I love The Dumping Ground, the stories and acting are so good! Ryan is my favourite, hence why he'll feature a lot in this, but the character list hasn't been updated, so I couldn't put him as a main character! *Why* Hopefully they'll fix it soon, anyway, enjoy! xx

(As of Dec 2015, the character list has been updated at my request, so all characters up to and including Series 3 have been added.)

Chapter 1: Emily

Emily Anderson locked the door behind her as she entered the house, leaving the keys in the bowl on the table. She took school bag with her as she went through to the kitchen for a glass of water. She ran the tap and filled the only clean glass that was in the cupboard. The sink was full of dirty dishes, and the table had empty crisp packets and beer cans all over it. She sighed, leaving the room and heading for her own bedroom, passing the crumpled cans and empty glass bottles on the stairs. Just because she hadn't cleaned the kitchen in a while. She would have to tidy up later.

Emily sat on her bed in her small room. Her converse clad feet dangled off the edge of the bed, just brushing the floor. She was tired, worn out. She had put the empty glass on her bedside table. She was waiting for her father to return home. She had woken him up from a drunken sleep for work. It wasn't his fault. Her mum was the one who left, and her dad had to look after her alone. So he had turned to alcohol for comfort.

She looked on the floor for her pair of faded blue skinny jeans to change into. She undid her tie and dropped it on the floor where the jeans had been. She found a loose dark green t-shirt in the laundry basket in the corner. She sighed, it hadn't been washed since her dad had spilled beer on it and it didn't smell great. But she put it on anyway. Emily was thin, quite gangly as she had sprouted up over the past few months and looked as though she should eat more. She put her scuffed black converse back on and laced them up. She was used to wearing shoes in the house. The floor wasn't the cleanest in their grubby little house anyway.

Dad will be home soon, she thought. Only one more week after this until the summer holidays. Just one more week to put up with the big-mouthed pupils and teachers acting all concerned about her. One more day and she would have the whole summer to herself. She pulled her notebook out of her school bag and turned to a clean page. Then there was a knock at the front door.

Bang, bang, bang!

"Hello, Emily, are you in there?"

She froze. The banging continued.

"Emily, open the door. This is social services and the police."

Emily's breathing quickened. She began to shake. So they had finally come for her. The neighbour, the nosy Mrs Perkins, had threatened to call social services before, saying that Emily's dad wasn't fit to look after her. Emily had dealt with social services before, two years ago. But Emily needed her dad. He was alright when she was there. If they took her away...

"Right, Emily, we're coming in." There was a pounding at the door. Suddenly there was a crash as the front door swung open. There were heavy footsteps on the stairs. Emily's vision began to blur and she felt hot and nauseous. Her notebook fell to the floor. The footsteps stopped outside her door.

"Emily, my name is Andrea Lee, and I'm a social worker. Can I come in?" A woman's voice called through the door.

"Emily took a deep breath. "Yes," she choked out.

The door opened and a short woman walked in.

"You have to come with me, OK, Emily?" She said, coming over to her. Emily calmed herself. It would do no good to panic now, though her heart pounded.

A tall policeman stood outside her bedroom door. Emily nodded slowly.

"You won't be coming back here for a bit," said Andrea. "While we sort things out, ok?"

She nodded again, standing up. It would be better just to do what these people said. Besides, the policeman looked a bit scary. She picked up her notebook off the floor and put it back in her school bag. She went to her cupboard and took out a pile of old notebooks that were secured together with elastic bands. Her old stuff, she used to write everything down, all of her thoughts, and make up stories too. If she was going to be away from home, those were her memories, those notebooks were her life. She also pocketed her ipod and earphones.

"Is there anything else you want to take with you?" Andrea asked.

Emily glanced at her before picking up her dark blue denim jacket.

"Ready to go, Emily?" Andrea asked her, the way you would ask a small child. Emily hated her already. Andrea was wearing a pale pink blouse and black trousers. She had foolishly chosen to wear high heels and had her fair hair back in a ponytail.

"Yes," Emily muttered and followed Andrea out of her room. She shouldered her school bag and held onto her denim jacket. She went downstairs and waited by the door for the policeman and Andrea.

There was another policeman standing in the kitchen doorway. As she was led out of the door by Andrea, she heard him mutter, "What kind of home is this for a child? Heard the father's an alcoholic."

"I pity the kid," the taller one said.

Emily blinked at the early afternoon sun as she heard a car pull up outside. There was a police car and a small blue car. But she also saw a beaten up red car and a tall skinny man with dark curly hair stumbled out.

"Dad," she said.

"Emily? What's going on?" He looked around at the policemen and the social worker in unease. "Emily?" His voice was alarmed.

"Dad," Emily repeated, as Andrea took her arm firmly and pulled her towards the small blue car.

"No, Emily!" He lurched forward but was restrained by the shorter policeman. "What are you- you can't take my daughter!"

"Dad!" Emily shrieked. "Daddy!" She was bundled into the car and the door was slammed shut. She pressed her hands to the glass as Andrea got in and the car drove away.

"Emily!" She heard her dad yell once more as the car rounded a bend and she lost sight of him.

"Don't worry, Emily," Andrea said sweetly from the driver's seat. "Everything will be alright."

"Emily's hands dropped from the window and fell to her lap. She scrubbed at her eyes with her hands, laying her head back against the window. She fumbled with her iPod, anxiety levels rising. She put her earphones in, selecting a heavy metal track. It was the only thing to keep her from crying. She shrugged off her school bag and put it on the seat next to her, along with her denim jacket. Then she closed her eyes.

"When she opened them, they were outside a plain white building. She got out of the car at Andrea's request, putting on her denim jacket when she got outside. The inside of the building was just patronising. The walls were painted in bright colours and there were pictures of suns and clouds and rainbows. But what really took the cake were the stupid phrases written on the walls like "it's good to talk". She rolled her eyes. Shifting her bag straps, she followed the annoying social worker into a small white room with and table and a chair on either side of it.

"Please sit down, Emily." Andrea sat on one of the chairs at the table and gestured for Emily to sit opposite her. Emily sat, moving her bag to her lap. "Now, Emily, is there anything you would like to tell me?" She continued, moving the pad of paper and pen that lay on the table towards her, poised, as if to make notes.

"I need to go home," Emily said. "To Dad."

"You can't go home just now," said Andrea. "But I'm here to help you. Is there anything I can do?"

"Emily hugged her bag, wishing she was dreaming. The stupid woman didn't understand, Emily had to get home. Dad needed her. Panic rose within her, which turned to anger.

"If you won't let me go home, you can bugger off!" Emily yelled, turning away, heart racing.

Andrea got up and left the room. The door was left ajar and Emily could hear voices outside. She rubbed her face with her hands.

"The girl seems to have behavioural problems," Andrea said.

"She's clearly upset." A man's voice that Emily didn't recognise.

"Well, she can't go back home," Andrea countered. "I've seen the house! It's no place for a child. The father is an alcoholic. He needs help before he can continue to look after her."

"Is there anywhere she can stay temporarily?" The man asked.

"Burneywood?" Andrea asked.

"What about Ashdene Ridge?" The man suggested. "I think they've got space. I'll ring them up now."

"Fab," said Andrea. She poked her head round the door. "Can I get you anything, Emily?"

"Emily thought about all the different ways she could reply, but said nothing. Andrea promptly left. She was left for about forty minutes. She stared at the white wall, zoning out. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Andrea returned, telling Emily to go with her. Emily didn't really have much of a say in the matter so she followed Andrea back to her car.

"We've found somewhere for you to stay, Emily," said Andrea. "At Ashdene Ridge."

Whatever, Emily thought, putting her headphones back in.

So you just met Emily, and in the next chapter she'll meet all of the Dumping Ground kids! :)