the house, but here she is, perched on the breakfast counter swinging her legs, as she chats away in her usual excitable tone. Nathan and Liam had stayed behind at school to play football with friends and the weather was far too cold and overcast to make them want to stay and watch. The arcade was quiet - and a little boring without the boys - so before she knew it and without properly thinking it through, Abbey had extended her invitation. Janet is still at work and Peter is rarely home through the day, so Lucy probably won’t even get to meet them, yet the possibility makes Abbey feel nervous and on edge despite not being entirely sure why?
The afternoon passes quickly as it always does in Lucy’s company. It amazes Abbey how she never seems to run out of things to say… there are never any awkward silences or breaks in conversation. Her carefree attitude always puts Abbey in a good mood and Lucy makes her laugh with all the random things she brings up and talks about. It had been nice, just the two of them for a change… but as Lucy is getting ready to leave, the front door slams and Abbey turns to look at the clock. It is only 5:00pm. Her mum isn’t normally home this early.
“Abbey?!” Janet calls out - her voice stern and slightly panicked. She rushes into the kitchen and takes a sharp breath as if she is about to speak, but stops when she sees Lucy, eyeing her suspiciously.
“Mum, this is Lucy; she’s a friend from school…”
“Nice to meet you Mrs Miller…” Lucy smiles politely but gets no response. Janet simply nods once and turns abruptly back to Abbey.
“I need to talk to you… now please…”
“Mum!”
“That’s OK… I should get going anyway…” Lucy throws her bag over her shoulder and Abbey flushes with embarrassment as she follows her to the door.
“I’m sorry I don’t know what’s wrong with her…”
“Don’t worry about it… I’ll see you tomorrow!”
As Lucy leaves, Abbey’s irritation quickly boils over into full blown anger. It is the first time her mum has met any of her new friends and she behaves in such a rude, obnoxious way. It is totally uncalled for. She turns furiously, ready to storm back into the kitchen to confront Janet, but she is already in the hallway, standing with her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised. The look on her face irritates Abbey even more.
“What the hell is your problem?!” She yells.
“My problem?!” Janet shouts back, “My problem is I got a call from your school today. They told me that you’ve been missing your lessons! Now do you want to tell to me what the hell is going on or do I need to ring them back for some sort of explanation?!” She scowls, her face red with anger, “WELL?!”
Abbey quickly weighs up her options and runs through various excuses in her mind. There aren’t any. It is obvious that Janet knows everything and there is no point even trying to convince her that the school have got it wrong.
“What do you want me to say?” She asks, still annoyed “I hate it… I never wanted to move there in the first place, I told you that, repeatedly…”
“So you just decided not to go?!” Janet cries with exasperation.
“It’s not like I could talk to you about it… you don’t care, you wouldn’t have even noticed anything was wrong if they hadn’t called…” Janet’s angered expression falters for a moment and it suddenly becomes obvious to Abbey that she knows exactly how she is behaving; shutting her own daughter out, keeping her at arm’s length. In that split second it is written all over her face.
“Well thank god they did…” Her voice is calmer, but just as firm, “This stops now. You’re grounded. You are not to see your new friends, not until you get your school work back on track….”
“WHAT?” Abbey is astounded. She has never been grounded before in her life and the thought of being stuck in this house unable to see her friends is horrifying. She shakes her head at
The afternoon passes quickly as it always does in Lucy’s company. It amazes Abbey how she never seems to run out of things to say… there are never any awkward silences or breaks in conversation. Her carefree attitude always puts Abbey in a good mood and Lucy makes her laugh with all the random things she brings up and talks about. It had been nice, just the two of them for a change… but as Lucy is getting ready to leave, the front door slams and Abbey turns to look at the clock. It is only 5:00pm. Her mum isn’t normally home this early.
“Abbey?!” Janet calls out - her voice stern and slightly panicked. She rushes into the kitchen and takes a sharp breath as if she is about to speak, but stops when she sees Lucy, eyeing her suspiciously.
“Mum, this is Lucy; she’s a friend from school…”
“Nice to meet you Mrs Miller…” Lucy smiles politely but gets no response. Janet simply nods once and turns abruptly back to Abbey.
“I need to talk to you… now please…”
“Mum!”
“That’s OK… I should get going anyway…” Lucy throws her bag over her shoulder and Abbey flushes with embarrassment as she follows her to the door.
“I’m sorry I don’t know what’s wrong with her…”
“Don’t worry about it… I’ll see you tomorrow!”
As Lucy leaves, Abbey’s irritation quickly boils over into full blown anger. It is the first time her mum has met any of her new friends and she behaves in such a rude, obnoxious way. It is totally uncalled for. She turns furiously, ready to storm back into the kitchen to confront Janet, but she is already in the hallway, standing with her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised. The look on her face irritates Abbey even more.
“What the hell is your problem?!” She yells.
“My problem?!” Janet shouts back, “My problem is I got a call from your school today. They told me that you’ve been missing your lessons! Now do you want to tell to me what the hell is going on or do I need to ring them back for some sort of explanation?!” She scowls, her face red with anger, “WELL?!”
Abbey quickly weighs up her options and runs through various excuses in her mind. There aren’t any. It is obvious that Janet knows everything and there is no point even trying to convince her that the school have got it wrong.
“What do you want me to say?” She asks, still annoyed “I hate it… I never wanted to move there in the first place, I told you that, repeatedly…”
“So you just decided not to go?!” Janet cries with exasperation.
“It’s not like I could talk to you about it… you don’t care, you wouldn’t have even noticed anything was wrong if they hadn’t called…” Janet’s angered expression falters for a moment and it suddenly becomes obvious to Abbey that she knows exactly how she is behaving; shutting her own daughter out, keeping her at arm’s length. In that split second it is written all over her face.
“Well thank god they did…” Her voice is calmer, but just as firm, “This stops now. You’re grounded. You are not to see your new friends, not until you get your school work back on track….”
“WHAT?” Abbey is astounded. She has never been grounded before in her life and the thought of being stuck in this house unable to see her friends is horrifying. She shakes her head at
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