It's A Tough Life
Chapter 1:
"You'll have to get out some time you know." Mike said gently as he turned his head round to peer into the back of his car. He had a phone call early this morning to say that he was getting a new girl after her old care home was closed down unexpectedly. However, after an hour of trying to get her into the car, she reluctantly got in to go to Elm Tree House, but now she was refusing to get out.
"Come on, you didn't even want to get in the car before and now I can't you out!" Mike said funnily but as Mike looked at her, he could see a tear trickle slowly down her face before she quickly wiped it away with a swift movement of her hand.
"Hey, no need to cry. What's up?" Mike asked softly as he looked at the girl in the back of the car. She looked up at him before briefly diverting her eyes down to her leg and back up again. Mike glanced down at her leg confusingly as he had no idea what she trying to tell him.
"You don't know do you?" She asked as she stared down at her leg. She thought he would have at least read her file before picking her up since he is now in charge of her.
"Know what?" Mike asked looking puzzled. The truth is he hadn't had the opportunity to read her file as it is in the process of being transferred from her old care home and wouldn't arrive until this afternoon.
"It doesn't matter..." She said as she opened the car door and began to slowly climb out, careful not to knock anything. She didn't want to be the one to tell him.
"Hang on a second!" Mike shouted as he quickly got out of the car and followed her into the house. As Mike closed the door behind himself he saw her standing in the hallway looking round, taking in the details of her new home. Mike watched as she made her way over to the piano, but as she got closer she stopped suddenly. She looked down at her leg, sighed, and made her way back towards Mike. As she did this Mike couldn't help but notice that she had a limp and wondered if she had something wrong with her leg. He was just about to ask when a mass of voices headed towards them.
"Are you the new girl?" asked a boy with short black hair. He was carrying a notepad and was wearing a black polo shirt with brown trousers with a black belt. She didn't feel like speaking and was about to turn to look at Mike when he began to speak.
"OK everyone. This is Isla and she is going to be staying with us as her care home closed down so please make her feel welcome." Mike explained before giving Isla an encouraging smile.
"Tee will show you to your room as it is next to her room." Mike said as Tee made her way towards Isla, smiling friendly. "I'll come and find you later for a talk." and with that Mike left Tee and Isla alone in the hall as the others made their way back to the lounge. The due began to climb the stairs together but Tee couldn't help notice that Isla had to put both feet on every step rather than walking up them normally, but she thought it was due to the amount of things she was carrying.
"So, what was your old home like?" Tee asked happily as she skipped down the landing towards Isla's room.
"I don't want to talk about it..." Isla said quietly as she bowed her head to the floor. Tee wasn't sure if she should ask any more questions in case Isla got annoyed with her but she was curious to know why she was limping.
"Err...I hope you don't mind me asking but is your leg ok?" Tee asked quietly as she didn't want to upset Isla. Tee glanced at Isla and could see she had stopped walking and was staring down at the floor.
"Isla?" Tee asked worryingly but Isla lifted her bags back up from the floor and continued walking, a smile across her face.
"Yeah, I pulled a muscle in it this morning when I was carrying my things down the stairs but it'll be ok in a few days." Isla said calmly hoping that it would be the end of that conversation. The girls walked round a corner before Tee stopped outside a dark brown wooden door.
"So, this is your new room!" Tee announced as she opened the door and followed Isla inside. Isla looked around the room at the lilac walls and cream coloured floor. She dumped her things down onto the bed, not realising that one of the bags had split from the impact and carried on making her way over to the window where Tee was stood. It looked over a large green field which Isla presumed to be the back garden, lined with trees in the distance that you couldn't see beyond.
"I...I don't mean to be rude or anything...but what kind of accent do you have?" Tee asked quietly as she didn't want to sound stupid but she knew Isla wasn't from around these parts originally.
"Scottish. I'm originally from a small town near Edinburgh." Isla said as she continued to stare out of the window.
"We used to have a boy here, Toby, who was Scottish but he didn't sound like you." Tee explained and Isla simply shrugged her shoulders in reply. She couldn't be bothered explaining about the fact that different parts of Scotland have different accents, just like England has.
Isla watched as Tee began to make her way out of the room as she looked like she was going to leave to let Isla settle in. However, when she turned to say bye she gasped in horror at what she could see on the bed. Isla, looking panicked, stared at her bed and could see that her spare prosthetic leg was sticking out of the split bag. Isla rushed to the door, grabbing Tee by her t shirt and slamming the door shut. She pushed Tee against the door and held her there as the tears began to rise in her eyes.
"If you dare tell anyone about this," Isla said in a serious voice as she pointed to her leg, "then you'll be sorry."
Tee's eyes were brimming with tears as Isla loosened her grip on her, giving her the opportunity to dash from the room. All Isla cared about was no one finding out about her leg.