“I’ll help you.” Katie said as she and Leanne walked out of the school gates. This was a big moment for Leanne. The fifteen year old who had only ever had one friend throughout school was now about to spend the later part of that afternoon with a group of girls. Her only friend had left the school a few weeks before and being the person she was, she thought that she would go through the remainder of the school year alone. That would have suited her in some ways. School was hard enough with everything she had going on at home without the worry of making friends thrown in as well. It was Katie that had arranged for the other three girls to come around to her house this afternoon. She had originally told Katie that it wasn’t possible for that to happen as her mum was ill and needed Leanne to help take care of her, and now here Katie was offering to help. Leanne had never told anyone about her mother and all the things that she had to do for her, so she was reluctant to start doing that now. She knew she would have to go home first before Katie came to make sure most of the usual day to day things the did was already sorted. “Ok you can come around before the others and help me. Just so we can chill out when the rest come.” Leanne said, almost feeling pleased with herself that she was inviting the girls around as if it was an everyday thing for her. She left Katie to go home with the promise that the girl would come by in an hour. Pushing the front door of her home her stomach flipped the way it always did after she had been out all day. Her mother had been diagnosed with MS when Leanne was younger and with no father around it had just been the two of them and that meant it had fallen to the young girl to do all the things for her mother that she couldn’t do herself. Hanging her bag up by the front door she paused for a moment taking a breath before walking into the living room. It was now that she always became nervous, never really knowing what she would fine. Her mother could have fallen and been hurt or worse. “Mum?” She said pushing the door open to the dark living room. “Hi sweetheart, how was your day?” Her mother asked doing her best to push herself up into a sitting position on the sofa bed that she had now slept in for over a year. “Yeah good, some of the girls are going to come later. Just to sit in the garden is that ok?” Her mother let out a small smile, pleased that her daughter, after years of worry was finally making friends and doing things a normal girl of her age should be. It wouldn’t help with the guilt that she felt every time she looked at her young daughter but at least it would allow the girl to have some well needed fun. “That’s fantastic l, what time are they coming?” “Soon but I my friend Katie is going to come around first and help me out, cook your tea and thing.” Katie was a new name that her mother had never heard her mention before. “She a new friend mum.” Leanne said as she saw the worry flash across her mother’s face. “Are you sure you want her to come and help you. I know you don’t want people at school knowing what we live like?” She asked suddenly wondering why Leanne didn’t mind. “She a friend mum, it will be fine.” It the hour it took for Katie to come around Leanne had done her best with the house work that seemed to be getting out of hand over the past few days. She couldn’t remember the last time the living room had a good clean or a window was opened, she knew that she should keep better attention on all those things for her mother’s sake. Leanne always carried guilt of her own that she could do more. “Come in.” She said now leading Katie through to the living room. “Mum this is Katie.” The two girls came to stand beside the woman’s bed. After a little while of Katie taking to her mother and Leanne doing the food she knew that it wouldn’t be long before the other girls arrived. “Shall we go into the garden? We can set the chairs up.” Leanne suggested. Just as the girls were about to go outside her mother looked up at her. “Just before you go love. I need a change of clothes.” The woman said trying not to give too much away in front of her daughters friend. The door bell rang just as Leanne was brining the fresh clothes through to her mother. “You go outside with the others, I’ll be out soon.” She told Katie who was hovering by the living room door looking more uncomfortable that ever. Laughter from the back garden was the first thing that Leanne heard when she had finished in the living room. She smiled to herself, thinking that for the first time she about to spend a normal late afternoon with friends like someone of her age was supposed to do. “You mean she had wet herself.” One of the girls said just before she burst out laughing. The realisation hit Leanne almost the same as if a bus had just smashed into her. “You have no idea. The house is disgusting. Seriously we can not hang out with her.” Leanne knew then that the friendship that she thought Katie and the others had appeared to offer her was a lie. It all been a lie. Just like that she was alone again.