I loved the fact that the others were ogling my silver medal. I felt so proud of myself. Ed had done well too, winning himself bronze along with some other people on our team. Out of all the schools competing, our school had won the most medals.
I was just about to say bye to everyone when Chloe suddenly yelled out to someone behind me.
“Oi, you!” she said as the waves in the pool gently whooshed about. “What do you think you’re doing here?”
It was Tom Beckett, standing on his own and about to take a bite into a sandwich. His group of loyal Sheep were nowhere to be seen, and his eyes widened at the sight of us.
I felt a lump in my throat and my tummy felt funny. The horror from last Sunday came back into my mind and my legs turned to jelly.
“I heard about what you did to my best friend!” Chloe snapped, and she stormed over to him. Ed followed her, along with Neada and Jess.
Tom wasn’t the same cocky, confident boy without his Sheep with him. All of a sudden he found himself surrounded by a group of people on his own. His eyes had a look of terror in them and he didn’t know what to do.
“I … I…” he muttered, looking at Chloe and then back at me in fear.
“Who do you think you are?” Neada yelled.
“No one gets away with treating my friend like that!” added Jess.
I wasn’t sure how they all knew about the chocolate incident but I suppose news travels fast. Needless to say, I was glad they hadn’t mentioned it to me.
Tom began stuttering again, taking a few steps back.
“If you think you’re going to come anywhere near her or us at St Margaret’s, you’re wrong,” Chloe hissed.
“Yeah,” Jess added. “If you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us!”
Then, with a giant push, Ed flung out his arms and sent Tom flying into the pool fully clothed.
I burst out laughing and covered my mouth with my hands.
“Now, stay away!” Chloe added, and the three of them laughed and laughed at Tom flapping around in the water like a fish.
Suddenly the idea of St Margaret’s didn’t seem scary to me at all. I knew secondary school and life would have its ups and downs, but I wasn’t afraid of facing them head-on any more. I didn’t need to worry about pleasing other people. With my friends by my side, I knew I’d be fine.
I knew I could handle anything that came my way. And no matter what happened in the future, I knew I’d make a splash.
Acknowledgements
A big thank you must firstly go to all of the girls and women who never give up on their dreams. You inspire us to keep going! This book was inspired by the women whose talents have often been overlooked by the fact they’re not societally ‘perfect’ – the girls who have felt pressured to become somebody else or to look a certain way, as though their appearance is of more importance than what’s on the inside. A lot of these pressures start when girls are about to hit puberty, like Molly, and they often think they have to dumb themselves down in order to be accepted. I hope Molly’s story shows you that there’s nothing better than being yourself and following your heart!
A HUGE thank you to Tom Bonnick and the rest of the Nosy Crow team, whose attention to detail has been second to none.
And finally, a big thank you to my agent, Adam Gauntlett, at PFD, who believed in my writing when nobody else did.
Copyright
First published in the UK in 2018 by Nosy Crow Ltd
The Crow’s Nest, 14 Baden Place
Crosby Row, London, SE1 1YW, UK
www.nosycrow.com
ISBN: 978 1 78800 170 0
eISBN: 978 1 78800 171 7
Nosy Crow and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Nosy Crow Ltd
Text copyright © Charli Howard, 2018
Cover and chapter opener illustrations © Lucy Davey, 2018
The right of Charli Howard to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.
All rights reserved
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of Nosy Crow Ltd.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Printed and bound in the UK by Clays Ltd, St. Ives Plc
Typeset by Tiger Media
Papers used by Nosy Crow are made from wood grown in sustainable forests
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