Chapter 2

Ashley felt weird as she entered what was now going to be her home – until they found her a foster family. Her room was tacky, but she was used to that. At home, her parents had given her the best education and everything, but had left out the living luxury part, because they felt it was best for her to experience what middle class living was like. Her family had been rich, but it was still a big change because she would have to go to a public school. Ashley was way above the standard of most students. She spoke English, French, Spanish, Arabic and Japanese and had one of the highest IQs at her school.

Her bed had a plain white duvet, and a wardrobe with a locker on each side sat next to it. A small desk sat under the window, and a small bag of clothes sat by the door. She realised that she still had her karate kit on from the night before.

Ashley felt sad. She had lost everything she owned, and her family. She had no idea what her future would be like now. As she collapsed on her bed, a voice called out.

'Hi, how are you?'

Ashley turned over and saw a thin Jamaican girl about her age standing by the door on the opposite side of the room.

'Hi, I'm OK. My name's Ashley. Nice to meet you.'

The girl held out her hand. 'Gabrielle. You're my room-mate. I only came last week. When did you arrive?'

'Just this morning. My parents died in a fire last night.'

'Oh you poor thing! I'm so sorry!' cried Gabrielle. 'My parents died in a car crash. A few years ago.'

Ashley stayed quiet. She didn't like talking about her parents now.

'When's breakfast? I'm starved,' asked Ashley.

'It's about now. I'll take you down, let's go.'

*

Ashley was glad she had made a friend, but she was still depressed. At breakfast she sat with Gabrielle and a few others. They all seemed nice and the food tasted OK. She was glad Jackson had settled in. He sat a few tables away with a group of about ten boys. He didn't seem worried at all.

After breakfast, Ashley went back to her room. All the other kids were in school, and there was nothing to do in the home. There was a knock at the door, and Jackson's head poked around it.

'Can I come in?' he asked.

Ashley shrugged.

'Are you OK; you look a bit washed out?' Jackson said.

'Yeah, I'm fine, I just miss them, I suppose,'

'Uh huh,' said Jackson. 'So do I, but I try not to think about it. There's nothing to do, so why dwell on it?'

'I suppose,' said Ashley, still rather subdued. 'I feel like a walk. I need to clear my head,'

'Can I come with?'

Ashley shrugged, 'Sure,'

The street was nothing better than the home itself. The sidewalks were littered with rubbish, and every now and then you could see blood on the road, which suggested that they should probably steer clear.

'Subtle,' Ashley murmured.

A few hundred meters up the road, they came to a vacant block of land. Ashley threw herself down, picked up a few long grasses and started weaving them into a bracelet. Jackson plopped down beside her.

'Why here?'

Ashley looked up, 'It's quiet, shady and a can't be bothered to walk any further,'

'Right,'

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Jackson spoke up.

'What are we gonna do about Karate? There's no way the home will pay for us,'

Ashley frowned, 'Right now, no Karate is the least of my worries,'

Jackson nodded, 'I suppose there are higher priorities,'

Ashley struggled to think of a reply, but was interrupted by a screaming sound coming from the other side of the road.

She whirled around, and saw a small boy of about seven, struggling to get away from a gang of teenagers who were pursuing him. Ashley and Jackson reacted automatically, and tore towards the fight.

'Leave him alone!' yelled Ashley.

The boys laughed. 'Oh no! She's gonna try and stop us!'

Jackson's head snapped up. 'Don't patronise us! You want trouble, you'll get it!'

'If you start it, squirt, we'll finish it,'

Ashley had had enough. She charged forward, and knocked the first boy cold with a punch to the side of the head. Jackson stepped up to the second one, who was a whole three heads taller. The boy grabbed his collar and dragged him away, but Jackson reacted straight away, kneeing him in the guts and knocking him over with an aggressive back kick. Jackson stepped over the unconscious teenagers and ran over to Ashley, who was now taking on the last guy. She ducked to avoid a clumsy punch and drove her foot between his legs. The boy groaned in agony and collapsed. They ran over to the kid, who was staring as if he couldn't believe his eyes.

'I owe you guys! You totally saved me from a beating,' he said.

Ashley smiled, 'No problem. I'm Ashley, this is Jackson,'

'I'm Simon,' said Simon. I'm supposed to be at school, but I should probably get back to the home and get some ice for my eye,'

Jackson nodded, 'We don't have school yet, so we'll walk with you,'

The home was dark after being out in the sun that morning. Ashley and Jackson went to Simon's room, I which he happened to have an Xbox. Jackson was pleased. He hadn't had one at home, and hadn't played since a play date with one of his friend's a few months before. They played all day, occasionally stopping to grab snacks from the kitchen. They mainly told stories about events in their lives and how they'd ended up here. Simon wasn't surprised to hear that they were black belts in Karate. He had suspected that. On the other hand, Ashley and Jackson were surprised at Simon's story. He had been born in Norway, and his parents had died in a skidoo accident when he was four. He had spent two days wandering in the snow, before he was found by a couple of lodgers. He had severe hypothermia and was airlifted to hospital, before being transferred to a children's home in London. He had been in seven different foster families before he had ended up at Elm house.

Ashley wondered what she would have done if she had been in the same position.

At 3:00, all the kids started poring in from school. Ashley left Jackson and Simon and went to find Gabrielle. She was where Ashley had thought: In the dorm.

'Hi, how was school?' asked Ashley.

'Not good,' said Gabrielle. 'A bunch of idiots set light to a newspaper in a classroom and they had to call the fire brigade. Everyone had to walk out of class and onto the school oval. We stayed there for a whole three hours and I missed my cooking and art classes,'

'Gosh,'

'Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking. Oh, and I heard about your fight with the Cambrel triplets this-morning,'

'They're triplets?' asked Ashley, 'They don't look anything like each other!'

'Well, yeah, turns out they are,' said Gabrielle, 'You're awesome at fighting! Where'd you learn?'

'Noamber St Karate. I trained every afternoon until my parents died,'

'I know Karate too,' Gabrielle said. 'I'm a Second Dan. What about you? You must be at least a second too,'

'I'm a fifth,' said Ashley. 'My brother Jackson is a fourth,'

Gabrielle's eyes widened. 'Really? Wow,'

Ashley nodded. 'Karate is my life. I don't know what I'm gonna do now because the home won't pay the fees for us. Where do you learn?'

'I used to live with a foster family, and my foster father was an instructor,'

A bell sounded in the hallway.

'Dinner, Let's go,' said Gabrielle.

*

After dinner, they went back to the dorm, and sat on the floor playing scrabble. Mostly they just talked and moaned about their lives. Before bed, a house parent came in.

'You can start at Windsor School tomorrow; Gabrielle will find you a Uniform and show you the way,'

Ashley nodded. Gabrielle took her down to the laundry where a big box of tatty school uniforms were kept. Ashley found a uniform, and some fairly battered shoes that fit her OK. When they got to bed, Ashley felt sad. Tomorrow she would go to school and meet new friends, but she was disappointed. In everyone's life, there was a twist, like in books. You had your ups and downs, but there was always a turning point. Ashley knew that this was her twist. Her parents and two of her siblings had died in a fire. She had to give up everything and start again from the beginning, at a small care home in a dirty and violent neighbourhood.

*

Windsor School was a 2km walk, through fields and vandalised streets. Jackson and a few others walked with them. They were late but nobody seemed to care, and messed about chasing each other through fields and rolling down hills.

When Ashley got to the school, she walked with Gabrielle to registration. There seemed to be dramas everywhere: fights breaking out, lame excuses, students bunking off. When they got to the classroom, Ashley handed her form teacher a note and sat down at the back with Gabrielle.

'This is Ashley,' said the teacher. 'Please make her feel very welcome here at Windsor and help her to find her way around,'

The class exchanged grunts and looked back at her. She could tell all of the boys were checking her out, and it felt creepy.

The first lesson was Science. Gabrielle wasn't in her class, so Ashley sat in the only available chair at the back, next to a boy with extremely short hair. The lesson was nothing compared to the ones at her boarding school and she was soon bored. The teacher was strict and not much more that a few giggles and a flick of a rubber band were heard, but this happened to be about the only lesson where the kids actually worked.

The rest of the school day was a blur. Nobody seemed to care about lessons, and the teachers were at utter despair with all the chaos. Ashley had expected this, but it was still a shock when she saw kids jumping in and out of windows, throwing textbooks and paper darts, and swearing at each other.

She hung out with Gabrielle for the entire day. When they got home after school, Ashley was so tired she thought she could sleep for a million years. Just as she was about to go to sleep, a kid stuck his head round the door.

'The counsellor wants to see you,'