“Hey girlies,” Lindsay said with a grin as Ellie, Monique and Kacey entered the packed coffee shop and slumped heavily into their seats. “Should I ask?”

“Ugh, I’d prefer it if you didn’t,” Monique groaned. “I HATE exams…”

“Well, only a few more days to go,” Kacey said with a tired chuckle. “Gonna be weird not going to college next year, heh.”

“Meh, I can’t wait to get to uni,” Jodie shrugged. “I love change, things get boring if things always stay the same, you know?”

“Yeah,” Ellie said, though secretly, she had had far too much change over the previous few months.

As always, when the topic of change came up, Ellie’s first thoughts were about her younger sibling. In the three months since Jack had announced the desire to become ‘Jade’, very little had changed to an outside observer, but things were very different from the two siblings’ perspective.

The Monday after Ellie’s birthday weekend, Jack returned to school as ‘Jack’, as he did for the rest of the school year. However, on many occasions after returning home from school, it would frequently be ‘Jade’ who walked down the stairs after getting changed- and Ellie would often be waiting for her when she did.

As she’d promised, Ellie was there for Jade the first time she introduced herself to her parents as the girl she was inside. As Jade sat in her bedroom, clad in the same skirt and hoodie she’d worn when she’d first introduced herself to Ellie, the older girl recognised the look of pure fear in her sister’s face, as it was the same look she’d seen in the mirror prior to her own coming out. However, while Ellie had been rejected, when Jade entered the living room as herself for the first time, she was met with nods of acceptance and tolerance. The girls’ parents were still a long way from loving their new daughter, but were a lot closer than they had been with Ellie- or closer even than they still were with Ellie. And as hard as she continued to try, Ellie still found herself harbouring feelings of jealousy toward her new sister. However, the real world- specifically, exam season- preoccupied both Ellie and Jade to the point where neither had much free time to explore their new family situation. Especially as every time Ellie thought of home and family, it wasn’t her parents or even Jade that she thought about, but Janet. However, this lack of free time didn’t stop Ellie’s social life from expanding in other ways…

“Hey babe,” the good-looking seventeen year old boy said with a smirk as he sat down next to Ellie and wrapped a strong arm around her slender waist.

“Hey bae,” Ellie giggled, sneaking a kiss from the young man while their friends giggled and playfully jeered.

“Hey Dane,” Lindsay (who had been friends with Ellie’s boyfriend since secondary school) chuckled. “Any chance you could keep your hands off her for one second?”

“Umm… Nah,” Dane chuckled as he gave Ellie’s side a gentle tickle, eliciting a shriek of laughter from the blonde girl.

“Okay, okay, enough PDA!” Jodie chuckled. “You two keep it up and I’ll need to grab a fire extinguisher!” Ellie and Dane both giggled at their friend’s teasing, Ellie especially so as she knew that underneath the mock exasperation was a feeling of genuine happiness that Ellie had finally started a relationship after months of single life.

Ellie and Dane had met during the Easter holidays at a party thrown by one of Lindsay’s classmates, and it had been Lindsay herself who had introduced the two teenagers. Even though Dane had come across as a typical boy at first, interested only in football, girls and videogames, Ellie had quickly been able to deduce that there was a kinda, sensitive boy underneath the façade- and, most importantly, one with no hang-ups about having a transgendered girlfriend. Even though it had been months since Ethan’s assault, Ellie was at first reluctant to allow Dane to even touch her, but as she got to know him better, she gradually allowed him to grow closer to her, and before long, Ellie was enjoying a physical relationship for the first time in a very long while. However, she was yet to persuade Janet to allow him to stay overnight…

“You not got any exams today Dane?” Kacey asked.

“Nah,” Dane replied with a chuckle. “History exams tomorrow and Friday. Can’t wait for summer to start.”

“Me too,” Ellie sighed tiredly.

“Still though,” Monique shrugged. “Good things come to those who wait, right?”

“Yeah,” Ellie chuckled, before grinning at the appropriateness of Monique’s comment when applied to the person who had just walked through the coffee shop’s front door.

“Hey Jack!” Lindsay said, calling the fifteen year old boy toward the group’s table. “Exams today as well, then?”

“Ugh, yep!” Jack replied with a playful chuckle that raised smiles from most of the girls at the table, with one notable exception.

“Hi, Jack,” Keira said in a cold, distant voice as the fifteen year old fidgeted in his seat. While Ellie had initially taken Keira's feelings toward Jack to be just a playful, frivolous crush, Keira had taken the situation a lot more seriously, and had been clearly hurt when Jack came out to the rest of the group shortly after Ellie's birthday. While Keira was sensitive enough not to try to alienate Jack, it did make life considerably more awkward when the two of them were in the same room together.

“Anyway,” Monique said, “exams are almost done, which means it’s summer soon... Are we gonna get to go to Wireless, then?”

“God, I hope so,” Lindsay sighed happily. “Might be a bit of a hard sell to my mum, though. Maybe next year, when I’m eighteen.”

“Yeah, my mum’s being a pain there too,” Jodie sighed. “Should be able to twist her arm, though. Ell? You up for Wireless?”

“Uh, music student?” Ellie replied with a giggle. “How about ‘hell yeah’?” Ellie grinned as her friends cheered at the news- it still surprised her at times that they were as genuinely happy to spend time with her as she was with them. “Janet will be okay with it. And it’s not like my ‘real’ parents have a say, heh.” Ellie tried to suppress a grimace as she saw an unhappy look spread across her younger sibling’s face.

“That’s good,” Dane said with a lustful grin. “Doubt they’d approve of me going too, heh!”

“No PDA!” Monique ordered, triggering a fit of giggles from everyone at the table.

The group dispersed just over half an hour later and all the teenagers returned to their respective homes, even Ellie and Dane, who indulged in a few more public displays of affection before parting company. Before she left the coffee shop, though, Ellie subtly pulled her younger sibling aside for a quiet talk.

“Hey, then,” Ellie said, fidgeting awkwardly as she and Jack found a quiet corner of the shop.

“Hey…” Jack said equally awkwardly. “So, umm…”

“Yeah,” Ellie said. “You- are you, umm, you know, still- still-“

“’Seeing Jade’?” Jack asked, smiling nervously as he nodded. “Like I told you the last hundred times, this is a real thing, I’m not going to suddenly change my mind. Just like you didn’t.”

“Are you- are you any closer to, you know, introducing Jade to the world?” Ellie asked.

“…After my exams are over at the very earliest,” Jack replied. “But I want to, I really want to, honestly. I just- well, you knew what it was like at our old school, right?”

“Well- yeah,” Ellie replied with a sigh. Even though she’d known she was a girl for as long as she could remember, even at her most desperate she wouldn’t have dared to come out whilst she was still a student at secondary school. While she was in her second year of secondary school, she'd heard stories about a boy three years older than her who had come out as gay, and had ended up hospitalised and, according to rumours, forced to leave London altogether after a campaign of bullying by the same Neanderthals who had beaten him up. As desperate as Ellie had been, she didn't dare risk her health or safety, and certainly didn't blame Jack for not risking his.

“I’ve been talking a lot with your friend Nikki,” Jack said. “She came out right after finishing her GCSEs too, she’s given me a few, you know, bits of advice.”

“Cool,” Ellie said. “And- and your counsellor? You seeing them weekly yet?”

“Only every other week for now,” Jack replied. “Hopefully by September it’ll be every week. Then again, by September hopefully I’ll be, well, yeah…”

“Yeah,” Ellie chuckled. “Anyway, umm, I’m going to head off now, Janet will probably have started dinner.”

“Okay,” Jack shrugged. "Talk soon?"

"Sure," Ellie said, biting her lip as she walked away from her brother, inwardly cursing at herself for what she perceived as yet another awkward encounter with someone with whom she used to be able to talk openly.

Janet let out a sigh as she entered the women’s locker room of the supermarket and removed her name badge, before untying her ponytail and smiling at how her ever-lengthening hair framed her face. It wasn't just the change to her hair that made Janet smile, though- months on oestrogen had resulted in her waist narrowing, her hips widening and her breasts slowly but surely growing outward. She still regularly wore a corselette underneath her work clothes to enhance her feminine shape, but with every day that passed it needed less and less enhancing, and it had been many months since the corselette had needed to create any 'shape'.

As it had always been, the work was dull and repetitive, especially when compared to Janet’s previous career in human resources, but it kept a roof over her head and food in her fridge, and as she was reminded when the door to the locker room opened again, it wasn’t all bad working there.

“Hi Janet!” Meredith said with a smile as she sat down next to Janet and exchanged her smart flat shoes for her preferred Doc Martens. “End of the start of another week, heh! I used to hate Mondays when I was younger, but now I’m a LITTLE bit older I don’t mind them too much. It’s Wednesdays that are the real pain, though, I get why people call it ‘hump day’ ‘cause everyone gets the hump, customers and employees, heh!”

“Yep,” Janet replied. “Though I’d rather it was Wednesday today than Monday, heh. Bet Ellie wishes the same thing too, heh.”

“Ah, she doing exams?” Meredith asked, smiling as Janet nodded. “GCSEs or A levels? Been so long since I was in school they’re probably not even called that anymore!”

“A levels or whatever they’re called now,” Janet replied. “Poor girl’s been tearing her hair out for weeks. Still, it’ll all be over for her soon. Until she starts uni, anyway.”

“Is she definitely going to uni, then?” Meredith asked. “’Cause after I did my A levels my teachers and my parents kept pushing me to go to uni but I didn’t know what I wanted to study, and I didn’t want, you know, the debt of the student loan, even though it wasn’t nearly as bad twenty years ago as it is today. And I just wanted to work, you know? So what if I’m working at a supermarket, I’m earning my money, I’m paying my taxes, right?”

“True,” Janet replied. “You never thought about working anywhere else?”

“Of course,” Meredith replied. “Dunno what else I could really do, though. 37’s a bit old for a career change, right?”

“I was in my forties,” Janet shrugged. “Then again, there are other reasons for my change of career… But that just goes to show you’re never too old for a change if that’s what you really want. Or need, heh!”

“I suppose,” Meredith said.

“What have you always wanted to do as a job?” Janet asked. “Like, when you were a kid?”

“I dunno, loads of things,” Meredith replied. “When I was six I wanted to be a ballerina, then again I suppose most six year old girls want to be ballerinas.”

“Some six year old boys, too,” Janet whispered.

“Oh- oh god, I’m so sorry!” Meredith gasped. “I just forgot…”

“It’s okay,” Janet shrugged, smirking as Shannon entered the room and headed to where the two women were stood. “It really is a compliment if you forget, you know?”

“Hi ladies!” Shannon said with a grin. “What’s the goss?”

“All about ‘change’ today,” Janet replied. “Something you'll know all about in just two months, Miss soon-to-be Mrs.!”

“Hehe!” Shannon giggled as she examined the jewellery on her left hand. “Yeah… I’m kinda fond of change, heh.”

“And before you came along,” Janet continued, “Miss Palmer was telling us about how she, like all little girls, wanted to be a ballerina when she was six.”

“Like Janet said, ‘little’ girls,” Meredith snorted. “I’d probably look stupid in a tutu now.”

“Only one way to find out,” Shannon teased, giggling as Meredith rolled her eyes.

“Not happening,” Meredith insisted. “Besides, by the time I was 9 I’d changed my mind anyway, I wanted to be a vet. Then when I was 12- well, you get the idea.”

“I always thought you’d be a great DJ,” Shannon mused. “You know, like on radio? Maybe Janet could ask Steph to ask her bosses if they fancy opening a radio station?”

“THAT’s not happening either!” Meredith snorted, before grabbing her handbag and heading toward the door. “See you two tomorrow, okay?”

“Sure,” Janet chuckled as she waved her friend off. “Started talking about ‘dream jobs’ as Ellie’s doing exams today and probably going to uni in September.”

“Ah,” Shannon said. “Yeah, always wished I’d gone to uni, was never really bright enough, heh.”

“Hey now, no talking like that,” Janet chastised. “You’re smarter than you think, I know you are. You’ve got a first aid certificate, for one thing.”

“Yeah, that was easy, though,” Shannon shrugged.

“I bet plenty of other people wouldn’t think it was easy,” Janet retorted.

“…You really are a great parent, aren’t you?” Shannon said, prompting a giggle from the older woman.

“Well, I try!” Janet replied. “And speaking of, got to get home and get dinner ready for exam girl, heh. See you tomorrow!”

“See you,” Shannon said. “And tell Ellie good luck from me!”

“Will do!” Janet chuckled as she left the locker room.

Within minutes, Janet was walking through the front door of her flat, where she found Ellie fiddling with her phone on her usual spot on the sofa. Janet smirked as Ellie quietly grunted a greeting at her, not taking her attention away from the screen in her hands.

“Good afternoon to you too,” Janet said, chuckling as the teenager rolled her eyes. “Didn’t expect you back this early, thought you’d be hanging out with Dane today? Or hanging off him, or whatever.”

“What makes you think he isn’t in the bedroom?” Ellie asked.

“The fact that you’re not in there too,” Janet replied, smirking as Ellie rolled her eyes again, before letting out an involuntary giggle.

“Nice,” Ellie sighed defeatedly.

“How was the exam?” Janet asked, smiling sympathetically as Ellie groaned in response. “Never mind, that’s all the answer I need, heh. God knows I felt that way about most of my exams. When’s your next one?”

“Tomorrow,” Ellie replied. “Then not until Friday.”

“Is that why you’re studying so hard?” Janet teased, before holding her hands up in defeat. “Okay, okay… I should know better than to try to make light of exam stress, heh.”

“Ugh, and not just exams,” Ellie moaned.

“Things still awkward with Jade?” Janet asked softly, smiling sympathetically as Ellie nodded. “It won’t last. You two are sisters, and as soon as Jade starts living openly, you two will be inseparable.”

“If you say so,” Ellie said, turning back to her phone even as she was forced to admit that in the long run, Janet would undoubtedly be right, but with everything happening in her life, Ellie was struggling to think beyond the next 24 hours.

Both women opted for an early night and were in bed before 10pm, rising early the following morning to prepare themselves for the hectic day ahead. Despite their rushed schedules, Janet couldn’t help but worry about Ellie as she alternated between immersing herself in her phone and her exam notes. She knew that Ellie had worked hard on her course and would eventually get the rest and relaxation she had earned and so badly deserved- she just wished for Ellie's sake that it would be sooner rather than later...

Ellie let out a long sigh of relief as the sound of the bell reverberated through the exam hall, signalling the end of the exam and, for Ellie, the start of three days’ worth of relaxation. Unlike the previous day, the young woman had a smile on her face as she entered her and her friends’ regular coffee shop.

“Someone’s looking pleased with themselves,” Lindsay teased as Ellie took her usual seat. “Exam go well?”

“No idea,” Ellie replied with a grin. “All I know is that I have the next 72 hours completely, 100% free!”

“Ugh, rub it in, why don’t you?” Monique snorted.

“Thanks, I will!” Ellie said with a smug giggle, before sighing happily. “Ah, you know what I mean, right?”

“Yeah, I guess,” Monique chuckled. “I am damn sure going to celebrate after tomorrow’s exam, won’t have another for six days, hehe!”

“Ugh, lucky you,” Jodie spat. “I’m in tomorrow AND Friday.”

“It’ll be over soon,” Ellie said with a smile that widened as several young men entered the coffee shop, one of whom made a beeline straight for the young woman and gave her a long, lingering kiss.

“And what did we say about PDAs yesterday?” Monique chastised, before giggling as her boyfriend greeted her the same way Dane greeted Ellie.

“Hypocrite,” Ellie teased.

“Oh- shut up,” Monique giggled as she let her boyfriend take her seat before making herself comfortable in the young man’s lap.

“So, what did I miss?” Dane asked.

“Guess,” Kacey snorted. “Begins with an ‘E’ and ends with a ‘kill me now’.”

“Ugh, ‘nuff said,” Dane snorted. “Not much longer to Wireless though, right?”

“I’m counting down the minutes, not just the days,” Ellie chuckled as she leaned back against her boyfriend’s muscled chest, happy that another exam was behind her, and the days of fun were growing closer and closer- days she intended to make the most of, whether they were with Dane, with her friends or her new sister.

“Afternoon,” Janet said as Ellie walked through the front door of the flat, dropping her handbag on the sofa en route to the bathroom. “Before you go in there, you might be interested to know you got some post today…”

“Huh, okay,” Ellie replied as she closed the bathroom door behind her. “Does it say who from?”

“Logo on the envelope says ‘University of the Arts London’,” Janet replied, before smirking as she heard a loud commotion behind the bathroom door, followed by Ellie flying out of it at high speed with an anxious look on her face. “Have you washed your hands?”

“Oh- shut up,” Ellie grunted as she tore the envelope open and read the letter, her hands trembling with nerves.

“Don’t get too excited,” Janet cautioned in a reserved voice. “I remember opening a lot of those letters when I was your age, didn’t get either of my first two-“

“Yeah, well,” Ellie interrupted, a wide grin spreading across her face, “can I get excited about an unconditional offer?”

“You- an unconditional offer?” Janet asked, shaking with excitement herself as she stood up. “You got in?”

“I got in!” Ellie squeaked, bouncing up and down uncontrollably and sharing a tight hug with her guardian. “Oh my god oh my god, I actually got in! This- oh my god!”

“Congratulations, you deserve this, you really do!” Janet said, sitting back down as Ellie continued to fidget. “Do I need to ask if you’re going to celebrate this?”

“Nope!” Ellie squeaked, finally sitting down and taking her phone out of her handbag.

“Ah- yeah, actually for once, you’re kinda justified jumping straight on Facebook, heh!” Janet chuckled, sitting back with a satisfied look on her face as Ellie hastily typed out her status update. Over the previous few weeks, ever since Jade’s coming out, Janet had observed Ellie’s stress levels rising, and while she initially put this down to Ellie’s exams, she suspected that there had been more at play than just that. Ellie’s sudden relationship with Dane had also caught Janet by surprise, leading the older woman to believe that Ellie had reverted to her old habits of indiscriminately attending parties and flirting with anything with stubble to distract herself from her stresses. Ellie often fell back into the habit of feeling sorry for herself, and Janet hoped that with this piece of good news, the pressure she was feeling would be eased, even if it was only slightly. Janet was sure, however, that the inevitable party Ellie and the other girls would have would ease it a lot more.

As she read and re-read her acceptance letter, Ellie mused on how her life would change yet again when she started her course in September, with Ellie yet again taking a journey into the unknown. She'd still be living with Janet, and with Kacey and Monique both having applied to UAL to study Contemporary Theatre, there was every chance that her 'core gang' would remain intact, but they- Ellie especially- would suddenly become small fish in a very big, very unfamiliar pond. However, Ellie was determined to face this new challenge head-on, because she knew she wouldn’t be facing it alone, as was proved to Ellie every time her phone pinged to inform her of another ‘like’ or comment on her post. It was the private message from one of her oldest friends, though, that got Ellie the most excited…

Exactly 24 hours later, Ellie’s hands trembled with excitement as she teased on a pair of thick false eyelashes and touched up her dusky eye shadow, wanting to look her best ahead of the evening’s activities. The tight mini dress and stiletto heeled shoes only served to accentuate her look, and as always, the better Ellie looked, the better she felt inside. Ellie had never before put as much time and care into her look ahead of a party, even the other parties where she was the centre of attention, but she’d never been to a party quite like that evening’s before. Or rather, she’d never been to a party hosted by anyone quite like that evening’s hosts. And, as she was reminded by the shallow breathing next to her, Ellie wasn’t the only one who had something to celebrate that night.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to help you with that?” Ellie asked softly, smiling as her sister nervously shook her head in response.

“I need to learn how to do this, don’t I?” Jade asked as she tentatively outlined her eyes with a dark make-up pencil. “I’ve practised enough, watched enough YouTube tutorials…” Ellie smiled as she mused on how she had learned the same way two years earlier- and how much she wished she’d had a big sister to help her during those early months. And the more ‘Jade’ became ‘Jade’, the more she looked just like Ellie did when she was at the start of her journey. The knee-length flared skirt and matching turtleneck top was something Ellie could easily see her 15 year old self wearing- assuming, of course, she'd ever had the chance to do so. Ellie smirked as she thought back to the awkward conversation she'd had with 'Jack' in the coffee shop, and how much easier it was to talk to her sister than it was her brother...

“If you insist,” Ellie shrugged. “Though you are looking great.”

“R- really?” Jade asked.

“Really,” Ellie replied with a supportive, sisterly smile. “It’s a good job there won’t be any boys there tonight, heh!”

“Yeah…” Jade said, fidgeting awkwardly in her flat shoes.

“Oh- don’t worry about THAT, at least not yet,” Ellie advised. “God knows what mum and dad would think if I got a boy or a girlfriend, heh.”

“I’m just amazed they let you come tonight at all,” Ellie said bluntly.

“Me too,” Jade whispered. “But my counsellor said I need to, like, step out of the house eventually, and mum and dad basically said if I want to, you know, transition, I have to, like, ‘prove it’…” Ellie bit her lip as she mused that not everything about her and her sister’s transitions were identical.

“I’m still amazed they didn’t ship you off to a hospital somewhere to be ‘cured’,” Ellie snorted.

“Well- I’m just glad they didn’t,” Jade said. “I want this to be just the first of loads of parties I get to go to. As ‘Jade’.”

“Yeah, just so you’re aware, this party will be a lot ‘better behaved’ than most of the parties you’ll go to in college, heh,” Ellie advised. “Doesn’t mean it won’t be fun, though!”

“Okay,” Jade said, fidgeting again.

“And there’s no need to be so nervous,” Ellie said. “Lesson number one of being a woman. Be. Confident. Even if you feel nervous as hell. Just walk into that place like you’re the queen of the world.”

“And what-“ Jade stammered. “What if I, you know, I say or do something that-“

“Jade, calm down!” Ellie chuckled. “You’ll be fine. Honestly. Sometimes even I, you know, do something that makes me ‘stand out’. But lesson two: be yourself. When you were hanging out with friends at school, did you ever have to, like, catch yourself from doing girly things, or have to consciously act like a boy?”

“All the time,” Jade snorted.

“Tonight, you won’t have to,” Ellie said, giving her sister’s hand a gentle squeeze.

“Even with Keira?” Jade asked nervously.

“Don’t worry about Keira, she’s been told to behave herself,” Ellie said. “Did- did you, you know, really like her?”

“I dunno,” Jade mumbled. “Maybe…”

“Well-“ Ellie said, before hesitating. “Just remember lesson one, okay?”

“…Even around other girls?” Jade asked.

“ESPECIALLY around other girls,” Ellie replied with a grin as she straightened her dress and led her sister out into the flat’s sitting area.

“Looking good, girls,” Janet said with a warm, motherly smile as the two teenagers showed off their fancy clothes and make-up. “Take it you’re excited about tonight, then?”

“Umm- just a bit, yeah!” Ellie chuckled, before checking her phone as it beeped to notify her of a new text message. “That’s our lift. See you later!”

“See you,” Janet said. “And give my love to Steph!”

“Will do!” Ellie squeaked as she and her sister headed down to the waiting minibus.

A short while later, after picking up the rest of the partygoers, the minibus pulled up outside the fancy Notting Hill home of Stephanie Abbott and Kayla Ford, two quarters of one of the most famous pop groups in the UK and (at least in the case of the former) one of Ellie’s oldest friends. The seven teenagers all buzzed with excitement as they made their way up the stairs to the fancy flat, where they were greeted at the door by the two young singers.

“Hello miss uni girl!” Stephanie teased, giggling as Ellie’s cheeks began to redden.

“Thanks…” Ellie mumbled as she tried vainly to control her excited giggling. “You didn’t have to do all this…”

“Aww, why wouldn’t I?” Stephanie said. “This is a big deal, worth celebrating, and you’re a friend, right?”

“I guess…” Ellie chuckled.

“Though I am going to have to insist you introduce me to your sister,” Stephanie said with a grin as Jade’s cheeks began to flush.

“H- hi,” Jade said, nervously stepping forward and extending a shaky hand for the singer to shake. “I’m- umm, I’m Jade, Jade Blake…”

“Nice to finally meet you, Jade!” Stephanie said, foregoing Jade’s hand in favour of a gentle hug, an action that nearly made the teenager explode with excitement.

“Well, don’t stand out here in the stairs all evening, come on in!” Kayla said, chuckling as she led the teenagers into their home and switched on the stereo. “Help yourself to food and drink, we’ve been ordered by your parents not to give you any alcoholic drinks tonight, so sorry about that.”

“Though that’s not the reason Nikki and Sarah aren’t here tonight,” Stephanie giggled. “You’re not the only ones with exams to worry about. Speaking of, when you go to UAL, remind me to introduce you to a friend of mine called Ian, he might be studying there next year too and I know you two will hit it off!”

"Thanks," Ellie squeaked as she rocked back and forth on her heels with excitement.

“But I don't want to hear any talk of exams tonight,” Kayla continued. “Tonight, we insist you relax and most of all, have fun!”

The seven teenagers wasted no time in heeding Kayla’s words. They ate, they drank, they sang and danced, seemingly every second of which was captured on the phones of at least one of the girls and occasionally, much to their excitement, on the phones of the two hosts as well, which helped to keep the energy levels high long into the evening.

Janet was half asleep in bed when she heard the front door of the flat open and close, followed by the familiar sound of Ellie’s handbag dropping onto the sofa and the teenager heading to the bathroom to remove her make-up and make use of the facilities. Before she could fully full asleep, however, Janet’s rest was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing- and when she saw who it was who was ringing her, she was immediately wide awake and alert.

“Lindsay?” Janet asked, trying in vain to hide her concern for her daughter. “It’s after 11pm, why are you calling this late?”

“D- dad,” Lindsay sniffled, her voice betraying the tears she’d shed. “I- I need help, can- can you come, please?”

“What’s happened?” Janet asked as she immediately jumped out of bed and began changing into her day clothes. “Where are you?”

“Outside home,” Lindsay said. “Mum, she- she’s gone mad, she’s kicked me out, I don’t know what to do!”

“Can you get a taxi here?” Janet asked.

“All my stuff’s been thrown on the doorstep…” Lindsay sobbed.

“Wait right there, I’m calling a taxi now,” Janet said. “I’ll be there in a bit. Don’t go anywhere, Lindsay, even if your mother tells you to. I’ll be right there.”

“O- okay,” Lindsay sniffled as Janet ended the call and immediately ordered a taxi from an app on her phone.

“What happened?” Ellie asked as Janet stormed through the living room to grab her purse and her coat. “I heard voices…”

“It’s Lindsay,” Janet said, her voice wobbling with panic. “Lisa’s kicked her out.”

“Wh- in the middle of the night?” Ellie asked incredulously. “Why, exactly?”

“Take a wild guess,” Janet snorted, before frowning. “Ugh, I didn’t mean it like that, Ellie, just-“

“No, I know what you mean,” Ellie snorted. “Ugh, it was probably my fault, we all took selfies with Stephanie and Kayla, she must have seen them on Jodie or Keira’s Facebook or something. We’re usually careful about that…”

“It’s not your fault Lisa’s a bigot,” Janet said, staring at her phone in the vain hope it’d make the taxi arrive quicker. “Come on…”

“I- I’ll go with you,” Ellie said.

“That’s not necessary,” Janet scowled.

“No, I- I want to,” Ellie said softly. “Lindsay’s my friend, I want to help her.”

“Well- thanks,” Janet said with a smile. “But she’ll be bringing stuff back here as well, we’ll need space in the car.”

“She- she’ll be coming back here with her stuff?” Ellie asked. “Won’t it be a bit cramped?”

“What am I meant to do, let her sleep out on the streets?” Janet snapped back, before sighing. “I- I’m sorry, Ellie, I’m just a bit on edge… Lisa taking out her frustrations on me is one thing, but to just throw Lindsay out like that… What kind of parent could do that to their child at such short notice?” Janet bit her lip as she noticed Ellie fidgeting uncomfortably, realising that the eighteen year old knew better than anyone else the answer to her question.

“…You’re right, though,” Ellie mumbled. “Take it from someone who knows, Lindsay should NOT sleep somewhere like a homeless shelter tonight. I’ll get some sheets out of the airing cupboard and make up the sofa, if you like?”

“Please,” Janet said, taking a deep breath as her phone pinged to inform her that her taxi had arrived.

Mere minutes later, Janet’s taxi pulled up outside her old home and the middle-aged woman all but leapt out and ran to her daughter, wrapping the distraught girl in a long, tight hug.

“Oh god, Lindsay…” Janet said, holding the teenaged girl in her arms until she began to calm down. “What- why did this happen?”

“E-Ethan,” Lindsay sniffled. “He- he saw some of the photos we put online from tonight, he showed them to mum, she- she just went berserk when she saw Ellie in them. Asked how long we- we’d been friends, if I spoke to you… When I- when I said I did, she- she just went on a rampage, tore all my stuff out of my room, threw it all out, threw me out… Said if I wasn’t gone within an hour she’d call the police…” With every word her daughter said, Janet felt her rage building higher and higher.

“Where exactly did she expect you to go?” Janet asked.

“She-“ Lindsay said, before taking a big gulp of air. “She said she didn’t care where I went, just as long as I went away.”

“She what?” Janet said, her voice contorting into an angry hiss.

“She said she never wanted to see me again,” Lindsay sobbed. “Said I- I was no longer her daughter…” Janet felt something in her mind snap as she released Lindsay from her arms and marched toward her old front door with a look of pure anger spread across her face.

“LISA!” Janet yelled as she banged on the front door. “Lisa! Open the door!”

“What do you want?” Janet’s ex-wife angrily shouted out of her bedroom window. “Get out of here before I call the police! And take that- that-“

“Innocent teenaged girl?” Janet asked. “Person you’re punishing for doing nothing wrong? Your daughter?”

“She stopped being my daughter the second she chose you over me!” Lisa hissed. “Ten seconds, then I’m calling the police!”

“Who’s it hurting, her having contact with both of us?” Janet asked.

“Five seconds!” Lisa screeched, before slamming her window shut, stunning Janet into silence.

Save for the angry trembling of her whole body, Janet stood perfectly still as she tried to process the events she’d just witnessed. Seventeen years earlier, Janet- or rather, John- and Lisa had been overjoyed when they became the parents to a baby girl. In the intervening years, Lisa had doted over Lindsay just as much as Janet herself had, so for her to so callously discard the teenager left Janet baffled. All she knew for certain was that the angry, self-centred woman that had just yelled at her and Lindsay was not the woman she’d fallen in love with in the nineties.

“…So what do we do now?” Lindsay asked in a scared, feeble voice.

“We go home,” Janet said in a firm, stoic voice. “Start loading your stuff into the taxi, Ellie’s making up the sofa for you at home.”

“Won’t- umm, won’t it be a bit, you know, cramped?” Lindsay asked.

“I’m not letting you sleep on the streets or in some homeless shelter,” Janet insisted as she and the taxi driver began to load Ellie’s possessions into the boot.

“Oh- I’m grateful for tonight, I really am,” Lindsay said, “but, you know, what about the night after that? Or after that? Your flat isn’t big enough for three people, and it’s not like Ellie can move back home with her parents either…”

“Let me worry about that,” Janet said. “We’ll take it one day at a time, okay? I’m- well, yeah. No matter how I’m dressed, no matter what my name is, no matter what my gender even is, I’m still your dad, and that means that I put you first, always. Assuming you’ll have me, of course?”

“God, yes!” Lindsay said with an almost exasperated chuckle as she exchanged another hug with the middle-aged woman. “And not just ‘cause I’m homeless if I don’t, heh.”

“And stop talking like that,” Janet chastised as she and her daughter climbed onto the back seat of the taxi. “This is just a minor setback, nothing more. A few weeks from now, you’ll have made up with your mother and things will be back to normal.”

“Doubt it,” Lindsay snorted.

“Then we’ll just have to adapt to a new ‘normal’,” Janet said determinedly as the taxi ferried her and her daughter back to her compact home.

The two women arrived home to find Ellie already in bed, and Janet and Lindsay both decided to follow suit. However, while Lindsay quickly feel asleep on her impromptu bed on the sofa, Janet found herself tossing and turning all night through worry. Despite her determination, she was forced to concede that Lindsay and Ellie were right- the flat was far too small for three people, but her wages were also far too low to afford anywhere bigger for the three of them. Janet would have been well within her rights to apply for a home from the local council for the three of them, but she didn’t doubt that the waiting list would be long and the eventual home they found would be dismal and likely no bigger than her flat. However, Janet was determined to try, to provide a decent home for both of her daughters and prove to herself, and to the rest of the world, that she was a capable parent.

Janet woke earlier than usual the following morning, and after preparing breakfast for herself and the two girls, she made a call to her place of work explaining that due to the situation, she would need the day off- a request her manager happily agreed to. After Lindsay and Ellie left for college and work respectively, Janet powered up her laptop and started searching through the internet for any solution to her problem- a larger, cheaper place to live, a higher paying job, even legal counsel on what her and Lindsay’s rights were. However, all of Janet’s searching was in vain- there were no affordable flats or houses and no jobs in her field of expertise that didn’t require recent experience. Frustrated and needing to clear her mind ahead of a second search, Janet logged onto Facebook for a quick distraction, and it was there that she began to find some answers when a message popped up on her screen

‘Hey Janet,’ the message, which was from Stephanie Abbott, read. ‘How’s things today?’

‘Hey Steph,’ Janet replied. ‘Not great today cheers but I’ll cope. Thanks again for the party last night, the girls had a great time!’

‘I know about what happened with Lindsay,’ Stephanie typed, her sudden and uncharacteristic bluntness making Janet momentarily pause. ‘Ellie messaged me last night after she got home. What can I do to help?’

‘Honestly, you’ve done so much already for me and Ellie, I don’t want to be a burden to you,’ Janet typed.

‘You’re not a burden, you’re my friend and I want to help,’ Stephanie retorted. ‘It’s partly my fault anyway, I should’ve been more careful where I posted the photos online, sometimes forget just how many followers I have.’

‘It’s a bit embarrassing, though,’ Janet typed. ‘Having to ask for help from someone half my age.’

‘There’s nothing wrong with asking for help,’ Stephanie typed. ‘Remember how and where we first met? Because we both needed help. And we both found help with each other.’

‘It’d be nice if you needed my help just once though,’ Janet replied, smirking as she received a ‘smiling’ emoji in reply.

“I kinda get that,’ Stephanie said. ‘The whole need to be independent kind of thing. What kind of work did you do again? Back before you were the real you, I mean?’

‘Worked in HR for an investment firm in the city,’ Janet replied. ‘Been a long time since I’ve done that, though. Probably going to be a checkout girl the rest of my life. Still, better than being a checkout BOY lol.’

‘You said it girl!’ Stephanie typed with a ‘giggling’ emoji. ‘Though I’ve kind of had an idea, give me about ten minutes and I’ll get back to you okay?’

‘Umm sure,’ Janet replied, going back to browsing her Facebook wall.

As promised, just over ten minutes later Stephanie sent another message to Janet, though this message consisted of just a time and an address- and an instruction to dress smartly.

Two hours later Janet, dressed in a smart pencil skirt and a clean white blouse, walked into the head office of Heavenly Talent, one of the country’s most prestigious talent agencies- and the one that represented Janet’s friend Stephanie. After introducing herself to the receptionist, Janet was ushered upstairs to a small waiting area, where she found her famous friend waiting for her.

“Nervous?” Stephanie asked with a smile, giggling as her older friend rolled her eyes in response.

“It’s a job interview I’ve had no time to prepare for,” Janet replied. “What do you think?”

“You’ll be fine, honestly,” Stephanie said. “It’ll be Joshua who’ll be doing the interview, he kinda has a thing for giving potential employees no time to prepare, thinks people are more likely to give honest answers that way.”

“He sounds a little… Eccentric,” Janet said.

“And what is wrong with eccentric?” A powerful voice boomed across the room in an accent Janet couldn’t place, but that sounded to her like a cross between London and Western Africa. Janet smiled nervously as she stood up and straightened her skirt, before accepting the tall man’s firm handshake. “My name is Joshua Benedict, it is a pleasure to meet you Ms. Cole, Stephanie has sung your praises!”

“Thank you, and please, call me Janet,” the middle-aged woman replied. “I think Stephanie may have talked me up a little… And if- if I can be honest, please?”

“I insist on it,” Joshua replied.

“I- I don’t want to be interviewed out of pity,” Janet said, her voice degrading to a mumble as Joshua shook his head.

“No no no,” Joshua said in a soft voice. “I do not offer jobs out of pity. “I pride myself on being a philanthropist but ‘philanthropist’ does not mean ‘charity’. If I interview someone for a job it is because I need the job filling and I believe they can do the job well. And I do need this job filling, especially with a New York office opening later this year. Heh, I feel almost like you are interviewing me!”

“…Sorry,” Janet mumbled.

“Do not apologise!” Joshua chuckled. “You will be working in HR, you need good interviewing skills! One of which is answering as many questions as you ask. Come to my office, we shall get this interview started.”

“Good luck, not that you’ll need it,” Stephanie whispered, giving Janet’s hand a supportive squeeze as she walked past.

Fifteen minutes later, after a long conversation about her life and her work, Janet walked out of Joshua’s office with a wide smile on her face as a newly-minted employee of Heavenly Talent Inc. She still needed to sort out her, Ellie and Lindsay’s living arrangements, and she wouldn’t actually start working for the company for another two weeks as she had to work her notice period at the supermarket, but she was happy that she’d made a step in the right direction. She just wished that her wife hadn’t made it necessary for her to do so…

Fifteen days later, Janet, Meredith and Shannon sat around their usual table in their usual pub enjoying their usual Friday evening drinks, but in a more subdued atmosphere than usual.

“I can’t believe I’m not going to see you when I go into work anymore,” Meredith said with a sad sigh as she sipped her wine. “It’s like the end of an era, you know? Though I’d probably be crying more if it was me leaving, I mean, this way I’m only missing one person instead of everyone, but- oh, umm, sorry…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Janet said softly. “And believe me, I WILL miss you two. Just wish heavenly Talent had more jobs going, heh.”

“I actually looked,” Shannon said. “Nothing I’m qualified for.”

“Maybe you should look again when they open their American office,” Janet teased. “Reckon you and Jason would suit the Big Apple, heh.”

“…Maybe not,” Shannon giggled. “You’re still coming to the wedding though, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Janet giggled. “Already bought a dress and a hat with my wage advance. And yes, yes, I know, I’m meant to be sensible, save the money for around the house costs especially after moving, but, you know? Can’t a girl treat herself?”

“I hope so!” Meredith chuckled. “And I hope we can still have these Friday nights, you know, ‘cause you’re still working daytime hours so we can all meet up after work at the same time, even if it might be a bit of a trek for you to get from the Heavenly Talent offices in the centre of London and, you know, you might want to hang out with people from that-“

“I’ll be here, don’t worry,” Janet said with a smile. “Nowhere I’d rather be.”

“Speaking of your new home,” Shannon asked, “Are you going to have a housewarming party? Or do you want to get a little more settled in first?”

“Oh, there’ll be a party,” Janet replied with a mock sigh. “Tonight, in fact. It just won’t be me hosting it, heh…”

Later that night, after Janet had returned home and gone to bed, Ellie sat in her pyjamas on her new double bed in her new, much larger bedroom, staring at the other two pyjama-clad girls who were also sat on her bed.

"...Okay, fine," Ellie said, sighing loudly as she turned her back to the girls and placed her hands behind her neck. "Stupid bet..."

"For what it's worth, I was trying to lose," Jade said as she and Lindsay produced multiple differently-coloured bottles of nail polish from Ellie's drawer. "Guess you must've tried harder than me, hehe!"

"What did you type in there, anyway?" Lindsay asked.

"Erm... Can't even remember!" Ellie replied, giggling and cringing as the other two girls began repainting her nails with random colours. The bet had been silly- registering fake accounts on a dating app with the loser being the last one to receive any messages, but what had made it fun was that Ellie was doing it with two girls her own age that weren't just friends, but family. Ellie had never had a proper slumber party before, and obviously neither had Jade, and while it was a small, quiet party with just the three girls, neither Ellie nor Jade would have wanted it any other way.

As she laid in her bed trying to sleep, Ellie mused on how much her life had changed for the better recently. She had gone from having a brother to having two sisters, from having no future to having a place on a course at a well-renowned university, from being borderline afraid of boys to having a tall, handsome boyfriend, and had gone from living in a tiny flat to a suburban house almost as big as her parents’. And yet, even as she put her exams behind her and got ready to enjoy the summer, Ellie still felt uneasy. Her parents could change their mind about ‘Jade’ at a moment’s notice, as could Lindsay’s mother about her. There was no guarantee Ellie would succeed at university or even pass the exams she’d just taken. Dane could dump Ellie at a moment’s notice, and her new home was only guaranteed for six months at a time on the whim of their landlord.

Despite her worries, Ellie was determined not to be pessimistic about the future. She would face obstacles, for sure, but she was determined to seize the multiple opportunities life had given her. She would grow closer to Jade as the sisters they truly were regardless of what her parents said. She would study hard at uni and party hard as well, with Dane or without him, and she would come to view her new accommodation as her home, just as she had done the old flat. And she would learn to love Lindsay as a sister as well, for the sake of the one person who was a constant positive influence in Ellie’s life- Janet.

No matter what, Ellie knew that Janet would always act in her best interests and be the great parent that her own mother and father had failed to be. Her leaping to Lindsay’s rescue at a moment’s notice had been proof of that, and even though they weren’t related by blood, Ellie knew that Janet would do the same for her in a heartbeat. And had done, after she had been attacked by Ethan. Ellie just prayed that between her, Lindsay and her new job, that Janet wouldn’t work herself TOO hard…