Slipping Through My Fingers

Revealing True Friends

Amelia-Lily sat on the playground wall at school, Sofia and Cara sat either side of her...she wasn't listening to a word of what they were saying. Across from the other side of the playground she could see Charlie, standing with his coat zipped right up, his hat firmly pushed down on his head, his hands in his pockets....standing by himself... "Mils? Mils? Hello? Amelia-Lily?" Cara said, waving her hand in front of her face. Amelia-Lily shook her head, "what?" Swatting Cara's hand out of her face. Sofia nudged her, "hey what's wrong?" Amelia-Lily shrugged, "Charlie is by himself....can we ask him to come over and sit with us?" Sofia opened her mouth, about to say something before Cara cut in, "he doesn't talk to us...seriously...I mean we get he's your friend and everything but it'll just be awkward." Amelia-Lily sighed, "oh c'mon, he's alright when you get to know him.....he's just shy....and my parents did say that I have to be nice to him an' look out for him at school an' stuff." Sofia shrugged, "oh Cara don't be mean....the kid has cancer...do you know what that is? It's an illness, people can die from it...go ask him over Mils," Sofia said, nodding in Charlie's direction. Cara hung her head, "is Charlie going to die then? 'Cause I didn't mean to be horrible about him." Amelia-Lily shook her head adamantly, "he's not going to die, he's having chemo which help kills the cancer in his body...that's what my Mum said...though the chemo makes him lose his hair, that's why he wears the hat," she said, jumping off the wall to walk over to her God-Brother. Since Charlie had started at that school he had struggled to make new friends, compared to Amelia-Lily who had made a circle of friends on her first day...to begin with a girl called Ella had followed him round, trying to make friends but after the bullying she had given up on him. Charlie gave his God-Sister a weak smile as she approached him. "Do you wanna come an' sit with me, Sofia an' Cara? James is over there too...an' Harrison...an' Georgia....they say you can come if you want?" Charlie shook his head, "no thanks....they don't really like me....I'm okay over here.. Amelia-Lily rolled her eyes, 1 hand perched on her hip, "Charlie Robert Clifton will you just for once come and sit with my friends...they might like you if you actually let them talk to you, you might like them back?" Charlie sighed, he knew he wouldn't win this so begrudgingly trekked to the other side of the school playground.
James was sat on the floor, his back to the teacher's watchful eye, in his lap sat a packet of Maryland cookies. Charlie's eye widened. James smiled at Amelia-Lily as she jumped up back on the wall in between Cara and Sofia, his freckles spread across his cheeks....Sofia insisted that he had a crush on her best friend but Amelia-Lily refused to believe her, she was just teasing....probably....They all briefly said hello to Charlie before turning their attention back to the cookies. James quickly checked over his shoulder, checking that Mr Stark, their current year 3 teacher wasn't watching, and then held out the opened packet to Amelia-Lily, Sofia rolled her eyes, getting a sharp jab in her ribs from her best friend. After his classmates had a cookie James turned to Charlie and held out the packet, "do you wan' 1?" Charlie nodded, reaching out for a cookie, Georgia jumped down off the wall, "you can only have 1 if you talk to us....not just to Mils, all of us," she said, putting her hand in front of the cookie packet. Charlie glanced at Amelia-Lily, looking for her protection..nothing..."Me and my mum made a cake yesterday....I've got a slice in my lunch box, if you give me a cookie I can give all a bit?" He said, not talking overly loud but loud enough for them to hear him. "What kind of cake?" James asked, the girls and Harrison all rolled their eyes, typical James. "Chocolate." James, face lit up and passed a cookie to Charlie...James had always liked chocolate cake....
Just as Charlie took his first bite out of the cookie he was stopped...he'd been caught..."You're not allowed to eat cookies at break....I'm going to tell Mr Stark...you're going to get in so much trouble," the girl said, turning and running in the direction where the teacher was in the playground....it was Ella...the girl that Charlie had 'bullied'. Charlie dropped the cookie and ran after her, not wanting to get his new friends in trouble. He grabbed onto her hood, pulling her back, well trying to. She spun round and pushed him to the ground. Amelia-Lily and her friends ran after them. Amelia-Lily latched onto Ella, pushing and shoving her, scratching each other's faces. Harrison and James noticed Mr Stark approaching the scene and pulled the scratching girls away from each other, Sofia and Cara pulled Charlie up on his feet. "What's going on here then? Amelia-Lily Skorjanec, are you fighting?" The teacher said, towering over the students, for some unknown reason he had developed a hatred for Amelia-Lily and her friends. Ella played on this and began 'crying', "she started attacking me Mr Stark, I don't know why," Ella said, hiding her face in her hands. "Mils did no such thing...Ella pushed Charlie over," James said, sticking up for the girl that according to Sofia he had a crush on. "Yeah...she was only sticking up for Charlie sir...I mean Mr Stark.... Ella started it," Harrison said. Mr Stark shook his head, "both you girls are to go and see the headteacher right away and your parents are to be called to come and collect you....fighting is not tolerated in this school." Amelia-Lily sighed, "parents?! Please don't call them, they'll kill me." Mr Stark had a weird sinister grin on his face, "well then you should've thought about that before you started fighting Miss Skorjanec...now off you go." The girls sighed and walked off down the corridor, sitting on the red carpeted chairs outside  Mrs Merridew, the headteacher's, office. She lectured them about fighting and how it is unacceptable to fight in hear 3...she the informed them that their parents had been called and that they were to go and get cleaned up and collect their bags.