CONTENTS
Chapter 1 Emergency
Chapter 2 Friends
Chapter 3 Hair
Chapter 4 Bag
Chapter 5 Glasses
Chapter 6 Survivor
Copyright Page
Titles in Teen Reads
CHAPTER 1
EMERGENCY
Sirens blared as two ambulances pulled into the hospital’s emergency bay at exactly the same time. Identically dressed paramedics leaped out and opened the back doors to the vehicles as doctors and nurses came running to help.
Two wheeled stretchers were unloaded, each carrying the bloodied, unconscious figure of a teenage girl with short, reddish-brown hair…
CHAPTER 2
FRIENDS
Catherine Willows is weird. I feel really mean saying that – especially as I’m not exactly one of the cool kids myself – but it’s true.
She’s only been at our school for two weeks, and she’s already attracted a lot of attention to herself. The wrong kind of attention, if you know what I mean. The kind of attention that gets you picked on.
For a start – she skips everywhere. And I mean everywhere! From class to class, in the playground – I even caught her skipping from one of the toilet cubicles to the sink to wash her hands.
She dresses in a strange way, too. We all have to wear uniform at our school and it’s pretty dull. Black trousers or skirt, white shirt, black blazer and school tie. We look like a bunch of depressed clones shuffling along the corridors from room to room. But not Catherine…
She’s covered the lapels of her blazer in metal badges with slogans like ‘I can do it!’, ‘The best I can be!’, and ‘Top of the Class!’. Add to that the frilly collar of her shirt, the pink bobbles at the back of her socks and her blonde hair in bunches, and you can see why she stands out from the crowd.
“I feel sorry for her,” I said to my best friend, Fiona, one lunch time.
“Sorry?” said Fiona, spitting out a lump of potato. “For weirdie Willows?”
“Yeah,” I said, cleaning my glasses and putting them back on to look over at her. “She always sits by herself at lunch time.”
“A lot of that is down to her Hello Kitty lunch box and My Little Pony backpack,” said Fiona. “She should start acting her age instead of her shoe size.”
I sighed and turned back to my plate of barely identifiable school dinner. “I know she doesn’t exactly help herself,” I said, running my fork through the thin, brown water that passed as gravy. “But maybe we could?”
“Could what?” asked Fiona, pushing her tray away, meal unfinished.
“I dunno… give her a makeover, perhaps? Teach her not to make so much of a target of herself all the time.”
“Bit late for that,” said Fiona, nodding to the other side of the room. I turned to see the biggest and meanest girl in our year – Minty Clinch – hauling Catherine up out of her seat.
“What did you just call me?” Minty roared.
“Nothing!” protested Catherine. “I didn’t call you anything! I was just singing.”
“And what were you singing?”
“‘Puff, The Magic Dragon’,” said Catherine.
I sighed. This wasn’t going to get any better.
“You fink I look like a dragon, do ya?” bellowed Minty.
“N-no!” Catherine squeaked. “I just like the song and I was…”
Despite Fiona’s protests, I raced across the dining room as quickly as I could. “Leave her alone, Minty!” I demanded.
The bully glared down at me, Catherine’s collar still grasped in her fleshy fist. She’d drawn LOVE and HATE tattoos on her knuckles with blue ballpoint pen, but had misspelled HATE so that it read HATS.
“Or what, four eyes?” she growled. “What are you gonna do if I don’t leave her alone?”
I shrugged. “I’ll call a teacher.”
Minty sniffed noisily then looked over my head to the rest of the silent dining room. Everyone was watching her closely.
“Never let me hear you singing that stupid song again!” she snarled, pushing Catherine back into her seat. Then she turned and marched out of the room, making a point of kicking as many chairs as possible on the way.
“Are you OK?” I asked Catherine.
“Yes, thank you,” she nodded. “I really was only singing a song. I don’t know what that large girl got so upset about.”
“Don’t worry about her,” I said. “She just gets grumpy if she hasn’t had enough raw meat for breakfast.” I took a deep breath and resisted the urge to glance over at Fiona. I knew exactly what expression she’d have on her face. “Look, why don’t you come over and sit with us to finish your lunch?”
Catherine literally trembled with excitement, making all her lapel badges jingle. “Really? Truly?”
“Yes, of course,” I said, trying not to regret my decision already. “I’ll help you carry your stuff.”
So I picked up her tub of sandwiches with the crusts cut off and her packet of rainbow-drops and led the way back to our table. Catherine gathered together the rest of her belongings and skipped after me.
Fiona was looking at me like I’d just taken a dump in her favourite pair of shoes. “This is Catherine,” I said as we sat down. “I’m Stacey and this is Fiona.”
“Oh, call me Cat!” beamed Catherine.
“Everyone does. And by everyone, I mean you two – my new best friends!” She burst into a fit of laughter, punctuated by loud, rasping snorts.
Fiona stamped on my toes under the table.
“Did you see how brave Stacey was, standing up to that bully?” exclaimed Cat once she’d stopped giggle-grunting. “I expect she thought that awful girl wouldn’t hit someone wearing glasses – especially ones as thick as those…”
And with that, she snatched my glasses off my face and put them on herself.
“Hey!” cried Fiona, reaching out. “Give those back to her!”
“Gosh!” said Cat, peering through my lenses. “You must have really terrible eyes to need glasses like these!”
I squinted at the blurred shape sitting beside me. “I do have bad eyes,” I said. “It’s a kind of degenerative illness called Stargardt Syndrome.”
Cat laughed and punched me in the arm. “You just made that up, silly!”
I couldn’t see Fiona clearly, but her sigh of frustration told me exactly what she was thinking.
“I wish I had made it up,” I said politely. “But it runs in the family. Both my mum and dad have lost most of their sight because of it already.”
Cat gasped. “So you’re going to go blind from it?”
I nodded. “It certainly looks that way…”
Cat whipped off my glasses as if they were suddenly diseased and tossed them onto the table in front of me, one of the lenses plopping into my unfinished pool of gravy.
By the time I’d cleaned them and put them back on, Cat was rooting deep in her My Little Pony backpack. “Well, we can still be friends until that happens,” she promised. “Now – who wants a Barbie fun bracelet?”
CHAPTER 3
HAIR
I didn’t see Cat for a few days after that. Not because I was avoiding her – really! We just didn’t have the same classes for the last part of the week.
Fiona was still unhappy about the way she had treated me. “She practically called you a freak!” she said as we got changed after PE.
“No she didn’t,” I insisted. “She was just, I dunno… not very tactful about my eye problem. That’s all.”
“Not very tactful?” cried Fiona. “She was terrified she was going to catch blindness from you!”
I chuckled. “She wouldn’t even take a piece of chewing gum from me on the way back to class.”
“Good thin
g, too!” Fiona giggled. “Classic way of spreading eye problems, sharing an unprotected packet of chewing gum.”
We laughed as we continued to get changed, but the truth was, Cat had hurt my feelings a little bit when she’d asked about my eye problems. I know she hadn’t meant it that way, and I’ve long since got over people calling me names like ‘specky’ and ‘goggle eyes’; but the fact that she’d seemed afraid of my illness – I’d never had that before.
“What are you doing tonight?” asked Fiona as she buttoned up her shirt. “Fancy coming round and watching a DVD? We could get a pizza…”
“Can’t, sorry,” I said. “Arjun’s coming round for tea.”
Fiona’s eyes grew wide. “Oooh! Introducing the parents to your boyfriend at long last!”
I pushed her away, my cheeks burning. “Arjun’s not my boyfriend!” I protested. “He’s just a friend…”
“A friend that you held hands with in the cinema last week!” teased Fiona. “I’m hurt, Stacey! You’ve never held my hand when we went to see a movie!”
“That’s because you’re not as good looking as Arjun!” I said, swinging my bag over my shoulder and heading for the changing-room exit.
Fiona and I laughed as we walked through the woods at the back of the school on our way home.
*
I waited nervously outside the 24-hour shop on the corner of our street, feeling completely overdressed in a skirt and top. Usually I’m in a tracksuit or even my pyjamas by this time of the evening.
I checked my watch for the thirtieth time in five minutes. Arjun was late. He’d said he’d meet me here at –
“You look nice!”
I spun round to find Arjun standing behind me. He’d come from the other end of the street – and he was clutching a bunch of flowers.
Then he kissed me on the cheek!
“Thanks!” I said. “So do you… look nice, I mean!” What was I prattling on about? I hadn’t even looked at what he was wearing! I felt like such an idiot. Come on – deep breath, Stacey. OK…
Then I noticed that Arjun was trembling. He was as nervous about this evening as I was! Somehow, that made me feel a lot better.
“Flowers!” I said, reaching for the bouquet – but Arjun pulled them away.
“They’re for your mum,” he said with a smile. “And your dad, if he likes flowers as well…”
“My mum loves flowers,” I said, my heart finally slowing. “Especially ones that smell pretty. You might want to take the price off, though…”
It was Arjun’s turn to blush. “Oops!” He tried to peel the label off and failed miserably. It tore in half, leaving a sticky mess behind.
“Give it here!” I smiled, trying to get my nails under the edge of the price tag.
“Gosh! Look at you two lovebirds!” said a voice.
I turned to see Cat skipping down the road towards us. “Oh, er… hello,” I said. “What are you doing here? Do you live nearby?”
Cat shook her head. “My uncle’s house is on the other side of town, near the motorway,” she said. “I was coming to see you.”
And then I noticed her hair. The blonde bunches had gone. She’d had it cut short and dyed a reddish-brown. Exactly the same as my hair!
“What have you done?” I asked, staring at her new style.
“Do you like it?” giggled Cat, twirling round. “I thought yours looked so lovely, I took a picture of it when you weren’t looking and had mine done the same way! That’s why I was coming round – to show you.”
I frowned. “Hang on – how did you know where I lived?”
“Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!” she beamed. “I copied your address down from your school bus pass when you were doing PE.”
“You went into my bag in the changing room!” I exclaimed.
“I couldn’t disturb you to ask; you were playing hockey.”
“Well, shouldn’t you have been in lessons as well?”
“I was,” said Cat. “I saw you out on the hockey field from Chemistry and pretended that I didn’t feel well so I could slip out.”
I didn’t know what to say. “I can’t… It’s just…”
“Calm down, Stacey,” said Arjun, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding…”
“So is this your boyfriend?” asked Cat, gazing up at Arjun. “He’s a bit dishy, isn’t he?” She leaned into me and whispered loudly. “I know you’ve got bad eyes and everything, but did you know he’s Pakistani?”
“Actually, I’m from Burnley,” said Arjun. “But my parents are from India.”
“It’s OK,” Cat said slowly and loudly to him. “Stacey’s parents are almost blind, so they won’t be able to tell you’re dark skinned if you don’t mention it.”
“Right,” I said through gritted teeth. “I think you’d better be leaving.”
“But, I’ve only just got here,” said Cat. “I used up all my money on the bus fare.”
“Then how were you planning to get home?”
“I thought your dad could drive me back.”
I fought to control my temper. “My dad doesn’t drive,” I said. “His eyesight…”
“Oh, yeah…” said Cat. “Well, maybe he could lend me the taxi fare instead.”
“Arjun is coming round to my house for tea,” I pointed out.
“Well, I won’t be in the way,” Cat smiled. “And I don’t eat much. I’ll just pick off your plate.” She linked arms with both of us. “Come on, then…”
“Actually, I think I’ll head home, if you don’t mind,” said Arjun, pulling away from Cat. “We’ll do this another time.” He handed me the bouquet with the torn price label. “Give these to your mum.”
“We will!” Cat beamed.
Then Arjun was off, hurrying back the way he’d come.
“Never mind him,” said Cat, cuddling into me. “It’ll save you a lot of bother in the long run. Now, what’s for tea?”
CHAPTER 4
BAG
“I’m Cat, and I’m really thrilled to meet you both,” said Cat as she shook hands with my mum and dad. “Stacey’s already told me about your eye syndrome thingy and how you gave it to her, so don’t feel embarrassed. Fingers crossed you never have grandchildren or they’ll get it, too.”
She pushed her way past my parents and into the living room. “Oh, I love the way you’ve decorated!”
“I was expecting Stacey’s friend, Arjun,” said my mum, following quickly.
“He had to rush off,” Cat smiled. “Probably prayer time at his mosque or something. You did know he was Pakistani, didn’t you?”
I sighed. “Cat, he’s not from – ”
But Cat didn’t show any sign of hearing me. “He got you these,” she said, pressing the flowers into my mum’s hand. He left the price on there but you won’t be able to read it, so let’s just pretend they were expensive, eh?”
“Would you, er… like a drink, Cat?” my dad asked.
Cat turned to me. “What are you having?”
“What? Oh, I don’t know… probably a glass of Coke.”
“Then I’ll have the same,” said Cat. “But don’t let us girls stop you enjoying a drop of the hard stuff, Mr Green! No one would even notice if you were to get blind drunk, after all!”
Then she sniffed at the air and dashed into the kitchen. “What is that gorgeous smell?”
My mum and dad turned to look at me – and all I could do was shrug.
“It needs more salt!” shouted Cat.
*
“She stayed all evening?” said Fiona, aghast.
I nodded, yawning. “She left at twenty to midnight – after our third game of family Pictionary.”
Fiona thought for a second. “But how can your mum and dad play Pictionary with their eyesight?”
“They can’t,” I said. “I suppose they didn’t want to hurt her feelings. They just guessed at random objects until the time ran out.”
“What a nightmare!”
“She went into your room?”
I shrugged. “She must have. Probably when she went to the toilet.”
“How did she get home?”
“My dad paid for her taxi,” I said, “but here’s the strange thing… she told me she lived with her uncle out near the motorway – but she wanted the taxi to go to her brother’s flat in the town.”
“Maybe her family have to share her to stop themselves from going loopy?” giggled Fiona.
Despite my tiredness, I laughed. “You might be right!”
Fiona and I were sitting in the snack bar of the DVD shop in the shopping centre, having our traditional milkshake before we hit the clothes boutiques. We didn’t always buy stuff – certainly not at some of their prices – but we liked trying on different outfits and parading up and down in front of the dressing-room mirrors.
We were in the second clothes shop when Fiona spotted Cat. “Watch out!” she said. “Oddball at two o’clock…”
I looked up to see Cat browsing through the rails and felt an involuntary shudder run down my spine.
“You weren’t wrong,” hissed Fiona. “Her hair is just like yours!”
And that wasn’t all… Cat was wearing exactly the same skirt and blouse I’d chosen for my family tea with Arjun the night before.
I couldn’t help myself. I strode across the shop, grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. “Alright,” I said. “What’s your game?”
“Stacey!” cried Cat, kissing the air on either side of my cheeks. “Who knew I’d run into my bestie at the weekend?”
“What are you wearing?” I demanded.
Cat looked surprised at my tone. “What, this little outfit?” she said innocently. “Please don’t judge me harshly – they were the first two things that fell out of my wardrobe this morning.”
“But, I – ”
“And please do thank your mum and dad for the wonderful time we had last night, even if the spaghetti bolognese did have too much garlic in it…”
“You certainly ate enough of it!”
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