Isaac rushed home to find his parents and sister gathered in his room. "What's going on?"

Esther gave him a warm smile. "Hey, Tapper."

Isaac's eyes widened. Why did she used that nickname in front of their parents?

"It's time to tell the truth, Isaac. You don't need to be ashamed", said Esther. "Tell them why you really joined the club."

Isaac was speechless. He didn't understand how Esther knew that he didn't work backstage. "You know?"

His parents looked at each other, confused expressions on their faces, before looking at Isaac. "Knew what?"

Isaac looked at Esther, who gave him a reassuring smile. He took a deep breath, exhaling shakily. "I-I didn't join Theatre Club to work backstage. I... I auditioned for a dance role. That's been my main role since the beginning."

He felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, though that weight might be thrown on top of him again judging from the looks of anger on his parents' faces. "Isaac Horowitz! Please tell me this is just some prank", said his Mum.

Isaac shook his head. "No, Mum. It's not a prank."

Isaac's Dad pinched his forehead. "Is this what it's come to? Have we been such awful people that on top of our daughter being ill, our son has been lying to us for weeks?"

Isaac frowned. "Please, don't be like that. Everyone's really nice. They look after me. And... and I'm really good at dancing."

Esther smiled. "Of course you are, Tapper. Grandpa would be proud."

"How did you figure it out?", asked Isaac.

"You left your laptop on and I needed it to do shopping. 'Best tap dances for auditions' came up", explained Esther.

"And you didn't think to tell us?", asked their Mum.

"It's not my secret to tell, Mum", said Esther. "Why can't you guys just be happy for Isaac? Personally, I think it's comforting knowing that when I die, Isaac will still have people supporting him."

"Stop this talk, Esther!", yelled their Mum, startling both Esther and Isaac. They noticed tears in her eyes.

She broke down, their father gently cupping her face, resting his forehead against hers.

Isaac and Esther looked at each other. They both wrapped their arms around their parents. Soon, their parents pulled them in, cradling them like they used to do when they were kids. "Why did you both have to grow up?", questioned their Dad.

"I pray every night that I get given more time. With you both. Every time you leave the house, all I think about is your safety", said their Mum.

Their Mum tucked a few strands of hair behind Esther's ear. "My beautiful girl. You had so many big dreams. You wanted to be an astrologist. And this... cancer has taken that away from you."

Esther shook her head. "No, Mum. Don't think of it like that. When I die... I'll be joining the sky. And it's no exaggeration to say I'll be the brightest star up there."

Isaac grinned, in awe of how strong his sister was. "How are you so strong, Es?"

"I'm not, Isaac. I break down in tears as much as anyone else. I get angry at the world for making me ill. But I've just learned to cope, mate. That's all I'm doing. Coping."

A look of realisation appeared on their Dad's face. "Is that why you're so insistent on finishing your old bucket list? Because you want to live... not just cope?"

Tears formed in Esther's eyes. She nodded. "Yeah. I wanna live while I can."

Isaac bit his lip to stop the tears from falling.

His mother looked at him. "This Theatre Club... dancing... does it mean a lot to you?"

Isaac nodded. "It means so much, Mum. I don't have to think about anything else when I'm dancing."

His parents looked at each other, as if they were telepathically communicating with each other. "We're still not happy that you lied. And we're not sure how beneficial this Club will be to you but... we can't wrap you up in cotton wool all the time", said their Dad.

Isaac smiled. "I know. Thank you. And I'm really sorry for lying."

Esther ruffled Isaac's hair. "See, Tapper? It all works out in the end."

-

Kennedy, Maxon, Leonie, Weronika and Camryn went ran around the school's car park, washing cars after getting the owner's permission.

Kennedy used a water hose to wash the cars, with Maxon using a sponge. With one car washed, Kennedy and Maxon rushed over to another one, aware that time was of the essence.

Leonie slipped and landed head first in the bucket of soapy water. Weronika giggled, covering her mouth to muffle the sound. To her surprise, Leonie laughed too, shaking her head around and getting water on Weronika.

Camryn saw this and smiled. She knew Leonie was nice, but had never seen her be this goofy before. It wad nice to know that she could laugh at herself sometimes.

Despite wanting to keep her distance, Camryn found herself walking over to Leonie when the older girl had foam on her left cheek. "Hey, you've got-", started Camryn, before cutting herself off and just using her hand to wipe away the foam.

Leonie moved her own hand at the same time and their hands touched. Leonie blushed and moved her hand away, looking at the ground to hide her smile.

"Uh, sorry. I'm gonna... clean... a car", said Camryn, before quickly walking to another car, her cheeks a little red.

After Kennedy and Maxon washed the last car, Kennedy sprayed water on Maxon.

Maxon gasped. "Oh, it's own", he grinned, ringing the sponge out onto Kennedy's head.

This was the first proper interaction they had since Maxon and Leonie's dance session, so it was a nice ice breaker. "Maxon... can we talk?"

Suddenly, a bucket of water splashed on them, soaking the pair. They looked up to see a grinning Weronika. "Guys, that was the last car. Let's have some fun."

They all nodded and soon a water fight broke out.

The others, who had been selling cookies, returned and saw the water fight.

Darius looked at Stanley and they both grinned. "H*LL YEAH!"

Soon, everyone was involved in the water fight.

A little while later, everyone gathered in the Theatre Room to see how much money they raised.

"890, 900", counted Leonie, sighing. "We're 100 short."

A sad silence loomed over the group, frustrated that they had come so close, yet were still so far.

"Have you idiots counted the money yet?", asked Amethyst, walking in.

"We're £100 short", said Stanley.

Amethyst threw a large wad of cash on the table, taking everyone by surprise. "There's exactly £100 there."

"How did you get this much money?", questioned Kennedy.

"I sold a kidney", replied Amethsyt, sarcastically. "It doesn't matter how I got it. What's important is that I got it."

"Isaac's just texted. He's coming in now", said an excited Camryn.

"What's going on?", asked a confused Isaac. "Why did you say it's urgent, Camryn? And why is everyone in a circle looking at me like I'm about to be murdered?"

"You ask a lot of questions, mop" said Amethsyt, referring to his curly hair.

Leonie smiled. "We did some research and found the only company in Moorside that help you name a star. We all worked together and raised the £1000 you needed for it."

Isaac was taken aback. This group of people who didn't know him all that well, raised £1000 for his sister? Maybe he really had found his place after all. Tears formed in his eyes as he looked at everyone's faces.

"Oh no, please do not cry", frowned a concerned Eli.

Isaac shook his head. "No. No, these are happy tears."

Everyone smiled and pulled Isaac in for a group hug. Once they all pullef away for some much needed oxygen, Leonie took one of the pounds she helped to raise. "I thought you should be the one to add the final amount."

Isaac smiled gratefully at Leonie, who had tears in her own eyes too. Isaac pulled out a pound coin from his pocket and put it in the pile. His smile brightened as he stepped back and looked at everyone's happy faces.

Miss Laine wiped away the tears rolling down her face. To her, this was a team. This was a family. This is what she had always hoped the Moorside Theatre Club would be.

-

Hi!

This was an emotional chapter for me to write. I've always loved stories, shows and films that show people from so many different walks of life uniting- that's friendship. That's what a family is. And it's something that's not only important for me in my writing, but important for my life as well.

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

-cherrysvalanxe

ATHENA-yeonnie

CaptainHermioneSwan

DoodleYeet

gillioddities

LiaHook_Descendants

starryeyedturtle