Chapter 16
Set a week later
It was a Friday when Rachel had dropped Rosie off at school today she'd ended up turning the other way, as she really couldn't handle it today, but now it was lunchtime and she was getting really scared and lonely. She was terrified that her phone was going to ring any second now and it would be Rachel telling her she knew she hadn't been at school today.
It had started off okay she'd just been wandering round town, she had a bit of pocket money left over she'd been able to buy a few snacks and things to keep her going and she'd bought a magazine to read. But now she'd completely run out of money and it was really cold so she was getting pretty frightened.
She knew school would be wondering where she'd been as they knew that if ever she was poorly Rachel would ring up, so they were bound to guess something wasn't right but she also knew she couldn't exactly go home now.
It was about 12:15 when Rosie's phone suddenly started ringing, she jumped and her hands started shaking when she saw it was Rachel
"Hello" she stammered when she picked up
"Oh hi darling, sorry to bother you, you are still on your lunch aren't you?"
Rosie breathed a sigh of relief when she realised that Rachel obviously didn't know anything yet
"Yeah I am"
"Good I was just wanting to check the arrangements for tonight, I completely forgot to ask you this morning sorry"
"What's happening tonight?" Rosie asked feeling a bit confused
"Well it's Holly's sleepover isn't it love"
"Oh yeah that"
"So what's happening, do you need a lift straight from school over, or are you coming home for a bit first"
"Erm coming home, then going"
"Right okay, how's school going?"
"Fine Rach" Rosie said but suddenly she felt tears forming in her eyes, all she felt like doing was going home and curling up on the sofa with Rachel for a bit
"You left your maths book in the car you know, I was going to take it back for you but I didn't really have time, you didn't get in trouble did you"
"No" Rosie said sounding all tearful
"Rosie are you okay sweetheart?" She asked gently as she could hear that she was a bit upset
"Yep, I've got to go now I'll see you soon" Rosie said before quickly ending the call
She sat back down on the bench and tried to stop any more tears escaping as the last thing she wanted to do was attract attention to herself
The time seemed to drag considerably but eventually she decided it was time to head off back to school if she wanted to be there for Rachel picking her up
She made it back about 2 minutes before the bell and as soon as she got back she saw Rachel pull up so got straight in, she was still half expecting her to know all about it though l
"Hey love you're out early aren't you?"
"Miss jones let us out early because she was on bus duty"
"Ah okay" Rachel said "now Rebecca's at her little playgroup, Lily's at after school club and Amy's at friends so it's just me and you"
"Oh"
"So what time do you need to be at Holly's for?"
"7"
"So that gives us plenty of time to do something just the two of us, well for an hour or so anyway, we'll have to pick the little ones up at about 5:30"
Rosie instantly started to feel really bad, she didn't want Rachel to be so nice to her as it made her feel even more guilty about today
"How about some shopping?"
"Okay"
When Rachel was driving to the centre she noticed how quiet Rosie was being
"Are you alright love?" She asked
"Yeah"
Rachel decided not to push her so didn't say anything else until they got to town
"So was school okay today?"
"Erm yeah not too bad"
"Were you doing anything much" Rachel asked
"Not really you know, just the usual boring school stuff"
Rachel smiled at her before getting out the car and walking into town
"Do you need to buy anything for tonight love"
"I could probably do with some new pyjamas, I not have any really cosy ones at the moment"
"So could I actually, should we have a look in next, they do good pyjamas"
Rosie agreed to this so they went in and after a little while they found some
"I need to get a few things for lily too, she seems to have no socks and knickers in at the moment and she could probably do with some pyjamas too come to think of it" Rachel said "maybe I should get some stuff for Rebecca too"
They went and found a load of things for both the girls and went to pay for them
"Rachel how long are they going to be staying with us for"
"Well I don't know yet love, I mean she wants me to have them for a month or so till things have settled down, but I'm happy to have them for as long as they want to stay, only if you're okay with that though, if not then we can sort it"
"No it's fine I like them"
Suddenly Rachel's phone started ringing rosie jumped convinced it was going to be the school ringing her but it was only Amy telling Rachel she was going to come home at about 10ish
They walked round the shops for a bit linger but then realised it was time to pick the girls up
They went for Rebecca first and got her in the car
"Rachel I'm hungry"
"We'll have tea when we get home"
Once they'd picked lily up they headed straight home
"Rachel I'm poorly" Rebecca said
"What's wrong with you" she asked
"My tummy" she said "it feels all sore"
"Well maybe it's just because you're hungry, you just feel better after you've had some food"
They were about half way back when Rebecca suddenly went all quiet
"Rebecca are you okay"
"I feel sick"
"Oh god, do you think you're going to be sick?"
Rebecca nodded and cried
Rachel looked around for somewhere to pull up but couldn't see anywhere so just tried to drive home as quick as she could but by the time they got there Rebecca was actually feeling a bit better
"Have a lie down darling until tea time"
Rebecca went on the sofa and lied down
Lily walked into the kitchen with Rachel
"Hey love, sorry I've barely even said hello to you have I everything's been such a rush, how was school today"
"It's was okay" lily said
"You didn't get upset at all did you?"
"No" lily answered truthfully she had been feeling a lot happier now that there wasn't anymore arguments going on between Rachel and joe
"Good but you must tell me, if you do start to get a bit upset again so we can have a little chat about it okay"
Lily nodded
"Good girl, now are you going to take your uniform off so we can chuck it in the wash" Rachel said "I bought you some new stuff in town so you can try that on for me"
"Thank you Rachel"
"that's okay,mite nothing very exciting though just a few tops, socks and knickers, but I did get you some nice pyjamas so you can wear them later tonight"
Lily went over and gave Rachel a big hug
"Aw that's nice sweetheart, why all the sudden affection"
"I love you"
"I love you too lily, so so much" she said before kissing the top of her head "come on then let's get that uniform off"
Rachel helped lily out of her uniform and into the top and leggings she'd bought her today, she was pleased to see they actually fitted her as normally because lily was so small for her age things would look massive on her
"They look nice love, are you going to have a little play before tea"
Lily nodded before running off upstairs
Rachel made some pasta because she knew they all liked this and it was easy to make
Once it was ready she called them down but she realised Rebecca had fallen asleep so she had to go and wake her up
"Are you eating at Holly's Rosie?" Rachel asked
"Erm yeah but probably just snacks"
"We'll eat that pasta up then"
"Are you going to drive me round or should I just walk"
"No I'll give you a lift, it's no trouble"
"Okay thanks"
Rachel was getting worried about Rebecca as she'd barely said a word and that was very unusual for her
"What's wrong Rebecca?"
"Poorly" Rebecca said sounding sorry for herself
"Oh dear try and eat a little bit though"
Rebecca forced herself to eat her pasta but afterwards felt really sick
Lily and Rebecca went into the living room to watch tv while Rachel cleared up
Suddenly Rebecca went really pale and was sick all over herself and lily
Hearing Rebecca crying Rachel went straight in
"Oh dear" she sighed
"Sorry" Rebecca cried
"Hey don't worry love, you can't help being sick" she said
"Rachel I've got sick on me" lily said
"I know, i can see that lily" Rachel sighed
"Do you want a hand cleaning Rachel" Rosie offered but she didn't sound particularly enthusiastic"
"No don't worry about it love, I'll tell you what would be really helpful though, if you could walk down so I can get the two of them in the bath and cleaned"
"That's okay"
"Thanks Rosie, it's not too far to walk is it?"
"No it's only 5 minutes"
"Okay well have a really nice time, ring if there's any problems okay"
"Yep"
Rachel quickly cleaned the leather sofa while Rosie got all her stuff
"Bye Rosie"
"See you tomorrow love you"
"Love you too"
Once Rosie had gone out Rachel turned her attention back to the girls
"Come on then let's get the two of you in the bath" Rachel said "how are you feeling now Rebecca"
"A bit better"
Rachel led them both upstairs and ran a bath for them both
"Right let's get those clothes off"
She helped Rebecca in first and then got lily undressed before chucking both if their stuff in the washing basket
"Rachel what if Rebecca's sick on me again" lily asked sounding all worried
"She won't be, she's feeling better now she's been sick"
She let them have a play for a little while despite this meaning she got splashed a lot
"Rachel I need a wee" lily said
"Can you wait till you get out"
Lily shook her head
"You'd better get out then hadn't you"
Rachel lifted her out and onto the toilet
"Rebecca can see me though"
"She's not looking go on"
"I need a wee too" Rebecca said
"Are you going to try and go on the toilet then like a big girl" Rachel said as she knew she had to try and get Rebecca out of nappies soon as she'd be starting nursery before long
Rebecca nodded so once lily was done she put her on
"Oh well done darling" Rachel said once she'd been "see you really are getting all grown up aren't you"
Rebecca nodded her head proudly before getting back in
Once Rachel had given them both a wash she got them out and into some pyjamas
"Now it's 6:30 so it's about half an hour before bed time, do you two fancy doing something or do you just want to have a play"
"Can we play snakes and ladders" lily asked
"Yeah sure, I'll see if I can find it"
They had a really nice half hour playing it, though Rebecca was too young to play properly so Rachel had to help her a lot
"Come on then girls it's time for bed, should we all get into Lily's bed and you can have your bedtime story"
After a bit of arguing the two of them did go up and get into Lily's bed
Once Rachel had read the story both girls still weren't feeling tired
"Rachel can Rebecca sleep in here with me tonight"
Rachel sighed but decided to agree to it as it was a Friday after all
"Fine but I don't want any messing around okay?"
"We won't mess around"
"Good, now lily come and brush your teeth and go to the toilet" Rachel said
Rachel followed lily into the bathroom while she got ready for bed and then took Rebecca in and helped her brush her teeth
"Are you going to try and do another wee on the toilet just like you did before?"
"Yes"
Once she'd been she helped her wash her hands
"Good girl Rebecca"
She took Rebecca's hand and helped her back to bed
"Night night you two, remember I don't want to hear any messing on, or I'll be up them stairs straight away"
"Night Rachel"
She gave them Both a kiss goodnight and left
Rosie was at Holly's but she wasn't having a very nice time at all, as she couldn't stop worrying about what had happened today and it was really getting her down, all her friends had asked her about it and although they seemed impressed when she'd told them she'd skived she was now worried Holly's mum had overheard and had rang Rachel
She couldn't stop worrying and in the end decided to ring Rachel and ask her to come and get her so she could tell her about today herself as she knew however much Rachel would shout at her it wasn't as bad as feeling as worried about it as she was now
She told her friends that she didn't feel well so was going to call Rachel before going into the bathroom to call home
"Hello"
"Rachel, it's me" Rosie said her voice sounding all shaken
"Oh hi Rosie, is everything okay?"
"Please will you come and get me, I'm really sorry I just want to come home"
"What's happened Rosie"
"Nothing I just really want to come home"
Rachel was about to say something when holly came to the door
"Rosie my mum said she'll take you home"
"Oh okay thank you"
"What was that love?"
"Holly's mums going to take me home"
Rachel was pleased when she heard this as it would be a right pain as she'd have to take the girls with her and she didn't want to unsettle them now they were in bed, though she was pretty sure they weren't asleep and were playing with toys but she had decided to turn a blind eye since it was the weekend
"Alright well I'll see you shortly then"
About 10 minutes later Rosie arrived home she was feeling really scared about telling Rachel when she went in but she knew it was something she had to do
"Rosie what happened?" Rachel said coming into the hall and giving her a big hug
Rachel being so nice to her made it all seem even worse and Rosie burst into tears
"Hey, I think we need a talk don't we? You haven't seemed right all night" Rachel said "come on I'll make you some coffee and we can have a nice chat"
"Don't be nice to me Rach" Rosie cried "I don't deserve it"
"What do you mean love?" She asked feeling a bit confused
Rosie started crying harder into her
"Come on let's go into the living room, and have a sit down"
Rosie followed Rachel in and sat down in the sofa with her
"Now what's this all about"
"I've done something really bad" Rosie whispered "you'll hate me once I tell you"
"Rosie I'm sure it won't be as awful as you're convincing yourself it is I promise, and it'll take a lot more than whatever it is you've done for me to hate you"
"It is that awful"
"Well if that is the case, which I'm sure it isn't then I think it's best if you just come straight out and tell me"
Rosie took a deep breath "I skipped school today"
Rosie stared at the ground determined not to look Rachel in the eye
"Please tell me you didn't" Rachel said
"I'm so sorry" Rosie said tears falling down her cheek
"I don't think that quite cuts it do you? Why did you skip Rosie, you must have known how stupid that was"
"I don't know"
"Well I'm afraid that's just not good enough, so when I rang you earlier you weren't in school at all"
Rosie just shook her head
Rachel didn't say anything for a moment and this made Rosie feel even more scared
"I'm so so so..."
"Don't want to hear it, go on just get out of my sight"
Rosie got up and went upstairs before bursting into tears
Rachel felt bad almost as soon as she'd left, as she knew this wasn't like Rosie at all and she wouldn't do something like this without a pretty good reason and began to wonder if maybe she was getting bullied or something serious was going on, she knew she hadn't handled it properly but she was just quite shocked when she told her
She was going to go up and see her again when suddenly lily came running downstairs
"Lily what's up" Rachel asked
"I really can't sleep, I'm sorry I am trying but i can't"
"Is Rebecca asleep?"
"Yes"
"Darling it's because you get yourself so worked up about trying to get to sleep, you've just got to relax"
"But then I'm scared I won't go to sleep and then I'll get into trouble"
"Lily when do I ever tell you off if you can't sleep, the only time I tell you off is when you're deliberately staying up late"
"I am trying"
"I know, come on I'll get you a glass of warm milk that always makes me feel sleepy"
"Okay thankyou"
Rachel went into the kitchen and got her a glass and also a few biscuits
She sat down next to her on the sofa so they could cuddle up
"How are you doing then lily, are you still feeling happy about ..you know everything"
"Yes" lily said "Rachel will I ever see joe again"
Rachel hadn't heard much from joe since they spilt up but he did ask about the girls a few times
"Of course darling, I'm sure you'll see him very soon"
"I hope I do" lily mumbled
Rachel stroked her hair for a bit and lily snuggled into her
"Feeling a bit sleepy now"
"Yes mummy"lily mumbled, however a moment later she realised what she'd said and ran out of the room
"Lily" Rachel called following her
Lily went into the downstairs loo and closed the door
"Lily can I come in sweetheart?"
After a moment or so lily opened the door for Rachel
"Hey what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that"
"Come here love, let's go and have a little talk about it"
Lily took her hand and followed her back through to the living room where Rachel put the little girl on her knee
"Now why do you feel upset about it"
"Because I know you're not my mummy really I just wish you were so I could call you that, because then I'd be like all my friends"
"Oh sweetheart" Rachel said "look if you want to call me that then I'd be very happy with that, to me you're every bit my own little girl as much as this baby growing inside of me is, but it's up to you what you call me and whatever you decide doesn't change how much I love you"
"So you really don't mind"
"Of course I don't lily" she said before giving her a massive cuddle
"Now I don't know about you but I'm starting to feel like I'm ready for my bed"
"I'm tried now"
"Come on then let's tuck you up again"
Rachel lifted her up in her arms and carried her upstairs, when she was on her way up she could hear Rosie crying so she knew she needed to see her as soon as she'd sorted lily out
"Night night lily"
"Night mummy" lily whispered
Rachel smiled to herself before leaving and going up the stairs to Rosie's bedroom
She knocked and then went in and found Rosie curled up sobbing which really did make her feel awful
"Oh Rosie" she sighed before going and sitting next to her "I'm sorry if I've made you feel like this believe it or not I really didn't mean to"
"I know it's not enough but I am sorry"
"I know you are I can see that, come on dry your eyes or you'll make me go all teary seeing you this upset"
Rachel handed her a box of tissues so she could sort her face out
"I was too harsh on you earlier I'm sorry" she said "I know that you wouldn't have done it unless you had your reasons"
"I just couldn't handle going in today"
"Why not love are some kids giving you a hard time?" She asked
"No it's just... Well since you and joe aren't living together it's just got to me a but and I haven't been able to concentrate or anything, I can't think at school"
"Oh Rosie why didn't you tell me you were so upset about me and joe, we could have talked about it"
"I just didn't really want to worry you anymore, because I know you just be upset about you and joe too" Rosie said
Rachel wrapped her arms around her tightly
"I wish you'd have told me, I do understand how hard it is, I just thought that you were fine about it, it's my fault I should have talked to you about it more than I did I'm sorry"
Rosie didn't say anything just snuggled into her
"Now don't worry okay"
"What's going to happen to me?"
"Well I'm not going to pretend I'm delighted about you skipping school, even though I do understand why you did it, but I think it's only fair you're grounded for a week, and I'm owing to be giving your form tutor a ring first thing Monday morning to let her know what's been going on, school might want to punish you too but that's up to them, anyway I'll say no more about it for now, I think it's time you got some sleep you look shattered, get yourself sorted for bed and I'll be up in about 10 minutes to say goodnight"
Rachel then went downstairs she looked at the clock and realised that Amy should be home soon, so put the kettle on so they could have a cup of coffee when she got in
A couple of minutes later she went back upstairs and knocked on Rosie's door
"Am I okay to come in?"
"Yeah" Rosie called so Rachel went inside
She smiled when she saw Rosie tucked up in bed looking all cosy
"Night night Rosie" she said going over to her and kissing her goodnight
"Night Rachel and thanks for ...you know being nice"
"It's okay" she whispered
Rachel smiled at her before flicking her lamp off
"I love you lots, see you in the morning"
"Love you" Rosie mumbled before turning over
Rachel smiled at her before leaving and going downstairs
She was beginning to get a little worried about Amy as she was quite late now and although she knew that she was only at her friends and had probably just lost track of time she was still a bit annoyed that Amy was late
Another hour dragged by slowly and there was still no sign of Amy by now Rachel was getting quite Cross but worried at the same time.
She half wanted to go round to Amy's friends herself and see what was going on but that would meant waking the kids up which she didn't want to do
She'd tried ringing Amy loads but there wasn't an answer
Eventually at about 12 the front door opened and Amy came in
"Where the hell have you been I've been worried sick" Rachel shouted
However suddenly she noticed that Amy was actually very drunk and could barely walk in a straight line
"Have you been drinking" she said grabbing hold of her shoulders so tightly her nails dug right into her
"It was so good" she slurred
Rachel was just about to start saying something when lily came running downstairs
"Help, I'm scared, he's going to get me"she said crying
Rachel sighed knowing she'd have to deal with this before she could sort the Amy situation out
She picked lily up and took her upstairs
"Mummy he's going to get me" lily repeated
"It was just a dream lily no ones going to get you" she said "did you wake Rebecca up"
"I don't know"
Rachel went into their room and found Rebecca sat up in bed, so she flicked the light on
"I don't want to go to bed, I need you" lily said feeling all scared
Rachel sighed because she knew if she put lily in her bed Rebecca would come in too
"Okay, the two of you jump into my bed" she said
The two of them liked the sound of this so went across to Rachel's room
"Right now I expect the two of you to be fast asleep when I come up in 15 minutes or so"
Once she'd got lily settled after her nightmare she went downstairs again
"I hope you've got a bloody good explanation" she shouted
Suddenly Amy put her hand to her mouth and dashed to the downstairs loo
Rachel rolled her eyes before following her in and tying her hair up for her before rubbing her back
"Go on you'll feel better once you've been sick"
Amy was feeling a bit more aware of things now and tears started streaming down her face
"It's alright love, come on" she said suddenly a lot gentler
With a lot of help from Rachel Amy went through to the living room and sat on the sofa and Rachel sat next to her
"Honestly Amy what were you thinking huh, you're only 14"
" I just wanted to forget everything and not worry anymore" she sobbed
"Oh love I understand that it's been a horrid couple of weeks" she said "but getting drunk isn't the answer, I promise it'll only make things so much worse"
By now Amy was getting all upset so Rachel out an arm round her and let her have a little cry
"It's all going to work out soon I promise"
"Are you mad?"
"Not mad, but I'm disappointed yes, more because you did this to block out your worries instead of talking to me about it"
"I'm sorry"
"Okay we'll talk more in the morning, come on up to bed"
Rachel helped Amy upstairs and because she was still a bit tipsy needed her to help her out of her clothes and into bed
"Night I love you lots"
Once they'd said goodnight Rachel went back into her room but found both girls still awake
"Girls what did I say about going to sleep" Rachel said sounding a bit firm now
"I'm not tired" Rebecca said
Rachel sighed before getting into her pyjamas and into bed between the two, despite what she said about not being tired Rebecca seemed to go straight to sleep, however Rachel feel lily fidgeting next to her
Rachel put her arms round her so she could snuggle up properly
"Rachel Rebecca's snoring" lily said giggling
"Well she's obviously sound asleep then isn't she just like you should be at this time"
"What if I have a bad dream again"
"You won't, not now you're all relaxed,come on close your eyes, no more talking or you'll never go to sleep"
Rachel stroked her hair for a few minutes and this seemed to soothe her and before long she was sound asleep
Rachel was awoken very early by Rebecca, she sighed when there was a 2 year old there was never much chance of a good nights sleep
"Good morning darling" she said sounding sleepy
"Play with me"
"Not yet it's still very early"
Rachel tried to stay in bed for as long as possible but in the end she realised Rebecca wasn't really giving her a lot of choice but to wake up
She sighed and got out of bed with her
"Come on let's go to the bathroom so you can brush your teeth"
She took Rebecca across and helped her brush her teeth before taking her nappy off
"Are you going to do a wee"
Rebecca nodded and went on the toilet before Rachel out her pull ups on
"I want to watch tv" she said
"Well are you going to let me put your clothes on or are you going to be running round in just that all day"
Rebecca giggled at this before going into her room to put her clothes on
"Go on then you can watch some tv for a little bit now, but we're all going to go for a walk later" Rachel said determined to get all the girls out
Amy woke up not that much after Rebecca had gone downstairs, her head was hurting loads from last night, but she also had quite a bad stomach ache
When she got out of bed she realised she must have come on her period overnight, she'd always been quite heavy and she'd leaked quite a lot
She felt really embarrassed especially when she was in her aunties house as she didn't really feel comfortable explaining what had happened but she knew she needed to get pads from her because she hadn't bought any
She grabbed her sheets and took them downstairs hoping no one was down yet
Unfortunately however as soon as she'd put her stuff in the wash Rachel came in
"Hey, how's the head?" She asked
"Sore"
"Oh dear, what you doing down here at this time?"
Amy sighed but she realised she needed to tell her
"Rach... I kind of need some stuff" Amy said sounding uncomfortable
"What?"
"I got my period last night and I had to put my sheets in the wash, I don't have any pads though"
"Oh right, well if you go in my bathroom and in the bottom shelf of my cupboard, there should be some on there"
"Thanks Rach" amy said
"Do you need any painkillers"
"Yes please"
"They'll be some up there too"
"Thanks"
"No problem, if you need anything else just come and ask don't be afraid okay"
"Okay"
"And we're going for a walk later by the way"
"Do we have to?"
"Yep" Rachel said
Amy rolled her eyes before going upstairs
About an hour or so later everyone was up and dressed except for lily, Rachel had let her lie in for a bit but decided to go and wake her now
She went into her room and gently stirred her awake
"Darling it's time to get up now"
Reluctantly lily got out of bed before dashing to the toilet, once she was done she went out and walked with Rachel through to her bedroom
"You had a good sleep there lily" she said laughing
"I'm tired"
"You can't still be tired!"
Rachel quickly got her changed so they went downstairs
After a little while they all got in the car
It took quite a while for them all to get there but eventually they did
Rosie and Amy went off in front for a bit so Rachel had the younger two
Rosie was glad that any was actually talking to her, as for some reason she'd always got the impression Amy didn't like her very much and she'd always been quite weird around her
"Amy did you drink last night?"
"Course I did" Amy said laughing "Rachel was furious when she found out though"
"what happens when you're drunk?" Rosie asked
"It's hard to describe you just go all funny, like you don't think straight and you start laughing and falling over it can make you cry loads too though"
"Have you been drunk lots"
"A few times my mum never used to give a shit what I did, so i could do what I want"
"I bet Rachel never let's me"
" she'll have to once you start going to party's and things""
Rosie noticed that Amy kept looking around to check how far back Rachel was
"Why do you keep looking round"
"You have to promise not to tell"
"Okay"
"The thing is, I've started smoking quite a lot and I'm desperate for a fag but Rachel will kill me won't she If she knew, but still looks like there ages away now so they won't be able to tell"
Rosie started at her as she pulled a lighter and a packet of cigarettes from her coat pocket and lit one
"quit staring I can't be the first person you've seen do it"
"But you're only 14 isn't it like illegal or something" Rosie Said cheeks flushing a bit as she didn't want Amy to think she was being a baby
Amy laughed as she took a drag on her cigarette
"Well no one will tell will they.., you're not going to tell Rachel are you?"
Rosie shook her head
"Okay, well just to make sure here I want you to have a smoke"
"No I don't want to" Rosie mumbled
"Do it" Amy said her voice suddenly sounding quite scary
Rosie suddenly felt really scared, she never knew amy could be like this but she didn't want to get on the wrong side of her so took the cigarette and put it in her mouth before starting to cough
"God you're so lame, remember what I said tell anyone and you're life won't be worth living " Amy said laughing before sauntering off ahead leaving Rosie feeling really shaken up
Rosie had never really known Amy that well but she suddenly felt really scared of her
She hung back a bit and waited for Rachel to catch up with her
"Hey love" she called as they approached her
Rosie turned round to face her
"Are you okay, you look a bit pale"
"Yep"
"Where's Amy"
"Erm she... She just went off" Rosie said but suddenly tears appeared in her eyes
"Rosie what's happened"
"Nothing"
"Have you and Amy had a bit of an argument?"
"Yeah sort of"
"Oh I wouldn't worry about it, she's just being a bit snappy with everyone at the moment, it's just her time of the month"
"What's that?" Lily asked
"Nothing for you to worry about missus" Rachel said "do you want me to have a word with her, tell her to make sure she doesn't give you a hard time"
"No" Rosie said instantly "I mean it wasn't anything serious"
"Okay well you tell me if she says anything else, I'm not having her upsetting you"
"I will do"
"Good girl" Rachel said "Rebecca why are you fidgeting?" She asked
"I need a wee but I don't want to do it in my pull-ups because then the picture will come off"
"Well we can try and find somewhere for you to go then" Rachel said "lily do you have to go"
Lily shook her head, she did but she certainly didn't want to go where there wasn't a proper loo
"Well by the way you're fidgeting I'd say you did, come on"
Lily went with Rachel and Rebecca behind some trees
"Lily you go first" she said as she was fidgeting a lot and didn't have any spare clothes with her
Once she'd helped lily she tried to get Rebecca sorted but this was a bit more difficult
"Come on then girls let's go back down"
Rachel then walked with the three girls for a but with Amy staying quite far ahead
"Rosie go and catch Amy up and tell her to walk with us"
"But she wants to walk ahead"
"Well she's being really unsociable, go and catch her up"
Rosie didn't really want to see Amy but she couldn't exactly do anything about it so ran ahead
"Come for another fag" Amy asked
"No Rachel said you have to catch us up" Rosie said
"Did you tell on me" Amy said suddenly going and standing really close to Rosie
Rosie shook her head feeling all scared
"What did you tell her"
"Just that we'd had an argument"
"Why did you say that?"
"Because she thought I looked upset so I needed to say something ..."
"God you really are a pathetic little baby" Amy said
Rosie couldn't believe that Amy had suddenly turned so evil towards her they were getting on well about half an hour ago
"I'm sorry" Rosie mumbled
"Prove it"
"How?"
"I want you to have another fag but this time you do it properly"
Rosie felt tears prickling in her eyes but she hastily wiped them away
With shaking hands she took It out if Amy's hand and put it in her mouth
Amy quickly whipped her phone out and took a photo
"There you look lovely"
"What are you Doing?"
"You tell Rachel and I show her this and tell her you're making up a pack of lies and there's a load of other stuff I can tell her to"
"But I haven't done anything"
"What about those pictures you sent those boys, you know the ones where you didn't have your top on, or what about that money you stole from her that time, or what about the time when you grabbed a load of stuff from the corner shop and ran for it"
"I didn't do any of those things though" Rosie cried
"Problem is you can't prove it can you?" Amy said
When Rosie didn't reply she said "can you" again only this time it was a lot louder and much more threatening
Rosie just shook her head in response
"So I think you owe me a few favours don't you, you know so I can keep quiet"
Rosie nodded her head
"Good we'll start when we get home, come on let's go and catch the rest of them up"
Rosie wiped away her tears and went to catch them up
"Walk with me then" Amy said "we don't want Rachel suspecting anything or who knows what'll happen"
Rosie did exactly what Amy said and followed her
"Oh good have you two made up" Rachel asked
"Oh yeah me and Rosie are fine Rach" Amy said but then she threw Rosie a look
All the way back home Rosie remained totally silent
When they got in she went straight to her bedroom however just a few minutes later Amy slipped in
Rosie immediately sat upright and started shaking
"Now Rosie I need you to come with me" Amy said
When Rosie didn't move she grabbed her forcefully and pulled her up
"I said come on"
Rosie followed her out and downstairs
"Rachel me and Rosie are nipping to the shop okay?"
"Yep" Rachel called back, she was a bit distracted trying to help lily with some reading so she wasn't really paying attention
the two of them went out and Rosie followed Amy to the shop
"Right go in and take a bag of sweets and a can of coke" Amy ordered
"Amy please don't make me" Rosie begged
"I'm not going to make you do anything, but you know what'll happen if you don't"
Rosie took a deep breathe,s he wished she'd never walked with Amy while she was having the cigarette and that she'd never started talking to her, she seemed like she was capable of anything and it made Rosie feel terrified
She went in the shop but then suddenly she remembered she had a bit of pocket money left over so reached in her coat pocket and pulled it out before paying for the things
She walked back out to Amy
"Did you steal them"
Rosie nodded her head
"You liar, I saw you pay"
"Why do I need to steal them?" Rosie cried
"To make sure ive got enough on you to make sure you never ever tell about any of the stuff I do in my free time"
"But I've only seen you smoking once, surely that's not even that bad"
"Well pretty soon you're going to find out about a whole load of other stuff"
Rosie didn't like the sound of this at all and could feel herself shaking
"You see I'm part of this gang, and we get up to all kinds of stuff, so if you do anything to upset me I'll make sure they make your life a misery get it?"
Rosie nodded her head not sure what else to do, she bit her lip hard to try and stop herself crying
"Come with me"
They walked all the way to the other shop
"Right this time do it properly"
Rosie went in and found the stuff she hastily put it underneath her coat before running out
"Good" Amy said
"Now you can go home, tell Rachel I'm staying at a friends for a bit"
"Okay" Rosie said
She was about to go when Amy suddenly grabbed hold of her
"Remember you say a word of this to anyone"
"I know, I won't I promise"
As soon as Amy was out of sight Rosie sat down and began to sob her heart out feeling completely terrified and confused
She thought about telling Rachel everything but then she remembered all the stuff Amy had said to her and knew this wasn't an option
She walked back home crying pretty much all the way
When she went in she knew that she couldn't let Rachel see her face so darted upstairs, how beer on the way up she bumped into Rachel
"Rosie what's happened?"
"I'm fine" Rosie said trying to get past her
"Woah, not so quickly you're not going anywhere till you've told me what's caused all this"
Rosie didn't say anything just wrapped her arms around Rachel and sobbed into her
This made Rachel feel very worried and confused as she couldn't imagine what could have happened to cause all this
She helped Rosie upstairs and Into her room
"Right me and you need a talk" Rachel said "now is this anything to do with Amy, have the two of you had another little argument"
"No it's not Amy, she's gone to her friends"
"Oh has she, so what's caused all this then"
Rosie knew she had to make a lie up and quickly but couldn't think of one
"Just leave me alone Rachel" she said
Despite the fact Rachel kept pestering her to say what was wrong she kept her mouth shut
She stayed practically silent all day and before long it was time for bed
"Night my love, I know you don't want to talk to me, but I'm here okay whenever you need me"
All Rosie wanted to do was tell Rachel everything but she knew she couldn't
As soon as Rachel left she started getting really scared she imagined Amy coming into her room and got herself into a real state
When eventually she did go to sleep she had a horrendous night mare and woke up screaming
As soon as Rachel heard screaming she ran out of bed, she was shocked when she heard it was coming from Rosie's room
She ran up and flicked the light on and found her dripping in sweat and crying her eyes out
"Rosie, Rosie look it's me" she said
"Help me, she's going to kill me help" rosie screamed
As soon as Rachel came close she grabbed onto her and clung to her pyjamas
"Rachel help me" she sobbed
Rachel felt very worried by all this and it was awful seeing Rosie in such a state
"Shh, it's me look your nice and safe"
"She's going to kill me" Rosie whimpered
"Who is sweetheart?"
Rosie didn't say anything else just continued crying still obviously completely terrified
"Rosie stand up for me darling and get out of bed"
When Rosie stood up she almost collapsed to the floor she was shacking so much
"Oh my god you're drenched in sweat, we're going to have to put those sheets through the wash their soaked in sweat" Rachel said
She gently helped Rosie out of her pyjamas and into some fresh ones before putting all her stuff in the wash and putting clean things on
Once she'd done that she sat down on the bed and put Rosie on her lap just like she would if she were lily or Rebecca's age
"Shh it's all okay" she soothed "you know what I'm going to ask though don't you?"
Rosie nodded her head
"What the hells happened?"
"Nothing's happened it was just a bad dream" Rosie sobbed
"Rosie you don't just have nightmares like that for no reason, I don't think I've ever seen anyone so shaken up"
"Rachel I'm really scared" Rosie cried
"I know... And you know something else, it's not going to go away until you tell me"
Rachel put her arms round her even more tightly
"Sweetie even If it's because you've done something you really wish you hadn't, even if it's the worse thing you can ever imagine doing, it'll still be better once you've told someone"
"Rachel I can't"
"Okay" she said gently "I can't force you to talk, I just really wish you would"
Rosie was still a bit shivery but she had seemed to calm down a lot
"Please don't leave me"
"Do you want me to sleep in with you tonight"
"Yes please"
"Okay darling, I just need to nip and get a glass of water, I'll bring one up for you too"
"No don't go"
"I'll be a minute or so no longer I promise you love"
Rosie instantly got scared as soon as she left
Especially when she saw her door creak open and Amy walk in
"I heard you were all upset I've just come to see if you were okay" she said
"I'm okay"
Amy then edged closer to the bed
"And to tell you that if you ever act like that again you'll be sorry"
"I didn't mean to I just had a nightmare"
"About me" she said laughing "you really are a baby"
"I'm sorry"
"You better make sure it doesn't happen again, we don't want her getting suspicious do we"
Just as Amy was about to leave Rachel came in
"Any what are you doing here"
"Sorry Rach, I just heard Rosie crying and I came to check she was okay"
Rosie started at her finding it hard to believe how her personality could switch just like that
"Oh she's fine aren't you darling, she just had a bad dream, Amy can I have a quick word outside"
Amy nodded so the two of them went out, Rachel closed the door and her and Amy went out to the hall
"What is it Rach?"
"The thing is I think something's troubling Rosie a bit"
"Has she said what it is?"
"No she hasn't, I'm thinking it might be because she's in a bit of trouble for something, and I was just wondering if maybe you could have a little word I know that she'll think she'll be in trouble with me and well it might be easier telling you than telling me"
"Well she did say something about this boy she was talking too"
"A boy? She's too young for all that surely"
"Well it's just what I heard, apparently he was asking her for pictures but I don't know whether she sent them or not"
"What? Well why didn't you tell me that, if that's the case then I need to talk with her"
"Rach if she did she won't want to tell you will she"
"I know but if it's getting her so upset then..."
"I'll have a word, don't worry"
"Thanks darling, night I love you lots"
"Love you too Rachel"
Rachel then went back into Rosie's room and got into bed next to her
"Rachel what were you talking to Amy about"
"Nothing love, come on go to sleep"
Rachel put her arm around her so Rosie could cuddle in properly and it didn't take her long to fall asleep as she felt a lot safer now she had Rachel next to her so nothing could happen
Rosie woke early the next morning she felt relaxed though when she felt Rachel next to her
A few minutes later Rachel opened her eyes
"Hey darling, how are you feeling?"
"Okay"
"You gave me a fright last night, getting that upset"
"Sorry"
"Not it's okay love"
Rachel thought for a moment before saying "sweetheart I want you to be honest with me, and I'm not going to be mad I just really want to know, it's just Amy said something to me last night about a boy who was asking you for photos"
Rosie gasped realising that Amy had meant every word she'd said before about telling Rachel all these lies, she thought about what Amy would do if she went against this
"So is any of it true"
Rosie just nodded her head
"Okay" Rachel said calmly though actually she was pretty shocked "so what did you send to this boy"
"Just erm a picture, where I ... I didn't have a top on"
Rachel looked at her there was something about the way she was saying it that made her doubt what she was saying just a tiny bit
"Right, and this boy he's threatening you with this photo now is he?"
"No ... It's just... I wish I hadn't sent it"
"Well I guess there's nothing we can do about that now is there? What's done is done and now we've got to deal with it haven't we" Rachel said
Rosie nodded
"So come on I want to see the conversation on your phone between this boy"
"I don't have it anymore"
"And the picture?"
"I deleted it"
"Won't it be in your deleted items then"
"No, I made sure it was gone for good" Rosie said
Rachel didn't say anything for a moment and then looked at her
"You didn't send a photo to any boy did you?" Rachel said "Rosie what's going on?"
"Nothing just leave it" Rosie said before getting up and rushing out the room
Rachel watched as she went getting the impression something was very wrong here
Got a bit carried away with the whole psycho Amy thing, hence the long update, would love to know what you think of this storyline though so please review xxxxxx