Some of this chapter was written by my friend, Risty! Thanks Risty!

Chapter 3: New Friends and an Invitation

Emma and Lucy walked back toward their new house, trying to remember the way that they had come. There on the path was a girl about Emma's age, holding a piece of chalk. She was drawing a hopscotch board on the pavement for the little girl next to her, who Emma assumed was her sister. The older girl had waist length, light brown hair, green eyes and a friendly, open-looking face. She glanced up as Emma and Lucy walked by.

"Hey there!" she said with a smile. "You two new around here?"

"Yes," Emma smiled back, taking an instant liking to the girl. "I'm Emma Alexander and this…"

"I'm Lucy," her sister interrupted. "Who are you?"

"Alleesha," the girl replied at once. "Alleesha Katrina Andrews. AKA," Alleesha sniggered. "Get it? My initials? AKA? Allee Kat. Or just Allee."

The sisters laughed and Emma shook the hand that Allee offered. Then her eyes fell on Jordan.

"Who's the oh-so-gorgeous kiddo?" she asked. "He's lovely."

"That was the wrong question to ask," Lucy muttered under her breath. Emma took no notice.

"His name is Jordan," she told her. "He's my baby."

At first Allee looked shocked, although Emma was used to people reacting that way so it didn't bother her, but then she looked kind of impressed.

"Hey cool," she said with a smile. "Bet he's a right handful. Like my little sister here."

"I'm five and a half," the little girl held up five fingers. "My name's Gina." Allee rolled her eyes at Emma.

"I'm the eldest of nine kids," she stated dramatically. Emma's jaw dropped and Lucy looked amazed.

"Nine?" she said, looking at her older sister and Jordan and then back to Allee. "Wow. Your mother must be a strong woman."

"Mum?" Allee shook her head, a lightly sad look in her eyes. "Nope. She died when Gina was born. Gina and I live here with my grandmother, the others live with my dad and my aunt."

"Really?" Emma looked shocked. "I'm sorry. That must have been so awful."
"It's not so bad any more." Allee said honestly. "Gina didn't know her and I…well I miss her, but life goes on, doesn't it?"

"It sure does," Lucy agreed. "Our dad cleared off about three ears ago and we haven't had any contact with him since. We miss him, but what can we do? It was his choice to go and all we can do is get on with it."

"Lucy," Emma said, kneeling down to put the pacifier in Jordan's mouth. "Why don't you play a couple of games of hopscotch with Gina? Just for five minutes or so."

"Do I have-" Lucy began and then saw the look on her sister's face. "Oh, all right," she agreed. "As long as you aren't going to sit there talking all day."

"So," Emma started as she and Allee sat on the wall. "Tell me about yourself. And all these brothers and sisters, of course."

"Well I'm Allee and I'm seventeen," the girl began. "Then there's Jackie, who's fifteen, Annie, who's thirteen, Michael, who's twelve, then the twins, Louise and Kirby who're ten, Rick, who's eight, Alexia who's seven and then Gina, who's five."

"And a half." Gina said casually, not turning her head. Allee laughed.

"Wow!" Emma said. "They must be a lot of hard work."

"You got any brothers and sisters?"

"I have a brother, Benny, who is twenty-two," Emma told her. "And then there's Lucy. She's thirteen. I'm the middle kid; I turned seventeen about a month ago. There's also my brother's girlfriend Jess who is very much like a sister to us. She's twenty-four and she used to be a police officer, but now she's training to become a teacher."

"Cool," Allee nodded. "Have you met many of the locals yet?"

"Yes, I have actually." Emma informed her. "I've met Sally Fletcher, Alex someone or other, Donald Fisher and the Sutherland twins and their boyfriends. Lucy and I are meant to be meeting them on the beach this afternoon. Everyone is so friendly."

"I know," Emma's new friend agreed. "I know the Sutherland twins, their older sister Dani is one of my friends around here. Mind if I meet you down there? We could hang out for a while."

"Sure," Emma agreed at once. "That would be cool. I think that we are meeting about half-past two."

"Right then, I'll be there," Allee promised. "See you later. It was nice meeting you."

"And you, Allee" Emma bent down to look in the pushchair and smiled when she saw that her son was fast asleep. "Come on Lucy!" she called. "It's time we were getting back. I bet it's almost lunch time and Jordan's already asleep." 

Lucy waved to Gina and obediently followed her sister down the street. Emma was beginning to feel glad that they had moved here. It was good to make new friends so quickly and a new start was what the entire family needed.

They did meet up with Allee and the others at the beach later on, and even Emma had rather a good time. She didn't really feel comfortable with the twins, partly because they were younger than her, although she had a fair bit in common with Jade and the two managed to have a nice discussion about books, much to Kirsty and Lucy's disgust. Lucy seemed to get on brilliantly with them and Emma noticed that the four of them were already treating her as part of their group. She didn't mind much however, for she and Allee spent most of the afternoon talking and joking around and the more time that she spent with her, the more Emma grew to like her. Allee seemed very mature for her years and very confidence and outgoing, yet she was a good listener. As they parted that night, they agreed to meet up again the next morning. Emma was certain that she had found a good friend.

Over the next two or three days, the Alexander family gradually began to settle in properly. Lucy was enrolled in the local school, where Kirsty, Jade, Nick and Seb all attended and, since it was still the summer, she spent a lot of time hanging around with them. Benny got a day job on the boats and although he quickly got to know the other guys on the beach, he preferred to keep himself to himself. The only person he really got on with was Alf Steward, due to their shared love of boats, and the two spent many of their lunch times discussing them. Susan became friends with Shelly Sutherland after she came round to see how they were settling in and, although she did not have a job, she was happy being a stay at home mother. Jess had spoken to Donald Fisher about possibly getting a job in the school once it opened again and she was feeling fairly positive about it. And Emma, in between taking care of Jordan, spent her time with Allee, although the two of them mostly spent their time watching videos, having a laugh, playing with Jordan and eating chocolate, since Emma wasn't over keen on going outside much. After their first meeting, the two became firm friends and after their second day together, Emma briefly told her about the rape she had endured aged fifteen, the rape that had ended in her having Jordan. Allee was sad and horrified that anyone could do such a thing, especially to such a sweet person as Emma. When the young girl had finished her story, she began to cry and Allee hugged her. As Emma returned the hug, she knew that she had found a special friend.

Four days after their arrival in the Bay, Shelley was having morning coffee with Susan when she casually mentioned the beach party that had been planned for that night.

"It's great fun," she told her new friend. "We have them fairly often around here and it's a lovely chance for everyone to get together and relax. Nearly everyone in the Bay comes and we have music and a barbecue and all that."

"It sounds like a lot of fun." Susan smiled and picked up her cup. "We'll come down, for a while at least. It'll be a good opportunity to mix with our neighbours a little more."

Next chapter: The beach party and another new friend for Emma.