Ella's PoV:
"Right, you horrible lot! In you come, grubs up. Chop chop!" Mike called from the front door and I pushed myself up off the bench and made my way inside.
"Wash your hands on the way in, please" Mike said.
It was only moments later when I saw May-Li run out of the house and take down a young boy and I ran out to watch.
"Gotcha!" She grinned.
"Serjay, hi. Giving you a bit of a workout, was he?" Mike grinned, slapping the careworker on the back.
"Thought he needed the exercise" The boy said.
"Hi, you must be Bailey" Mike said, offering his hand to the boy.
"You look like you need a bit of a workout yourself" Bailey said and I stifled a laugh.
"Get inside, you lot" Mike said and we all went back inside to sit around the table, ready to eat supper.
I looked up when Bailey entered the room, dropping the ball on Mo's head from behind him.
"Ow!" Mo complained, holding his head.
"Go sit over there" Bailey instructed.
"No, Mo. You don't have to move" Tee said.
"You come sit over here" May-Li said to Bailey.
"Can I have some egg?" Carmen asked when Bailey eventually sat down and I handed her the plate.
"Scrambled egg, boiled egg, fried egg-"
"Egg sandwiches!" Johnny said and I chuckled, glancing at Bailey who was shovelling his food down his throat at top speed.
"Has someone been starving you?" Floss asked, sounding concerned.
"Building myself up, big match tomorrow" Bailey explained.
"What kind of match?" Faith asked.
"League Cup Final, my team's gonna storm it" Bailey boasted.
"Are you the captain?" Harry asked.
"Should be"
"Are you even any good?" Rick said.
"I'm way better than good" Bailey said.
"I meant the team"
"I am the team"
"Oh, I bet your teammates love hearing you say that" I said, sarcasm lacing my tone.
"Yeah, I'm sure they'd be happy to hear it" Johnny agreed.
"They're lucky to have me. I'm turning pro as soon as I can" Bailey said.
"Who d'ya wanna play for?" Jody asked.
"Barcelona would probably offer me the most but I wouldn't turn Liverpool down either" Bailey said.
"I'd rather play for Man U" Frank said.
"I thought you looked like a loser" Bailey smirked and I rolled my eyes, continuing to eat as he got up.
"Bailey, we're still eating" May-Li said.
"No one's stopping you" He said, walking off.
"He really fancies himself" Johnny noted.
"Yeah, wonder if hes as good as he thinks he is?" Rick said.
"There's only one way to find out" Frank said and I knew we were in for a football match.
20 minutes later..
I followed Carmen outside and we squished on the bench with Tee and Floss whilst the others played football, Mo standing behind us.
"Back, Blondie, back!" Bailey shouted at Harry as he moved past him.
"Go on, Jody. Now!" Johnny encouraged and she went to tackle Tyler.
"Whip it past her, Tyrone" Bailey said.
"It's Tyler!" Tyler snapped.
"I don't care what your name is. Maybe if you lost a bit of weight, you'd move a bit faster" Bailey said and everyone's jaws dropped.
"Bailey!" I spat.
"That's not nice" Jody said.
"Neither's losing" Bailey retaliated before shooting and scoring a goal, celebrating and I rolled my eyes.
"I've gotta go" Frank announced.
"See ya Frank" I called, my voice flitting among the others as the match continued.
"Ella?" I looked up to see May-Li stood at the top of the little banking and I got up, heading over there.
"Will you help me put the younger ones to bed?" She asked.
"Sure. Floss, you coming?" I called.
"Harry, Mo!" May-Li shouted and the five of us headed into the house.
"Come on, little one" I said, chasing Floss up to her bedroom and helping her with her pyjamas.
"Shall we go brush your teeth?" I said, following her into the bathroom.
"Floss, sweetie, do you wanna come show Bailey his room?" May-Li asked, popping her head into the room.
"Yeah" Floss said and I followed her and May-Li into Bailey's new room.
"You've got Frank's old room. If you don't like it, you're allowed to paint it" Floss said as Bailey set his things down on the bed.
"Who asked you, Ginger Nut? The social worker said I'm only gonna be here for the night" Bailey spat and I frowned.
"Good 'cos I thought I liked you but I don't" Floss snapped, storming off to her room with May-Li followed.
"Little bit of advice for ya, y'know, if you wanna survive in a place like this. Get in with the little ones 'cos they're gonna be your only friends if you carry on acting the way you do. They're a bit more forgiving, y'see. Speak to Floss, or any of the younger ones like that again, and I'll be having words. Understood?" I spat.
"I'm shaking in my boots" Bailey said in a bored tone.
"You should be" I said, making my way out of his room and downstairs.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" I asked Harry, spotting him hiding in the lounge.
"I'm hiding from Mike" He said as I crouched down beside him.
"I don't think so. Go on, get your bum to bed. You don't want me telling Mike about your hiding place, do you?" I smiled and he shook his head, running up to his room.
I flopped on the sofa and grabbed the remote just as Rick went to get it.
"You snooze, you lose" I grinned and he let out a huff, sitting on the other sofa.
90 minutes later..
"Alright, you lot. Up to your rooms" Mike announced as he stepped into the lounge, finding Johnny, Rick, Tee and I watching a film.
"But our film isn't finished" Tee whined.
"You watched this last week, go on" Mike said and I groaned, getting up and heading up to my room.
I had a quick tidy up before changing into my pyjamas and heading to brush my teeth.
I nudged Tee as I came to stand beside her in the bathroom.
"You didn't see Mo on the way, did you?" Tee asked.
"No, hes in bed" I said.
"Oh good, he's been pestering me again" Tee said as she wrapped her hair up in a towel.
"Nightmare" I laughed, quickly brushing my teeth before heading to bed.
NEXT DAY
"ELLA! Breakfast, let's go!" Mike yelled, banging loudly on my door.
"Go away" I whined and he pushed open my door, chucking a squishy ball at me.
"Up you get, everyone else is already eating" Mike said and I sat up, throwing the ball back at him and he laughed when I missed, closing my door.
I quickly got ready before grabbing my phone and heading downstairs, slipping into my seat opposite Tee with Mo beside me..
"So now you can see how many calories you're eating to make sure it's less than your daily allowance" Carmen explained to Tyler.
"You shouldn't count calories though, Ty, it's not good for you" I said, pouring myself a glass of juice.
"It's what my mum used to do every time she got a new boyfriend" Carmen said.
"Seriously?" Tee asked.
"Yeah"
"I'd never lose weight for a boy" Tee said, shaking her head.
"You don't need to lose weight, Tyler" Mike said.
"Lend me your specs" Bailey said to Mo and I frowned, knowing he'd completely ignored my warning.
"No, I need them" Mo said.
"Stop winding Tyler up" Jody snapped at Bailey.
"Butt out, Shrimp" Bailey said, grabbing her magazine from her.
"Hey!"
"Enough!" Mike shouted.
"And take the football boots off, Bailey. They're not allowed indoors" Mike sighed.
"You do know your name's falling off?" Mo said, spotting Bailey's peeling shirt and I hid my laughter.
"It's not about my back, it's about my feet" Bailey said.
"It's probably a good job" I smirked.
"I bet he didn't know how to use a washing machine, he had the water too hot" Johnny laughed.
"Come on, guys. Cut him some slack. It's a big day for him, maybe he's a bit nervous" Mike said, clapping Bailey's back.
"I don't do nervous" Bailey bit back.
"No?" Mike asked.
"I'm taking my team to victory, I'm going to be a hero!" Bailey announced.
"No one's going to think you're a hero in a top like that, are they?" Carmen smirked.
"Oooh!" We all laughed and Bailey grabbed the jug of juice, throwing it in Carmen's face which caused her to let out a screech.
"Bailey!" Mike barked.
"Are you being serious?!" Carmen screamed, chasing him out of the kitchen with Mike taking the lead.
"Bailey! You can kiss that final goodbye if you don't come back down here and apologise to Carmen now" Mike said as Bailey went to run upstairs and Carmen, Tee and I came to a stop beside Mike.
"You can't stop me." Bailey said.
"That's not really a theory that you wanna test right now" Mike said.
"Sorry" Bailey mumbled, only for Mike to clear his throat.
"I said sorry!" Bailey yelled, storming off.
"You best wash that out of your hair" I said and Carmen huffed, heading upstairs and I chuckled, going back into the kitchen.
"Did he apologise?" Johnny asked me.
"Yeah, Mike made him." I said.
"Ella, you're on cleanup duty" Mike said as the other kids started to disperse.
20 minutes later..
"What are you four up to?" I asked as Harry, Jody, Tyler and Floss started to get things from the cupboard.
"Getting Tyler's calorie intake for the day" Jody said as they started counting calories for sweets and I shook my head, leaving them to it.
"I hope all your teeth fall out!" I heard Floss say and I chuckled, knowing he'd end up feeling horribly ill by the end of the day whether he had teeth left or not.
"May-Li! He won't share!" Floss whined as May-Li walked in with the washing, the argument just starting to pick up.
"I don't have to. This is my diet, all the food I need for the day and we've counted all the calories and everything" Tyler said and I placed the last plate away, joining the four young kids at the breakfast bar with May-Li.
"I want to go on his diet" Floss said.
"Me too!" Harry agreed.
"Well, you can't" May-Li said.
"Why is he allowed to?" Floss shouted and May-Li whispered something to the two of them.
"You two don't need to diet, you're cute enough as it is" I said, tickling Floss' tummy and she laughed.
"And what are you doing with Faith's laptop?" May-Li asked.
"Erm, putting it back" Jody said.
"Hold it right there!" May-Li said.
"We were just using it" Jody said.
"You wouldn't like it if someone just took something of yours" May-Li said.
"But it wasn't really a take, it was more of a borrow" Jody explained.
"A borrow without asking is a take" May-Li said.
"Give me a lift to the football ground. I need to go now!" Bailey demanded as he stepped into the kitchen.
"I thought Mike was taking you?"
"He was until Man U boy pitched up" Bailey said and Tyler and Jody took the opportunity to try sneak off.
"I'm in the middle of something. If Mike said he'd take you then. You're not invisible" May-Li called to Tyler and Jody and Bailey stormed off.
I rolled my eyes and headed into the kitchen, flopping onto the sofa opposite Carmen and Tee.
I let out a small groan when Bailey walked in, rolling my eyes.
"How long does it take to get to the playing fields from here?" He asked.
"Walking or by car?" Tee asked.
"Running. Mike said he's gonna take me but hes talking to Frank. If I'm late, coach won't let me play and if I don't play, we'll lose" Bailey explianed.
"How dyou know? They'll probably do even better without you there" Johnny smirked.
"Yeah?" Bailey said, going to attack Johnny.
"Woah, pack it in! What are you doing?" Johnny spat, pushing him away.
"Bailey!" I shouted when he started knocking things over.
"Calm down!" Carmen shouted.
"Why are you doing this?" Rick snapped as I helped Tee and Carmen over the back of the sofa when he stormed towards them, only for him to throw teddies at us.
"Not the TV!" Carmen said as Bailey knocked it over.
"Pack it in!"
"Bailey, stop! What are you doing?" I asked when he pushed Rick over the sofa armrest and he ran from the house.
Mike and May-Li entered the room with the other kids once they'd heard the commotion.
"He ran out of the house" I said, starting to pick up the blocks he'd knocked over.
"Hes wrecked the TV" Rick announced.
"Oh, where is he?" Mike asked.
"I don't know" May-Li said.
"Faith's been hurt" Bailey announced and we all raced outside, following him to the ambulance.
"Faith! Faith, what happened?" Mike asked as we reached her.
"It's not his fault. I was trying to catch up with Bailey" Faith explained.
"Tell May-Li that I've gone to the hospital with Faith" Mike instructed and I nodded.
"You can drop me off at the grounds" Bailey said, going to get in the ambulance.
"No! Get out!" Mike said, pushing him back and Johnny caught him when he went to take off.
"Oh, no you don't. You're not going anywhere" He said, restraining him and we all forced him back to the house.
"MAY-LI!" We all yelled and she ran into the hall where we were.
"Come on now, give him some space" May-Li said, the younger kids appearing behind her.
"He was going to leg it" Johnny said.
"Mike's gone to take Faith to the hospital. Can you take me to the match?" Bailey asked.
"You're not going" May-Li said.
"You've got no right to stop me!" Bailey yelled.
"Get in there and clean up the mess you made and you'll be paying for any repairs. Do it" May-Li snapped and he walked into the lounge after Johnny gave him a shove.
"He's such an idiot" Carmen said and we all headed into the lounge, sitting on the sofas to wait for news about Faith.
"May-Li says they're keeping Faith in for overnight observation but she's going to be alright" Rick said as he walked in.
"I knew she'd be okay" Bailey said as he continued to tidy up.
"What is wrong with you? You hear Faith's okay and all you can say is you knew?" Carmen said, shaking her head.
"What do you want me to say?" He said.
"You could at least be pleased!" Tee said.
"You should say sorry" Mo added.
"I never made her run into the road" Bailey argued.
"She was chasing you! You are the most selfish person I have ever met in my whole life" I said, shaking my head in disgust.
"Come on, you lot. Lunch" May-Li called and I got up, heading into the kitchen and sitting down.
"You made jacking pots and bacon?" Tyler asked as May-Li started to serve lunch.
"I wasn't going to 'cos I didn't have enough potatoes but once I knew you didn't want one, I thought I would" May-Li said.
"Actually, can I have a couple out of there, please?" Carmen asked, going to get some sweets from Tyler and Harry and Floss copied.
"No." Tyler said, slapping Floss' hand.
"Ow! Tyler hit me!" Floss shouted.
"Because thats his supper and tomorrow's breakfast." Jody explained.
"And it's going in the office for safe keeping" May-Li said, confiscating the box.
"There's a letter for Faith! It's from the the Athletic's Board." Mo shouted as he walked in.
"Let's steam it open and see if she made the team" Jody said, snatching it from him.
"First her laptop and now her post? I don't think so" May-Li said, taking it from her.
"Carmen, will you pass me the salad?" I asked, accepting the dish from her before tucking into my food.
30 minutes later..
"Have you seen my magazine?" I asked Carmen as I stepped into the living room and she handed it to me without even looking up from her own.
"Thank you" I said, sitting on the other sofa.
"House meeting!" May-Li shouted and all the kids gathered on the sofa.
"I know you guys were expecting Faith to come back tomorrow night but unfortunately, she has to stay in hospital a little bit longer. The doctors are going to have to do surgery on her back" May-Li explained and I sighed, rubbing my hands over my face.
"Is she going to die?" Floss asked.
"No, Floss." May-Li reassured her.
"I've always wanted to go to a funeral" Floss said, sounding somewhat disappointed and I rolled my eyes.
"I'm going to make her a very great big 'Get Well Soon' card" Mo said with a nod.
"When's she coming home?" Harry asked.
"We don't know yet" May-Li said before hearing a car pull up and walking out.
"Poor Faith" Rick said.
"This is gonna make her snap" I said, shaking my head.
"Do you want a hand with that card, Mo?" I asked, standing up and grabbing the arts and crafts box for him.
"Please" He said and we made our way into the kitchen, the others following when May-Li told us she had something to tell us.
"Has something else happened to Faith?" Frank asked as he walked into the kitchen with May-Li.
"No. She's still in the operating theatre. It's actually about-"
"The nasty boy's staying" Floss announced as she walked in.
"Are you being serious? Why is he staying?! Just send him to Burnywood! Nobody wants him here" Carmen exclaimed.
"I don't wanna stay either!" Bailey shouted as he walked in and we all shut up.
"So you keep out of my way and I'll keep out of yours" He spat.
"Good" Floss sassed as he walked off.
"How about you lot starting getting supper ready?" May-Li said.
20 minutes later..
"May-Li, can I have my sweets? So I can choose what to have for tea" Tyler asked as he walked in.
"Sure." May-Li said as Mike walked in.
"Mike! How's Faith?" She asked.
"Did she have the operation?" Johnny asked.
"She's had the operation and she's back in her room. She was asleep when I left her" Mike said, sitting beside me at the table.
"She's gonna be okay though, isn't she?" Carmen asked.
"It's a little too early to know for sure. It's been a bit of a crazy day, eh?" Mike sighed.
"Hey, Frank! Are you going to stay and have something to eat with us?" He asked.
"Yeah" Frank said as everyone started to sit down.
"I'll go speak to Bailey" Mike said, getting up.
"Do you have to bring him down here?" I whined and Mike tapped my head.
"Enough of that. Set a good example for the others, yeah?" He said and I sighed, nodding.
"Good lass" He said, walking off.
"Someone's eaten all of my sweets, the box is half empty and May-Li swears she didn't eat all of them so one of you must know something." Tyler said as Bailey walked in with Mike.
"Right, well, whoever's done it has done you a favour. Even if you did lose weight, you would have been the spottiest kid around" Rick said.
"I don't even think he'd have lost weight. Eating sugar is a bit like flipping a switch telling your body to store fat" Mike said as May-Li brought tea over.
"Lasagne! My favourite" Tyler grinned.
"No! Is it really?" May-Li grinned.
"Better stick to my diet, it's probably way more than my limit's worth" Tyler said.
"Don't think so. It's only 600 calories for that and some salad" May-Li said.
"I don't feel well, I'll just have a piece of lettuce" Floss said.
"And why is that? What else have you been eating today?" May-Li asked.
"You might as well finish these" Tyler said, handing Floss the box of sweets and she got up, hurrying from the room with her mouth covered.
"I'll go, she'll be fine" Mike said, following her.
"Anyway, let's all drink to Faith" Frank said.
"To Faith!" We all toasted, the night ending in us all relaxing in front of the TV before heading off to bed.