One day, I was called to the headmaster’s office. As I walked up the stairs to his room, Haslett and some of her entourage passed me going down. They were all slightly sombre but Haslett had a curious grin on her face. They burst into a fit of giggles as soon as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

They had told the headmaster about my little cosmetics business. This was serious. He was considering informing the police. I gave a full confession but kept Louise’s name out of it. My parents were on the way to pick me up. I was to be expelled. My father never spoke to me with a note of care or friendliness again. I was to be home-schooled so that I could still sit my A-level exams. When not studying, I was required to help run the bed and breakfast seven days a week. I told my parents about Louise’s involvement in the thieving in the hope that this would somehow dilute the blame. It was a big mistake. My father informed her parents and between them they agreed that we were not to see each other again. I told my mum that as soon as I had taken my exams, I was leaving home. She told me that she thought it was a good idea.

I would speak to Pete every day at first, but before long the phone calls got awkward and distant. The next time I actually saw him was when I was sitting my exams at school. We smiled at each other but had nothing to say. My father drove me to school for the exams and waited outside to take me home as soon as they were finished. In August of that year, a couple of months before my eighteenth birthday, I left home and moved into a furnished bedsit room just off the seafront in Brighton. I used the money my grandmother had left me to pay the deposit and the first three months’ rent. I took a job as a waitress/barperson at a nearby Mexican restaurant. One night, after I had been there about a month, I saw my mum and dad staring at the menu in the window. They didn’t like the look of what was on offer and walked away. It made me sad, but I convinced myself that this sadness was all part of me making a new start and moving on.

Then I met Tommy.

13

When I got back from my visit to Satsuma’s, Grace and Lassoo were waiting to accost me on the walkway.

‘What time do you call this? Do you not think I’ve got better things to do than stand here waiting for you?’

‘Nice to see you as well, Grace. I didn’t ask you to stand out here like the Queen waiting for her liver and onions to be delivered.’

‘Why are you looking so pleased with yourself?’