Chapter 8

A/N: It's been a hot minute! So sorry for the ridiculous delay in uploading this chapter, I always try to write one chapter in advance so that if I get bad writers block (like I've had aha!) then I'll have a chapter to post. I've been stuck on what to write next, I know the major points I want this story to reach, but any suggestions would be greatly appreciated in the reviews! Enjoy, and again, apologies for the wait.

Chloe did as her mum instructed, by taking a few seconds to just breathe. She couldn't understand why something she can usually do without even thinking about it was now so impossibly hard.

"Good girl. Let's just take a few deep breaths together before you try and tell me what happened, okay. Look at me, Chloe. That's it. In 2, 3, and blow it out, 2, 3." Chloe again followed her mum's instructions, though she was reluctant to comply as she felt like a waste of her mum's time and a nuisance.

"Good. Good girl. Do you feel ready to talk?"

"I'm fine mum. You don't need to baby me. I'll just get on with cooking our dinner." She went to get up off of the sofa, however Ange's gentle arm pulled her back down.

"Hey, Chloe, if making dinner was what was making you so upset in the first place, then going back to it really isn't such a good idea, is it?" Chloe shook her head as she wiped away a stay tear rolling down her cheek.

"So you don't have to worry about that. I've got some ready meals in the fridge, or I can nip down to Tesco like I said earlier. But this isn't all that's worrying you, is it?" Chloe shook her head. How could she open up to her mum without revealing too much? She was strong. She wasn't going to let what her mum said yesterday affect her, besides, she couldn't change it.

"It's just school stuff mum."

"Okay, well we can fix it then can't we. Can you be a bit more specific?" Chloe shrugged.

"Is it about what Miss Hutchinson emailed me about this morning?" Hesitantly, Chloe nodded her head. Ange knew deep down that the root of Chloe's upset was bound to be drawn back to yesterday, but it hurt her too much. It hurt her having to tell her about it yesterday, and she could tell that Chloe really didn't want the subject to be brought up. So she decided to leave it and focus on what she could change. "Well, it's a good job that your main exams are what, one year, two years off from now?"

"One year."

"Then we have time, don't we darling. Yeah, we can sort all of this out and make plans to help you in plenty of time."

"I still have end of years in a few weeks though mum!" Her voice was desperate. Forlonging for help, answers even. This sheer desperation brought back the tears and panic again.

"Okay, okay, shhhh." Ange soothed. "You've done plenty of revision, haven't you. Maybe even too much. So all we need to do now is talk to your teachers so that they know what they can do to help you feel less stressed." Chloe violently shook her head. A response which surprised Ange. "Hey, do you not like that idea? Why sweetheart?"

"They're going to… to j… judge me!"

"Who's they?"

"My teachers. They're all going to think that I can't handle a few stupid exams."

"No they're not darling. They'll just want to help. It's perfectly understandable to feel anxious about exams."

"I'm not anxious, or stressed, or anything! It's just that my teachers are going to get annoyed at me for wasting their time with stupid stuff."

"It's really not stupid Chloe. Please don't think that. And how about I talk to Miss Hutchinson, yeah? I met her at parent's evening, remember? She told me great things about you. You know, how you're always looking out for your friends and classmates, and you always try your best in everything you do. Please don't think that you've let yourself or anyone down because you haven't. You just need a wee bit of support to get you going. And there are plenty of people who will willingly do that, Miss Hutchinson for one."

"Okay." Chloe nodded, coming to the realisation that she really couldn't do this on her own.

"Well that's sorted then. How about we park this for now, I'll go and get some food on and then we can come back to it later this evening or tomorrow. I'm not going to rush you, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks… thanks mum."

"You're very welcome darling." Ange took a moment to process in her brain what she was about to say next. "This doesn't have anything to do with yesterday, does it?"

Yesterday. That word. Why did such a simple word as 'yesterday' now have to be associated with that? Tomorrow and the days after that it won't, she thought. It'll just be a simple conversation that never gets brought up again. She hoped.

"No."