The new headteacher at Second Chance was strict, authoritarian. It was his way or the highway. The students piled off the minibus and started to make their way into school. There was no laughter today, no shouting and screaming, no banter. Dan was the last student off the bus. As he walked slowly across the car park, a voice called to him from outside the gates. He was confused, did the man want him? He pointed at himself. ‘Me?’

‘Yes, you. Can I talk to you for a minute?’

‘What’s up?’ Dan was puzzled. He hadn’t been at Second Chance long enough to know many people, but this guy was familiar.

Tony the postman looked uncomfortable and didn’t say anything immediately. What Donny had done had shocked him to the core, pained him. He’d lost his brother to drugs a few years back and he hated everything to do with the scene. So maybe this was his payback.

Dan was getting impatient and started to walk back towards the school. Tony called him back.

‘Hold on, I need to get something off my chest.’ He dug inside his coat pocket and pulled out a white envelope. ‘Don’t ask me how I got this, but I think you should know the truth.’

Danny held the letter in his hand as Tony walked away. Slowly, he opened the envelope. His eyes scanned the headed paper and his jaw dropped. This was a game-changer.

He punched his fist into the air and grinned.

‘So, Daddy. I think you need me now, don’t you?’

Acknowledgements

Thank you to all my readers for their support.

Thank you to John and Ashley at Empire publications for publishing my first 20 novels.

Thank you to my husband James and my children: Ashley, Blake, Declan and Darcy for all your support, also my mother Margaret.

To my angel in Heaven, Dale, good night God bless x

Thanks to Gen, Alice and Megan at HarperNorth for believing in me and my stories from the start.

Thank you to Teenage Works and to all the students who have inspired me to write my stories.

Love, Karen xxx

About the Author

Karen Woods was born and raised in Manchester, where she still lives. Karen left school without any formal qualifications and obtained her inspiration from attending an adult literacy course. Since then she’s written twenty novels as well as adapting some of them for the stage. Karen works in education and is passionate about introducing people of all ages to the power of storytelling.

Also by the Same Author

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Book Credits

HarperNorth would like to thank the following staff and contributors for their involvement in making this book a reality:

Hannah Avery

Fionnuala Barrett

Claire Boal

Charlotte Brown

Sarah Burke

Alan Cracknell

Jonathan de Peyer

Anna Derkacz

Tom Dunstan

Kate Elton

Mick Fawcett

Laura Gerrard

Simon Gerratt

Monica Green

Graham Holmes

Megan Jones

Jean-Marie Kelly

Nicky Lovick

Oliver Malcolm