Forty three

Jessie's POV

I could hear Faith, Elektra and Jade arguing in their room but at this exact moment in time, I couldn't be bothered to deal with it. I had a throbbing headache. Our own room was a little bit crowded now but there was still lots of room. My bed was still up against the far wall, Tee's was just behind the door and Holly's bed had been placed along the opposite wall, in between mine and Tee's beds. This meant when I got out of my bed I had to dodge the end of Holly's, slip through the gap between her bed and Tee's and then round the end of Tee's bed. It didn't bother me but it did make me realise how easy Tee and Holly had it as all they had to do was swing their legs out the right side of their bed and they were already past them. We'd split the walk-in wardrobe/closet thing. Tee had the section closest to the door, Holly had the middle section and my stuff was in the end section. I was relieved to see Holly and Tee were getting on but then Tee gets on with everyone so it wasn't much surprise. I had shouting and groaned. My head really hurt. I swung my legs off my bed and stepped onto Tee's bed and jumped off the other side.

"Sorry Tee but I should really sort this out," I said. She nodded and I walked out the room and down the corridor. I opened Elektra, Faith and Jade's room. "SHUT UP!" I shouted. They all stopped and looked at me. "please stop shouting. I have an awful headache," I whimpered. "What's the issue?" I asked.

"Faith doesn't like Jade," Elektra told me from her position laying on her back on her bed. I looked round the room. Elektra and Faith's bed were in their usual positions. Jade's bed had been placed with her pillow under the window and the rest of the bed pushed along the back wall, leaving a gap in between Jade and Faith's bed. The end of Jade's bed came up to the middle of Faith's so there was a big enough gap between them all.

"Why not Faith?" I asked.

"We don't know her. She's a runaway. She's probably been stealing for the past few years and I don't want her stealing my things," Faith said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Now you know how Elektra felt when she had to share with you. Plus you do realise Elektra has stolen lots of things in her time. All this lot," I explained pointing my thumb at Jade, "have stolen is food to survive. Would you rather they all died? You're meant to be charitable Faith. Jade just needs looking after. I reckon you could be the best person for that." Faith looked suitably guilty by this point. I turned to Jade. "Jade, I know it's probably hard for you but if the girls ask you not to touch their stuff, please listen." She nodded.

"At the warehouse, we had rules. Always share food. Never touch other people's belongings. It worked. All our personal belongings and memories were safe then. The only person who ever touched it was Holly and your..." Jade trailed off.

"Cousin," I said.

"When they moved them when the man came. They didn't ever take anyone's things though," jade explained.

"See. Maybe you should set some ground rules with each other. That will give you all a sense of your own space," I told them gently. Faith nodded.

Elektra took charge. "In that case. Don't touch other people's belongings without permission. Respect each other's private lives. No arguing in the bedroom," she said. I smiled at her appreciatively. Elektra was doing well. I sat on her bed with her while they discussed more rules.

Jade and Faith agreed to them and shook hands. While they did this I whispered to Elektra, "Are you alright with this? I mean you weren't arguing about it." She nodded.

"I imagined what could have made her run away from home. I would have hated to live on the streets like her. I had no choice, I was kicked out but there must have been something so bad in her life to make her run away from somewhere safe," Elektra whispered back. I looked over at Jade who was now emptying her clothes from her rucksack into the storage boxes under her bed.

"I never thought of it like that," I replied. I stood up and walked back to my room. I could hear Lily talking to Carmen. Other Lily had gone back home. I could also hear Tee and Holly. It made me wonder what their stories were. I saw Zach with Frank as they headed downstairs to play football. Why was he here? I walked back into my room, wandered round the beds and lay down on mine. I fell straight asleep.

When I woke up, the room was empty and the house was quiet. I padded out my room and headed downstairs. I could hear voices in the living room. I walked in and got a shock of my life. There stood in the middle of the living room, a knife in her hand was my mum. And all around her where the rest of Elm Tree house. But not one of them could save me as they were dead. I screamed loudly.

I screamed loudly and felt someone shaking my shoulder. I looked up at Holly and Tee's horrified faces. I breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't here. She wasn't hurting anyone. I took a deep breath to steady myself. The girls were looking at me with concern.

"I'm... fine," I said trying to sound convincing. They raised their eyebrows up at me. "Alright maybe not 100% but at least 90% ok. I had a nightmare that's all," I explained.

"we had sort of guessed that Jessie," holly told me sassily. I giggled. She sat down on the end of my bed. "What about?" she asked caringly. I looked at the two girls and realised that I could trust them.

"My mum," I said in way of answer. Tee understood and sat down next to me, wrapping her arms around me. I knew Holly had heard the short version of our story when Josh had explained it to Lily but I could see it was taking time. I rolled my sleeves up. "Mum hurt me. She threatened to kill me and Josh and I dreamt she succeeded. It's why I have the three scars running down my face that you saw earlier." Holly nodded. She hugged me too.

"I'm sorry. I know what it's like," she told me. I looked over at her.

"really?" I asked. She nodded.

"Let me explain."

A/N: I've decided I like Holly. So I am going to tell you Lily and Holly's story in the next chapter. I'm really sorry if you don't want to know it but trust me it's not as bad as Josh and Jessie's story. Indigo :)