Hopewell High
Page 2
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Darkglasses: *Wolf whistle* niiiiiiice. Rather too many clothes on though ;-P
Cutie: I’m not taking them off!!
Darkglasses: Aw, go on. Just a bit. Show me a boob.
Cutie: No!!
Darkglasses: Or a thigh.
Cutie: Cheeky.
Darkglasses: A bra then. Show me your bra. That’s nothing – you might as well be in a bikini.
Cutie: Oh, all right. Hang on…
Darkglasses: You’re taking ages! I’m dying here!
Cutie: I’ve taken 14 and none of them are nice!
Darkglasses: Send me all 14 and I’ll see if I agree with you.
Cutie: I’ll send you ONE.
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Darkglasses: PHWOOOOOOOAAAARRRR!
Cutie: LOL. Is that all right?
Darkglasses: You look amazing. Hiding those under your school uniform!! What I wouldn’t give to get my hands on them…
Cutie: You’re in Yorkshire, remember. No chance
Darkglasses:
Cutie: Gotta go. Can hear someone coming
Darkglasses: Thanks for the photo. I’ll be looking at it last thing tonight
Cutie: xxx
Chapter Six
Two days later, Daisy was in the ICT Room at lunchtime. She was supposed to be catching up on her homework. Instead she was editing a photo of herself on her phone. She liked sending Liam photos.
Nothing naked – but it wasn’t hurting anyone to show him her underwear, was it? And he loved it. He told her she was beautiful; he couldn’t wait to meet her one day.
A burst of giggles from further down the room made her look up. Three girls from the year below were gathered around a computer. They were sneaking glances at Daisy and looking back at the computer screen – and then giggling.
“What?” asked Daisy, annoyed.
But the girls were giggling so hard they couldn’t even speak. Then one of them gasped out, “Nice bra,” and they were all helpless with laughter again.
Daisy sat very still. She felt as though someone had tipped a bucket of iced water over her head. It couldn’t be…
Somehow, she got up. Somehow she made her way over to the girls’ computer. Still giggling, they backed off, and then disappeared – probably to spread the gossip all over the school.
Daisy looked at the screen.
The site was called ‘What Do You Think Of My Girlfriend?’ and there, in the middle of the page, was the photo she had sent to Liam two nights earlier. The one of her with her shirt fully unbuttoned. She was pouting at the screen, pushing her lips together like a kiss – and her bra was on full display.
Daisy clutched at the chair, feeling dizzy. What was all this about?
Underneath the photo was a caption: ‘Dirty Daisy, aged 14. Whaddya think, lads?’
And under that were the comments… oh, so many comments.
Daisy began to read, but the language used made her choke. Everything in the photo was commented on, from the design of her bra to the size of her breasts, to the shape of her face.
And then there were the comments from boys saying what they’d like to do to her…
The bile rose in her throat, and Daisy made it to the bin just in time to throw up.
There was only one person who could have posted that photo online.
The one person she had trusted more than any other.
Chapter Seven
Daisy ran up to the Nest, ignoring the bell for afternoon lessons. She felt sick and cold and terrified. How could he do this to her? That was a private photo, not to be shared with the world!
To think that all those other boys – and men – had seen her in her underwear… and that some of them even wanted to…
Liam had put her name and age, for goodness’ sake! Was she even safe? Could anyone using the site find out who she was and where she went to school? Why would Liam do such a horrible, horrible thing? She sent him a message.
Cutie: How could you?? HOW COULD YOU????? I TRUSTED YOU!
Daisy lay in bed, sobbing. It felt like hours before anyone came looking for her – and then it was Miss Redmond.
The teacher came into the room and shut the door behind her. “Daisy,” she said kindly. “Daisy, we need to talk.”
“I can’t,” Daisy mumbled.
“This is very serious,” Miss Redmond went on. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“I’m so embarrassed,” Daisy said into her pillow.
“I know,” Miss Redmond said. “I would be too. But you can’t hide in bed for the rest of your life. Come out and tell me. You’ll feel better.”
Daisy sat up. Her face was puffy and red from all the crying, and her throat was sore.
“I got talking to a boy online,” she said. “I thought he liked me. He – I stayed up late chatting to him. He wanted photos of me, so I sent them.”
“Oh, Daisy,” said Miss Redmond, shaking her head.
Daisy felt a spark of anger. “Everyone does it!” she cried. “If you’ve got a boyfriend, you send him photos – they want it. And they send you photos back. It’s called a relationship.”
“It’s called breaking the law,” corrected Miss Redmond.
Daisy stared at her. “What?”
“It’s against the law to take a photo of a child under 18 that has a sexual style,” Miss Redmond said. “Such as a photo of you in your bra, pouting at the camera.”
“But I took it myself!” Daisy protested.
“It’s still against the law,” Miss Redmond told her. “It’s also against the law to send it to someone else.”
“What about him uploading my photo to a website?” Daisy just felt angry now. “That’s way worse.”
“If you hadn’t sent him the photo in the first place, he couldn’t have done it,” Miss Redmond pointed out. “But yes, it was against the law for him to do that too.”
There was a silence.
“Am I… am I going to prison?” asked Daisy in a small voice. Tears started to run down her face again.
Miss Redmond smiled. “No, Daisy, I don’t suppose so. But we have a responsibility to take this very seriously. We have to report it to the police. And we’ll need to call your parents.”
“Oh please, no!” Daisy covered her face with her hands. “Can’t we just pretend it never happened? I won’t do it again, I promise.”
“It’s too late,” said Miss Redmond. “I’m very sorry, Daisy. We’ll need to write to the site that’s hosting your photo too and ask them to take it down.” She got up. “I’m going to send one of your friends up to keep you company for this afternoon. I have to talk to the Head, and we’ll need to make some phone calls to the right people. We’ll try to get that photo taken down as quickly as possible. You don’t have to come to lessons, but I will expect to see you at supper later.”
“All right,” said Daisy, sniffing.
“Which friend would you like me to send up?” Miss Redmond asked.
Daisy opened her mouth to say, “Alice”, but the word didn’t come out. Instead, she knew exactly who would understand. “Samira,” she said. “Samira, please.”
Chapter Eight
“Why me?” Samira asked when she came into the Nest. “Why not Alice?”
Daisy sat on her bed, hugging her knees. “Do you know what’s happened?” she asked.
Samira nodded. “It’s all over the school. Sorry.”
Daisy took a deep breath. “I wanted to talk to you. Because… because you understand what it’s like when people find out your secret.”
“Oh.” Samira sat down on the end of her own bed. “Oh, I see.”
“You remember…” Daisy swallowed, “when we found out about your self-harm?”
Samira said quietly, “This isn’t the same.”
“No,” agreed Daisy. “But I still feel… ashamed. Like you did.”
Samira looked straight at her friend. “You know we can still be friends though, right?”
“It’s not wrong,” said Samira carefully, “but if it’s all you think about, then maybe you’ve got a problem.”
Daisy nodded. “I trusted someone I shouldn’t. I thought… I thought he loved me, Sammy. I really did.”
Samira came over and put an arm around Daisy’s shoulders. “You don’t value yourself enough,” she told her. “You work so hard on the way you look. But that’s not what people are really about. Who are you underneath?”
Daisy felt surprised. Only Liam had asked her that question. She’d thought no one else would be interested. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. “What if there isn’t anything underneath? What if a face, and a body – and a bra – is all that I am?”
Samira smiled. “You think Hani, Alice and I are friends with your bra?”
Daisy couldn’t help laughing at that. “I just want a boyfriend,” she confessed. “I feel lonely without one. I need someone to tell me I’m gorgeous all the time. Otherwise I feel invisible.”
Samira looked at her for a long moment. Then she said, “I think maybe you need to go talk to the counsellor. That sounds all kinds of wrong to me.”
At the end of lessons, Alice and Hani came to join them. There was lots of hugging and crying and Daisy felt a lot better. Her friends weren’t walking out on her because of what she’d done.
Going down to supper was really awkward though. Everyone knew, that much was clear. Gossip spread fast in a school. Daisy kept her eyes on the floor but she could still hear the whispers around her. And she definitely heard the girl that said, “That’s disgusting,” in a loud voice.
Samira reached for Daisy’s hand and squeezed it. “It will get better,” she whispered to her friend. “Be strong, Daisy.”
Daisy didn’t think she had ever felt less strong.
Chapter Nine
Darkglasses: What did I do?? What are you talking about?
Cutie: You posted that photo of me online! You are VILE.
Darkglasses: It was cute! I wanted everyone to see what a hot girlfriend I have!
Cutie: You DIDN’T ASK MY PERMISSION.
Darkglasses: Babe – Daisy – I didn’t think you’d mind. You sent it to me, after all. What’s the difference?
Cutie: The difference??! You can’t even SEE what you’ve done to me? Everyone at school knows – I am humiliated. Even my PARENTS know.
Darkglasses: Aw, poor cutie! Don’t worry. They’ll have forgotten about it by tomorrow ;-)
Cutie: They won’t. This will stay around forever. Did you know, once you upload a photo, you lose control of it? It’s not yours any more. Anyone can copy it, share it… did you know that photo of me is now on SIX other websites?
Darkglasses: Whoa, really? LOL, have you been searching the web?
Cutie: I didn’t need to. The police told me.
Darkglasses: The police?
Cutie: See, you’re scared now, aren’t you? You should be. You’ve broken the law.
Darkglasses: You told them about me? You bitch!
Cutie: Call me whatever names you like. They’re coming for you, Liam. They can track everything.
Darkglasses: I never liked you. It was all pretend. All that stuff you told me – I was laughing at you while I read it. You fell for me SO easily.
Cutie: I’d rather be foolish than evil.
Darkglasses: You’re pathetic, Daisy. Even your friends know it.
Cutie: Actually, my friends are amazing. They’re the best thing ever. Do you have friends, Liam? Because I think you’re going to need them. I feel sorry for you, getting off on telling lies. How many other girls have you done this to? How many lies have you told?
Darkglasses: This isn’t about me. This is about you. It was ALL about you. You never shut up talking about yourself.
Cutie: Well, I’m shutting up now. I’ve said everything I wanted to say. The police will be interested in what you said too.
Darkglasses: You’re going to show them this??
Cutie: Don’t need to. I gave them access to my account. They can see everything. They can see YOU, Liam. Yeah, the world may be seeing me in my bra, but you know what? You’re the one who’ll be exposed.
Darkglasses: Your boobs are too small anyway.
Cutie: Goodbye, Liam.
Daisy logged out of the conversation and deleted her account. Her heart was racing and her hands were slippery with sweat, but she felt proud. Liam was a toad, a parasite; she deserved better. She still didn’t want to face the world. That photo would be out there forever now – anyone could find it, even in ten, twenty, thirty years’ time. “Thank goodness I wasn’t naked,” she thought to herself. She sat up on her bed and brushed her hair with shaking hands.
“Hey Daisy,” called Alice, “you coming to the Common Room?”
“Oh,” said Daisy, “I’m not sure…” The Common Room would be full of girls. Girls who would look at her and whisper about her, and judge her.
“It’s Friday night,” said Hani. “Film night!”
“Come on,” said Samira. She held out a hand and smiled. “We’ll be right there with you.”
Daisy took a deep breath. She couldn’t hide forever. Feeling sick with nerves, she got up and took Samira’s hand. It was warm and strong, and Daisy instantly felt braver.
Together, the four friends walked out of the Nest – stronger together, forever.
Bonus Bits!
WHAT NEXT?
Have a think about these questions after reading this story:
• What do you think Daisy should have done when she was asked to send a photo to Darkglasses?
• Do you think Samira was right to suggest Daisy sees a counsellor when she explained how she saw herself?
• Were Daisy’s friends right to stand by her after the event?
• How do you think Samira felt towards Daisy throughout the story?
CONSENT AND THE LAW
Consent is agreeing to something of your own free will, not because someone is putting pressure on you. In a relationship, it can be hard to say no because you want the other person to like you. But legally you have the right to refuse a request, whether it’s for a photo of yourself or sexual contact you’re not ready for. You should also respect that your partner might say no sometimes too.
If you are under 18, it is against the law for anyone to take or have a sexual photo of you – even if it’s a selfie (like Daisy in the story). So, if you (like Darkglasses) put pressure on someone to take a photo or you share a sexual photo with someone, you’re breaking the law.
WHERE TO GET HELP
Daisy likes to be noticed but she gets into trouble when she finds that she has broken the law. Luckily her friends are there for her and adults are able to help her. If you have concerns and worries about consent or anything else, there are people outside of your immediate family and friends who can help.
Childline
Childline is a free, 24-hour counselling service for everyone under 18. Childline says, “You can talk to us about anything. No problem is too big or too small. We’re on the phone and online. However you choose to contact us, you’re in control. It’s free, confidential and you don’t have to give your name if you don’t want to.”
www.childline.org.uk / telephone: 0800 1111
Mind
Mind is a charity for people with mental health problems. It can provide help and information if you or someone you know feels bad about themselves like Daisy does. It is for adults and children.
www.mind.org.uk / telephone: 0300 123 3393 / text: 86463
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First published in 2018 by Bloomsbury Education
This electronic edition published in 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Copyright © Jo Cotterill, 2018
Illustrations copyright © Maria Garcia Borrego, 2018
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eISBN 978 1 4729 3488 8
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