For a second, I think of aborting my mission—I’m being crazy impulsive, just like Mum told me, and probably super immature. I’m sixteen, not six. But I can’t just return, tail between my legs, to the truck stop.

It’s not hard to find a seat on the bus; they’re all empty.

I download the Facebook app and quickly create an account. My phone has only a quarter battery left, but there’s no other choice.

I send a message to Melody just in case, and then to the woman who posted the photo. Her name’s Autumn and she seems to be a local. Her profile pic shows her in a purple Greenpeace shirt. Mum used to have one similar so Autumn’s an obvious Melody-friend. I tell her I’m looking for Melody and I’m finding my way to the festival now. I copy the message to the eight other women tagged in the picture.

I wonder what my father will do when he finds me gone. And how long the police will wait for me to come back from the bathroom. Will they come looking for me? Will the cashier tell them where I went? I tune my ears to the sounds of a siren, but everything’s quiet except for the rumbling of the bus.

I send my father a message: Going to see Melody, no need to pick me up.

Our relationship may be over, but I don’t want him to worry again.

With hot air blowing from the vents above me, I rest my eyelids for just a minute.

I’m awoken by a shout. ‘Miss? This is the last stop.’ The bus pulls into a small terminal and I get off.

I inspect the standing map, trying to work out where I am. Bright lights flicker overhead in stark contrast to the black night. I turn the corner hoping to find someone to help, but the ticket booth’s closed and all’s silent except for a buzzing snack machine. I look around for the driver but he’s disappeared.

‘Hello?’ I call.

Not a soul. I start shivering. This was crazy; I am crazy. If I don’t die from cold, I’m going to get myself killed or worse. The horror film I feared for Melody has become mine.

If Mum could see me now … I can’t even think. I miss her so much. I’d give everything to have her back. Everything and anything.

Melody mustn’t have got the message. My teeth start chattering and before my fingers fall off, I take out my phone to call my father. I can’t stay out here all night; I’ll be dead by morning.

But the battery’s dead and my screen, black.

I hear a bang and I jump about two feet high. It happens again and I peer into the darkness outside the terminal. Nobody’s there. I hope.