, shouting and screaming. She is later cleaned up and taken to the hospital where she is diagnosed with schizophrenia. Afterwards, Cassie is never seen again.

She was also a part of Michaela's university scheme that all the other sixth formers were a part of.

Karla is last seen at the school prom with Aleesha, Danielle and Michaela. She is also seen slow dancing with an unknown boy.

Personality[]

Karla is a very intelligent young woman. With the right guidance and support, she has started to do extremely well at school.

She enjoys subjects based on logic and reason (particularly maths) and is quite happy ploughing through pages of sums unaided while her peers are left fretfully jabbing at their calculators.

Her literal interpretation of simple instructions has always been the fuel for spiteful pranks and easy laughs. She has a hard time understanding some displays of affection and gets overwhelmed by physical contact.

During her meltdowns, Karla often hums rapidly as a stim to calm herself down.

Quotes[]

  • "It’s polite to knock!" (first line)

  • Grantly: "In my class, we don't talk over a reading."
  • Karla: (to Davina) "Well, that's a lie because he's talking now."

  • "I don't understand. We all know he doesn't have any hair. Is he just pretending it's grown all of a sudden? Because it's not a very good lie."

  • "They were the wrong words!"

  • "I'm not a freak."

  • "I don't want any more trouble. I told Miss Mason that."

  • "He said to wait outside, he didn't say anything about a chair."

  • Grantly: "Happy?"
  • Karla: "Not really, but I will see you tomorrow."

  • "It's Karla, miss. I found it ringing in a bin. There's a lot of other stuff in here. Um, there's a textbook, a jotter, and another phone. Why would anyone throw that away?" (final line)
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