Delia: Aged 26
Ash: Aged 7

"I hate him, he's so stupid!" Ash slammed the front door behind him and stomped into the kitchen where Delia was cutting up vegetables for dinner. "Mum!"

"What's the matter, Ash?" she replied, not looking up from her chopping board. Her son tended to exaggerate things very easily, so she had learned no to pay too much attention when he went on about something.

"It's Gary," he whined. "He was being so mean to me today,"

This caught her attention. "And what did he do?" Ash and Gary had grown up together and as such were best friends. All throughout their childhood they had done absolutely everything together, just as Cassie and Delia had planned all those years ago. Not once had they had a fight, so this was strange that something had happened now.

"We were hanging out with all the other kids at the park and it was fine, and then suddenly he goes to me," And at this point he was using massive arm gestures to explain the situation. "Well, not goes to me, but starts not talking to me. So I ask him what's wrong and he just starts talking about how much better he is than me. So I just left,"

Delia frowned. "It sounds like he was showing off,"

"I don't think so," he continued. "Because he's never been like that in front of anyone before, he's stood up for me if anyone was ever picking on me,"

"I'm sorry he was so mean to you, sweetie," she comforted, placing her knife down on the bench and leaning in to give her son a hug. After, she bent down and brushed his hair out of his eyes and was surprised at how sad they looked. He wasn't crying, they were just dull. It hurt to see her child like this. "Why don't you go over to his or give him a call and ask what was wrong? I'm sure he'll understand if you explain it to him,"

"Well, alright," he sighed. "Thanks," She watched him leave the kitchen and heard him pick the phone off the reciever. She turned back towards the chopping board and picked her knife back up. Why would Gary just turn on Ash like that? He'd always been a lovely boy and she had always liked him being friends with Ash. "Hey, Gary," She tuned back into what was happening in the lounge room. "I am not a loser...why am I calling you?...Fine, I'll hang up, it's not like I care anyway!"

Now she awaited the inevitable - him coming back into the kitchen. She held her breath as she heard the phone beep as it was put back down and then his footsteps. Slowly, he made his way over to where she was standing and looked up at her. She turned to him and suddenly he burst into tears.

"It's okay," She hugged him tightly. "Don't worry about him, he doesn't realise how good a friend you are. He'll miss you,"

"No, he won't," Ash managed to get out in between sobs. "He called me a loser and said I should never call him again!" What a little shit, he mind hissed. How dare he be so mean to her son! But she couldn't express any of this anger to Ash, it would just make the situation worse. She imagined how awkward it would be between her and his mother now - she didn't want it to be, she still wanted to be friends with Cassie. But right now, she had to focus on making her son happy. She pulled him into a tighter hug, lifting him up and spinning him around. He was trying not to laugh, she could hear it.

"If he's going to be so mean, you don't need him as a friend anyway," she said. "We've got each other, and you've got all your other friends too,"

"They all like Gary more than me," he sighed, wiping his eyes. "I don't blame them, I'm annoying,"

"Ash, don't say that about yourself!"

"But it's true!" he exclaimed. "They only liked me because I was friends with Gary,"

"I don't believe that," she shook her head. "You're such a nice boy, why wouldn't they like you?" He just shrugged and looked away from her. "Follow me," she walked over to their dining table and took a seat. He took the one next to her and pulled the chair around so he was facing her. She felt absolutely awful for her son, why should he have to go through something like this?

"What is it?" he huffed. She couldn't blame him for being in a bad mood.

"We live in a very small town, don't we?" He nodded slowly, seemingly confused. "Well, people in a small town are often very judgemental,"

"What does judgemental mean?"

She chuckled under her breath. "It means when someone judges you when they don't know the full story or have been told by someone else," He mouthed an 'oh' and she continued. "So it can be very hard living in such a small place because if you're different, you'll gain a reputation,"

"Is that good or bad?"

"It depends, but most of the time its bad," she knew about this all too well. When she was pregnant and went out into town, people would stare at her and even laugh. She was known by other people her age as 'that skank' among other things. "But as long as you know the truth, then everything will be okay. And these things aren't forever. When you're older you're going to travel the world and meet all sorts of people that like you for you, not just because of your friends," As she finished, she noticed that he had a wide smile on his face.

"I can't wait!" he exclaimed. "I'm going to see everything and I'll have the best friends and we'll have so much fun!" It was times like this that Delia loved being a mother, just seeing his seven-year old jubliation at the simplest of things. It was so sweet.

"Of course you are," she smiled too and pulled him into a hug. "Now go wash up for dinner, it will be on the table in ten minutes,"