Protection

Pep talk

Miss Christophorou stands up and shakes mums hand then shakes Jays. "It's nice to meet you both. I wish it was under better circumstances. I was just trying to get Amber to eat a cereal bar." Mr Brown walks back behind the desk and sits down whilst mum pulls up a seat beside me and Jay stands with his hands against the table behind him. "Honey why aren't you eating again?" I don't say anything. I just look at the floor, picking the skin on my fingers. Mum takes my hands so I have to stop. "Is it to do with what happened yesterday?" My body shakes with a sob. "I'm sorry mum. I really am. Please don't be mad at me." She pulls me into a hug. "It's okay bubba. Can you try eating the cereal bar for me?" I shake my head against her chest. Mr Brown looks over at me looking at me with sympathy. "I think it's best you take Amber home for today. See how she's feeling tomorrow."

Da- Jay nods his head and picks up my back pack off the floor and mum picks me up. We leave the school with Miss Christophorou following behind us. Before I get into the car, she stops me. "Amber? Listen to me. I'm so proud of you for coming this far. Don't throw it away now. If you need anything at all just email me." I nod my head and climb into the car, closing the door. Mum and Jay stay outside of the car talking to Miss for a few minutes then climb in the car. "Do you want to come to the district?" I nod my head and we head to the district.

When we get in, we head up to the bullpen and I sit at Jays desk leaving him on the chair behind me. I look around the room and I see a woman sitting behind a desk that had been added to the place. I roll backwards so I'm sat next to Jay and ask him, "Who's the new person?" He looks where I'm looking then nods. "That's Kim Burgess. She's just come over from LA." I think for a second then something clicks in my mind. Is she Alicia's mum?

TIME SKIP TO A FEW HOURS LATER!

We all hear the gate buzz at the bottom of the stairs and I look over to the top of the stairs just to see Alicia walking up them. "Alicia!?" She looks over to me and smiles. "Amber!? What are you doing here?" I roll out from behind Jays desk and over to her. "My mum works here. What about you?" She smiles at me. "So does mine." She looks over at Kim and waves. "Hey mum!" Kim stands up and hugs her daughter. "Hey babes. How was school?" Alicia hugs Kim back before she replies. "It was okay. Amber is the freind I was messaging you about earlier." I look up at her. "I feel honoured that you talk about me." She lightly pushes me but I just roll away slightly, causing us to both burst out into laughter.

We spend the next few hours talking about random stuff until mum and Kim walk into the break room where we are. "Come on girls it's time for us to go." I look at mum with pleading eyes. "Please mum. Can we stay a little bit longer. Please." Kim spoke instead of mum. "You both have school in the morning." Just as we're walking out, I had an idea. "Hey Lishy. Pass me your phone." She gives me her phone and I put my number into it. "Message me when you get home." She nods and we hug each other as Jay walks down the stairs and we walk out.

We get home and I was about to head up to my room but dad- Jay calls me back. "Amber come back here please!" I slowly walk back towards the kitchen. "Stay downstairs please. I'm starting to make tea soon." I feel my phone vibrate in my back pocket. "Why can't I just go sit in my room? It's not like I'm gonna go anywhere else." He gives me a stern look. "Because I asked you to stay downstairs. Go sit in the living room." I roll my eyes and walk away. "Less of the attitude missy!" I go sit on the bean bag in the living room and pull out my phone. Alicia had messaged me.

Lishy x

Heyyyyyyyyyy x

Heyyyyyyy x

Whatcha doin'?

Waiting for Jay to finish making food. He's making me stay downstairs. Wbu?

Just watching TV whilst mum makes my tea.
Are you in school tomorrow?

If I'm feeling up to it yea. Head teacher sent me home because I didn't want to eat a cereal bar.

That makes no sense.
I gtg my teas ready see you in the morning

Night

"Amber! Tea's ready!" I walk into the kitchen and sit at the table. Mum and Jay are sat together whilst I sit opposite them. "Thanks dad-". I really need to keep my mouth shut. That's the second time I've done this now. "No problem kiddo." I look over at him to see him sat with a huge smile on his face. We sit eating our meal and I eat about a quarter of my meal before I push it away. I'm about to speak up when mum speaks up. "I want you to eat a little bit more than that please Amber. That isn't enough. You haven't eaten today." I shake my head and start to walk away. "Amber! Come back please!" I completely ignore her and walk up to my room and lay on my bed overthinking everything. A couple of minutes later, I hear a knock at my door. "Go away!" Instead of leaving me alone, whoever it was walked into my room. I turn around getting ready to yell until I see who it is. "I SAID GO-!" It was Hank. "What's this about you not eating again kiddo? I though we was improving?" I look up at him with tears in my eyes. "I'm not. I'm no where near improving... I just want to lose weight." He picks me up and walks me into mum and dads room and stands me in front of their full body mirror. I try turn away so I don't see myself but he keeps a firm grip on my shoulders. "What do you see in this mirror?" I stop trying to turn away and look at myself in disgust. "Someone who needs to lose weight and doesn't deserve the love she gets." Hank hugs me then sits on the floor bringing me down with him. "Do you wanna know what I see?" I nod my head, slightly nervous to hear it. "I see a beautiful young girl who has come so far from when I first met her. I see a strong brave girl who has gone through things that no one should go through and has lived to tell the tale. I see my beautiful granddaughter who deserves every bit of love that comes her way." I turn around and hug him, crying into his chest. "Thank you Hank." I say muffled by his shirt.

—————————————————

Hello beautiful people! How are you all today?
I've had a good day, taking advantage of the sun that we're currently getting.

If you haven't done so today, go get yourself something to eat and drink some water. You deserve it.

If you have any suggestions let me know in the comments and don't be a ghost reader.

Thank you for all the reads btw I really appreciate it x