Chapter 12

A few weeks later

Rachel was asleep but suddenly her alarm started buzzing telling her it was time to get up, it was a Friday morning and Rachel couldn't wait for the weekend, this week seemed to have dragged more than any other, this was probably because they'd had an inspection yesterday and she'd spent almost her entire week preparing for it so had been particularly stressed, although she loved her job and wouldn't change if for the world Rachel couldn't help but long for a day at work that wasn't filled with pandemonium

Rachel was about to drag herself out of bed when suddenly she felt someone next to her, she screamed in shock terrified to turn round but when she eventually plucked up the courage she saw it was only Jess.

Rachel was still recovering from the shock when Jess woke

"Oh good morning did you get lost finding your bedroom last night Jess" Rachel asked sarcastically "when on earth did you come in here"

"Well I heard you coming out the toilet last night and then I waited ten minutes till you were asleep then I snuck in" Jess explained

"but why did you ..." Rachel began confused

"I just couldn't sleep and I always sleep better if I'm with you" Jess said

Rachel couldn't help but laugh, she ruffled Jess's hair affectionately "honestly what are you like" Rachel said "right I'm going for a shower now so you stay in here for a bit but you'll have to get up when I'm out because I want to put some fresh sheets on so I'll need you off"

"Okay" Jess said still sounding quite sleepy

Rachel then went to her bathroom and jumped in her shower, it always did make her feel relaxed first thing on a morning, she always wished she could stay in there longer and let the warm water pour over her body, but after 10 minutes or so she realised she had to get out or she'd never get herself and the kids up and dressed in time for school, Rachel had just wrapped a towel around herself and had started brushing her teeth when Jess ran in

"Rachel can I go to your toilet"

Rachel was unable to respond when she had her toothbrush in her mouth so just nodded her head

"Well I can't go when your in here, go out " Jess said

Rachel rolled her eyes as she finished brushing her teeth "it's my bathroom" she said but she walked out anyway

A few minutes later Jess came out so Rachel went back in and started putting her body butter on

After a while Rachel realised she'd have to wake the kids up so went into Olivia's room and gently shook her awake.

Once she'd got Olivia up she knocked on Katie's door but when she realised this hadn't woke her went in

Rachel went and stood next to her niece, she noticed how pale she looked, Katie hadn't seemed right for the last few days and Rachel was starting to get worried about her

"Katie" Rachel said shaking her awake

Reluctantly Katie opened her eyes, when she did Rachel saw there were dark rings around them and It looked as though she'd been crying

"Morning love" Rachel said

"Hi Rach" Katie said

"Did you get a good sleep?" Rachel asked

"Yeah really good"

"Why does your face tell me different..you know those circles under your eyes are a bit of a give away" Rachel said

Katie didn't say anything just stared down at her bed

"Katie is there something up?" Rachel asked "something we need to have a chat about"

"No" Katie replied "look I just got distracted on my iPad for ages I lost track of time"

"Oh what have I told you about that it's terrible for your eyes to be on that just before you go to sleep for hours, honestly I think I'm going to start taking it off you at bedtime" Rachel Sighed

"I'm sorry" Katie mumbled

Rachel paused for a moment before saying "love are you sure there's nothing you want to tell me about because you really don't seem yourself and if there is I'd really rather you tell me and not keep it in"

"I'm fine Rach honest "

Rachel sighed realising she wasn't going to get anywhere so stood up and straightened her skirt out "okay love"

Rachel was about to leave when she remembered she had to tell Katie something "oh Katie remember it's year 7 parents evening tonight so I'm going to be home late, grandmas going to look after you but is it okay if you walk home yourself, I would give you a lift but there's so much to sort out and I've got to finish making this bloody presentation thing and make sure all the kids parents have been contacted and ...god knows what else they'll probably have me scrubbing the floor and making the food while I'm at it ..oh and on top of all that I've got to whizz round all your teachers" Rachel said beginning to realise what a hectic night it was going to be

"What but ... But you don't need to see my teachers do you"

"Um yeah, how else am I meant to know how your doing" Rachel said a little taken a back

"But you see my teachers all the time, they'd let you know if I've been in any trouble...half the time it makes there day telling you everything I've done"

Rachel went and sat back down on her nieces bed "darling believe it or not I'm not just interested in whether your in trouble or not I just like to know how you're doing in each subject, so that if there's any issues we can tackle them" Rachel said "look love is you're worried about what a teacher is going to say then ..."

"I'm not" Katie cut in "it's just, I find some subjects hard sometimes and it's difficult to concentrate" Katie said

"Well that's nothing to be ashamed of, no one expects you to be good at everything" Rachel said "Katie as long as you try your hardest then I can't ask anymore of you"

Rachel squeezed her nieces shoulder supportively before getting up as she was walking out she said "breakfast will be ready in about 20 minutes so try and be ready for then okay"

"I don't want any breakfast" Katie said instantly

"Tough, it's not an option Katie you can't go through an entire morning at school with nothing in you"

"You never have breakfast"

"Yeah ...but that's different ...because..." Rachel said but she was struggling on thinking what to say back to this, Katie did have a point she always did hate eating first thing on a morning but was constantly on at the kids to eat there breakfast

"Exactly" Katie said

"Look Katie you're having breakfast end of" Rachel sighed

"But I can't I feel sick" Katie said sounding quite desperate

Rachel was about to say something in response when Olivia came to Katie's doorway and started tugging in her mums skirt making it clear she wanted her attention

"Fine" Rachel sighed knowing for her to win this argument it would take a lot of time and energy and right now all she wanted to do was crack on with the day

"What is is Olivia" Rachel asked her daughter sounding a little flustered she then noticed her daughter was still in her pyjamas

"Mum you haven't left any stuff out for me so I can't get dressed" Olivia said

"What ... Yes I did I out them there earlier" Rachel said before going into Olivia's room however she soon realised she must have forgotten to get Olivia's school uniform out earlier after it had been through the wash yesterday when Olivia had come home filthy after some mad game of tig in the pouring rain on the muddy field

Rachel quickly reached into her daughters drawers and got out her knickers and tights

"Put those on, I'll nip down and get your uniform" Rachel said before running down and bring Olivia up her uniform

When she went back up to her room she laughed when she saw Olivia's tights just half way up her legs and all twisted

"Honestly liv how have you managed to get them in this mess" Rachel laughed before going over and sorting them out for her

About half an hour later they were all in the car on the way to school

"Mum did you sign my form for the school trip"

"What form, you've never said anything about a trip" Rachel said

"But the letter was in the bottom of my school bag"

"Oh well it's doing a whole lot of use there isn't it ...you know it would be nice if people gave me, or at least told me about things I'm supposed to know about rather than expecting me to have some sort of super powers so I know when to check your bags for crumpled up letters" Rachel sighed

"But you normally check my bag"

"Well you can't expect to every night Olivia" Rachel said exasperated "look find the letter and give it here"

Olivia spent the next 5 minutes searching through her bag and emptying the entire contents of it over Rachel's car until she finally produced the letter and have it to Rachel

As soon as they pulled up at the primary school Rachel signed the letter and gave it to Olivia

"Right go on you two you're going to be late" she said

The two of them kissed her goodbye before leaving, only then did Rachel see what a state the back of her car was in from Olivia emptying out her school bag

"It looks like the local skip in here" she sighed "why on earth is there a load of banana skins there, does she not know how to use a bin and what the bloody hell was that doing in her bag" Rachel said picking up a lipstick which she recognised at nice as being her own "oh the little ...I spent the best part of an hour looking for that it's my Clinique one.. She'll have used it in some dressing up game they play" Rachel said half to herself

It was only then that Rachel noticed Katie had her head in her hands and looked quite faint

"Katie what is it love" Rachel asked worried

"I feel dizzy" Katie said

"Right head between your legs, close your eyes" Rachel ordered

Katie did as Rachel instructed and soon she began to feel a bit better so sat back up, however Rachel was still looking worried

"Here go through my bag for some water" Rachel said passing her bag over to Katie

"I'm okay" Katie said unconvincing as she took sips of her aunts water

"Love are you going to be okay for school today" Rachel asked although she never normally liked letting the kids have days off, if they were ever really Ill she'd much rather them stay off.

"Rach I just had a dizzy spell I'll be fine"

"I'm worried about you Katie you really don't seem like your normal self, I know I said it earlier but if there is something up I do want you to talk to me about it, even if you think it's something I wouldn't be too pleased about"

"I said I'm fine" Katie said sounding a little snappy

"Is it ... Is it time of the month or something" Rachel asked

"No" Katie answered her cheeks flushing a bit "I think they've stopped"

"Why do you say that?"

"Well because I was due last week but I still haven't come on"

"Darling they only started a couple of months ago, there bound to be a bit irregular"

"I guess" Katie said wanting to end the conversation now

Katie stared out the window again until they got to school, she quickly got her stuff together before running off with her friends

Surprisingly the day seemed to be passing quite quickly for Rachel and she'd been able to get on with quite a lot of stuff, it was about 10 minutes before lunch when Rachel heard a knock at her door

"Yeah" she said

She was surprised when she saw Katie come in

"Hey Katie what's up?" Rachel asked minimising the letter she was typing up and diverting her attention towards her niece

"Rach I don't mean to bother you but miss jones sent me to you because I felt funny" Katie said "but it's okay I'll just say I've been up and you sent me back and ..."

"You'll do nothing of the sort come on sit down here" Rachel said gesturing for Katie to come and sit down on the sofa next to her desk.

Rachel quickly saved her work before going to sit down with Katie

"Is it your head again" Rachel asked

Katie just nodded her head in response but then much to her surprise tears started filling up her eyes

Rachel out her arms around her sympathetically "oh love you feeling a bit teary today hmm bit emotional?" Rachel asked

Katie nodded her head "I don't know why I'm crying I just feel a bit ..."

"Crap" Rachel offered

Katie smiled slightly and nodded her head

Rachel squeezed her arm before reaching for the box of tissues she always kept on her desk and handing some to Katie

"There you go my love" Rachel said "I know you don't feel well and to be honest you don't look well either, so why don't you have some lunch here and then I'll get grandma to come and pick you up, you can go home have a day in front of the tv with some blankets, that sound better than staying here when your feeling like this"

Again Katie nodded her head

"Right well you go and get some lunch and I'll ring grandma" Rachel Said

Katie was about to go off when Rachel stopped her

"Wait don't you need some more dinner money" Rachel asked

"No"

"Are you sure because I only gave you £10 on Monday and I doubt that would have lasted you the whole week" Rachel said

"Well it has" Katie said before rushing off

Rachel began to get concerned she wondered if Katie was eating okay because she remembered she hadn't wanted breakfast this morning and every night this week she I insisted Rachel only give her a tiny portion of tea and had finished up chucking most of It in the bin

Rachel rang her mum to ask if she could drop Katie off and then decided to go into the lunch room to see if she could catch Katie now, the bell hadn't gone yet so she would most likely be by herself in there

When Rachel got down there she saw Katie sat in the corner with a small helping of salad and she was only picking at that

Instantly Rachel went over to her

"hey that won't do you for lunch" Rachel said "stay there I'll get you something else"

"I'm fine Rach" Katie insisted

Rachel sighed and pulled up a chair so she was sat opposite her niece

"You see Katie I'm not sure that you are" Rachel began "you've been picking at your food all week and that's so unlike you"

"Yeah well I just want to be ..." Katie began but stopped herself

"Just want to be what " Rachel asked expectantly however when she didn't get an answer she said "look love i think there's something you and I need to have a chat about because this isn't you Katie, you look so gaunt and well to be quite honest your looking dreadful"

"Oh well thanks Rach you really know how to make me feel good about myself, it's bad enough looking in the mirror and seeing it but when your own auntie starts calling you ..." Katie sobbed getting hysterical

"Katie I didn't say that, you know I didn't mean..." Rachel said trying to defend herself

"Oh just leave me alone Rachel" Katie snapped before grabbing her stuff and running out away from her auntie

Rachel got up to follow her out but by now the bell had gone so loads of kids were coming out making it impossible to find her niece

"great" Rachel muttered, now she was left feeling completely panicked about her niece and she didn't have a clue where she'd gone

Rachel spent the next half hour unsuccessfully trying to find Katie

After a while she gave up and decided to ring her mum to see if Katie had just walked round there

"Hiya mum I was just wondering of Katie had come round"

"Yeah she came about 15 minutes ago"

"Oh great" Rachel said feeling relieved "is she okay"

"No not really she came in floods of tears, she want tell me what's up though so I just sat her down and gave her some coffee, she seems shattered though and she's fast asleep now, she doesn't look at all well either" Betty said

"I know, I know" Rachel sighed

"Have you two had an argument or something"

"Sort of ... Look mum I've got to go now but just tell her from me that she's not to worry and we're going to talk about it at home later, I'll try and be as quick as I can with parents evening and get off a bit early, oh and try and get her to eat something" Rachel said

She quickly said goodbye to her mum before putting the phone down and running her fingers through her hair

The rest of the school day went by quite quickly and soon the bell signalling the Ned of the day rang

Rachel quickly nipped to the loo before starting to do her make up again as some of It had worn off through the day and she hated looking a mess in front of parents but all she really wanted to do now is to home and talk to Katie properly

Rachel got her phone out and checked that Katie hadn't text her or anything but she hadn't, Rachel then tried ringing her mobile but as there was no answer decided to text her

Hi darling hope you're feeling a bit better, shouldn't be too long here, talk later love you lots xxxxx

She sent the text but immediate began to worry, she knew if she overpowered Katie she'd just close up

However just a few minutes later her phone vibrated telling her Katie had test her back

Feeling a bit better now. Sorry about before x

Reading this instantly made Rachel feel a bit better, just knowing Katie was okay made her feel relieved

After an hour or so Rachel had set everything up so quickly went to see Katie's teachers

After than half hour she'd spent with them Rachel felt very concerned, it seemed as though Katie had been really struggling to concentrate over the last few weeks and kept getting headaches and In some lessons had been nearly falling asleep. She couldn't help but feel responsible for all this after all Katie was in her care

As soon as parents started arriving Rachel tried to out on a brave face and was as polite as she could be and tried to make conversation with them all but really she just needed to get home

"Rachel are you okay" Chris asked "look if you need to get back that's fine we can manage"

For a moment Rachel thought about accepting his offer but realised she couldn't leave them to do all the hard work themselves "no don't be daft I wouldn't dream of it" Rachel said however just as she did her phone started ringing

She stepped outside to answer it

"Rachel it's Katie she collapsed and now she's in a real state she won't stop crying" Betty said down the phone sounding very scared

"Right I'll be there as soon as I can" Rachel said before rushing to tell Chris that she needed to get home

She then practically ran to her car and started driving home

As soon as she pulled up on the drive, she ran inside

"Mum" Rachel called

Betty came rushing out the living room "Rachel I've laid her down on the sofa but she's really upset" Betty told her daughter sounding really worried

Rachel quickly went through to the living room and despite her mums warning still felt extremely shocked when she saw Katie lying on the sofa crying her eyes out

"Katie, come on deep breathes" Rachel said trying to stay calm and control her nieces sobbing "it's alright don't try and talk just breath for me"

After a few minutes Rachel had calmed down her niece considerably

"There we go, you just stay right here darling I'm going to go through to the kitchen, but I'll be back in a few minutes I'm not going anywhere I promise" rachel said

She then got up and went with Betty through to the kitchen

"Mum what on earth happened?" Rachel asked

"I don't know it was so sudden she Said she was going for a lie down and all of a sudden she just fainted and then she came back and started sobbing"

"Oh god the poor kid" Rachel sighed "I don't know what all this is about not properly but there's something going on with her food at the moment she's barely eating at all ...god what of she's got an ED to think it's taken this long for me to realise" Rachel sighed

"It's not your fault love" Betty said

The two woman talked for a bit longer before Betty asked if Rachel would mind her going home, Rachel was actually quite glad she'd suggested it as she thought her and Katie could do with some alone time

"I can take Jess and liv with me too"

"Oh no mum I wouldn't expect you to ..."

"Nonsense it's for the best tonight Katie needs you on her own not with two kids jumping about, listen I'll get them sorted now" Betty said

A few minutes later Jess Olivia and Betty all came down

"Is she going to be okay Rachel" Jess asked through tears upset after what had happened to her sister

"Course she is love don't you worry" she said before bending down and kissing the two of them goodbye "now you two be good for grandma I'll come and pick you up in the morning"

As soon as they'd all gone Rachel went back to see Katie

"Hey love" Rachel said gently

"Rachel I'm sorry for making you come out of parents evening" Katie cried

"Oh Katie sod parents evening your the one I'm worried about at the moment" Rachel said stroking her nieces hair

Katie didn't say anything just continued to sob gently

"Darling I'm sorry...I'm sorry for not realising you were so unhappy"

"I'm not it's just..." Katie began however she couldn't finish her sentence

They were both quiet for a few minutes before Rachel said "why don't we go upstairs, I've got some chocolates hidden away in my room somewhere"

"I can't eat them ...don't you get it I'm fat" Katie cried

"Oh love you're not ...god if you're fat then there's no hope for the rest of us"

"But I am fat"

"That is utter rubbish Katie"

"No it's not I weigh so much more than everyone else"

"Who told you that"

"Just some of my friends we were talking about how much we weigh and I'm so much more than them, and ever since then I've been trying to loose weight but it's not working because I'm still massive and I'm still ugly" Katie screamed before bursting into a fresh flood of tears

Rachel sighed before bringing Katie into her chest

"Oh Katie...katie" Rachel whispered "come on don't cry so"

After a few minutes Rachel sat Katie up again

"Right let's get something very clear, you are in not fat, not in any way" Rachel said sounding quite firm "and you answer me this what's better to be a normal healthy shape and happy or starving yourself and ending up bursting into tears all the time, fainting, headaches, dizziness, poor school work the lot"

"I know and I know it sounds stupid I just hate feeling fat"

"Darling I wish you'd told me about this sooner I really honestly do" Rachel sighed "I love you so much and seeing you like you were half an hour ago it frightened me" Rachel told her

"Rach I'm sorry"

"There's nothing to be sorry for Katie, it's obvious to me you've got a problem and because I know that I can help" Rachel said "we can sort this Katie ... Might mean a few awkward trips to the doctors and a psychologist trying to pick your brains out but we'll get there darling I promise"

"Okay" Katie said sounding weak and vulnerable

"Okay" Rachel said softly "now I think we can forget about all this ... Just till tomorrow and have a nice night the two of us"

Katie wrapped her arms around her aunt again and Rachel brought her into a cuddle, it was the first time today where Katie began to feel a little comforted

Please review xxxxxxxx