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-LAST TIME, ON 'GOING HOME'...

The kids of The Dumping Ground discuss Emily.
Carmen discovers Emily found her bracelet and accuses her of stealing it.
Overhearing about Emily's mother, Ryan makes a deal with the new girl.

Enjoy, guys! xx

Chapter 11: The Last Person She Wanted to See

May-Li called everyone for dinner and Ryan and Emily trailed into the kitchen after the rest of the kids. Sitting down to a meal of fish and chips, Emily picked at her portion, nibbling at the odd chip. She couldn't stop thinking about her mum.

"Mummy!" the little seven year old girl yelled, running towards her, as her mother came through the front door.

"Not now, darling," her mother brushed her off, fixing her blond hair in the mirror before shrugging off her fur coat.

"You're back late," Emily's father said coldly, coming into the hallway and standing there with his arms crossed. His curly dark hair was dishevelled, after looking after his excitable little girl for three hours longer than he should have. He had just got her to put her pyjamas on when his wife, who should have been there to do that, came home.

"Work was absolute torture, darling," the blond woman excused herself in a melodramatic way.

"Mummy, Mrs Walsh wants to put my work on display!" Emily said excitedly, "She says I have a talent forwriting!" She looked very pleased with herself, her own dark curls falling into her face.

"Yes, Emily," said her father quietly, taking her arm gently, "Go on up to bed now, you can tell Mummy all about it when she comes to tuck you in." His voice jarred on the word 'Mummy', but Emily didn't notice. She bounded up the stairs in her green and white pyjamas and disappeared out of sight.

"Where were you?" her father asked, and Emily sat at the top of the stairs, hidden away around the corner, listening to her parents.

"I told you, I was at work," the blond woman shrugged.

"You really think I'll buy that?" he asked incredulously. "Want to hear what I think you've been doing?"

"Don't be ridiculous," said his wife, taking off her high-heeled shoes and tugging her pencil skirt down.

"I can't believe you," he almost yelled.

"What do you think you're accusing me of?" Emily's mother's voice rose a few octaves and Emily shivered as she heard her parents arguing.

"I should've listened to my mates about you, Deliah," he said dangerously, "I just didn't want to believe it was true."

"What?" she snapped.

"It's been nearly eight years," he said coldly, "And we have a daughter, what more could you possibly want?"

Emily pushed the memory far from her mind and laid down her fork with a pained expression. Ryan was sitting on the other side of the table a few seats down and noticed her face, though the rest of the kids carried on talking and eating. Emily avoided all eyes and bit her lip as if about to cry.

Ryan turned slightly to see May-Li behind him. He raised slightly his hand to touch her arm, jerking his head towards Emily. May-Li followed his gaze and nodded, giving his shoulder a squeeze.

"Thanks, Ryan," she whispered. She went around the table and stood behind Emily, bending closer to the miserable girl. "Emily, want to leave the table?"

Emily nodded once and May-Li laid a hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to stand up. She led Emily away from the table and the other kids started to notice.

"Are you OK, Emily?" Mo asked, with concern.

"Yeah, is she all right?" Bailey asked, suddenly seeming to care.

"Emily's just not feeling so well," May-Li filled in swiftly, exchanging a glance with Mike as she followed Emily out of the room.

"What's up with her?" Carmen questioned with an eyebrow raised.

"Emily's just having a tough time right now," said Mike, beginning to clear the table.

"…Still?" Johnny asked, feeling sad on Emily's behalf.

"A lot of things have changed for her in the past couple of days," Mike said, trying to give away as little detail as possible.

"Yeah, but-" Tee began.

"Emily will tell you in her own time," Mike said, ending the conversation.

The kids went to do their chores or do their own thing as the table was cleared. Ryan lingered by the notice board at one wall, surveying the chores rota. Emily had recently been pencilled in on every other week day to do washing up, and on the other days, to help with the washing. Ryan counted his own chores and smirked when he thought of all the free time he'd have when he won the bet – ifhe won the bet. Emily was stubborn, but he still wanted to win.

Emily went and sat in her room and May-Li came in after her, sitting down next to her on the bed.

"Do you want me to bring you up anything later?" she asked, "You didn't eat much at dinner."

"No thanks," Emily mumbled.

"Hey," May-Li said with a smile, "You should try to eat more, so you get used to it." Evidently Emily hadn't had much food at home.

"I know," Emily muttered, "I'm just not used to there being so much food, it's weird, I know."

May-Li didn't press her for any more information, but Emily felt safe to give a little bit away.

"Dad spent a lot of his money on… booze," Emily said, not meeting May-Li's eyes, "So I had to make do with the cash left over, which wasn't a lot, for food and that."

"Hey, you shouldn't have had to 'make do'," May-Li said, frowning, "You could have always asked for help."

"Yeah, well, I didn't," Emily snapped, "Someone else did, and now look what happened." She sighed. "Sorry," she stammered, "You're being nice, and I'm acting like a child."

"Well, you are a child," she reasoned, "And it sounds like you had to be the grown up at home. How long has it been this way?"

"Ever since Mum left," Emily said, shrugging, "Well, not straight away… Dad only started drinking heavily when I was… eight or nine? Mum left when I was seven."

"OK," said May-Li. "But you can come to us for help," she added, putting an arm around the dark-haired girl, and giving her a friendly squeeze. "Even when you might leave, you're we'll still be here for you, me and Mike."

"Thanks, May-Li," Emily said, with a small smile.

"Well, why not have a nice bath in a couple of hours?" May-Li suggested. "I've got some relaxing bath salts I keep for emergencies."

"That sounds nice," said Emily.

May-Li left the room and went downstairs to the office to make a note of what Emily had told her, planning to discuss it with Mike later.

So, at eight o'clock the bathroom was free for half an hour, May-Li informed her. Emily made her way to the main bathroom after changing into the blue dressing gown. A small jar of purple salts stood on the corner of the bath, which had already been run. Emily couldn't remember the last time there had been hot water back home as she slid into the warm water, made silky by a handful of the bath salts, which smelled fruity and sweet.

Emily relaxed in the water and lathered her hair with shampoo, dunking her head in to wash it out. Wiping her eyes on the towel she'd placed on the side of the bath, Emily smoothed her hair back from her face and began to sing quietly to herself. She had heard the Ed Sheeran song 'Sing', on the radio at home. She started with the "oh" that jumped notes and softly added the "Sing!" not wanting to be overheard. She got to the higher part and her voice cracked a little. She decided she just had to go for it, and her voice came out clearer.

"I need you darling, won't you set the tone, if you feel you're falling, won't you let me know?" she continued, "Ooh-ooh-ooh." She liked the sound of the high riff and got back round to the "Sing!" part.

Ryan was walking down the corridor, having changed into his pyjamas. His bare feet brushed the carpet as he got neared the bathroom. He paused outside, hearing someone singing quietly. He listened as the voice easily reached all of the high notes, with a warm tone. Emily. He thought he recognised the song.

Smirking, he knocked on the door.

The singing stopped abruptly.

Emily sat bolt upright, sloshing drips of water onto the floor. She glanced around, though no one could see through the frosted glass. She wiped water out of her eyes and wondered who was knocking.

"Hey, can't anyone get in the bathroom?" Ryan said irritably.

"I've got it booked 'til half past," Emily replied, immediately discerning the Liverpool accent as Ryan's.

"Well," he said, glancing at the clock on the wall, "You've got five minutes."

"OK," she called back, blushing pink when she realised that Ryan had probably heard her singing. She heard footsteps leading away from the door, and got out of the bath and straight into her towel, shivering as she dried herself.

Emily put the pyjamas on and rubbed her hair vigorously with the towel, until it stopped dripping down her back. She brushed her teeth and checked the clock. Eight twenty nine. Emily decided to go back to her room before the boy would come knocking again, so she hung up her towel and shrugged on the dressing gown. She unlocked the bathroom door and, pulling the dressing gown tighter around her, went out into the corridor, smacking straight into the boy himself.

He glanced up as Emily's arms collided with his chest. Her hands dropped to her sides and her eyes widened. He rubbed his chest with one hand resentfully, if not a little shocked.

"Oh, um," she stammered, "Sorry."

"It's, um, fine," he mumbled, raising an eyebrow at her. He folded his arms, adding, "Like to sing, d'yeh?" He smirked, moving past her and closing the bathroom door behind him.

Emily flushed bright red and hurried back to her room, closing the door behind her. She narrowed her eyes. He just had to embarrass her, didn't he? A few minutes later, May-Li knocked on her door and Emily scrambled to hide her notebook under the covers.

"Come in," she called, and May-Li poked her head around the door.

"Ready for bed, Emily?" she asked, smiling.

"Yeah," Emily said, smiling awkwardly.

"Well, put your light off soon," she said, "Sleep well."

"'Night, May-Li," the girl replied, "Oh, I left the bath salts in the bathroom, sorry."

"Hey, that's OK," May-Li said, "I'm glad they helped. I'll just go get them now. Goodnight, Emily." She closed the door.

Emily smiled to herself, and for the first time since she'd got there, she did sleep well.

The following morning, Emily woke up when the rest of the kids were getting ready for school. She pulled on a pair of her mum's blue jeans, Carmen's old black vest and went to the cupboard to choose a top. She decided on one of the coloured button-up shirts; the black and white striped one. She left the top button undone and glanced at herself in the mirror. Running a hand through her hair, Emily closed the wardrobe doors and sat down.

Pulling on the socks she had worn the day before, she tugged the on brown boots and they fitted her well. As she laced them up, there was a knock on the door. She opened it, revealing Tee in her school uniform who smiled at her.

"Morning, Emily," the blond girl said.

"Morning, Tee," Emily returned with a smile.

"Hey, you look nice," Tee said generously.

"Oh, um, thanks," Emily said shyly.

"There's spare toast in the kitchen if you want it," the older girl offered.

"OK," she replied, stepping out of her room and closing the door behind her.

"Cool shirt," said Jody, as Emily went down into the kitchen.

"Have a nice day off school," Bailey said sourly.

Emily raised her eyebrows and sat down at the table, reaching for a slice of toast from the plate in the middle. Tyler rushed through the kitchen en route to the hallway, grabbing a piece of toast as he went.

"Hey, leave some for Emily," Johnny protested, placing a glass of orange juice on the table in front of her.

"Thanks, Johnny," said Emily. Ryan stood in the corner, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. He narrowed his eyes at them.

"Come on, Ryan," said May-Li, coming into the kitchen to round up the rest of the kids for school. "You don't want to be late." He reluctantly peeled himself from the wall and slunk out of the room.

"Come on, everyone!" May-Li called, and then turned to the remaining to kids. "I've got to take some of the kids in my car, as we're running late," she explained. "Emily, you can stay here with Johnny for a little while. Is that all right?" She looked expectantly at them.

"Sure, we can hold down the fort for quarter of an hour," Johnny said with ease, sitting down opposite Emily.

"OK, well, I'll be back soon," said the dark haired woman, leaving the room.

Emily finished her toast and sipped on the juice. She frowned, and Johnny said nothing for a moment. She placed her cup down carefully on the table.

"You OK?" he asked, resting his head on his fist.

"I'm seeing my mum," Emily blurted out, "Mike said he can arrange it."

"Wow," said Johnny, "Is that good?"

"I guess…" Emily trailed off. "I haven't seen her since she and dad got divorced… did they actually get a divorce?" she wondered aloud.

"How… how long ago was that?" Johnny asked tentatively.

"This isn't public information," Emily emphasised, "But she left six years ago."

"Ah," was all he said. "Well, you'll have a lot of questions for her."

"Yep," Emily replied, gulping the rest of her drink.

"I can clear the table," said Johnny, getting up, "Want to use the computer in the living room? It's already on, so you don't have to log in or anything."

Emily nodded, standing up and going into the living room. She sat down in front of the computer and turned on the screen. She glanced at the named folders containing the kids' work on the desktop, then opened the internet browser. She browsed clothing sites out of curiosity, but found nothing she really liked. Mike and May-Li soon returned.

Pulling off the earphones, and placing them down on the keyboard, Emily glanced up to see May-Li coming towards her. She closed the browser window and turned off the monitor, getting up.

"Emily, Mike wants to see you in the office," she said, "Your social worker want to talk to you."

"My social worker…?" Emily stammered. "Wait-" she frowned, storming past May-Li into the hallway. She saw through the windows that Andrea was in the office with Mike. The office door was ajar, so Emily pushed past it and scowled at the woman who had turned up.

"Emily," Andrea said, faking a smile, "I just wanted to see how you were getting on."

"Aside from the fact that you ruined my life," Emily snapped, "Just fine, thanks."

"Emily has settled in really well," Mike assured her, exaggerating slightly.

"Excellent," she said, with a simpering look at the thirteen year old. "Have you been behaving well, Emily?"

"Yes," Mike filled in, "She's been very good, um-" he coughed awkwardly, remembering the fight between Emily and Carmen on the first day. "Emily's been through a lot, but she's been handling the change really well."

Emily nodded decidedly, crossing her arms.

"Well," said Mike, addressing her, "Andrea and I have got some things to discuss, but we don't need you to stay."

"Run along, now, Emily," said Andrea, making a slight shooing gesture with her hand.

"Emily, can you ask May-Li to come to the office, please," Mike added, recalling that May-Li wanted to speak to him about Emily. The thirteen year old girl moodily left the room. She went into the kitchen and saw May-Li making a start on the washing up.

"Um, May-Li?" she asked, "Mike wants you to speak to him and Andrea in the office." She choked a little on her social worker's name. Couldn't she have someone – anyone – else as her social worker?

"Of course," said May-Li, drying her hands. "Would you mind doing some dishes?"

"Of course not," Emily replied, silently cursing her bad luck. Tied to the kitchen sink, how could she hope to eavesdrop? Johnny had finished tidying up and leaned against the worktop.

May-Li went into the office and closed the door. The discussion began.

"We do have some more information," May-Li put in, "I'd had a chance to speak to Emily."

"I wanted to book her in for a meeting," said Andrea, "So we can know what's really going on, apart from the obvious, of course."

"I think Emily would benefit from something less formal," said Mike. "I can just talk to her tomorrow. She'll speak to us."

"All right," Andrea agreed, "Isn't Emily attending school?"

"We, uh, let her off this week," Mike said hesitantly, "She wasn't up to it."

"Right," Andrea said, looking displeased.

"There was something I wanted to talk to you about," Mike said, taking off his glasses and folding his arms. "Social Services have managed to track down Emily's mum. She hasn't seen her since she left when she was little, and, well, Mrs Anderson wanted to see her daughter."

"I don't think that would be appropriate," Andrea said firmly, "Not this early in being taken into care. It would unsettle her."

"I think it already has," May-Li interjected, "Emily was only seven when her mum left. I think she has the right to see her."

"We've carried out all the checks, and we think it would only be right for Emily's mum to come here," said Mike, "To have a chat."

"Supervised, of course," said Andrea.

"Of course," said May-Li, "Mike will sit with them. It'll be not more than half an hour, for the first meeting." She looked at Mike and he nodded.

"All right," Andrea agreed. "I'll see what I can do. Before the end of the week, say?"

"Yes," said Mike, with relief, "That would be really good. Thank you, Andrea."

"Add any relevant information to Emily's file," said Andrea, "Though make sure she's telling you the truth. Children have a habit of exaggerating."

"OK," said Mike, showing her out. He exchanged a glance with May-Li before opening the front door and seeing Andrea to her car. He came back in a frowned.

"Well, that was interesting," said May-Li, shuffling some papers on her desk.

"She has the wrong personality for a social worker," Mike muttered, sitting down at his desk and passing a hand across his eyes.

"Well, I'll fix Emily and Johnny some lunch in a few hours. I've got some reading to catch up on," said May-Li, sitting down at her own desk, opposite her.

"I'll make a few phone calls," said Mike, before picking up the phone and dialling. He spoke to the twin's social worker for a few minutes, before putting the phone down and glancing at May-Li.

"When are the twins coming back, then?" she asked, glancing up from her book.

Mike sighed. "Friday."

"Right," she said, getting up. "We'll have to get the rooms sorted then, better to get it done in plenty of time, I'll ask Johnny for help."

"All right," Mike agreed.

May-Li left to enlist the help of Emily and Johnny in moving rooms. Emily rushed up to her room ahead of them, heaving the chest of drawers and reaching for her bundle of notebooks. She stuffed it in her school bag as Johnny came in. She went round the rest of her room, grabbing the small things that would fit in her bag.

"Good idea," he said. "Shall I fold your clothes and put them in a bag so they can be moved easily?" He waved a roll of black bags in one hand.

"Sure," she replied with a nod, putting her rucksack in the corridor. They quickly gathered all of Emily's things and put them in the corridor. Together they stripped the bed and piled up the sheets in the corridor. May-Li came along with armfuls of bedding and dumped them in Emily's room.

"Johnny, I need your help moving the extra bed in here," May-Li instructed, and Johnny went to get a hold of the bed that was crammed next to another one in the box room. Mike came up to help and they both moved the bed into the room that had been Emily's for a short time.

"I don't mind having a small room, honestly," said Emily, when Mike apologised again. She glanced into the room, seeing that it was the same size as her room back home. She didn't have much stuff anyway.

When the room move had taken place, Emily jumped onto her bed and leaned back, putting her hands behind her head. The walls of the box room were white and the window was quite big for a small room, letting in a lot of light. Her clothes had been put away in a smaller wardrobe in the corner and there was a little cabinet with three drawers next to her bed.

It was time for lunch and Emily sat down with Johnny and May-Li for a couple of sandwiches. Emily ate hers, slowly getting used to the abundance of food in the house. Mike popped in to get a plate of food to take back to the office.

"Mike's rather busy at the moment," May-Li apologised, "What with the twins returning."

"What are their names?" Emily asked, curious.

"Billie and Toni," Johnny filled in. "They came here a good few weeks ago now."

"And they were fostered?" she questioned.

"Yeah," said May-Li, "But it hasn't worked out, so the girls will be coming back here on Friday."

Emily nodded, knowing better than to ask any more questions about Billie and Toni. She would have associated the names with boys, but, as May-Li mentioned, Emily would be meeting two new girls the following day.

"I'll probably go out for a run later," said Johnny, getting up from the table when the three of them had finished.

"Not too soon," May-Li warned, "You'll get indigestion."

"Yeah, that's why I said 'later'," he replied quickly, raising his eyebrows and grinning.

"How long before you leave for the army, Johnny?" Emily asked, resting her elbows on the table. She had known the boy for nearly a week and already felt she would miss him when he finally left the care home.

"Just over a week," Johnny replied. "No doubt the rest of the kids will throw me some extravagant party on my last day."

"You've got to act surprised, Johnny," May-Li emphasised, raising an eyebrow at him. "Don't go ruining it for everyone." Her voice took on a teasing tone.

"Yes, May-Li," Johnny said with a smile. "I'm gonna go check if there's anything I've forgotten to buy."

"OK," May-Li agreed, getting up and taking the remaining things to the sink. She busied herself with stacking the few dishes they had used. "You OK, today, Emily?" she asked, not turning round.

Emily hesitated.

"Yeah, I'm OK," she said, a little quietly. May-Li turned round to look at her.

"Well," Emily went on, seeing the questioning look on May-Li's face. "I'm a bit nervous, about seeing my mum, that is."

"Well, that's understandable," May-Li considered, coming over to her. She reached across the table to lay a hand on Emily's shoulder. "You already did the breakfast dishes, so you're free from chores until everyone else gets back from school."

Emily smiled at her and made her way into the living room, catching up on the television shows she had missed since her father put a foot through their TV screen. She settled herself on the sofa, waved goodbye to Johnny half way through a programme called Wolfblood,May-Li crossed through to the office some time later, and Emily continued watching the channel for the next couple of hours.

Johnny came back and threw himself down in a sweaty heap next to Emily on the sofa.

"You might want to take a shower," Emily suggested.

"Aw, thanks," he replied sarcastically.

"Well, they will smell you as soon as they come through the door," Emily added, hiding a smile.

Mike came into the living room a little while later when it was time that school finished.

"Hey, Johnny," he said, adding, "You going to take a shower before dinner?"

"See," Emily said with a smirk. Johnny sighed.

"I'm going to get the kids from school," Mike said, turning to go, "See you two in a bit."

"Bye, Mike," said Johnny. "Well, I guess I will go take a shower before everyone else gets back and wants the bathroom."

"Fair enough," Emily returned, turning off the TV. She wandered into the garden and sat down on the swinging bench. The first person to get home and come into the garden was Ryan. He stopped as he noticed her swinging her feet and looking down at the grass, her hair concealing her face. Clenching his fists and pumping his shoulders once, he walked confidently up to her and sat down, unbalancing the bench.

Emily looked up in surprise as the bench swung. Ryan glanced at her and folded his arms, leaning back. They swung their feet as the bench swayed.

"Have a nice day at school?" Emily asked.

"As school goes," Ryan said casually, not meeting her eyes.

"I guess..." she said quietly, "I hate my school."

"Yew should ask Mike if you can transfer in September," Ryan suggested.

"Good idea," said Emily, "Do any of the other kids go to the same school as you?"

"Yeh: Tyler, Jody, Bailey, Mo, Carmen and Tee." Ryan's voice went a little cold at the mention of Tee. "So, most of us," he said, "It makes sense."

"And it's easier for Mike, I suppose," Emily added.

Ryan nodded slowly, his mind clearly elsewhere. Some of the other kids came out to play football and Mo rushed to tend to his plants. Mischief was bounding about after the ball and Emily was glad she felt tucked away on the swinging bench. They sat there in silence for a few moments.

"Ooh, Ryan and Emily," said a teasing voice. Tyler had come out into the garden, about to join in with the football game. He grinned at the two of them. Ryan gave him a sour look.

"Come on," Ryan muttered, getting up and Emily followed. Tyler laughed with Bailey as the pair left the garden.

They sat down in the living room with the other kids, and neither was called for chores until it was time for dinner. Dinner was followed by the getting ready of the little kids for bed. Emily went back to her new room, excused from chores, and put her pyjamas on, settling down in bed and scribbling in her notebook. She eyed her rucksack which bulged with her possessions, and vowed to hide her notebooks in a safer place tomorrow.

Sometime later, Emily went to brush her teeth before bed. Then May-Li poked her head around the bedroom door and bid her goodnight. Emily turned off the light.

NEXT TIME, ON 'GOING HOME'...

What will Emily reveal about her past?
Will she get to see her mother sooner than she thought?
And will Ryan manage to win the bet?

Catch the next chapter on Wednesday...