Chapter 1
Just had an idea for a new story so I'm going to see how it works out, tiny bit different from most of my others, basically Rachel has 2 daughters Alice aged 6 and Ellie aged 12, there dad died a year ago, Rachel met a new man - Danny. Ellie goes to a private school near them all. Have no idea what this will be like so just let me know.
Rachel saw the time on her alarm clock and realised it was time to get up, she sighed desperately wanting to stay in bed, another day of stress from work and fighting with her eldest daughter was not what she was looking forward to. She realised there was two people clinging onto her, her boyfriend Danny and her youngest daughter, who had finished up coming into her bed last night.
Rachel tried to get up however doing this while she had two people holding onto her was proving quite challenging.
"Mummy" Rachel heard Alice mumble obviously just waking up
"Morning darling" Rachel Said getting out of bed
"Where are you going?" Alice asked immediately getting worried, ever since her dad's death she always had been quite clingy to Rachel
"I'm just nipping in the shower love, I promise I won't be long" Rachel reassured her
"I want to stay" Alice said clinging to her mum
"I don't think the site of my in the shower will necessarily be a pretty one Alice, you just stop in bed with Danny while I have my shower then we'll get you ready for school"
"I need the toilet"
"Go and use mine then" Rachel said
She waited while Alice went to the toilet and them jumped in her shower while Alice went back to bed
While she was In there thoughts started racing round Rachel's head, most of them about Ellie, before her dad died she used to be as good as gold and would be near top of the class in every subject and Rachel would get nothing but good reports about her on parents evening or on her report, however since her dad's death she'd really started to rebel and was labeled as a disruptive girl who was a bad influence on others.
Every time Rachel would get a phone call home about her or would be asked to come in her heart would sink, it pained her that she'd let things get this bad with her daughter and prayed that one day she'd wake up and get back to her old self.
Rachel got out the shower and wrapped a warm towel around her body and went out
When she opened the bathroom door she saw that Danny was sat up and was playing with Alice making her laugh, unlike Ellie Alice had taken really well to Danny and he was becoming more and more like a father figure to her
"Hi beautiful" he said making Rachel blush
"Morning" she said cheerily before going over and kissing him on the cheek gently however this was still enough to make Alice giggle
"And what are you giggling at cheeky" Danny said laughing
"You and mum were kissing" she explained still laughing
"Is that not allowed in this house" Danny asked "you're not jealous are you"
Alice laughed and shook her head
"Hmm I think you might be jealous of a very handsome man kissing your mummy" he joked before going over and giving her a big kiss in the cheek too.
"Come on then missus let's get you all set for school" Rachel said picking her daughter up off the bed and placing her on her hip so she could carry her through to her room to get changed
Alice went and sat down on her bed and waited while Rachel got her school uniform out
"Mummy are you and Ellie going to have another fight today"
Rachel started at Alice for a couple of seconds she knew how upset she got when her and Ellie would argue and that was part of the reason why she finished up In bed with her last night, she finished up getting in a state after there last argument and hadn't been able to get to sleep she was that upset about it all
"Let's hope not darling" Rachel sighed "come on her those pyjamas off"
Alice stepped out of her pyjamas and began to get her uniform on while Rachel brushed her long blonde hair
"Mum this weekend can we go to the park together like we used to?" Alice asked
"Yes darling I think that sounds like a lovely idea" Rachel said smiling, she realised that with everything that was going on with Ellie at the moment she hadn't been spending enough time with her youngest daughter
"There that's you all ready then, now why don't you come with me to go and wake your sister up" Rachel suggested, she knew that Ellie was less likely to get in a strop if Alice was with her, most of the time Ellie was still gentle with her sister even after everything that had happened
Alice nodded and followed her mum through
Rachel saw that Ellie was just waking up when she came in
"Morning love" Rachel Said cheerfully
"What do you want?" Was Ellie's immediate response
"To come and get you up in time for school"
"I'm not going to that shithole today no way"
"Mind your language" Rachel snapped "your 6 year old sisters stood with me in case you haven't noticed, now come on up"
"I don't feel well"
"Ellie I really, really don't have time for this" Rachel sighed
Ellie looked at her mum she could see how tired she was,a he had dark circles round her eyes and her skin was pale, she couldn't bring herself to be horrible to her at the moment despite how she was feeling so reluctantly got out of bed and started getting dressed.
Rachel went downstairs and got breakfast ready for the girls, as she was doing so Danny came down and gave her a quick kiss goodbye before leaving for work.
About 10 minutes later all three of them were sat down at the breakfast table, however Rachel noticed Alice wasn't eating very much
"Alice are you okay darling?" Rachel asked with concern in her voice
"I don't feel very hungry that's all" Alice explained
"Oh don't you, we'll try and eat a bit more for me love you'll need some energy on you or you'll be shattered especially when you were late getting to sleep last night"
Alice tried to eat a bit more but could only manage a few more spoonfuls so Rachel then cleared the table and got the girls in the car.
She dropped Alice off first at her primary school and then drove to Ellie's school
"Bye darling have a nice day" Rachel said "and remember head down yes? I don't want any more calls or letters home or ..."
"Fine I get the pint" Ellie snapped before sauntering off into school
Rachel sighed as she watched her go past hoping that today would go okay for her.
She then drove to waterloo road and got out her car and headed straight to her office before registration
It was about 11 when she got the call. She immediately picked I'll and realised it was Ellie's school, this caused her heart to sink she wondered what it was her daughter had done this time but knew it must be pretty serious because her head of year had asked to come in immediately for a meeting with the head teacher and herself.
Rachel quickly made some arrangements before leaving school and driving to Ellie's school.
As Rachel walked through the school grounds and towards the headmistress office she couldn't help feel a little intimidated, it was such a grand school and she couldn't help but compare it to the school she'd worked in for the past year or so.
When she eventually got there she knocked and walked in and saw her daughter in floods of tears sat at a table
"Ellie what's happened love?" Rachel asked going over and kneeling down beside her
"Miss mason thank you so much for coming in at such short notice" mrs Clifton said "please take a seat"
Rachel sat down gingerly, she couldn't help but feel nervous as she did so almost as though she was a teenager again about to be told off
"Ellie do you want to tell your mother about what's happened today or shall I?" She asked
Ellie couldn't bare to face her mum so turned to her head teacher making it clear that she didn't want to be the one to explain
"Ellie's in quite a bit of trouble I'm afraid, over the past year we understand how difficult things have been for her and to some extent we've tried to tolerate her behaviour however today I had to break apart a rather violent fight between her and another girl, and what's worse is the fight didn't take place on school premises and actually happened near the centre of town, I went to go and look for her after I was tipped off by one of my other students that they'd seen her leave school after you'd dropped her off" she explained sounding serious "now the police were involved but I've persuaded them not to press charges"
Rachel didn't know what to say to any of this, she couldn't believe she was sat here being told this about her daughter, it made her feel so small.
"Ellie is this all true?" Rachel asked sounding quite desperate almost as if she was begging her daughter to defend herself
Ellie just nodded her head, not knowing what else to do
"Like I said we've tried to make allowances but it's getting to the pint now where I don't know what else to do with her and I don't think we as a school can help her much more" she explained "we've tried everything and nothing seems to be working"
"So ...so what are you saying" Rachel asked dreading the answer she thought she was going to get to this question
"I'm saying it's getting to the point where I'm going to have to ask Ellie to Leave"
"But surely ... I mean there must be something else we can try with her"
"Miss mason we really have tried everything" mrs Clifton said calmly "now what I suggest we do is, you take Ellie away for a bit, I've printed out a list of other possible schools for her but if after 2 months she can demonstrate to me that she really has changed her ways and is going back to the good sensible girl we all used to know and love then I'd be holly to have her back, but as things stand at the moment I can't have her in my school"
"Right well thank you for your time" Rachel said quickly getting up desperate to get out of the office
Ellie followed her mum out and to the car, when they were in there Ellie expected her mum to start screaming and shouting but it didn't happen, instead Rachel did something she very rarely let anyone see her do and started to cry.
Seeing her mum so upset made more tears fall down Ellie's cheek
"Mum I'm sorry" Ellie whispered
Rachel didn't listen and instead just drove home in silence though at this point Ellie would have preferred her to start yelling at her rather than just say nothing
After what seemed like an eternity they got home
Ellie was about to go up to her room however Rachel stopped her by saying "you know how I felt in there?"
Ellie shook her head in response
"I felt like 100s of parents do when I'm speaking to them, like there being branded as a crap mum because I'd never say this but that's how I feel when I'm talking to some of them, I always think that it's the parents responsibility to teach their kid right from wrong and any parent who hasn't done that has failed there kids , so is that what I am? Am I a crap mum Ellie because you know what right now that's exactly how I feel"
"No you're the best mum anyone could ever want" Ellie sobbed
"Really? I must have done a pretty awful job with you, 12 and kicked out of school yeah bloody fantastic mum me" Rachel cried Ellie couldn't stand seeing her mum like this she was normally so calm and in control of everything
"I can't explain it mum but it's not your fault it's me" Ellie said
"How could you do this to us" Rachel shouted
"I don't know what I was thinking I just ..."
"Get out of my site" Rachel said knowing if she talked to her daughter any more she was going to completely loose it
Ellie than ran upstairs and went to her bedroom
Once she saw her daughter had gone Rachel went straight to the fridge and poured herself a large glass of red wine despite it only being 12, Rachel didn't know how she'd get through the rest of the day without it so drank it quite quickly.
Once she was done Rachel called school and sort of explained to them what had happened so they'd understand why she'd need the rest of the day off, one thing Rachel was glad of was the fact it was Friday as she really didn't know how she'd cope of she had to go into work tomorrow after everything that had happened.
A few minutes later Rachel reached in her handbag and grabbed the list of schools mrs Clifton had given her to look at, she sighed as she glanced over them she knew that most of them were too far away for it to be anywhere near practical for Rachel to send her to, however then the name at the bottom of the list caught her attention, waterloo road, she wondered why she'd put that down surely she knew that was where Rachel worked and it was pretty unusual to have any member of staffs children going to the same school as them let alone a head teacher however now that Rachel thought about it, perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad idea, it would mean she could keep a very good eye on Ellie and maybe it would be enough to get her back on the right track, in fact the more Rachel thought about the better the idea seemed.
Of course Rachel knew how much Ellie would hate the thought of going to the same school as her mother but if it meant her behaviour improving then Rachel was prepared to give it a go.
It was about 2 when Danny came back in, Rachel and Ellie still hadn't spoken to each other as Ellie had kept herself locked away in her bedroom figuring it was for the best, Danny however had received a lot of frantic calls from Rachel and he could tell how worried she was so had taken the afternoon off to come and see her and hopefully calm her down.
As soon as Rachel saw Danny she went over and collapsed into him, since her husband he'd been the only man she could truly trust
Rachel then sat down on the sofa while he made her a coffee
"Take it Ellie's in a bit of trouble then" he said sounding calm
"Yep and I really don't know what to do" she admitted tears forming in her eyes again "I'm oafs angry you know, I didn't even have the energy to scream and shout though god knows I felt like it"
"I'll talk to her" Danny offered
Rachel thought for a moment before saying "okay give that a go"
Danny then walked up the stairs to Ellie's room he knocked on the door and to his surprise she let him in straight away
"Ellie your mums told me what happened" he said
"Oh so you've come to do her dirty work for her right"
"No, you should see the state she's in you know, I've nerve seen her like that before"
Ellie went and sat on her bed and cried so Danny sighed and sat down next to her
"Come on it's not that bad"
"It is mum hates me" Ellie sobbed
"She doesn't hate you Ellie, I know how disappointed she is and maybe even angry but she doesn't hate you, I think she's blaming herself more than anyone"
"I didn't mean to hurt her"
"I think the two of you need to talk, so I'm going to leave you two alone downstairs while it go and have a long walk down to pick your sister up, but remember your mum ... She loves you and she'll forgive you for it, from what I've heard she was no angel either at school"
"Thanks Danny" Ellie mumbled
She then stood up and began to walk downstairs feeling sick with nerves about facing her mum
"Rach someone here to see you" Danny said walking in with Ellie close behind him "I'm going to give you some space" he said before going off
Ellie stood at the door way not knowing what to do
"Sit down" Rachel said her voice still icy
"Mum I know you probably don't want to hear it but can I just say something" Ellie asked tears in her eyes
Rachel nodded her head in response
"It'd be stupid for me to say I'm sorry even though I am because I know it isn't good enough, but it's not your fault and don't think it is, it's just since dad I haven't handled things and I took my anger out in the wrong ways and I know I've taken It too far but I couldn't stop myself and I know everyone hates me including you probably but I really didn't mean to upset you but I know I have and if you want me to leave and go and live with grandma or something well I'd understand" Ellie said before taking a deep breath
Rachel sighed before saying "oh Ellie what on earth am I going to do with you? But I'll say one thing I do not want you to leave, you're my responsibility and however hard all this is we're going to have to find a way to get through it together aren't we? But I don't need to tell you how disappointed I am"
"I know" Ellie mumbled
"Why Ellie?"
"I couldn't face school so I went into town and this girl started calling me so I said something back and she started hitting me"
"It's not just today though is it" Rachel sighed "god if I was told last year my 12 year old was going to be kicked out of school I'd have thought they were crazy"
"I'm so, so sorry"
"You'll be even sorrier when I tell you what I'm going to do about it"
"Why what are you going to do with me"
"Send you to my school, for the 2 months you've got to reform yourself. It'll be a but of a step down from your school I can tell you but it's time you had a taste of reality my girl, and if that means 2 months with your mother as your head then so be it"
Ellie didn't know what to say, she knew how much she'd hate it but knew there was no point arguing about it
More tears fell down Ellie's cheek but still she remained silent
"Go on go back to your room I'll call you for tea but other than that stay up there" Rachel sighed although she'd calmed down a bit she wasn't going to just let her daughter off lightly
About 10 minutes later Danny came back with Alice he hadn't explained what had happened figuring it was probably best for Rachel to but Alice wasn't very holly anyway after having a pretty bad day at school.
"Alice" Rachel called from the living room wanting to see her youngest daughter
Alice immediately ran in and sat on her mums knee but when she did she burst into tears
"Oh dear someone seems a bit unhappy we'd best sort you out missus" Rachel said giving her a kiss in the forehead
"Rach I need to go back into work for a bit then I'll sleep at mine tonight" Danny said figuring Rachel would want some time alone with the girls considering everything that had happened
"Okay I'll see you tomorrow then" Rachel said
Once he'd gone she turned her attention back to Alice "now what's happened to make you this upset miss Alice"
Alice didn't say anything for a while just nuzzled her head into Rachel's chest and cried for a bit but this made her feel comforted as she could smell all her mums perfumes and stuff
"I didn't have a good day at school mummy" Alice whispered
"And whys that love" Rachel asked
"I got upset and then miss jones said I wasn't listening so she told me off and everyone was laughing"
"Why were you upset darling"
"Because I was thinking about you and Ellie and I was scared you'd have another fight"
Rachel sighed and hugged her daughter even tighter she wished all this didn't affect her so badly but it did and there'd been a number of occasions where Alice had ended up getting really upset about it all
"It's okay love I promise everything will be fine soon"
"Did you argue today"
Rachel was about to lie but realised there was no point after all Alice was going to find out sooner or later
"Yes darling you see the thing is your sister got into a bit of trouble today and I finished up getting called in and...well the school think it's best that we move Ellie to a new school for a couple of months before she goes back so Ellie's going to start coming to school with mum for a bit" Rachel explained
"Oh so was she really bad then" Alice asked
"I suppose she was yes" Rachel sighed "anyway it's absolutely nothing for you to worry about okay, but if you fancy doing me a favour and coming into the kitchen to help me with the tea then that'll be much appreciated"
Rachel knew that having Alice with her nearly always meant tea was a lot longer than it would normally be however she wanted a distraction for a while and thought Alice might need one too.
"Mummy can I go and see Ellie?" Alice asked
"I don't think that's a good idea at the moment darling Ellie's quite upset and I think she wants some time to herself" Rachel explained knowing Alice would probably get her head bitten off if she went anywhere near Ellie at the moment
"Okay" Alice said before continuing to help Rachel with tea
About 20 minutes later Rachel had got the tea out so had got Alice sat down and was just calling Ellie however she wasn't getting an answer so went upstairs to get her
"Ellie come and get your tea" Rachel shouted from the top of the stairs
However when she still didn't get an answer Rachel sighed and knocked on her door before walking in
Rachel was shocked when she saw the state of her daughter her face was red from crying and the mascara she'd put on this morning against Rachel's wishes had all come off and was smudged around her eyes, even her hair looked a mess
"Come on come and get something to eat" Rachel sighed
"I'm not hungry" Ellie replied
"Look Ellie I won't mention anything that's happened not at the dinner table anyway, I just want you to have some food"
"I can't go down like this, i look a mess and I'm really not hungry"
"Suit yourself" Rachel sighed "but this'll be your only chance to have something before morning"
Rachel hated being so cold towards her daughter when she was this upset but realised the only way she was going to get through to her now was with a bit of tough love
"Right me and Alice are going to eat so you stay up here please"
Rachel then went downstairs and ate her dinner with Alice but it seemed so quiet without Ellie there
"Mum I'm tired" Alice told her mum
"It is only 6:30 Alice" Rachel said "but I can put you in the bath if you want"
"Yes please" Alice said
Rachel quickly cleared up the table and went upstairs to run Alice's bath for her
"Come on then in you get" Rachel said
Alice quickly stepped out her school clothes and went in
"Do you mind if I nip down for two minutes love, I was just going to make myself a coffee"
"Yeah I'll be okay"
Rachel left her to it for a couple of minutes and came back up with a coffee in her hand, she out it on the desk in her study so she could have it in a bit once she'd finished bathing Alice
She gave Alice a quick wash before getting her out and wrapping a towel round her
"Come on let's get your pyjamas on" Rachel said
Alice followed her mum through to her bedroom and changed into her cosy pyjamas and then sat down in Rachel's bed while her mum dried off her hair
"There now your all set for bed since it's a Friday do you fancy going down for a bit to watch some tv or something"
Alice nodded her head in response she always did like her Friday nights where her mum would let her stay up a bit and watch the tv with her for a while before bed
"I've just got to send a few emails and things I need to sort out in the study first then I'll join you" Rachel said
Alice then went downstairs and out the tv on while Rachel sat down in the study and opened her emails, after she'd replied from a few from school, she sent one to Ellie's school about her plans for her daughter and then one to Chris mead about Ellie and her bringing her with her Monday. Once she was finished she went and sat with her daughter.
After a while however Alice started yawning a lot so Rachel decided it was time to take her up.
"Come on then you" Rachel said
Alice followed her mum up and quickly went to the bathroom before getting into bed
"Mum stay with me till I go to sleep" Alice said
"Okay"
Rachel went and laid next to her daughter on the other side of her big double bed
After 10 minutes or so Rachel heard her daughter snoring gently so decided to leave her to it and go down for a bit
When she was walking across the landing Rachel heard sobs coming from Ellie's room, she was about to just walk past, however she hadn't the heart to just leave her not when she was like this, so she knocked once on the door.
As soon as she did she heard Ellie fanatically moving around and she saw the light go off however she went in all the same.
When she did she saw Ellie was asleep or pretending to be
"Ellie" Rachel said sounding uncertain
When she didn't get an answer Rachel crouched down beside her
She didn't really know what to do she was hoping that Ellie would give up and open her eyes, but she didn't so Rachel sighed and gave her a little squeeze before going
As soon as her mum had gone Ellie began to cry again, she couldn't believe everything that had happened today and just wasn't able to get her head around it all
She went on sobbing because she just couldn't seem to stop herself, even though her eyes were stinging and she was beginning to feel really sick
When Rachel was on her way to bed she heard the crying from Ellie's room only this time it was more hysterical than it had been before and this made her worry so she began to run up and barged into her room
Rachel saw the state her daughter was in and rushed over
"I going got be sick" Ellie told her
Rachel was about to rush out to find something but Ellie started being sick all over her duvet
"Oh god" Rachel sighed before rushing to her
Ellie tried clasping a hand over her mouth and was going to run to the bathroom but Rachel stopped her and pulled her hair back as she continued to be sick
"Don't try and move, no point trying to save the sheets now darling" Rachel said "that's it i
good girl"
Once she'd finished being sick she began to shiver and cry
"Hey why were you sick were you not feeling well?"
"No I just couldn't stop crying and then I just felt really sick I'm so sorry you don't have to stay with me, I'll sort it out myself"
"Ellie I know we're not exactly each others favourite person right at the minute but I'm still your mum love it's my job to fuss over you, come on up you get, get those pyjamas off" Rachel ordered
Ellie did as she was told and handed them to Rachel before quickly getting into a fresh pair
"You know I hate to think of you getting in such an awful state you finished up making yourself sick you really could have come and found me, even if I wasn't exactly pleased with you"
Rachel then pulled the sheet of the bed and duvet and threw them in the wash and swapped them for new ones
"Come down with me for a bit darling"
Ellie followed her mum down however her head was still swimming, she prayed she wasn't going to be sick again though she was beginning to feel really distant
They'd got to the bottom of the stairs and suddenly Ellie started to fall to the ground but luckily Rachel caught her
"Ellie" she said sounding really worried
"Mm" Ellie replied
"You nearly fainted" Rachel said helping her through to the living room and lying her down on the sofa before quickly making a cup of coffee for her
"Drink this it'll help I promise"
Ellie sipped at it but started to sob, this time however Rachel was there to put her arm round her and let her have a good cry into her chest
"Hey" she said "it's surely not as bad as all that"
"It is I've let everyone down and I'm the worst daughter ever and I'm surprised you haven't chucked me out"
"Oh Ellie we all make mistakes, granted this was a pretty big one but we'll get through, I'm not promising it'll be easy because I'm going to make bloody sure these next couple of months are tough in terms of school work and discipline but we will find a way to make it all okay"
"If dad was here he'd hate me" Ellie mumbled
"He wouldn't, he'd be so, so disappointed just like I am, because you see Ellie as a parent all you ever want from your kids is there best and if they give that who can possibly ever ask anymore but recently you haven't been giving your best, you're such a lovely smart girl and you know what if you out your mind to it you could achieve so much but you just don't seem to want to anymore"
"I do but things were so hard and I did bad things and teachers wouldn't stop going on at me and then they just presumed I was bad and I felt like it was what everyone expected so there was no point"
"That's why I think these two months away are for the best, moving schools will be hard but you will settle in I promise"
"Yeah great because everyone's going to want to become mates with the head mistresses daughter" Elsie said giving a sad smile
"Just give it a try it won't be as bad as you think I promise" Rachel said
"Okay"
"How about we go to bed, I think it's what we both need after today" Rachel said
"Yeah"
"And Ellie I know how bad things have seemed but I am here for you any time you need me. I do love you so much you know"
"I love you too mum" Ellie said giving her mum a big hug
"Come on then let's head up"
So the two of them headed to bed and quickly fell asleep although they knew how tough things would be they felt better knowing they had each other
Please let me know what you think, depending on reviews and how much I'm enjoying writing it might only do a few chapters xxxxxxxxx