"Okay guys, listen up, there's a girl coming today to stay with us, and I expect you all to be nice to her, got it?" Gina said. "Also, the new care worker will be bringing her."

"Okay, Gina." Everyone said obediently, then they went back to watching TV.

She rolled her eyes and exited the room.

"I wonder what she's like." Tee said thoughtfully.

"Hopefully she's nice." Harry said.

"And the care worker hopefully is nice, too." Tyler said.

"She won't be anything on Tracy." Carmen said.

"You're right, but maybe she can be close?" Johnny said.

"Maybe." Tee shrugged. "We'll have to see."

Suddenly the doorbell rang.

There was a lot of talking and greetings, and then a young woman appeared in the doorway, with a very familiar girl beside her.

"Kitty?!" Rick said, shocked.

Life In The Dumping Ground

Episode 2: A New Beginning

"What are you doing here?!" Rick said, shocked, standing up.

"I was at that special care home." Kitty replied. "I'm better, now."

Rick hugged her tightly and she returned it. She shyly waved at Carmen, who got up and walked over to her.

"Kitty, hi!" she said, smiling.

Kitty hugged Carmen. "Hey, Carmen. I missed you."

Carmen was surprised but she hugged Kitty back. "I missed you too. I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to get to know each other."

"That can change, right?" Kitty asked.

"Sure." Carmen agreed, and they sat down together.

"Hey, kids. I'm the new care worker, Maria." The young woman said with a smile.

"Hi, Maria." Everyone said.

"Do you want me to show you around?" Faith offered, getting up.

"That would be great, thanks." Maria said, and Faith went off with her.

Mike entered the room. "Carmen, I hope you don't mind, you're sharing a room with Kitty."

"Great!" Carmen said, grabbing Kitty's hand and dragging her out of the room.

"What about me when I visit?" Lily asked.

"Sorry Lily, you'll have to share with one of the other girls." Mike said, leaving the room.

"Whatever." Lily said, rolling her eyes.

"Okay, so, want me to help you unpack?" Carmen asked. "I'm going to redecorate this room in about a weeks time, and since you're sharing with me, you can help. It's too pink."

"I never thought you knew what too pink was." Kitty joked.

"Haha, so funny. No, I've sort of grown out off too much pink. It's not really my favorite color any more."

"Well, change is good right?" Kitty pointed out.

"Yeah, you're right." Carmen agreed, starting to help Kitty unpack her stuff. "So…what was that special care home like?"

"It was okay. Eventually they convinced me nobody was trying to hurt me, and even if they were, that didn't mean other people couldn't touch me." Kitty said.

"That's good. I'm glad you're better now, Kitty. You should be able to make friends easier, right?" Carmen smiled. "Though I would have been your friend anyways."

"Thanks." Kitty said with a laugh. "But yeah, I think change is for the better, right?"

"Yeah, you're right." Carmen agreed. "Hey, we should go shopping together later, if you want. I need to get more stuff that isn't pink."

"Sure, sounds like fun. Then we can go to Starbucks after." Kitty suggested.

"Brilliant! I really want to try that Caramel Dream thing." Carmen said.

"Me too!" Kitty grinned. "It will be so awesome, you'll see. We'll have the best time."

"I don't doubt it. And plus it's a great way for us to get to know each other better." Carmen said.

"Yep!" Kitty agreed, and they continued unpacking Kitty's stuff.

Later, Carmen and Kitty got changed and walked downstairs together. Kitty had done Carmen's hair in a French plait, and Carmen had done two French plaits for Kitty. They had their arms linked and grinned.

"Maria, Kitty and I are going shopping, is that okay?" Carmen asked.

"Sure, that's fine. Here, have some extra pocket money." she said, handing some money to them both. "Have fun."

"We will, see you later." Kitty said, grinning, and the two walked out together.

They got the bus into town and started browsing the shops together, trying on outfit after outfit. Then the other girl would nod or shake her head. They bought outfits and shoes and hair stuff and eventually went to Starbucks and had one of the Caramel Dreams each. They smiled happily.

"Okay, so, how old are you?" Kitty asked.

"I'm 13, and my birthday is on November 6th. You?"

"I'm 13 too, and my birthday is on the 11th of October." Kitty said.

"Wow, you're not too much older then." Carmen said. "What's your favorite color?"

"I like all colors." Kitty said.

"Me too."

They went on talking like that, laughing and chatting and getting to know each other.

"They went out without me." Lily said, sounding rather hurt.

"Oh get over it, loser, Carmen is allowed other friends you know." Elektra said.

"Yeah but I'm her best friend! She should have asked me to go with them too." Lily argued.

"You know Lily that's kind of overprotective." Johnny pointed out.

"Yeah, I mean, Carmen has spent almost every day for 2 years hanging out with you. Don't you think she deserves other friends?" Tee said.

"I don't want her to have other friends!" Lily snapped. "I want her just to rely on me!"

"Well, too late now." Elektra said. "She relies on almost everyone here."

"Almost?" Lily said, confused.

"It's clear that she doesn't rely on you any more. Think about it." Jody said.

"You weren't there for her when she was upset about Jason." Rick said. "You're supposed to be her 'best' friend and yet you didn't bother even though you knew something was up."

"Yeah but that's different!" Lily protested.

"It's really not." Tyler said.

Kitty and Carmen walked in, arm in arm, giggling. "Hey guys!" they said, flopping down on the sofa.

"Where have you been?" Lily asked, staring straight at Carmen.

"Shopping, with Kitty. Oh, we went to Starbucks and tried that new Caramel Dream!" Carmen said.

"Oh, what was it like?" Tee asked enviously.

"It was awesome." Kitty said.

"But why didn't you ask me to come with you?" Lily said, staring at Carmen again, annoyed.

"Um, because me and Kitty are roommates now, so I wanted to get to know her better." Carmen said.

"But I thought I was your only best friend!" Lily said irritatedly.

"Uh, no, you're actually not. Tee is my best friend too, and soon Kitty will be as well." Carmen said.

"You can't have more than one best friend!" Lily said.

"Yeah you can." Johnny said.

"Keep out of this, Johnny, nobody asked your opinion." Lily glared.

"Don't be like that, he didn't do anything." Carmen said.

"Don't change the subject!" Lily snapped.

"Lay off, Lily." Kitty said.

"You keep quiet!" Lily said angrily, standing up. "Who the hell do you think you are, moving in on my best friend?!"

"She's my roommate!" Carmen suddenly shouted, standing up too. "And I'll bet you everything I've got that she'll be there for me and be a better friend than you were! You basically want me to be only yours, like you're obsessed with me or something! Well newsflash, you can't stop me having other friends. A true best friend would understand that she's not the only one in my life, so obviously you are not a best friend!"

"Well then you can go on without me, you stupid little bitch, I don't need you! You're stupid, ugly and girly!" Lily said.

Carmen slapped Lily hard across the face. "Get out."

"Make me." Lily said coldly.

"Get the fuck out, Lily!" Johnny said angrily, putting an arm round Carmen and gently making her sit back down in between him and Kitty.

"What's going on?"Maria asked, stepping into the room.

"Lily called Carmen a stupid little bitch, and said she was stupid ugly and girly." Jody said.

"Right, that's it. Lily, out. If you're only going to cause problems, we'll have to ban you from coming here." Maria said.

"You can't do anything, you're just a trainee." Lily said.

"Lily, please." Mike said. "I'll be having words with your father about this."

"Fine. None of you deserve to be my friends anyway." Lily shouted, and she walked out, with her head held high, followed by Mike and Maria.

"You okay?" Kitty asked, hugging Carmen.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Carmen shrugged. "I gave up on listening to Lily Kettle quite a while ago. She never supports me, and isn't there for me even if I'm always there for her. She's not a true friend." She said.

"That's the spirit." Johnny said.

"You don't need her." Tee said.

"We can be there for you no problem." Faith said.

"Don't let her get to you. I can beat her up if you want." Elektra offered.

"Or we can set up booby traps for when she gets back." Tyler suggested.

"Thanks guys." Carmen laughed. "I'll think about it."

"Come on." Kitty said, getting up. "Want me to teach you how to sew?"

"You can try." Carmen laughed, standing up. "I'll probably be hopeless."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Tee, you can come too if you want." Kitty said, offering a smile.

"Okay!" Tee agreed, and the three walked off together.

As soon as Lily got into her flat and slammed the door, she saw her dad standing there when she turned around. He had his arms folded, and he looked very unhappy.

"Hi Dad." Lily said, offering a smile.

Steve didn't smile back, and he sighed. "Lily, sit down. We need to have a chat."

"Okay." Lily said, playing innocent, though she knew exactly what this was going to be about. Of course, what else?

"Now." Steve said. "What's happened with you and Carmen?" he asked.

"We're not friends any more." Lily said calmly. "She replaced me."

"Well that's not what Mike told me on the phone." Steve said. "He said you called Carmen stupid, ugly, girly, and a little bitch, just because she went shopping with Kitty and also because she has more than one best friend."

"She should only have one!" Lily argued.

"Sweetheart, I've got about five best friends, and they all like each other. If you tried, you could have been friends with Kitty and Tee. But anyway, Mike has told me that he doesn't want you going round there any more because you're causing trouble with all the kids. You blew it, Lil, you really did. If you ever need to go for respite care, you're going to be at a different care home. Rob is sorting it out."

"But…" Lily sighed. "I didn't mean to."

"Now we both know that isn't true." Steve said, and he got up. "I'm going to take Shadow for a walk and pick up Jonah. Want to come?"

"No thanks." Lily said.

"See you later, then." Steve said, and he took Shadow and left.

Lily leaned back on the couch, staring at the floor and biting her lip, a look of worry in her eyes.

Kitty, Carmen and Tee all walked into the kitchen and sat in their places, chatting and laughing together. Maria made them all coke and pizza for her first time cooking and they were surprised at how good it was.

"This is awesome!" Johnny said.

"Thanks, Maria." Frank said.

"Yeah, thanks." Mo said.

"Jeff says you're nice." Harry told Maria.

"You're all very welcome. I'm glad you like it. I really like it here and I'd love to work full time, and I want to get to know you all better and understand you." Maria said. "Look, we've only just met but you guys should know that whenever you have a problem, you can talk to me as well as Mike and Gina."

"Thanks!" everyone said, and they drank their coke and ate their pizza. Maria, Mike and Gina sat down and they all began to eat. Suddenly, Carmen's phone started ringing. She took it out of her pocket and looked at the caller. She saw it was Lily and she rejected it, putting it back in her pocket and continuing to eat.

"Who was it?" Gina asked.

"Oh, just…someone I used to know." Carmen said. She raised her coke. "To Maria, and a new beginning for everyone!" she said, grinning.

"Cheers!" everyone said, clinking their drinks together. Mo's drink slipped and spilled all over Maria.

Everyone froze, shocked and waiting for the bad reaction, but Maria burst out laughing, and soon, everyone was joining in. They continued eating merrily, and the kids realized they could trust Maria. Maybe she was a closer second-best to Tracy than they thought.