Chapter 4

"Emily," barked the voice of her mother and the teenage girl swept into the lounge. "Where have you been?"

"School," Emily replied instantly, and her parents glanced at each other.

"I want the truth."

"School. I have been to school today."

"Yesterday. What about yesterday?"

"Ahhh ... well I went to school. Sort of."

Her mother slammed her fist on the table. "I want the truth."

"OK. Yesterday I left at lunchtime and went to the beach."

Her mother groaned and wiped her face. "Why?"

"Because I hate the school. They are so nasty to me, and I just hate them. They hate us down here."

"That's not true. The Council have been a great help," she was told. "Now, I had a call from the school about you, and they've got a dozen times when you've not been in. I want some answers, young lady, and I want them now!"

"I skipped school a couple of times, that is all."

"We trust you a lot," Emily was told. "We will be leaving you home alone in the evenings while we run the restaurant. And we trust you to go to school. You want me to walk you into school?"

"Errr ... no."

"Do you want Paula to have to walk you into school?"

"No," Emily cried indignantly.

"Then I want a promise that you won't be skipping any more lessons," her mother shouted. "And we will be checking up on you."

"Oh ... Mum! You didn't care in..." Her voice trailed off as her mother glared at her.

"Didn't care what?"

"Ahh doesn't matter," Emily quickly muttered. "OK I'm sorry. It's just not home. It doesn't feel like home. Even Paula says so. It's not home."

Her mother smiled. "It is home," she simpered and rubbed her eyes. "It is our new home. But, love, it'll come. But you aren't going to make new friends if you don't go to school, now will you?"

Emily grunted; she knew her mother was right but wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of admitting that.

Emily groaned the moment she heard the voice of Andy. "Hiya," she replied in a sugary sweet voice.

"Don't s'pose Paula's around, is she?"

"Ahh yes ... ummm ... she's popped out to the restaurant," Emily lied and looked over her shoulder and up the stairs. She heard the toilet flush and took a couple of deep breaths. "Be back late, I reckon."

"Could you just tell her I phoned?"

"Yeah sure," Emily spurted as she tapped the little table, the telephone sat on. "I gotta shoot. Good hearing from you. Bye." Emily put the handset on the receiver moments before Paula opened the door from the garden.

"You OK?" The half-naked Paula asked at her smiling sister.

"Yeah, fine," Emily barked and then took the steps two-at-a-time. "Well actually, I was talking to Tony, our neighbour." When Paula didn't respond, Emily waved her arms around. "The short arse. Ginger hair."

"Oh, him."

"Well he says he saw you with Neil King, mean much to you?"

Paula gulped. "Yeah, well, just hangin' out. You've met him."

Emily scowled for a moment. "The slimy, smarmy one. Fuck! Right, well, this makes sense. Tony said to warn you that he has a bit of a reputation for being charming but a bastard."

Paula dried her hair. "He's not."

"Well I'm just saying..."

"I can read people," Paula told her. "I am a great judge of character and he's not like that."

"Well Tony says he is."

Paula crossed her arms. "I am a far better judge of character than anyone and there is no way he can charm me. He is fun, but that is it."

"Yeah..."

"I know you don't like him, but he is fine. And I won't be swayed by gossip. If I like him, I might choose to go out with him, and if I don't, I won't."

Emily snorted. "Well, just remember not everyone is like Andy."

"Yeah ... I know!" Paula snapped. "But no-one can deceive me," she thundered.

"You don't think you are being a bit over confident?" Emily asked with a smirk.