After reading through this, I think it's probably likely that I didn't post it at the time because I don't like the way it flows. But it is what it is, if I tried to rewrite it now I'd probably lose interest and not update.

The next chapter looks to be pretty finished already, and I've got a couple of free days coming up so I might have a poke at the rest of what I've got written and see if I can get a few more chapters sorted if people are still interested in reading it!

I'm also using the app for the first time because I couldn't get the website to work on my phone, so I apologise for any formatting errors or anything weird that might happen!

Sarah spoke to Rachel after Shelby asked her about getting Rachel's hair cut, and, after hearing how enthusiastically the girl spoke about having "a real big lot but not all" of her hair cut off, she told Shelby she didn't have a problem with Rachel having such a drastic cut.

Shelby managed to book both an eye test and a haircut for that week, meaning they could get both done before Rachel started at her new school. Her eye test came first, Shelby had explained when she made the appointment that Rachel couldn't read very well, and that she sometimes struggled with letters. The person she spoke to reassured her that that was fine, that they had charts that used pictures and shapes for children who couldn't read and they made a note to use those for Rachel.

She could tell Rachel was nervous as they sat in the waiting area of the opticians, and Shelby wasn't surprised, Rachel had been through so much in the past week and she could only hope that, once Rachel started her new school, things would settle down, that they'd be able to get into a routine and Rachel would be able to settle down and, hopefully, relax a little. As they waited for Rachel's name to be called, Shelby explained what happened during an eye test, reassured Rachel she'd had plenty of them and they didn't hurt, and that she'd be right by Rachel's side the whole time.

"Are you mad?" Rachel asked quietly as they walked through the parking lot towards Shelby's car after her appointment.

"Why would I be mad?" Shelby asked, "you were really well behaved in there, you did everything the optician asked and you were really good when we were trying glasses on." After finding out that Rachel was quite severely short sighted, Shelby had Rachel pick out frames for two pairs of glasses so she had a spare, and in the spring she'd take her to pick out a pair of prescription sunglasses too. The optician had been surprised that Rachel's poor eyesight hadn't been picked up in previous check ups, and he'd told Shelby that, once Rachel had her glasses, she might need to wear them for a few hours at a time to allow her eyes to adjust to the drastic change and slowly build up to wearing them all the time.

"I didn't tell you I couldn't see." Rachel shrugged.

"Did you know you couldn't see?" Shelby asked, "or has it always been like that? Do you ever remember seeing any differently to how you see now?" Rachel shook her head. "Then how were you to know that wasn't how everyone saw things? You didn't tell me something was wrong because you didn't know anything was wrong and that's okay."

"You're really not mad?"

Shelby shook her head, "I'm a little mad that nobody noticed before, but I'm not mad at you Rachel, you're just a child, you didn't know anything was wrong. You were very well behaved today, you did everything that was asked of you and you answered all the opticians questions, you were polite and you were very helpful when we were choosing glasses for you. "

Shelby was surprised by how easily she and Rachel fell into an easy routine over the next couple of days, Rachel was often tense and on edge but Shelby tried not to draw attention to it. She set up a routine for their days, with specific times for schoolwork, meals and free time, where she reassured Rachel she could do whatever she liked and she made sure to stick to that routine, knowing Rachel would only benefit from consistency. She found out quite quickly that Rachel loved books, even though she couldn't read more than the most basic of words, she loved looking through books and Shelby often offered to read to her during their free time, she bought books aimed at younger children and they'd read together, Rachel reading the words she could and Shelby helping her with the rest, the look of happiness and pride on Rachel's face when Shelby praised her for how well she read was one of the best things Shelby had ever experienced. Rachel had so much potential, Shelby knew that there was so much hidden behind the scared, anxious shell and she was glad that Rachel seemed to be slowly letting down her walls and discovering who she really was.

The weekend soon came around and Shelby had booked her own hair appointment at the same time as Rachel, at Shelby's request they were sat side by side in the salon as they spoke about what they wanted. Rachel was in awe, she'd never been to a hair salon before, she'd always had her hair cut wherever she was living at the time, so she was quite excited about being at the salon. She was also quite nervous too though, she didn't want to do anything wrong and make Shelby angry, she was a little relieved to see Shelby was having her hair cut too so she was just going to copy what Shelby did.

They were taken over to the sinks together, the hairdresser putting a booster cushion on Rachel's chair to make it more comfortable for her. "Are you okay?" Shelby asked Rachel as her hair was rinsed.

"Yeah" Rachel grinned, "I can't wait to have my hair cut off, thank you for bringing me here!"

"You are more than welcome, we'll keep getting you trims too, unless you ever want to grow it again, we'll make sure to keep it at a manageable length for you."

Rachel still had a huge smile on her face, "I'd like that. Thank you."

Shelby was only having a trim so she was done before Rachel, the hairdresser drying the girls hair when Shelby was finished. "What do you think?" Shelby asked, the hairdresser had, not only cut Rachel's hair to her shoulders like she wanted, but she'd thinned it out a great deal too.

"I really, really like it!" Rachel had sat extremely still throughout her haircut, not wanting to move and ruin anything, her eyes fixed on the hairdresser, watching her every move.

"I'm glad to hear it."

"And my bangs will really grow and go away?"

"The next time you come, we'll probably be able to cut them a little so they grow nicely in with the rest of your hair" the hairdresser nodded, confirming to Rachel that her bangs would eventually grow out.

Once the hairdresser told Rachel she was all done, Rachel hopped out of the chair and took a step closer to the mirror to get a look at herself, not hearing Shelby's quiet explanation that they were waiting for her to get glasses, she was too lost in her own reflection as she lifted her hand, fingertips barely grazing her hair as she tried not to mess it up, it felt so different to not have her hair down her back, her head felt a lot lighter and she knew she'd not have to worry about getting her hair stuck in the back of her jackets anymore. Shelby didn't rush her, she was happy for Rachel to take as much time as she needed, but she was surprised when Rachel turned from the mirror and flung herself at her, "thank you" she hugged Shelby tightly, "thank you, thank you, thank you."

"It's okay" Shelby gently ran her hand over Rachel's hair, not wanting to mess it up, "you're more than welcome, I take it you like it?"

"I do" Rachel nodded before turning to the hairdresser and thanking her too, she was trying so hard to be good, to make Shelby want to keep her and she wanted Shelby know that she could be good, that she wasn't always bad.

Rachel's excitement about her haircut seemed to die off as they walked back towards the car, Rachel was lagging behind a little, clearly lost in her thoughts about something but Shelby waited until they were safely back in the car before gently asking, "is something wrong Rachel?"

As much as she tried to stop them, Rachel's tears started almost immediately and Shelby couldn't help but frown, worried something was seriously wrong with the girl, "was I good?" Rachel finally whispered.

"Oh Darling" Shelby got out of the car, moving from the driver's seat to sit next to Rachel, "you were very good, I didn't have to tell you off or give you a warning did I? You sat nicely, you spoke kindly to everyone that spoke to you and you listened to the hairdresser and did as she asked didn't you?" Rachel nodded, "so what makes you think you weren't good?"

Rachel shrugged and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. Shelby didn't push her though, she just sat quietly beside her and waited until Rachel told her, "I want to be good, but I don't think I know how to be good."

"That's a big thing to be worried about huh?" Shelby smiled sadly, "and it's going to take time, but I think that one day you'll realise that you aren't as 'bad' as you think you are. You're kind and polite, you're helpful, you have really good manners, you're a lot of things but I don't think you're bad. There might be timed in the future where you behave badly, but that's okay, people make mistakes Rachel, sometimes people get things wrong, but you're still a child, and making mistakes, getting things wrong, it's how you learn, bad behaviour, mistakes, they don't bother me Rachel, and they certainly won't make me want to send you away if that's what you're worried about."

"I don't know why I'm crying" Rachel sobbed.

"You don't need a reason to cry Rachel" Shelby promised her, "you cry whenever you need to."

Luckily Rachel's glasses were ready just a few days after her first visit to the optician so she'd have them for her first day at her new school. She had a lot of questions about her glasses and, although Shelby did her best to answer them, she promised to ask the optician anything Rachel still needed to know. "What do you think?" Shelby asked as Rachel gazed around the room, a look of pure awe on her face as she saw the finer details of everything for the first time.

"It's amazing" Rachel gasped before turning to Shelby, "you're really pretty!"

Shelby laughed, "thank you, and you look good with those glasses on, you made a good choice they really suit you."

With some gentle encouragement from Shelby, Rachel asked all her unanswered questions on her own, and, as they walked back to the car, Shelby made sure to tell Rachel how proud she was of her. She stopped as she realised Rachel was no longer by her side and she turned, smiling slightly when she saw Rachel had stopped by a hedge, the girl's hand slowly reaching out to touch it, "are you okay?" she asked as she walked over to her.

"Look" Rachel gently stroked a leaf, "I thought they were all just green." Plants had just seemed like green blobs to her before, and Rachel was surprised to be able to see all the individual leaves, "and look, there's a little flower too" she said, pointing to it.

"Things look a lot different now hey?" Shelby smiled, giving Rachel time to take everything in, the look on her face one of amazement as she saw the world clearly for the first time.

Rachel nodded, "and I can see you too!"

"When we get home you'll be able to look in a mirror and see yourself too" Shelby smiled, she couldn't believe that Rachel's poor eyesight hadn't been picked up before, but at the same time she loved seeing Rachel's reaction to being able to see everything clearly.

"Will I always be able to see like this?" Rachel asked.

Shelby nodded, "your eyes might change as you get older, but if that happens we'll just get you new glasses that help you see just as well as you see now."

Shelby would never forget the grin that flashed across Rachel's face at the thought, "that is so cool!"

"It certainly is" Shelby chuckled, "it certainly is."