Sure that Suzie must think she was a tramp, she was stuffing the clothes into her schoolbag when someone said, ‘Morning,’ and she blushed when she looked up and saw her neighbour, Gee, crossing the road. He’d spoken in passing, but the mere fact that he’d acknowledged her made her feel giddy, and she couldn’t stop grinning as she made her way to school.
Holly didn’t see Suzie again that week, but she was too busy revising and making plans with Bex to worry about her. As she’d suspected might happen, as soon as Bex heard that their celebrity crush’s double lived in Holly’s block she had offered to meet her on the estate that weekend, instead of making Holly walk the two miles to the park behind her house where they usually met.
It would only be the second time Bex had deigned to visit the estate in the entire time she and Holly had been friends, and her refusal to meet halfway pissed Holly off. But she pushed her irritation aside, happy that Bex was coming – even if it had taken a boy to make it happen – and they’d be able to hang out and have a laugh without Julie Gordon sticking her beak in.
Up bright and early on Saturday morning, Holly raced through the shopping, the laundry, the dusting and vacuuming before heading outside to wait for Bex. She took a seat on one of the benches that were scattered around the estate – all facing the road, as if the residents had nothing better to do than sit and watch traffic. A few minutes later, three lads walked round the corner, and her stomach sank when one of them clocked her and started heading in her direction.
‘Yo . . .’ He stopped in front of her. ‘What you got?’
‘Piss off,’ Holly said, determined not to show fear, but silently praying that an adult somewhere was watching and would chase them off.
‘Y’what?’ He scowled. ‘You lookin’ for a slap?’
‘Leave her, man,’ one of the others said, nodding down at her feet. ‘She ain’t got nowt. Check the state of them.’
Embarrassed when they all looked down at her grubby, unbranded trainers, Holly self-consciously pulled her feet under the bench.
‘Fuck me, d’ya nick them off a tramp, or what?’ the first lad jeered. ‘Here, go buy yourself a new pair.’ He flicked a coin at her. ‘But don’t go spending your change all at once, eh?’
Laughing, he and his mates walked away, and Holly waited until they’d gone before scooping the coin up off the floor. Pleased to see that it was a pound and not the penny she’d expected, she stuffed it into her pocket and took out her phone to find out where Bex was. Before she had the chance to call her, she heard her name being called, and muttered, ‘Great!’ when she looked round and saw Bex strolling towards her arm in arm with Julie. Even from a distance she could see they were both plastered in make-up, and they were dressed almost identically in white skinny jeans, silver puffa jackets, and short pink tops that showed off their fake-tanned bellies.
‘Sorry we’re late,’ Bex said, flopping down on the bench when they reached her. ‘This one took forever getting ready.’
‘Hey, even perfection needs maintenance,’ Julie quipped, flicking her white-blond hair extensions back over her shoulder. Then, frowning, she peered down at Holly, and said, ‘Wow, babes, you look really pale. You haven’t caught that stomach bug that’s been going round, have you?’
‘Why are you here?’ Holly asked, seeing right through her show of concern.
‘I asked her to come,’ Bex said. ‘I wasn’t gonna come on my own and get raped or mugged, was I?’
‘I could have met you somewhere,’ Holly said, grudgingly shifting over when Julie plonked herself on the other side of Bex.
‘Told you she’d moan.’ Julie rolled her eyes.
‘I’m not moaning,’ Holly protested. ‘I’m just saying I could have met her so she wouldn’t have had to walk here on her own.’
‘So where is he, then?’ Bex changed the subject. ‘I haven’t dragged myself all the way over here for nothing.’
‘He’s probably still sleeping,’ Holly said. ‘His party went on till late last night.’
‘Well, he’d better get up soon,’ Julie grumbled, taking a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of her pocket. ‘I’m not sitting out here all day freezing my tits off.’
‘No one asked you to come,’ Holly muttered.
‘I did,’ Bex said, taking a cigarette from Julie and leaning forward to get a light.
‘You can’t do that here,’ Holly said. ‘My mum’ll stop me hanging round with you if she sees you smoking.’
‘God, how old are you?’ Julie sneered. ‘You sound about three.’
‘I’m fifteen, same as you,’ Holly replied tartly. ‘And I don’t see why I should get into trouble ’cos you can’t wait till you get home.’
‘I’m allowed to smoke, actually, ’cos my ’rents are cool,’ Julie said, defiantly lighting up and blowing the smoke in Holly’s direction.
‘You’re such a liar,’ Holly sniped, wafting it away.
‘All right, pack it in you two,’ Bex said, sliding the unlit cigarette into her pocket. ‘I’ll save mine for later if it’s gonna cause trouble.’
‘It’s not me, it’s her,’ Holly and Julie said in unison.
‘It’s both of you,’ said Bex. ‘And I don’t wanna hear it, so shut up.’
Holly and Julie exchanged dirty looks and sat back.
Across the road, Suzie’s front door opened and Holly glanced over when the woman stepped outside. Her face looked flawless, with no sign of the bruises she’d had the previous week, and she was wearing a figure-hugging red dress that accentuated her
