Emma's Six

Katheryn's Birthday

It is Wednesday morning, and we all agree to meet up before school to give Kitty our cards. But when we get to our agreed meeting spot, we discover that Anne, George, and Mary Boleyn are waiting for us with their belongings. 'Please don't tell me your parents kicked you out!' Jane cries.
'Not our parents,' George corrects. 'It was our uncle.' He is around the same height as Anne and has dark hair and eyes. Like us, he's wearing his school uniform, but his tie is much shorter, and he's wearing a warm hoodie.
'He found out about Anne and George and threw them out,' Mary adds. She's standing beside George and Anne. 'When they did, I packed our stuff and left. I got as much as I could.' Mary is older than Anne and is at college doing her A-levels, so she's not wearing a uniform. She tied her blonde hair into two ponytails, and she's wearing a warm coat and a pair of jeans. All three are shivering in the cold.
'I'd never want you three to become homeless!' Kitty cries. 'Cata, surely Isabella can take them in?'
'Oh, we remembered your birthday gifts,' Anne says and holds a card out to Kitty. Kitty takes it, thinks for a moment, then hands it back.
'I can't take it, not when you three don't know where you're going.'
'I've already called Sarah Jane while you lot were coming. She and Ruby agreed to look after us for a while, at least until Mary gets a job.'
'I have a part-time job, and it pays well.' Mary shoots back at her sister. 'Just not well enough for a house. I offered to start paying some of the bills, but they refused.'
'Mum and Mummy can be like that sometimes,' I agree.

We all sit at the park for a few minutes and give Kitty her cards. Catalina checks her watch. 'We're going to be late again.'
'Please, let's not go yet,' Anne says. 'I feel happy here.'
'If Mum and Mummy find out that you're late to school, they'll not be happy.'
'Understatement of the year, Emma.' But we're all smiling again.
'I better get off, see if I can salvage any more of our stuff,' Mary says. 'I'll see you guys after school.' We wave goodbye to Mary and set off to school. On the way, Anne and George drop off their belongings, and Anne adds George to the group chat with the username GeorgeBoleyn.

GeorgeBoleyn changed their username to BraveBoleyn

BeheadedBoleyn: Great username, bro

'Anne, we're walking together; you could have easily said that!' George laughs.
'Sorry, not sorry- hey, that should be one of the lyrics in my song!' Anne types it into her phone before we arrive at school. The bell rings, and we separate. George is in year seven, so he doesn't have the same classes as us. We all head off to history and begin studying.

Our substitute arrives but doesn't know what we're meant to study. Our last teacher didn't leave any notes or anything, so the substitute doesn't know what to do. We explain that we were meant to learn about Elizabeth I, but not sure what we're meant to learn after that.

The substitute doesn't have any PowerPoints or anything, so we end up sharing textbooks and learning that way. By the end of the lesson, everyone is bored and wants to do something else. Almost all of us breathe a sigh of relief when the bell rings.

At break, we are sitting together when George walks over. 'Hi,' he says, and he sits with us.
'Don't you have friends?' Anne asks.
'They all abandoned me,' George shakes his head. 'I think we need a safe space at this school, or at least educate others on the LGBT community. Section 28 was repealed in 2003, so schools can teach about the LGBT community or offer a support group.'
'Maybe they don't think many people here are LGBT, so that's stopping them,' Kitty says. 'But there must be more people than the seven of us.'
'Maybe we need to make a support group or something of our own to let the school know that we are here,' Jane says. 'So many people can benefit from it, and Mr Blakeman might listen.' We start nodding, but before we can suggest any ideas, the bell rings.

When we head back home, we all go to Catalina's house to celebrate Kitty's birthday. Mary is waiting for us. She's gathered more of their belongings and left them at number 13 before coming over with decorations to help Isabella and Ferdinand set up ready for the party. But Kitty doesn't look like she wants to celebrate. She must be thinking about her family, and I can understand why. If I ever lose Mum and Mummy, I'll be in the same situation. 'I don't want to celebrate my birthday,' Kitty says.
'We understand, Kitty,' Anne says. 'Is there anything else you'd rather do?'
'Can we play monopoly with no rules?'
'Do what now?' Jane asks.