Dailey pulled the fake baked beans money tin from the top of her wardrobe. Her babysitting money had been accumulating in there for over a year, so she should have well over two hundred, even after her summer clothing shopping spree.
She pried off the lip and upturned the can, frowning as a couple of ten-pound notes dropped into the hands.
'Where's the rest of it?' she wondered.
Her first thought was her thirteen-year-old brother. He'd been coming back from his Dad's house with a lot of gifts lately. Clothing and games. Was it possible he'd been stealing her money and pretending the items were brought by his Dad?
"Joey!" she shouted, storming into his room without knocking.
"Hey!" he cried. When his eyes shifted to the empty can in her hands, a flash of guilt marred his angry expression. "I didn't do anything."
"Like hell you didn't, you thieving little prick," Dailey cried.
She went to grab him, but he dodged, slipped under her arm and out of the door.
From the top of the stairs, she could hear him shouting for Mum. "Mum! Dailey hit me!"
'That stupid little brat!' she seethed, thudding down the stairs with the thunderous steps of an angry God.
"He stole all my babysitting money, Mum," she cried. "I need that money."
Mum turned away from Joey, regarding her with suspicious eyes. "What do you need it for?"
"What does that matter?" Dailey cried. "He stole my money and I need it back."
"Joey, did you take some of the money from your sisters piggy bank?" Mum asked him as if there was any real question. Of course he'd taken it. Who else would have?
The fact her mother was pandering to him and treating her with suspicion was so damn typical. He was always getting special treatment. Even when he was stealing her hard-earned cash.
"I just borrowed a couple of quid," Joey whined.
"There was over two hundred quid in there and I need to back now," Dailey demanded. "Mum, can you pay it back. I need to tonight."
"What for?" Mum asked.
'Think fast, Dailey,' she urged her brain. Telling her mother she needed to pay a hacker was not an option. It would raise too many questions.
"I, erm, I need it for a school trip. The last day to pay is tomorrow," Dailey said, pleased with her lie. It was half true. There was a school trip happening in few weeks and the deadline to pay very conveniently was tomorrow. Dailey wouldn't be seen dead on the school trip, but her mother had no way to know this. If it came to it, she would hang out at a hotel or a friend’s house for a few days. Her best friends had betrayed her, but she had others who would step up for her in her hour of need.
"I don't have that kind of money," Mum said. "But I can write a cheque to the school."
Her mother smiled with a mixture of guilt and sadness. She had been working overtime to cover the cost of a new boiler and had very little time or money to spare lately. Dailey had even overheard her telling the neighbour she felt like a bad Mum.
Feeling scummy for lying, Dailey told her mother it didn't matter.
"It will probably be boring anyway," Dailey assured her. "I don't want you to waste money when we can't afford it."
Mum pulled her in for a hug, stroking the back of her head before announcing she had another shift later. As she searched the room for her uniform and lanyard, toppling a pile of washing, Dailey followed her brother to his room.
"You are going to have to sell all that crap to pay me back," she hissed.
"But you just said—"
"Forget what I said. I need that money tomorrow," Dailey said. She sat with her back to the door so he couldn't run off to Mum again. "Make a pile. We are taking this stuff to the cashback shop."
"I'll tell Mum," Joey threatened.
"She'll be at work in a minute," Dailey pointed out.
"You won't get anything for them. A few quid at the most. It's pointless," Joey told her. "If you don't believe me, they give prices on the website. I'll show you."
As Joey fiddled with the laptop Dailey searched the room for anything she could sell for a decent amount. His console wasn't the latest model, plus the chances of getting him to part with it were slim to none.
'I'm not going to be able to pay him,' Dailey realised.
The thought filled her with dread, yet the more she thought about it, the less worried she became. She watched him delete the pictures, so they were no longer there for him to use against her. What was he going to do? Threaten her with violence?
'He's not that scary,' Dailey assured herself. 'Yes, he's very tall and creepy and antisocial, but I'm fairly certain he wouldn't dare to hurt me.'
After spending the night dwelling on it, she decided he would just have to accept an IOU in lieu of payment. She had every intention of paying him back... just not in one lump sum.
Dailey shrugged and bit her lip.
"He's just going to have to be okay with it," she muttered to herself.
Dailey waited by the gates, anxious about explaining her cash flow situation to Drake. As she shifted from foot to foot and kicked up the dirt from between the paving slabs, she felt her heart racing. Sick bile rose in her chest, coating her throat and filling her mouth with a bitter taste.'Why does he make me so nervous?' she wondered.The problem was, Drake wasn't like other guys. Dailey knew her looks put guys on edge—made them horny and stupid—and she could often use it to her advantage. For whatever reason, this superpower didn't work on Drake."You have my cash?" she heard him ask, turning to find herself in his shadow.Dailey looked up with pleading, apologetic eyes. "I'm really sorry but I don't have it. Is it okay if I pay you back in instalments?"The look he gave her sent a chill down her spine. So cold and angry. Then his face softened slightly,
As soon as Dailey switched on her computer, she knew something was wrong. It was taking longer than usual to load up, and three little black dialogue boxes flashed across the screen.'He's hacked me,' Dailey thought. 'Of course he has.'Luckily, she'd deleted the awful pictures and didn't have anything else too incriminating on there... unless...When she opened her emails, she found a new message from Drake. Inside was a screenshot. She didn't have to open it up to see it was the dreaded naked shots. Clicking through, she found something different to the images of her peach flesh.She enlarged it to find it was a message exchange between herself and the guy she'd paid to write her college admissions essay. The one that had landed her a place at one of the best colleges in the country."Shit, shit, shit," she muttered. This was way worse than the threat of
When Toni arrived at school, she had a fully formed plan and steely resolve, but it all melted away the second she saw those cat-like green eyes flash in her direction. He walked past her, making a beeline from some poor kid. Some hapless victim he'd deemed worthy to suffer at his hands.The guy saw him coming, but like a deer in headlights, he froze and cowered as the bully ploughed over, kicking up the grass as he stomped over the field to interrupt the game of catch.The victim's friends scattered in all directions as if knowing from experience it was better to look the other way than to get beaten up along with their comrade."Oi," Toni shouted, storming over with the huge strides and attitude of a superhero. She imagined herself as a badass character in a movie—some leather-clad heroine who'd just pulled up on her motorcycle and whipped off her helmet, letting her long dark hair free to blow in the wind.
At lunchtime, Dailey had planned on sitting with Toni. She'd been looking forward to it. But she saw Drake waving his index finger in her direction, beckoning her over.She slouched over to him, dragging her feet, and looking down to indicate her lack of interest in playing whatever game he was planning."Chop chop," he encouraged, clapping his hands.His friends exchanged glances and whispers, confused by her presence in their tight-knit group of weirdos. Their clique usually hung out and ate lunch in the courtyard by the steps, far away from everyone else, a fact she was glad for today."Get on all fours," Drake demanded.'Why?' Dailey wondered in a panic. 'What are you going to do to me?'When he began to click his fingers repeatedly in her face she complied, tutting as grit and stones lodged into the soft flesh of her p
Toni glanced about the room, at the stark walls and windows with cream blinds that looked as though nobody had dusted them in the last ten years. It was nothing like her last school. Well... except for the fact the mentality of the people was pretty much identical. The segregation of popular kids, the cool kids, the nerds, and the freaks. Glancing to her left, she spotted the guy Dailey had told her about. She couldn't see much of his expression because his long, dangly black hair covered his face. Normally, he'd be just her type; dangerous, weird, and twisted... but she had the distinct feeling her only friend in this hell hole would end up falling for him, meaning he was off limits. She felt the life drain out of her as Tommy took a seat beside her, scraping his chair and table loudly as he pulled them closer to hers. Something about his energetic personality was draining to Toni. Just watching him fail to sit still for five seco
Toni didn't know which was worse—the smell or the humiliation. She'd seen kids thrown in dumpsters a couple of times, and while she felt bad about failing to intervene, she never imagined she might end up on the receiving end.What if nobody came to let her out? Would she end up in the garbage crusher?Morbid thoughts about being squished to death prompted her to call for help when she heard voices in the distance. Screw the embarrassment. She wanted to live.
When Dailey arrived at the beach it was beginning to get dark. A group of kids had created a bonfire and were currently feeding it sticks. Some weren't dry enough. They crackled and hissed as they burned, releasing a foul-smelling acrid smoke into the salty air.Dailey watched, keeping to the grassy shore when she spotted Sam by the keg. He and his friends filled red plastic cups with beer and joked together, perving not so discreetly on a couple of scantily clad girls from the year below.'Already moving on to someone new,'Dailey thought.'Typical.'She tried to tell herself it didn't matter—that she was done with him—but seeing him still hurt. He hadn't even spoken to her about the images, probably assuming he'd simply lost the files. This could only be a good thing. She hated him, but she also still loved him and always would. Getting him involved in the mess with Drake would o
Dailey couldn’t stop thinking about the quote Drake had chosen to leave her with. Did he somehow know she was desperately lonely? Maybe. Or maybe it was just a fluke.With her friends and boyfriend gone, she had nobody around to confide in. Yet, it surprising how little her mentality had changed. Her friends didn’t talk, only gossiped, and her boyfriend and been someone to make out with rather than a legitimate partner.‘I’ve been very lonely for a very long time,’Dailey realised.As she walked to school alone, she saw Toni and smiled, rushing over to say hi. The first time she’d seen Toni, Dailey had expected her to be scary and antisocial. She was happy to find out how wrong her judgement had been as the girl ran over and hugged her.“How’s it going?” she asked, meaning the Aaron situation.“Nothin