The classroom was tidy and organised, a rare occurrence for a room that was always filled with over thirty hyperactive kids. Oh, and Michael. Painting's had been stuck onto the walls and the children's workbooks had been spread out across the little tables. Even the toy cars that Michael played with every day had been thrown back into the plastic storage containers that they were supposed to live in.

It was Parent's Evening and Michael was dreading it as he stepped into the classroom, clutching his Mum's hand tightly.

It could be considered strange that a six-year-old dreaded showing his parent's what he was doing at school - usually a child would be jumping at the chance to brag. But Michael knew that every time his Mum and Dad came out of the room after talking to Miss Madeline, they looked worried. Afterwards, when they got home, they would keep asking Michael if he liked school, if he had any friends, if he was bullied. Michael would just shrug - he didn't want to make his mum sad.

But after Michael had shown his parents his workbook and they had settled down to look at it, a silver lining entered the room.

Delilah entered the room, laughing at something her dad had said. She waved at Michael when she saw him, quickly pointing out her workbook to her parents before running up to Michael. She grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the car corner (a phrase she had adopted after playing with Michael there every day).

Karen smiled at her husband, nudging him before saying, "that's the girl from the park."

Meanwhile, Delilah had turned to Michael, pointed at the floor, and said, "the corner is too empty."

Michael had grinned at the girl, before pulling out the cars and lining them up one by one. Delilah did the same. Having been playing with Michael all week, she had learnt Michael's routine and the position of every single car. Delilah didn't mind that they had to spend the first ten minutes of every day lining up the cars. She found it interesting.

Being so wrapped up in their own little world, neither Michael or Delilah realised when Miss Madeline beckoned Michael's parents into the classroom's little library. They didn't see the concern on Karen and Daryl's faces as they asked how Michael was doing. Neither did they hear the conversation between the three:

"Michael's schoolwork is fine so I have no concerns," Miss Madeline spoke. "I do want to talk about his social skills."

Karen nodded. "He's never been the best. We try to help him but we don't know what to do. Is he getting worse?"

Miss Madeline shook her head, smiling gently. "Oh no! Quite the opposite - he seems to be opening up a little more. Admittedly, he's only made one friend, but it's an improvement."

The two parents seemed to perk up. "Who?" Daryl asked.

"Delilah Ashworth. She's almost a year younger and I know many parents are against their child having friends of the opposite gender but encourage this relationship. Encourage him to socialise with her out of school hours. Since he met her at the beginning of the week, I've never heard Michael laugh as much. She makes him smile."

Michael had no idea why his parents left Parent's Evening beaming.

Delilah knew exactly why she left with her parents telling her that she couldn't hit people. She didn't care. She knew her actions were justified.