We’re hiding in the dark alley in the giant city. I wonder how a place that’s so busy and bustling through the day can be so still and silent at night. They’re just around the corner. They’re after us. I daren’t even breathe because they might hear which is just as well because the smell here is awful. I reach out, find his hand in the darkness and squeeze it tight. I could blame him if I didn’t know how afraid he is, if I didn’t know that he is as scared as me.
I walk into the school and instantly I see them, the popular girls. They never have a hair out of place, always have a full face of make up and all the boys fancy them, in other words they’re the exact opposite of me. I never thought I was ugly until I met them but they think I am and how could anyone popular be wrong? Everything about me is ugly and everything about them is perfect. I see Amy, the leader of their group, coming over to me.
“Hi, Daisy,” she sneers, “didn’t know bunches were in fashion. Well, I did, but only on five year olds.” I feel like crying. I just wanted to try out a new look because they hated my old one so much.
Then I see him, standing at the office. Our school isn’t very big so it’s easy to notice anyone new, and especially easy to notice him. He looks so gorgeous. He has blond hair that falls on his face, his gorgeous face. I forget where I am; forget about Amy and her gang; even forget my own name.
But then Melanie, another one of the popular girls, says, “Oh, I see you’ve seen the new guy. And I suppose you think that he’s going to fall for you instantly and you’ll live happily ever after.” I blush because my thoughts were going somewhere along those lines.
“Aw, how sweet,” Amy adds, “she thinks she’s got a chance.” They start laughing like mad.
Then, in a much more threatening voice, Amy says, “Don’t even think about it. He’s going to be mine.” I don’t bother reminding her that she already has a boyfriend, Fred, the most gorgeous guy in school. Well, he used to be the most gorgeous anyway.
Then the bell rings and I go to registration.
When I get in I sit down, next to Karen, who’s really nice but I think only sits next to me because she pities me. She never talks to me more than she has to.
And then he walks in, the boy I saw before. He goes up and talks to our teacher, Mr Green and Mr Green tells us that his name is Jake and that he’s going to be in our class. He asks if anyone wants to help Jake find his way around the school, and almost every single girl in the class sticks their hand up, including me.
Mr Green looks around the room and after a while he says, “Daisy, why don’t you do it?”
All the girls give me dirty looks but for once I don’t care. I’m getting to show the hottest guy I have ever seen around the school. I know you might think I’m exaggerating, saying he’s the hottest guy I’ve ever seen but he is. He is far more gorgeous than any celebrity I’ve ever seen.
He seems friendly too. He smiles at me then walks over and says, “Hi, you must be Daisy. I’m Jake.”
At first I think I’m going to start babbling like an idiot but his smile seems genuinely friendly and I actually find myself speaking quite confidently, telling him about the school. I would have thought that Amy and Melanie would have been the first ones to speak to him, batting their eyelashes and flirting like crazy, but they don’t. At first I think they’re trying to play it cool and wonder if I should too but then I realise that they’re too shy to say anything.
I then realise that I’ve been really rude and haven’t asked Jake anything about himself so I ask him where he used to go to school.
“I used to live in Glasgow so this is quite a big change. It’s beautiful here in the Highlands, though.”
“Oh, you’re from Glasgow. I lived there until I was five,” I tell him, pleased we have something in common.
“So, do you live near the school or are you in a little village miles away? I’ve just moved into a house a short walk away.”
“What street? I live in Baxter Avenue.”
“I think that’s where I am too. We could be neighbours. So, do you do anything out of school? What is there around here?”
“It depends what you’re into,” I say, questioningly.
“Music.” I’m surprised. When I saw him I thought he might be some sporty idiot who drooled over the popular girls but he seems really nice and he’s into music. I tell him that I play the fiddle (or violin, if you want to call it that) as well as the piano. He tells me that he plays the piano too as well as the trumpet.
I say, “There’s an orchestra at the school. I go and you could probably join.”
“Cool. I probably will. Where do you get taught piano because I’m looking for a new teacher.”
“My mum teaches. I’ll see if she can give you lessons.”
“Thanks,” he replies and that’s how we start. We’re together all the time and I find myself falling for him. I can’t stop thinking about him. The popular girls’ comments don’t bother me anymore, especially not since Jake stands up for me every time they say anything mean.
But then things change. Suddenly Jake starts acting strange, guarded. He becomes really protective of me, tells me not to go out on my own, and tells me that he won’t either. He’s terrified and I want to help but how can I when I can’t see what frightens him.
One day I just need to know so I ask him what’s wrong. He’s at my house after orchestra so no one can overhear us. At first he tries to deny that anything is wrong but then he just breaks down. He starts crying and telling me that he’s sorry. I don’t know what to do so I just hold him until he calms down and then I ask him to explain.
“Y-you know,” he stammers, “you know how you’ve n-never been to my h-house and I’ve always said it’s because m-my house is a mess. I was lying. It’s not the house that’s a mess,” he pauses and takes a deep breath, “it’s my mum.”
I’m confused. “Is she ill? What’s wrong with her?”
“Physically she’s fine but she’s bad on the inside. It’s something that happened before we left Glasgow.”
I wait for him to go on but he doesn’t so I ask what happened.
“When I was younger my parents used to fight and I didn’t know why. I thought it was normal but one day my mum sat my brother and me down at the table and told us that my dad was leaving.” I just look confused. I thought he was an only child.
“I know, I haven’t told you about my brother before. I’ll get to that part later.” He can read my mind. “Anyway, it turned out my mum was wrong. My dad wouldn’t leave. He kept trying to come back to our house but my mum wouldn’t let him. She wouldn’t let me or Peter (that’s my brother) see him and eventually I got fed up.
“The next time my dad came to try to see us I went to see him and went away with him. At first everything seemed fine. I got to see my dad again and he gave me sweets and let me do what I wanted. I was only ten and that was all I really cared about. But his flat was disgusting and I soon started missing Peter and my mum, and our home.
“One day I asked if I could see them but he said my mum didn’t want to see me. I wouldn’t believe him but he said that she would have written if she wanted to see me and she hadn’t. At first, I was just sad but then I got angry; at my mum for not wanting to see me, at my dad for not caring, at Peter for not demanding to see me, at myself for not being lovable enough. I was angry and my dad noticed. It was exactly what he wanted.”
He stops then and I’m shocked by the bitterness in his voice.
“What happened?” I ask.
“He led me in. I got involved with his friends, gangs of really bad people who didn’t care who they hurt. I did realise what was happening was wrong. They shouldn’t have been getting me to steal things, getting me to help them stay out of trouble, giving me knives. I did realise but I was too late. I tried to go to my mum. I went home and she welcomed me back. I would have told her what happened but my dad had followed me and he came in. I was too scared to speak so I just told her I had come to say hi and was going back with my dad.
“One day I tried to go to the police but that was my biggest mistake. They’d been following me. They threatened me and my mum and Peter.”
He chokes out the last word then bursts out crying.
Through his tears he mumbles, “They attacked Peter.”
I hold him again and when he’s finished he tells me that Peter ended up in hospital.
“I was stupid,” he continues, “I tried to go the police again and they attacked Peter. He moved in with our aunt and refused to speak to me or my mum if she stood by me. He hates me.”
“How could anyone hate you?” I say, squeezing his hand.
“My dad’s been back. He found out where we live. He knows we reported him to the police and now he’s on the run. He’s seen you. He threatened you.”
“What?” I gasp. That explains his fear for me, I guess.
“Daisy,” he begs, “please don’t hate me. I didn’t mean for you to get involved. Please don’t hate me. I hate myself enough.”
“Jake, I could never hate you. I love you.” I say it without thinking and it’s the first time I realise how I feel. I love him.
At first he stares at me in shock and I regret telling him that but then he kisses me. I’ve never been kissed before and I’ve always wondered what it would be like. It feels amazing and my heart is fluttering but that can’t just be from one kiss. It must be love.
He pulls back and looks at me.
“Do you really mean that? Do you really love me?”
“Yes.”
“I love you too,” he replies and I feel so happy I could burst. “But what do I do? I’ve put you in danger and I don’t know how to sort this out.”
“We’ll sort this out, together. You know, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. Actually, you’re one of the only real friends I’ve ever had. I’m not letting anything stand in our way.” I kiss him on the cheek.
“Don’t you dare let Amy or her friends get to you. Who do they think they are, anyway? You are prettier, kinder, smarter and more talented than any of them. What reason can they possibly have for thinking they’re better than you?”
“Before I met you, I would have thought they were perfectly justified in thinking they were better than me but now I don’t. Can you believe I used to call them the popular girls and that I thought you’d fancy them?”
“Not really. I’d never fancy them. They’re so fake and they’re horrible to you when you haven’t done anything to them.” I smile.
A few days later, when I’m walking home with Jake, a car starts driving beside us, slowly. It’s following us.
I look at Jake.
“Run, Daisy.” I don’t ask why because I know by the look on his face. We start running but the car door opens, two men came out and dragged us into the car. When we get in I get a better look at the men. One of them has dark hair, the other is blonde, and both are dressed completely in black. They both have emotionless faces, cold eyes and hard mouths.
“Hey, Jake,” the blonde one says, “glad we’ve finally tracked you down. I see you’ve found a nice girl. Why don’t you introduce us?”
Jake just scowls at him.
“Now Jake, don’t be rude to your old dad,” the blonde guy laughs. I just stare. Looking closer, I can see a slight resemblance on the face but Jake looks so sweet, like a little kid at times and his dad looks horrible.
“Let Daisy go. It’s me you want, not her.” I feel so touched that he’s sticking up for me but I can’t leave him alone.
I start to tell him that I’ll never leave him when his dad laughs and says, “Oh, Daisy. What a lovely name. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
I don’t reply. I don’t think I could speak if I wanted to. I’m terrified.
“Is she normally this quiet?” Jake’s dad asks Jake. “Maybe I scared her.” He says to me, “I’m sorry if I scared you, Daisy. It’s just that my silly boy here should have known better than to go to the police on us. I didn’t mean for you to get involved but I couldn’t get him alone and you would have told someone if I left you. Anyway, he’ll suffer more if his girlfriend is in danger too as he knows it’s all his fault.” I still can’t understand how someone who is so evil and selfish he would kidnap his own son, as well as his son’s girlfriend just to make his son suffer more, could actually be the father of someone as kind and selfless as Jake.
I look across at Jake and see that he looks as if he is in pain. He may be nothing like his father but he still believes that this mess is his fault. He mouths “sorry” at me but I just shake my head. He was only ten when his dad led him into this mess and most ten year olds would trust almost anything their dads told them. How could he know how horrible his dad was? He didn’t know what his dad had done.
After that nobody says anything else. I try to look out the window to see if I can work out where we are but the dark haired guy blocks my view. It’s uncomfortable in the car since there are four people on a three person seat. I’m squashed in between the dark haired guy and Jake and Jake’s dad is sitting n the other side of Jake. Obviously they’re guarding us. There is a man in the front driving but I’ve only ever seen the back of his head and there’s no one in the front passenger seat. I just lean into Jake and wish we were somewhere else, somewhere safe. Eventually, I just fall asleep.
When I wake up it’s dark outside and Jake is sleeping next to me. I can hear them talking so I shut my eyes and pretend I’m still asleep.
“What do we do with them?” I hear Jake’s father ask.
“What can we do with them? We have to get rid of them. It was an order.” I think that must be the dark haired guy. And what do they mean, get rid of us?
“It’s alright for you, Jim. You have no connection with either of them. He may have turned us in but he’s still my son.” That’s Jake’s dad again and I’m surprised that he seems to care what happens to Jake.
“You always were a big softie, Bob, but if we don’t do what we’re told then do you really think we’ll get away with it? I’m not letting you’re precious lad go if that means risking my own life,” Jim replies, in a voice which almost makes me shiver, it’s so cold.
“I know I can’t ask you to do that but do you really think no one will notice that they’re missing? I know we will be hard to track but not impossible. What if the police find us?”
“Stop making excuses. You’re just a wuss.” Jim clearly knows just what to say because Bob gets all offended and says he’ll do what needs done.
Just then Jake starts waking up. At first he looks disorientated but then he seems to realise where he is. I pretend I’m just waking up too. We seem to have ended their conversation and they just start to talk about meaningless things like sport and the weather.
I don’t know how much time has gone past when the car stops at a hotel and they tell us to get out. The sun just seems to be rising and the sky’s a gorgeous pale pink which I would normally love but I’m scared and my neck hurts from sleeping in a strange position so I don’t care anymore.
We go to the toilet and then go back to the car. I’m not really paying much attention until I see large buildings outside the window. We must be in a city.
We soon stop in front of a rundown building and they drag us out of the car. We walk upstairs to a flat which is very bare with only a table and some chairs in the room we’re in. There’s damp on the walls and the table doesn’t look very strong. There is a small corridor with four doors down it. They lead us down there and tell us that one door is the bathroom, another is the kitchen, one belongs to whichever one of them has to ‘babysit’ us and the final room is ours. They shove us in there and then lock the door. The room is empty apart from two mattresses which have just been shoved on the floor. The brown wallpaper is peeling and the floor looks as if it hasn’t been cleaned in a very long time, if ever.
“What do you think is going to happen to us?” Jake doesn’t even try to hide the fear in his voice.
“I heard them talking before. They said they’d have to get rid of us.”
Jake doesn’t even look shocked. He just walks over to the tiny window and looks out. I don’t need to ask to know that he’s looking for a way out but the window doesn’t look like it would open and even if it did I don’t think we could fit through it.
“We need to trick them,” I tell him because I’ve already thought about this. “I’ll pretend to feel sick and you can call them through. When one of them comes, hit them from behind when they come to see me and then we can run. We’ll have to wait to make sure that only one of them is left.”
“Do you really think that will work?” he asks, uncertainly.
“I don’t know but we have to do something.”
“I’m so sorry, Daisy.” I walk over beside him and slip my hand in his, and then I reach up and kiss him on the mouth.
“It’s not your fault.” It’s the truth but I’m still not sure if he believes it.
We wait until we’re certain that the others have left then Jake shouts through that I’m feeling sick. We hear someone come to the door and unlock it. It opens and Jake’s dad comes in.
“What?” he asks and glares at me.
“Daisy says she feels sick and dizzy,” Jake explains so his dad walks over to me. While he’s distracted, Jake punches him on the side of the head, kicks his leg and shoves him. Jake grabs my hand and we run to the door. Luckily, they left it unlocked so we run down the stairs and out into the street. We must have been inside the little room for ages because it’s dark outside now.
We keep running until we find a dark alley to hide in, the dark alley in the giant city.
We hold our breath and each other’s hands and then we see figures walking past. Jake’s dad must have got Jim and the driver. Either they hadn’t actually left the flat or they were staying close by. We stay silent as they go by. Even when they’re gone we still don’t make a sound. I don’t know how long we wait, silently, before we finally feel safe enough to move.
We walk back down and try to work out where we are. We walk a little way along the street, dark apart from a few streetlights, until Jake suddenly starts running, dragging me along with him. At first, I’m confused but then I see it; a police station.
Jake drags me in and for the first time I realise how exhausted I am. The police officer asks our names and what has happened to us and Jake tells them. I just sit there in a daze. Jake gives the police officer our addresses and phone numbers and then we sit in the station.
I’m not really aware of what’s happening until someone comes through and tells us that they have arrested three men that fit with the description Jake gave them and ask if we’ll identify them. They take us through and it is them. They’ve been arrested. We go back through to the room we were in before and I fall asleep.
Soon, I’m being woken up and I see my parents and Jake’s mum standing in front of me. I feel myself being pulled into a hug and hear them asking us if we’re alright and telling us how scared they were. At first I’m confused but then I realise the most important thing; I’m safe.
Things seem to go back to normal after that but there are differences, bad ones like the fact that my once safe town seems to be filled with villains, in my parents’ heads as well as mine. But also good ones like the fact that I realised why the ‘popular’ girls thought they were better than me and it had nothing to do with talent or good looks, I just wasn’t confident. Things have definitely changed because now I’m so confident I’m sure they’re jealous of me...although, that may also have something to do with my boyfriend.
I’m happy now but I’ve also grown up a lot. I focus on what really matters.