[alli55]

Sunday morning was really quiet in our house. Lissie had some complicated Maths homework, which was distracting her; and Maddie didn’t surface until gone 10 o’clock, and then mooched about, not knowing what to do with herself and not really wanting to do anything.

“How’s your WhatsApp?” I asked her, tentatively, half-expecting a tearful reaction.

“It’s okay, so far!” she replied, a little vaguely. Subtly changing the subject slightly, she added, “Eilidh put a lovely post on Gemma’s group, saying how much fun they’d had together on the show!”

“What about your friends, and you-know-what?” I enquired

“Yeah, most of them have been supportive!“

“That’s good!”

“Yeah!”

“So, what sort of thing have they said?” I continued to press.

“Hannah wanted to give me a bravery award! But Stacie said no, I should get ‘Friend of the Year’ instead!”

“Aww, that’s nice! Good old Stacie!”

“Yeah! The two Sarahs both said they couldn’t have done it but they admired me for doing it! And even Owen said how brave I was!” She blushed a little, as she added, “And he said I had a gorgeous body and I should be a model! Some of the other boys have been taking the mickey out of him for that, but he keeps saying how it’s true and how he means it!”

“How does that make you feel?” I asked.

“A bit embarrassed,” she admitted, “but quite proud and pleased as well!”

“So, no bad stuff?”

“Just one or two of the boys saying things like ‘nice tits’ and stuff like that, so not too bad, no!”

“Good! Let’s hope it stays that way!” I remarked.

It didn’t of course! Shortly before lunch, as I was preparing the veg, I heard her, in the living room, suddenly exclaim, “Oh, what?!” I carried on chopping the carrots, and thought no more of it, until, a few minutes later, she burst into the kitchen and thrust her phone at me. “Look!” she instructed, her face tear-stained.

I looked. The last message simply read, ‘Me 2’, so I read the one above: ‘I’d definitely have a go’. As I did, another one arrived, this one just a laughing emoji. I scrolled up and found the message that had started it all. ‘Nice tits Maddie! How much for a suck on those babies?’. I sighed, and turned my gaze towards Maddie, standing, forlorn and broken, in front of me.

“You were always going to get a few like that!” I told her. “Just block them!”

“I can’t! It’s on one of our group chats!”

“What, a school one?” I checked.

“Yeah, basically!”

“So, who sent it?”

“Jack! He’s in my tutor group. He’s an idiot!”

“Well, just ignore it!” I advised, handing her the phone. “You said it yourself, he’s an idiot!” I gave her a hug, and she went away, a little less unhappy.

We’d not long finished lunch, and the girls had gone upstairs, when the doorbell rang. Expecting it to be Rayna come to do her weekly chore before cheerleading class, Lissie raced down the stairs to answer it, but I got there first. As it turned out, it wasn’t Rayna at all, but a fresh-faced youth, looking rather embarrassed as he stood, staring at the floor, with his hands behind his back.

“Er, hello,” he began, “is Maddie in?”

“Yes!” I told him. “Just a minute!” I turned to face the stairs and called up: “Maddie! There’s a young man here to see you!”

“Kayden!” Lissie told me.

“Kayden!” I shouted up.

Maddie appeared at the top of the stairs, looking apprehensive. Slowly, she made her way down to the door. Sensing her discomfort, I decided to stay until she let me know I was no longer wanted. I got the distinct feeling, though, that Lissie was very definitely superfluous to requirement, so I shooed her away.

“Hi, Kayden!” Maddie said, softly.

“Hi!”

“So …?”

“Oh, … yeah, …” he said, tongue-tied for the moment, “I … er, … I brought you these!” From behind his back he thrust a bunch of blue-and-white irises at Maddie, who seemed extremely surprised. “I didn’t know how you’d be feeling today, you know, after last night, and everything! So, I thought you might like these to, … I don’t know, … to cheer you up, maybe!?”

“Oh, … er, … I don’t know what to say!” she stuttered. “I mean, thanks, Kayden! That’s really nice of you!”

“Yeah, well, you know!”

“Do you want to come in for a bit?” I asked him.

“Er, … thanks, … but, … er, … I canna stop, … I’m meeting someone,” he replied, uncertainly. Addressing Maddie he added, “I just, … you know, … I wanted to see if you were okay!”

“Thanks! Yeah, I’m okay!” she lied, politely.

“Good! Yeah, well, … I’ll see you around!” He turned to leave, but then stopped and turned back. “Just remember, Maddie,” he told her, “it was a really positive thing that you did! Yeah? And, just, … stay strong!”

“What a nice lad!” I remarked, after Maddie had shut the door. “Is he …?”

“No, nothing like that! He’s just in my year and does some of the same subjects, so we, like, say hello and stuff!” She left me to do something with the flowers, and returned upstairs, feeling happier. But, her emotional rollercoaster ride took another massive dip less than twenty minutes later.

Lissie came hurtling downstairs to find me. “Mam, it’s Maddie, she really needs you!”

I raced upstairs, to find Maddie face down on her bed, in floods of tears. I gently coaxed her up, and let her fall into my arms once more. As she wept, and guessing the cause of her upset, I picked up her phone and checked the latest message. This one was really horrible! ‘What sort of slut parades herself on TV like that? She’s asking to be raped!’ It was all I could do to stop myself from gasping at the sheer nastiness of it.

“That’s what they think of me!” she wailed, when she registered that I’d seen the offending post. I just held her in my arms until she’d started to calm down.

“Who posted that?” I asked.

“Beth!” she replied. “I thought she was my friend! The bitch!”

“Well, Maddie,” I told her, gently, “remember what Kayden told you. You’re going to have to stay strong! And remember, that’s not what your proper friends think of you! Not your real friends!”

“I know!” she sobbed.

“Why don’t I bring your flowers up here, to your room,” I suggested, “and then, when you get stuff like this, look at the flowers and remember who gave them you and why. That’s what your real friends think of you!”

She nodded her head, and allowed me to wipe the tears from her cheeks. As I did so, her phone warbled again. “I don’t want to look at that!” she told me. “You do it!”

I took the phone, and couldn’t stop myself from laughing when I saw the latest message. Maddie looked at me, quizzically. “You’re okay!” I told her. “Stacie’s on the case!” I showed her the post: ‘fyi Beth, comments like that is why you have no friends and never will have! Unlike Maddie, best friend eva!!’

“You’re really lucky to have her!” I told Maddie. “She’s been brilliant with this! She’s like your own online guard-dog, scaring everyone off!”

The image seemed to amuse her, and, when I returned a few moments later with her flowers, she seemed a little more cheerful again. “You were right about Stacie,” she told me, “you should see what she told Jack and the other boys!” She showed me the post she was referring to, and I had to laugh again. ‘Why don’t you just stick to sucking on each other’s man-boobs. Those are the only tits you’re ever going to get near. Losers!’ Stacie certainly had an interesting turn of phrase!

With Stacie zealously patrolling WhatsApp, the messages died off fairly quickly; and when she came over the next afternoon to see Maddie, I made a special point of thanking her for what she’d done.

“That’s alright!” she told me. She giggled and confided, “I quite enjoyed having a reason to be rude to some of them, actually!” She hesitated, considering whether or not to continue, before saying, “There was a post on Facebook that I got taken down.”

“Oh?” I replied. “I didn’t hear anything about that!”

“Maddie doesn’t know about it!”

“Oh! What was it?”

“Basically, it was one of the boys in our year saying that she was a prostitute and how he’d paid her to have sex with him. It’s all lies! So, I gave him the full blast like, and then reported it and got it took down!”

“Thanks, Stacie! Best keep that to yourself, yeah?!”

“No worries! I will!”

She’d come over to make sure Maddie was ready to go ahead with her Foam Party, after having had second thoughts about it. They came down to seek my advice.

“Just have a smaller do, and only invite the friends who’ve stuck by you!” I suggested.

“That’s what you said!” Maddie remarked to Stacie.

So that was what she decided. Including Maddie, there would be just 11 of them: Stacie, obviously; Hannah; the two Sarahs; Owen; Kayden; Josh; Jordan; Layla; and Ai-Jun. I told Stacie that Gemma and Cherise would be very welcome, if they’d like to come, and she said she’d tell them and that she thought they probably would come.

In the event, they did come, much to Maddie’s delight, and Gemma brought a surprise with her, in the form of Eilidh.

“I hope you don’t mind!” Gemma checked with me.

“Not at all!” I assured her.

“I’ve never been tae a Foam Party,” Eilidh confided, “so, when Gem rang me and told me about it and asked if I wanted tae go, I was like, yeah, definitely!”

“Well, it’s lovely to see you again, pet!” I told her. “Just make sure you both go and say hello to Lissie at some point!”

Lissie had desperately wanted to join in the Foam Party, but I had reminded her that it was Maddie’s party for Maddie’s friends who were Maddie’s age! She understood, but it didn’t stop her from being very disappointed! At least a visit from Gemma and Eilidh would go some way to making up for missing out!

“While you’re here, Gemma,” I added, “how would you, Stacie, and your Mam like to come over tomorrow evening and we can all watch the Grand Final together, if you want! I know the girls would love that! What d’you say?”

“Yeah, that’d be nice! What about Eilidh?”

“Yes, she can come too, of course!”

“Brilliant! D’you want us to bring anything?”

“If you want to bring something particular to eat or drink, then you’re welcome to; otherwise, no, I don’t think so!”

With Stacie on guard duty, initially, turning away a few who weren’t on the shortened invite list, it was just a happy group of friends who celebrated with Maddie at her Foam Party. Judging by the laughter and squeals of excitement, it was greatly enjoyed by everyone; and the many thank-you’s I received as the guests left at the end of the evening confirmed this.

For me, the highlight of the evening came, midway through, when Gemma and Eilidh wandered into the living room.

“Is Lissie’s room still the same one?” Gemma asked me.

“It is!” I confirmed.

The two former daredevils headed up to say hello, as I thought. But, actually, they had been sent by Maddie to tell Lissie that she wanted her sister to join her Foam Party. Lissie’s face, when she, Gemma, and Eilidh came down, was a picture of excited delight!

“Come on,” Eilidh told her, “there’s a whole load of foam that we’ve gottae cover you in! And your sister doesnae want tae miss seeing that!”

As Maddie told me afterwards, “She’s been so brilliant with everything, she deserved it! And seeing Gemma and Stacie together, I really wanted Lissie there with me!”

The fun of the party, and the love shown to her by her friends, had transformed Maddie. We’d got our happy, bubbly, outgoing daughter back again! I didn’t care what it had cost; that was worth paying any price for!