Was it just her stupid name that made her a target? She was studying Romeo and Juliet in school and one quote had stuck in her head all term; ‘a rose by any other name would smell as sweet’. Would life with any other name still be as shit? There were other kids at school with strange names who didn’t attract the kind of grief she did; Isla Whyte in Year Nine was too beautiful to tease and Ziggy Zee Zane in Year Ten had a dad who used to be in a band – that bought him a free pass. There must be something else about Minnie that made her so pick-on-able. Was it her brown frizzy hair, her plump hamster cheeks? She’d secretly thrown away the Quality Street chocolates Grandma C. had given her for Christmas. Maybe her cheeks would shrink if she stopped eating chocolate.

Tonight she’d done something drastic; she’d bleached her hair blonde and spent six months’ pocket money on hair straighteners. Maybe a new look was all she needed? She was scared to show her mother what she had done, that’s why she’d been in the bathroom for over an hour. Tonight was going to be her first night out as a blonde – maybe her luck would change.

A knot had been growing in her stomach all afternoon, knitting itself into a painful ball. Minnie got these stomach aches whenever she was anxious. In term time she had them constantly. What if she changed how she looked and things didn’t improve? What if it wasn’t the hair, the cheeks, or even her name? What if it was something she wasn’t able to change?

What she wouldn’t give to swap lives with someone like Grace Withies. Grace who was so pretty, so good at hockey and who smiled like a celebrity. People buzzed around her like bees around a flower. No one wanted to buzz around Minnie. Life must be so easy for someone like Grace; going to bed every night, safe in the knowledge that no one was setting out to make your life a misery the next day.

‘Minnie, have you drowned in there?’ her mum shouted through the door.

‘No, just getting out,’ Minnie said, pulling herself out of the water and shivering as she grabbed a towel.

‘I’ve got to go out,’ her mum said. ‘You off to this party with your friends then?’

‘Yeah, the youth club – Bambers up the high street. Lacey’s mum is dropping us off.’

Her mum was leaving, perfect; she could avoid the freak-out about her hair until tomorrow.

‘Will Elaine drop you back after?’ Her mum’s voice sounded tired.

‘Uh-huh.’

Minnie stood in front of the mirror, distracted by her new hair. It was so blonde – she looked like a completely different person.